Page 99 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

rock bottom.

‘Ricky, you’re stubborn and selfish. Now I know exactly why she would
not have come back to you,’ I say and start walking back towards the PG.
Aarav stays back with his foolish uncle, while Parvathi accompanies me.
‘I will talk to mom and set up your visit soon. Maybe we can find
something there.’

‘Thank you, Parvathi. You are the only one that I can trust from the lot.
Thank you for walking beside me.’

As I reach back, some people from the neighbourhood are gathered on
the porch. They are standing in a circular formation. God knows if aliens
have hit the land in between. I see Akkriti standing in the outermost circle. I
walk up to her, ‘What happened?’

‘Lucky died.’
‘What? How?’

‘He did not wake up from his sleep.’
‘He was Maria’s life. She must be so upset. It’s been a terrible day.’

I walk up to Maria as I say, ‘He was a good soul.’
She looks at me with an undeterred face. She is composed. It feels as if

she has come to terms with the fact that he had died long back.
‘The weak try to control others. The strong are in control of themselves.
Maria looks like a really strong person me,’ I tell Akkriti.

‘The pain of parting with anyone is immense. But life is more about how
you look at it than how it really is!’ she smiles. ‘I lost my family at the age
of 5. I have been sold for trade multiple times. I still feel the pain but I can
do nothing about it. Life is like that arrogant DJ who wouldn’t take requests
but play his own music. All you can do is wait till he plays your song and

enjoy it while it lasts.’
She has a point. We keep quiet for a while. In the past few days, I started
to love Lucky too. It just does not go down well with me. First, the fight
with Ricky. Now, this. I can’t even bother Maria about the documents today.

I walk back to my room. ‘How have you been?’ I hear Aarav with a
gentle knock at my door. I don’t know what to say as I don’t know what
would he be more interested in, knowing the truth or having a story that
sells. There is this one thing about people and the whole world in general.

Seldom does anybody want to know or appreciate the truth. Most of the