Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 41 : Memories : The Rules

Every time I think about Abhinu and the tattoo they inscribed on his back, it made me hate the family even more. Aamaya di said she was going to protect Abhinu, then how could she let this happen. I finally decided to ask Abhinu what those rules were.

"And what are those rules that you need to follow?" I asked.

He showed me a piece of note that was pinned to a wall near his study table. I started reading the rules that aunty had set and jotted down for him.

1. Wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning.

2. Wear the uniforms that were brought for him from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 5 days a week.

3. Start the day with good morning wishes to each member of the family and a failure will attract punishment in the form of hitting my palm with a cane by each member of the family.

4. Make sure that all your sister's uniforms that include their shoes are cleaned and ironed properly.

5. When your sisters get ready for going to school in the morning or if they go on any outings, help them put on their footwear. The elders of the family should not touch their dirty and stinky footwear and keeping it clean is your priority.

6. All dirty clothes should be cleaned on the weekends with the help of the washing machine to be operated under the supervision of an elder.

7. Always eat food with aunty in her room. The dining table is out of bounds. In case aunty is having her food on the dining table, use the floor and have your food. I should not eat alone.

8. I am allowed to eat as much as I want. No one in the family should stop me from eating whatever I wish.

9. Make sure that your sister's room and the house is clean once they left for school.

10. Go to sleep after each member is asleep.

11. Consider everyone as your elder and start addressing Monika, Darika, and Garima as Didi.

12. Never set foot out of the house.

13. Seek permission to enter any room from your elder.

14. Respond to every order of your sisters with dignity and don’t protest. Respect everyone in the house.

15. There will be no basketball, video games, TV, and music for you.

16.  No more studies. I should never touch any books in the house.

17. If there are any guests in the house, stay inside the room and don’t come out.

18. Failure to follow any of the above-mentioned rules will attract punishment.

19. New rules will be updated as and when required, be prepared for that.

There was another 4 note right below the one I had just read with the name Aamaya, Darika, Garima and Monika written on it. As I was about to read that, Abhinu said "Monika di... these are the specific rules set by the members of the house. Aunty had attached this note which is specific to each member of the house..."

"But why is my name there?"

Well, aunty considers you a part of the family..." he smiled at me and added "You are more than welcome to contribute... I won't mind..."

I decided to ignore the last remark and began to go through the rules. Other than the first rule, the other rules were kinda stupid.

The first one which Aamaya di's name on it, had only one rule in it.

1. I will have to prioritize the orders if multiple members ask me to do something. The eldest member of the family will always have the first say.

For some reason, it felt like a smart move by Aamaya di... maybe she was doing it purposefully to at least make Abhinu's life easier.

But no matter how much she tried, the younger ones would always find a way to humiliate him. What was written in the pieces of paper, for Darika and Garima were disturbing and I really don't want to read it. But from that day, I personally took it on me to ensure that these 2 girls would be bullied every time they set foot outside the house... you know sometimes being popular has its own perks, besides sometimes when you are the only 11-year-old from West Bengal who has brought laurels in the martial art of Kalarippayattu. You tend to make lots of friends who would do anything for you.

I asked Abhinu why does he not tell his uncle about it, especially the rules set by Darika and Garima.

He replied "Aunty has convinced uncle that the 2 girls are too young to even understand that it is wrong, besides they are all elder to me, and uncle believes that after what I have done I have lost my right to call me their elder, so he tells me to consider the 2 of them older to me, and if the elders have thought that by making me do those humiliating tasks, it will help me to control my anger, then they might be right, so uncle is keeping quiet. Perhaps they will let me be Abhinu again if I can satisfy them like a good girl."

It was very clear to me that these rules were set because they wanted to make a slave out of Abhinu to attend all their household work. I knew for sure that they are never going to let him be Abhinu again but decided against pushing further. Deep down, I couldn't believe that people could bully someone to such an extent. What was strange was that Aamaya di was being a silent spectator.

As we were walking towards the balcony, there was something that kept me bugging. It was point number 17, ‘stay inside the room when guests are at home.’ They never mentioned anything about tying him up.

Curiosity got the better of me and I asked him "Why did they tie you up today?"

He replied "The other day, one of Uncle's friends came to our place. As usual, I stayed in the room however Darika didi ordered me to come to her room. I was in a dilemma whether to step out of the room and meet her or ignore her and remain in my room."

"Either way I would be breaking a rule and punishment was imminent. Since her room is downstairs, I decided to take another chance at my freedom and stepped out of the room. I hoped that uncle's friend would notice and enquire about me."

"However, it turned out that uncle's friend was actually Rahat kaka's friend. He was a doctor and wanted to discuss something with uncle about me…”

"It appeared that the doctor was angry with uncle for some reason and shouting at him for letting outsiders see me… later on as the doctor left, everyone in the family screamed at me because I broke one of the rules set for me… and it didn't matter to them that Darika didi was the main culprit responsible for the mess up."

“Aunty came up with the idea of keeping me gagged and bound and asking Rahat kaka to stand in guard by the door to keep an eye on me."

Finally, we reached the balcony and went on to take up the folding chairs. I took his hands, held them tight, and said, "I want you to promise me something."

"What?" he asked.

"Never quit practicing karate. It will help you be mentally strong, overcome all the abuses and make you physically strong."

I stood up and I let go of his hand and pulled him up, I kissed him on the cheek and hugged him tightly. Tears of joy were flowing through our eyes.

I finally said "If my love for you is true, one day I will find out a way to take you away from this hell. In school you gave me a reason to live and be good at my studies, now it's my turn to reciprocate. I will do my best to protect you."

As we were busy in our own world, we heard Darika shout,  "SOPHIA, YOU DEAF GIRL... WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE... SOMEONE IS RINGING THE DOORBELL, GO AND OPEN IT..."

I shouted at Garima "DONT YOU HAVE ANY MANNERS; HE IS ELDER THAN YOU. CAN’T YOU GO AND OPEN THE DOOR YOURSELF." I paused for a while straightened my hair and then shouted again "AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION HE IS A BOY NOT A GIRL GET THAT RIGHT. IF I HEAR YOU CALLING HIM A GIRL AGAIN YOU WILL HAVE TO EAT A LIQUID DIET FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE"

She looked at him and mumbled "I will see you later princess?" and went to open the door herself.

Abhinu touched my hand and said “Monika didi… if you don’t mind… can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure dear… tell me…” I replied.

“Please promise me you will honor the favor?”

I was a little bit scared when he is asking me for favors. I just hoped that it’s not something that I might not be able to fulfill. With a lot of hesitation, I replied “I promise…”

“I want you to please start calling me Sophia from now on… it feels as if I am doing injustice to the name administered at my baptism ‘Abhinu’… now that they are gradually turning me into a girl… and everyone has started to call me Sophia… I guess it will be better for me if I manage to erase every memory that connects me with Abhinu, including the name. Please consider of me as one of your female friends instead…” Asked Abhinu.

What Abhinu requested was difficult for me to accept. How can I let the memory of my best friend disappear because a family conspired to turn him into Sophia? I begged him not to reiterate it, but he kept insisting that I promised him. With a lot of hesitation I finally gave up and agreed to it, provided he agrees that no matter how difficult it gets, he will live his life and will never try anything harsh to end his life. I promised him that I will always be by his side till my last breath.

A couple of minutes later Harsh and Grihamani approached us on the balcony. Upon seeing Soham, Abhinu took a step back fearing that Soham might bully him again.

Soham said "Abhinu, please don't be afraid, we have learned our lesson. We just want to talk to you about something."

We saw them carrying a big box. Harsh gave the box to Abhinu and said that this is a gift for his guardian angel. As he received the gift, both of them bent down on their knees, the same way Harsh asks Abhinu to perform whenever he visited their place earlier. They wrapped their arms around his legs and said, "Abhinu, please forgive us for taking advantage of your misery."

"All the while we considered it funny, but now we have learned our lesson, we know how it feels. Those people have taught us a lesson in bullying which we won’t forget. We promise we will never make fun of you or anybody else in life."

I was very much surprised and shocked by their words and gesture. I was also pretty sure that the guardian angel is none other than Aamaya di herself. 

Initially, I expected it to be a fresh round of insult to humiliate Abhinu but from their expression and the plea in their voice, it became evident that they were scared stiff and sincerely sought his forgiveness. I don't know what Daniel dada did which scared them, but it was evident from their behavior that Daniel dada has kept his promise, and is trying to protect Abhinu without his knowledge.

Indecisiveness cropped up in Abhinu's behavior when they begged his forgiveness. Unable to respond instantly he is probably wishing them to leave like that. But they kept holding him tight and kept insisting: "Unless you say that you have forgiven us, we won't let you go."

It was probably one of the happiest days in my life watching them touching his feet and begging for forgiveness. Finally, after a lot of coercing, he finally gave in.

He opened the box to reveal a beautiful pink colored stuffed bear inside it. I saw the most beautiful smile on his face when he hugged both of them with the bear in his arm and said, "Thank you for this wonderful gift."

The way Abhinu hugged the stuffed bear, is an indication of his succumbing to the conspiracy and accepting his new life as Sophia. To be happy, playing with dolls or stuffed toys is a clear sign of acceptance of his current self.

I decided to do another good thing for my Sophia that day. As I was about to leave the house, I took a pen and wrote in the piece of paper that was stuck to the wall "Don't address Monika as Didi... in case you call Monika didi by mistake you will be punished with a choice of punishment according to Monika's wishes."

Thinking about those difficult days, I finally realized that the time has come for Abhinu to have a safer life. All these days, no one believed in me, but after today, I feel that it is time for Abhinu to be free as a bird. Still clutching the photo album to my chest, I dozed off to sleep.

                                                         TO BE CONTINUED…

                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~