Next day early in the morning, I was standing in front of Rihana’s grave with a bouquet of white flowers. I had got the answer to my question. I put the flowers on her grave.

“Forgive me, Rihana. I started hating you without knowing the truth. Now when I know the truth, I hate myself. You wanted me to become a big writer. One day I will become a big writer. That would be my tribute to you.

I did not know I will have to pay such a big price for loving you. If I had known, I would have gone far away from your life.”

I kept on talking… and she kept on listening without a response. If I had stayed there any longer, I would have cried.

……

I used to love the first picture I had clicked of Rihana from my phone. I had given it to a photo studio to make a large poster, to hang in my room. I wanted her to always remain in front of me and keep reminding me about her unfulfilled dream.

At night, around 10 pm, I picked up the framed poster from the studio, and was returning home on my bike. Suddenly I felt that I was being followed. I didn’t know who they were, but they were chasing me and trying to overtake me. I was holding Rihana’s picture against my chest, so couldn’t speed-up my bike. Whoever they were, I had understood that their intentions were not good. They were 4 men on two bikes, and I was alone. I was scared. I turned my bike in a lane thinking they would not be able to catch-up, but this proved to be a big mistake. They surrounded me. All four of them were about my age.

One of the boys pulled my collar and pulled me down from the bike. Then they started kicking me relentlessly. My shirt got torn, all buttons were broken and my head was bleeding. I had to bear it as I couldn’t fight them back. I was in a very bad shape, but was tightly holding on to Rihana’s picture. One of the boys pulled me up with my hair, and broke my locket.

“Do you know my name, sister-fucker? Didn’t Rihana tell you that she had one more lover? My name is Sahil.” He kicked in my chest and I again fell down on the ground. 

In front of me was Sahil, the man responsible for Rihana’s death. If he had not given my and Rihana’s pictures to Akbar Khan, she would still have been alive. Sahil snatched Rihana’s picture from my hand and trampled it under his feet.

This infuriated me. I was enraged and suddenly felt a surge of power in me. I forgot about my physical pain. I got up, held Sahil by his neck and pushed his head against a wall. I kept on banging his head till it was all smashed. Seeing my anger, rest of the three boys ran away. I kept on thrashing Sahil.

“She is not in this world because of you… you dog. I feel like killing you. But this will not bring back my Rihana to life. Now I only have to fulfill her dreams. If I ever see you again, I will kill all of you.”

I picked up the locket from the road, and retrieved Rihana’s picture from the broken glasses. The picture had got torn into many pieces. I collected all the pieces, and put them in my pocket. 

Now it was the turn of Akbar Khan. I got on my bike and started towards his house. The blood on my face dried due to the wind. When I reached his house, I rammed my bike on the big iron gate. Hearing the noise, two servants came running out, but seeing my bloody face, got scared and kept a distance. I was shouting,

“Akbar Khan, come out”

In a few minutes, Akbar Khan came out on the balcony of his house. Both of us stared at each other.

“How dare you come to my house?” Finally he shouted with anger.

“Yes I am here. Kill me, like you have killed your daughter.” I also shouted angrily.

“I have killed my daughter? She killed herself for a roadside person like you. If I want, I can kill you in a second. But I want you to live and die every second of your life. I will screw your life. My daughter wanted you to become a big writer. I will see how you become one.”

“Use all your might, Akbar Khan. But, if I truly love her, I will fulfill her wish one day. You may have money, but you are not a God.” I said with anger.

“Rascal, I will change my name if I don’t bring you on the road.”

“Open your eyes. I am already on the road. Mark my words, one day you will also come on this road. Try all your might to stop me.”

Though I had openly challenged Akbar Khan, I knew that a task which was already so difficult, was now virtually impossible. Akbar Khan would leave no stone unturned to destroy me. He had both money and power. I had none of these. The only thing I had, was Rihana’s love. Many publishers had stopped my entry in their offices. Whichever Publication house I called, would refuse to meet me after knowing my name. The people who had promised to meet me after a few months, had also refused to meet. But I was also not the one to accept defeat, because now it would not be just my defeat, but also of my love. I had to do it at any cost. Finally after a lot of efforts, owner of a publication house called me for a meeting. I was determined to impress the gentleman.