Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 95 : The Surprise

We started walking towards the marketplace. Master Daa has also accompanied us to the village, where we have been staying for the past couple of weeks.

Jessica suddenly asked, “Abhinu, why don’t you take Master Daa to the market and buy him a thank you gift?” She paused and placed her hand over Abhinu's shoulder and said "Remember everything Joe told you about master daa... and how much he had to sacrifice for your freedom..."  handing him a 50 rupee note.

“Ok didi…” he replied and holding Master daa’s hand proceeded towards Uncle Singh's shop.

Master daa was hesitant at first but Jessica insisted that he should go with Abhinu.

*** We waited for them on the other side of the road. As we waited for them, my mind still kept thinking about the dream that I kept seeing every single day of my life, and now after what is happening around me, I can never be the same person anymore. 

About 25 minutes later, we saw the two of them come back. Master Daa had a smile on his face. It was the proud smile of a teacher when his student has excelled at something. ***

As they approached us, I asked “Master Daa… what happened… you seem happy…”

He looked at me and replied… “I just happened to see the most extraordinary feat…this young man is truly gifted…” as master da was about to say the next statement I saw tears in Abhinu’s eyes, “He was able to buy something worth 76 rupees for only 45 rupees. To tell you the truth even I don’t have the talent to bargain so well…” he paused for a few seconds and continued “You are teaching him well son… I am proud of you…”

I saw Abhinu return the remaining 5 rupees to Jessica.

I could still see tears in Abhinu eyes and couldn’t stop myself from asking him “Why are you crying Abhinu… Is anything wrong…?”

He looked at me and suddenly hugged master Daa by his waist…

“My ears have been longing for seven very lengthy and torturous years to hear the word YOUNG MAN. I was beginning to lose my true self. I was very near to deluding myself into transitioning to the spirit of the opposite gender. The last few days whenever anyone addresses me as who I am, I couldn’t control my emotions and end up with tears in my eyes…”

Master da bent down and reciprocated by hugging Abhinu and supplemented “Son… I really cannot express my inability in perceiving how you are feeling right now no matter how much I try… I can reach nowhere near the truth and intensity of your suffering, but what’s done is done, the past cannot be changed, but we can surely try to secure a better future for you…” master daa paused a little and then said "Well to be frank... not just me, there are only 2 people in the world who actually understand what you went through in the past 7 years..." he paused again and then looked towards Jessica for a few seconds and then looked towards Abhinu and said "one of them is actually helping us get the evidence to incriminate your uncle and send him behind bars once and for all..."

"Really sir... is there really such a person... I though I was the only one who suffered this way..."

"Well buddy... the man who is helping us get the evidence, was the first victim of your uncle..."

"So you mean to say... that man also had all these surgeries and almost turned into a girl..."

"Well not exactly... I don't know much about him, but what I do know is that the doctor had to stop the experiment on him midway, It was believed that he suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder after only a few days of living up as a girl. One day one of the doctor's henchmen was killed in mysterious circumstances and it was believed that the doctor has actually asked that man to try to physically a***e him but he instead ended up dead... there was a police investigation and the doctor had to stop his experiment to make sure their illegal experiment doesn't come into the limelight..."

"Wow... I wish I could meet this person one day..." 

“Maybe Kiddo, One day you definitely will... Always remember son… after every sunset comes a new sunrise” continued master Daa “and that goes for you too Joe” pointing his right index finger at me.

I could understand that Abhinu felt comforting knowing that he was not alone who suffered the fate of living a dual life... At-least I was, I am going to make my own destiny and I will make sure my parents will be proud of what I am going to make out of my life.

Master daa then asked Abhinu if he can pick him up in his arms, which Abhinu responded positively without any hesitation. As we were walking towards our home Jessica receives a call.

“Hello…”

“Yes Vikram… tell me…”

“Now…" 

"where…”

“Namchi”

“Ok…”

She kept repeating the word Ok and Hmmm… a couple of times and then she disconnected the call…

“Is everything alright aunty…” Asked Abhinu…

“Actually dear… I have just received a call from an old friend, he wants us to come and meet him in Namchi.”

“What’s there…” asked Abhinu

“You will know about it soon…”

About 10 minutes later we reached our home. Master da drop Abhinu down and Jessica asked him to get ready.

As an afterthought, she added “why don’t you wear the uniform I bought for you the other day… you are going to look pretty appealing young man…”

I saw him smile and leave the room.

As Abhinu left, Jessica looked at us and informed us: “Joe, master da, It was a call from one of Shabnam Mausi’s friends, and they have caught the occultist you were looking for and they want us to meet him.”

“I will go with you guys,” I replied.

Master Daa replied “I will go with you too… I am not letting Abhinu out of my sight not even for a moment.”

“Ok then… I need to call up a few more guys too…” replied Jessica

As she was about to make the call master Daa interrupted “Make sure that the IG and the Brigadier has no knowledge about this. Tribeni dada and I have decided not to inform any of these officers in uniform about these bastards, unless it is absolutely necessary that they need to be informed.” as Jessica was about to continue with the calls, master Daa interrupted again “that included Maanya too…”

Jessica agreed to what Master Daa said and started making the calls. After a while, she looked at master Daa and said “Master Daa there is someone I will have to inform even though you or Tribeni sir might not like the idea."

Master daa looked confused as he continued "Whom are you referring to?"

 It's Joe’s parents… they need to know about this.”

“But why…” I asked.

She looked at me and said “Joe you dad and Mom” she paused and continued “They want me to keep them in the loop, so that if things go out of hand, they can handle the two officers.”

She then looked upwards, probably to check if Abhinu was not around, and then turned to look at me and continued "You parents have a plan... I don't know what that is, but it is imperative that they have every single bit of information we have about whom we meet or where we go..."

Maybe that was the thing that my parents wanted to tell me. Maybe they will tell me all about it at the right time.

Master Daa also didn’t say anything and Jessica made the phone call. She had a pretty long conversation for about 10 minutes, and once she was done, I saw Abhinu entering the room too. He was wearing a blue riding pants and a jacket with knee-length riding boots.

“Why don’t the two of you get ready and meet us here in 20 minutes,” asked Jessica.

                                                        ***20 Minutes Later***

*** As I came out of the house, I saw Vikash and his friends waiting for us on their bikes. There was Vikash’s white luxury MD5 parked there too and Master da was standing next to it. There were 4 other men with him introduced by Master Daa as his friends. They were also from the underground, unlike master daa who has surrendered, they are still active members of the underground. 5 minutes later Jessica came out. ***

“Let’s not waste any more time. We need to go and return back before the IG and the Brigadier wakes up.” Master Daa commented.

We all agreed to it and the journey began. Abhinu wanted to ride with Jessica. I rode pillion with Vikash and the rest of them drove alone. Master Daa and his friends drove the MD5. We rode for about 35 minutes and then they took a detour. This was a real bad patch of the road but these sports bikes were really amazing. I wonder how is Master Daa feeling. I must say, Jessica is a wonderful rider, and with a 13-year-old child riding pillion with her, she is really keeping the bike steady.

We rode in the bad patch for about 15 minutes and finally came to a halt. There was a dilapidated hut in front of us. There were no houses around for miles except for this broken hut. There was another SUV with black tinted windows parked next to the hut.

As we approached the hut, we saw someone coming out of it. I have never seen that guy before in my life. Jessica, Abhinu, Master Daa, Vikash, and I entered the hut. The rest of them stayed outside to keep a watch over the house.

As we entered the house, we saw a strange sight, a man was lying on the floor, semi-n***d, and his hands were chained to the grill of the window. He has been beaten up pretty badly.

As I was about to ask something a man stepped out from the shadows and stood Infront of Abhinu. He placed his hands on his knees and bent down a little and asked excitedly “Kiddo… do you remember me…?”

                                                         TO BE CONTINUED...

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