Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 84 : Jessica Z

A couple of minutes later, the car stopped again at the gate for a security check. Dad rolled down the windows to enable the security guys to check the inside of the vehicle. Once we got the go-ahead, Dad picked up the conversational ball from where mom had left and clarified, 

“After we meet Tribeni Mazumdar, we will stay with them for the night, and tomorrow at about 11:00 O'Clock, we will be joined by Miss Sengupta and together we will proceed to a safe house and stay there till Joe and Abhinu are found.”

For some reason, Aamaya Di didn't throw any tantrums now as she did in the morning. I guess the kind behavior of my parents towards her has knocked some sense into her thick stubborn brain.

                                                            2 hours later

*** It’s been about 2 hours now since we have been on the road. The speed of the vehicle was such that I am unable to gauge out our location on the road. It seemed like we were still inside the city limits. 

It was getting boring, sitting in that enclosed space and doing nothing. Even Mom and dad were keeping mum. However, one thing I must say, these luxury cars are really worth their brand names. It is really comfortable and even with the bad road condition, we were not feeling any discomfort and the long ride was smooth. ***

I looked at Aamaya di and asked: "Di, it is getting pretty boring, let's play something..."

Aamaya di smiled and replied "Yes dear... I agree. The silence and boredom are getting excruciating... You have anything in mind..."

There were no ideas, only car ride games coming to my mind at the moment. As I was deep in thought, I felt Dad slowing down and parking the car on the left side of the road. His cell phone buzzed, and he opened his car door

He turned back to look at me with a beaming smile and glow on his face. I guess it was someone whom I might know. "Honey... there is someone who wants to meet you... you might need to get down."

Dad opened the door so that I could get down. Aamaya di tried to follow me, however, Mom intervened and stopped her.

She said “Honey… It’s better you don’t get down from the vehicle. It’s for your own safety… we don’t know where your father’s many friends and men might be lurking around. If they spot you, our location would be compromised. Besides it’s just one of Joe’s friends who has come to meet Monika, that's why we stopped."

Amaya nodded in understanding and stayed inside.

I followed dad to the other side of the road towards a gas station. Expecting to see a familiar face my eyes were traversing all directions in search of a clue or tell-tale sign. From afar, I caught sight of Koushik dada’s familiar red Honda bike. As we approached it, I recognized it beyond any doubt. However, there were 6 other sports bikes accompanying it in the parking lot with their riders.

All the riders were wearing a similar blue riding ensemble. Three of the bikers approached us. As they took off their helmets, two of the faces felt familiar. One of them was Vikash dada but unable to recall the other face, even though I could briefly recall meeting him somewhere or some time ago. He was probably someone from my past.

I quickly ran towards Vikash dada and hugged him. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you dada..." and let him go.

He bent down a little and gave my hair a good tussle and continued "I am happy to see you, safe sweetheart. You know when I heard about your k********g, I was so worried... but thanks to Mausi and her friends you are safe."

Suddenly he stood up and said, "Meet Jessica... she is a doctor and a very old friend of your dad. Well as a matter of fact she is also related to your friend Abhinu..."

"Abhinu...!!! how do you know Abhinu, didi..."

The lady replied in a serious tone "Let's just say his Dad and I have a long history..." things felt creepy and then she gave a nice smile and began to laugh and continued "Forget about that... by the way hello dear... How are you doing...?"

"I am fine ma'am..."

She gave a loud laugh, looked at Vikash dada, and replied: “I like this little one…” then she looked at me and softly pulled my cheek and continued "Don't call me ma'am... call me Jessica or aunty..."

I smiled at her, shook my head, and replied "Ok Aunty…”

I saw her shake hands with my dad and before they could discuss anything I asked, "But how come you are here?"

"Oh...about that..." she smiled at me and playfully whispered into my ear "I know where your brother Joe and Abhinu are?"

I couldn't believe what I heard and looked at her face in shock, "What...?"

“You heard me, right sweetie... As a matter of fact, we are heading to the place where they are..." she looked at her wristwatch "In 26 hours and 20 minutes you are going to see them. You will be stopping somewhere on the way so there is going to be a little delay."

"But I want you to promise something,” Aunty asked...

“What promise Aunty...?" I asked.

"There is a girl who is with you right now. Abhinu’s cousin… sitting in his” pointing her finger towards Vikash and continued “MD5 with you... Can you promise me that you will not mention anything to her about this? We want to see her reaction when she meets him..." Aunty replied.

"I don’t understand…" I asked.

As Aunty was about to explain, dad, interrupted "Remember I told you about my psychologist friend Dr. Jessica, well she is the one. Once our life is back to normal, we have to make sure there is someone to take care of Abhinu for the rest of his life. He is suffering from some medical and psychological problems because of the intensive surgeries performed on him over the years, and now he will need all the love and care we can give. Moreover, we need to know if Aamaya is up to the task of taking care of Abhinu..."

“What medical problems are you talking about…”

“Well honey… Over the last few weeks, Jessica has been conducting some psycho evaluation of Abhinu and came to know that he doesn’t remember a lot of the things from his past. He doesn’t remember much about Aarohi, and many such significant events from his past. Earlier he was under the influence of some heavy psychedelic drugs which made him sleep peacefully, but now ever since those medications were stopped, it’s giving him sleepless nights. He is unable to trust anyone. Jessica is trying her level best to explain to Abhinu that every person in the world is not like his uncle or Amaya, but it appears to be an uphill task for her to earn his trust and convince him about life without fear. It’s going to take her a long time before she attains success.”

“But why did his medications stopped…” I asked.

“Honey, as the side-effects of those medications were taking a toll on his overall health they had to be discontinued. You just need to know that Abhinu could only be cured by making him mentally strong and make him believe that everyone around him loves him.”

“One final thing honey… I have asked your parents to ask a question to Aamaya which you might not like… But it’s my request, please don’t react to it. It’s only a part of my treatment procedure to get to know more about her.”

I understood what dad and Jessica di meant and agreed to their condition. “I am with all of you… I will do anything to make sure Abhinu gets better…”

Everyone looked at me and smiled. It felt like they admired my response. Suddenly the biker whom I recognized partially but could not quite place, stepped up and asked, “Do you remember me?”

I was still trying to recollect him, but my memory disappointed me. I nodded in a negative and apologized, “Sorry dada… I am not sure… your face seems familiar…”

“I guess it’s been a long time since we met. Perhaps more than 5 years… Do you remember Sam…”

The very word Sam reminded me of her brother Daniel. “You are Daniel dada, right?” as I pointed my index finger towards him.

He nodded his head, winked at me, and replied “You guessed it, right sweetheart… I am Daniel…”

“What brings you here dada… It’s been so long…?”

“Remember, once I told Abhinu that whenever he needs me, I will be there for him.” He stretched his hands in the air and gestured, “Well, here I am… The three of you have always been good to my sister… It’s my turn to return the favor in kind…” he paused a little and then continued "Besides I owe someone a promise and now the time has come to keep the promise."

"What promise dada...?"

"Sorry honey... this is something I cannot tell you... its a family secret..."

Before we could respond further dad spoke up "Koushik, Jessica, I think you guys should leave... Your bikes are fast so you should reach there at least 2 hours before us." 

He further informed us “we need to take a detour to meet up with Tribeni Mazumdar on the way…”

As they climbed on the bikes, Jessica Aunty approached me and whispered in my ear… “I hope you are ready for the dance… Abhinu has been telling me about some dance challenge between the two of you and has been pestering me to teach him… Sweetheart you have got a very tough competition ahead of you.”  Saying this she climbed on the last bike. I suddenly realized that she had hopped onto Koushik dada's bike.

Dad went to them and said, "Please drive safe... and God Speed…"

*** As they started the ride... I saw the most wonderful sight... They drove the bike in the opposite direction for about 200 meters to take a U-turn. All of a sudden, they accelerated the engine at full power and at full speed the six of them suddenly raised the front wheel off the ground and drove past us.

What a show-off... ***

                                                    TO BE CONTINUED…

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