Page 206 - Half Girlfriend

‘It’s okay. Now are we sharing it or what?’ he said.

I looked at him and his slimy eyes. He saw my shocked expression.
He burst into laughter. ‘Joking, Rajkumar ji. Always so serious. Of
course, it is all for the school.’

I smiled and excused myself. The crowd thinned in about twenty

minutes. Most of the parents and students had left. I asked the school
staff if they had seen Riya.

‘She was in the front row. We saw her stand up when the white
man announced the money,’ Tarachandji said.

I went to the makeshift parking area. No cars.The delegation had
left long back. I couldn’t find Riya’s car either.

I called Riya. Nobody picked up. I tried again, thrice. No response.
I called Riya’s driver.

‘I am on leave. Madam must have taken another driver,’ he said. I
hung up.

I wondered what to do next. Where could she have gone? Did she

get an urgent call from home? Office? Where could she be?
“Madhav sir,’ a girl’s voice interrupted my chain of thought.
It was Shabnam, my student from class III. She wore a dhoti and a

kurta, having played a villager in the Krishna skit. Her parents stood

behind her.
I folded my hands to wish them. They thanked me for a great

function.
‘Madhav sir, didi left something for you.’ Shabnam handed me a

brown envelope. ‘Riya didi said to give this to you after the function.
She left while you were on stage.’

‘Did she tell you where she was going?’
Shabnam shook her head.

‘Did she go in a car?’
Shabnam nodded and left with her parents. I tore open the

envelope.
‘Where are you?’ my mother shouted from a distance.

‘Here only,’ I said. I slipped the envelope into my pocket.