Page 177 - Till the Last Breath . . .

‘Yes, I was,’ she replied. ‘It’s been years now.’

‘What brings you back?’ Pihu asked earnestly.
Kajal, although in no mood to talk, was compelled to answer her. ‘I had
never stopped worrying about him. He is majorly self-destructive by

nature,’ she said and her eyes roved back to where Dushyant lay—weak and
dying.

‘I have seen that,’ Pihu added.
‘You have?’

‘Yes, I have. He has been a pain in the butt,’ she chuckled.
Kajal knew exactly what she meant. Every passing second Kajal spent

sitting next to Dushyant made her want to stay there longer. As Pihu
explained to her how he had charged at her friends, Kajal thought about
how different life would have been had they still been together. Maybe she

would have convinced him to give up his addictions. Maybe he would have
eventually emerged as a better man, and she knew he was capable of that.

Dushyant, in his very core, was a nice person, but one had to flail blindly
through the haze of tobacco and weed in which he had lost himself to get to

that nice person inside of him. Maybe that resounding slap on her face was
a one-off incident; maybe it was not. Maybe that forced intercourse was a

one-off incident; maybe it was not. Maybe it was the start of an abusive
relationship; maybe it was not.
‘He hit your friends?’ Kajal wanted to confirm, as she had drifted away

on her own thought train.
‘Yes,’ she clarified. ‘Yes, they were making a little noise, but nothing that

would make anyone hit them. He is a little, well, you know, self-destructive.
Do you still love him?’

‘No, I don’t.’
‘Then why are you here?’ Pihu probed.

‘I just worry about him,’ she answered, a little uncomfortable about the
concern Pihu had for him. After all, she spent almost all her time next to
him. ‘Why are you so bothered?’ Kajal asked, almost envious now.

‘I just want to know who can love him. I mean, he is a little rude, isn’t
he?’ Pihu chuckled and added, ‘But I still like him. He is a little