Half Girlfriend

His face fell. I could see he found this conversation difficult.
‘I tried for three months. I hoped she would call me one more time
before she left this world. She didn't.’
‘You’re okay now?’
‘I was okay. Until these journals popped up. For the last two years,
I have focused exclusively on the school.The grant has made us one of
the best schools in the area, You should definitely come to visit.’
‘I will. Madhav, you loved her a lot, didn’t you?’
‘She is the only girl I ever loved. I don’t know if it is a lot, or less
than a lot. I do know one thing, though.’
‘What?’
‘I will never love again. Ever.’
‘Why?’
‘Something is broken inside me. I don’t have the equipment or
wiring or whatever one needs to fall in love anymore.’
I stood up from my chair and went tb the bedside table. He
continued to talk, more to himself chan me.
‘I have my school. I have my mother.That is my life.’
I picked up the journals from the bedside table. I brought them to
Madhav.
‘So how did you get these journals?’
‘Hemant called me. He had taken all of Riya’s stuff to the godown
to sell it. However, he had missed a wooden box in the far corner of
the kitchen loft. The loft was a storage space in the kitchen to keep dry
groceries. A company took the house on lease after Riya. They used
the apartment as a guest house. They almost never used the kitchen.
Two years later, the company vacated the apartment and a family of
four rented it. The lady of the family found the box and handed it to
Hemant. Hemant, in turn, called me and handed me the box with the
journals.'
I placed the journals in Madhav’s lap.
‘Here,’ I said, ‘take these.’
‘Why? I said I don’t want to. I can't,’