Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 74: Mistake - 1

I woke up with a start. I felt the presence of someone sitting next to me in the bed. I opened my eyes to the sight of my mom looking at me. The concerned look on her face confirmed my fear that there was probably no news of Joe or Abhinu. No one knows where they were or if they were alright. After what I have been constantly reading from Abhinu's journal my intuition was leading me to believe that Uncle Banerjee is somehow involved in their k********g.

My train of thought was disturbed by a familiar voice calling "Honey, is everything alright?"

"Yes Mom, I was just thinking about Dada and Abhinu."

Mom hugged me tightly in her arms as if to squash my worries. She looked worried but was trying her level best not to reveal any sign of stress or fear in front of me.

She replied "Don't worry dear. we will find them very soon. It's just a matter of time before we catch Mr. Banerjee and eventually, everything will be alright." And then dad picked up a glass of water, gave it to me and went and sat on the corner of the room again.

As I was taking a sip, Mom continued in a worried tone “Honey, before we entered the room, we heard you mumbling in your sleep that I need to tell dad the truth about aunty… or else auntie's death would be in vain…” she paused and asked “you want to tell us something sweetheart…”

I decided to finally tell them what aunty told me that day. I began to narrate the sequence of events that I could remember from that day and what aunty told me that day. Finally, when I was done, mom thanked me for telling the truth and told me not to worry, and that mom had a vague idea about who the 3 persons are.

She turned to look at dad and said "Jairus... why don't you tell her who they are?"

I turned to look at dad as he was about to continue "Well sweetie... out of the 3 person, one of them is a businessman names Amell Harper whom by the way you already know him as Aamaya long lost brother. the second is Miss Sengupta, whom you have already met... and finally the last one is an officer from the National Investigation Agency whose code name is the Phantom. Well no one knows his real name and no one has seen him till date... This person is the only person whom your uncle Banerjee is mostly terrified..."

"I know someone who knows who this phantom is?"

I saw a surprised look on dad's face and then he asked "Who ???"

"You... I am pretty sure you already know who the phantom is?" 

Dad smiled and looked at me and then mom suddenly touched my cheek "Honey... to tell you the truth... we have been trying to figure out who this phantom is... we are not even sure if that person is a man or a women..."

"Wow... that person must be really something..." I replied.

Mom continued and said "We suspect a person named Vikram who was sent behind bars. He is the uncle of one of the victims who suffered the same fate as Abhinu," 

As I was about to reply something, Dad who was sitting on the corner of the room, with his legs folded and was looking at his mobile suddenly spoke up "Sweetie, seems like there is some good news."

This was a word that I have not heard since the day of the k********g. With the hope to hear something good, I smiled and asked excitedly, "Does it mean that you have been able to find some information as to where Abhinu or Dada is?"

Sensing my enthusiasm, my mother frowned and clarified, "Well honey... Sorry to disappoint you but it’s something else." she paused for a while, took a deep breath and continued, "Your Nishi Kaku and his team were able to locate Amaya a couple of days back. She was found in a very fragile state and was delirious."

"It looked like she has been deprived of food or water for a few days, maybe from the very day she was kidnapped. She has been given medical treatment in Nishi sir's home and now she is well. He is bringing her to the camp now and should be here in the next couple of hours."

"We believe she might have seen the faces of the kidnappers and we want to try to find out what she knows. Let's hope we find something about them."

I couldn't believe what I have just heard. At least I am happy that Aamaya di is still alive. I looked at dad and asked, "I wonder how she would react when she comes to know about the death of aunty and uncle on the run."

Dad taunted me by saying "Wow... My little angel is all grown up and mature and is talking like an adult."

"Come on dad... I am concerned... she was the only person who was concerned about Abhinu when the universe conspired against him" I replied

Dad sat on the bed and softly pulled my cheek "Its ok honey, I know you are worried, and believe me today is the proudest moment of my life."

"What did I do dad?" I asked.

"I know you have seen a lot of things in the past 9 years. A lot of good things and probably a lot of bad memories which might have haunted you a lot. Amidst all those after what you came to know about Aamaya and what she has done and sacrificed for Abhinu, even though there are times she almost sent Abhinu to his death-bed, your genuine concerns for her reveals a lot about your personality. You ability to judge a person and balancing someone good and bad deeds and finally concluding whether to forgive them or hate them... I am finally convinced that I have raised the 2 of you very well..."

It was a proud moment for me and without giving a blink I hugged dad tightly and didn't feel like letting him go. Suddenly dad patted my head softly with his right hand and then I heard Mom's voice. "Honey... we need to talk to you about something else."

I let go of dad and sat on the bed once again. "What... Mom…"

Dad continued "Honey, there is something I need to confess to you. A grave error in judgment led to the destruction of someone's life. Please don't hate me after what I am about to reveal to you."

"Dad, you are scaring me. What are you talking about?" I asked with a worried look.

"It is a mistake I did 6 years ago; I was given a chance to prevent the trauma that your dear friend Abhinu had to suffer all these years and I failed. My dereliction has led to the dire consequences that have befallen him."

"I don't understand Dad. What mistake are you talking about?" I asked.

Dad continued, "If only I had believed in what Abhinu confided in me that fateful evening, all this pain and suffering could have been averted."

"What are you implying…? Stop beating round the bush dad."

He took a deep breath and continued, "Remember the journal pages your Mom asked you to go through. If you have read them thoroughly, you must have come across the familiar name Jairus Christopher.”

“Yeeeaaaassss… Abhinu’s dad’s letter stated that Jairus Christopher is a good friend and that he would help whenever Abhinu needed him the most…” I replied.

“Well honey…” dad hesitated as he continued “It was none other than I, whom Abhinu met the day he fled from Kolkata and the Jairus Christopher mentioned in that letter is also none other than me…" he paused again as his voice grew heavy and began to studder and continued “He handed me 2 letters that day which he expected me to read them. If only I had not forgotten about those letters, he gave me that day, the series of events that have transpired over the last few days could have been forestalled and nobody would have been in any danger and Koushik would not have been fighting for dear life."

It was getting difficult for me to digest what I was hearing from dad, but I tried to muster up the courage to continue listening to him.

"I nearly forgot about those letters, however one day when your brother came back from the hospital, he left the manuscript on the sofa and went to take a bath. I went through a few pages of the journal and happened to find the name Abhinu Banerjee. The name Abhinu reminded me of the child of Lt. Col. Banerjee. The memories of the past suddenly came rushing back to me. It reminded me of the child I met 6 years ago and the letters he gave me. He had a good resemblance; however, I was not sure of certain facts and so against my better judgment I began searching for the letters he gave to me before he was taken away by the cops."

"After going through the letters, I contacted Dr. Prathama Sen to confirm my doubts."

"What doubts? I don't understand…"

"I had a candid conversation with Dr. Sen about the Abhinu in the hospital. She went on to assert how she believed that Abhinu has been subjected to surgical treatments and transformations which puts his gender identity into question for her. The family might have introduced him as a boy to her, but her own observations and check-up contradicted their words."

"How?"

"She believed that the level of surgeries and medical invasion committed on his body suggested a very long and flawless gender re-assignment process. The frequency and carefulness with which these surgical procedures were conducted appalled her medical consciousness. If I had not intervened and explained to her about his situation, she might have called the police. But it was perfectly clear that Abhinu's identity would have been lost if there would have been any further delay in his rescue."

Dad's voice grew mournful as he continued "I feel bad for my part in not believing his story six years ago. There is a remarkable change in the boy I met 6 years ago and the timid tortured person who was under Dr. Sen's care that day, which has nothing to do with his growing up and everything with the medical nuisances he had to endure these six years."

I was not sure how to react to what I just heard. Should I be mad at dad for not believing in Abhinu that day or be grateful to him that he is doing everything in his power to help him out?

I continued "What was in those letters?"

"Before I tell you about it, there is something else we have to discuss with you first," replied Dad.

"What..." I asked.

"Whatever we are going to tell you, I want you to think properly before you make any decision." It was mom who said that.

"What do you want to talk about dad," I asked.

"We don't know how to break this news to you," they both said together.

I looked at their faces and asked "Mom... Dad... what's wrong... You guys are scaring me..."

"Actually, it has got something to do with your best friend Abhinu" Replied Mom.

Their suspense was about to kill me, "Come on guys... your suspense is killing me."

"Your dad and I are thinking about going to be the god parents for Abhinu." replied mom.

I couldn't believe what I have just heard but then mom continued "We were actually thinking about going for adoption, but in his case, he has an Aunty who lives abroad who is related to him by blood… and right now we have no clue if Colonel Banerjee is still alive after 4 years... so until such day he is found, Abhinu will need someone to protect him, and who could be a better guardian then his Aunty and we taking care of him... This way we can also get salvation for all the wrongs that humanity had done to him…" he paused and after an abrupt pause continued “so..." 

I interrupted mom, hugged her tight, and replied: "I am with the two of you, he will need a family he can trust... and who could be better that us."

"Before you make any decision, I want you to hear us first." said mom.

I let go off her and replied "ok..."

You see your dad did a mistake a few years ago... and after hearing about it... we want you to take the final call and decided if you still think we are the right family to trust?" 

I was surprised at her question, and then she continued "I think your dad would be the right person to tell you everything."

Dad started "When Abhinu was born, I was asked to be his godfather. Abhinu's mom was an ardent Christian hence he was also baptized. Lt. Col. Banerjee was a few years senior to me. During my first field posting he was at INS Baaz and I happened to meet him. INS Baaz is a Joint-Services Armed Forces base and even though he was in the Army, he was posted there for 3 years. Even though we were colleagues, we became really good friends."

"We had an understanding that if anything would have happened to either of us, we will take care of the other family. When Abhinu was 2 years old, Col. Banerjee lost his wife to cancer."

"Abhinu was very young back then. He probably doesn't even recall his mom at all. His dad decided to raise him all alone. Lt. Col. Banerjee's was later posted to Ladakh and I was assigned 2IC of INS Magar. We didn't see each other after that. A couple of postings and then one day I came to know that Lt. Col. Banerjee has been martyred. His last posting was in Purulia with the Military Intelligence. He shared a letter with me where he told me that he had been assigned a deep undercover mission with the National Investigation Agency, and because of that mission, he had to leave his only son with his sister's family and requested me to keep a watch over his child."

                                                     TO BE CONTINUED...

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