‘Half-girlfriend,’
‘What?’
He shrugged.
‘Listen, have you eaten anything all day?’ I said.
He shook Iris head. I looked around. A bowl of fruit and some
chocolates sat next to my bed. He took a piece of, dark chocolate when
I offered it.
‘So what do you want from me?’ I said.
‘I want you to read these journals, whatever is readable...because I
can’t.’
I looked at him, surprised.
‘You can’t read? As in, you can’t read in general? Or you can’t read
these?
‘These.’
‘Why not?’ I said, reaching for a chocolate myself.
‘Because Riya’s dead.’
My hand froze in mid-air.You cannot pick up a chocolate when
someone has just mentioned a death.
‘Did you just say the girl who wrote these journals is dead?’
He nodded. I took a few deep breaths and wondered what to say
next.
‘Why are they in such terrible shape?’ I said after a pause.
‘They are old. Her ex-landlord found them after years.’
‘Sorry, Mr Whats-your-name. Can I order some food first?’ I
picked up the phone in the room and ordered two club sandwiches
from the limited midnight menu.
'I'm Madhav. Madhav Jha. I live in Dumraon, eighty kilometres
from here.’
‘What do you do?’
‘I run a school there,’
‘Oh, that’s...’ I paused, searching for the right word.
'...noble? Not really. It’s my mother’s school.’
‘I was going to say that’s unusual.You speak English. Not typical of