Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 18: Long Awaited Goodbye

I requested Vikash if I could sleep in his car as I was in dire need of some rest after having to remain awake for 18 hours straight.  He told me to go ahead.

Before going off to sleep, I cautioned him that if Aunty or the girls do come to visit Sophia, he should wake me up. I got into his car and dozed off to sleep in the comfortable back seat.

I was not sure for how long I slept but my deep slumber was broken up by a commotion occurring right next to Vikash's car.

As I got off the car, I witnessed Mrs. Das apologizing fervently to Vikash. I approached them and asked her what had happened, and she requested an opportunity to talk with Master Da or Miss Sengupta and continued.

"Right after you left my house the day before yesterday, a few policemen and a couple of men from the army stormed into my house, showed me a warrant, and started rummaging through my entire property turning it into a mess.”

“They kept asking me how I know Tribeni Majumdar and what is my connection to him, and why was there a regular deposit of thousands of rupees into my account every month.”

“I told them that I didn't know any Tribeni Majumdar and the only reason I had a steady deposit of that large sum of money in my account was that I was getting paid to teach Sophia."

I couldn't believe what I just heard. Mr. Banerjee is paying her thousands of rupees every month to teach Sophia. My god, that's an unreasonable amount. Normally for a few hours of tuition, the usual charges are about a few hundred rupees.

Why the Banerjee’s are paying her such a huge amount?

Is she blackmailing the Banerjee's?

I wanted to interrupt her, but some of my senses directed me to listen to her first before coming to any conclusions.

She continued "They kept questioning me the whole night and I told them repeatedly that I really don't know Tribeni Majumdar. They further added that if I didn't know Tribeni Majumdar, how come a call from my house to his phone number has been traced. They even doubted my remuneration as Sophia's teacher and enquired why anybody will pay thousands of rupees just to teach one child. They were obstinate in their belief that I was not telling the truth."

As I was listening to her continuous rant, Vikash very calmly browsed his mobile phone and finally interrupted "Tribeni Majumdar is the most wanted Naxalbari Movement leader, whom the police and the military have been searching for the past 24 years. Nobody has seen or heard from Tribeni Majumdar since 1972," Bangla news has reported the following news:

*** Purulia: The Intelligence Bureau has found proof that the infamous Naxalbari movement leader Tribeni Majumdar is alive when they intercepted a call from a house in Purulia to his phone. An investigation is underway by police to confirm the authenticity of the call. The suspect is currently on bail. If the call is authenticated, the suspect may be arrested under Militancy Act."***

Listening to this news, I remembered what happened on the day of our visit to Mrs. Das. It was not difficult to connect the dots together and realize that this was Master Da's plan in action.

"I... I don't believe it... Master da had managed to create confusion in her-self assessment." I could not help but smile at the evil but justified ingenuity of Master Da.

"Please let me talk to him, he is the only one who can save me from this ordeal," begged Mrs. Das.

I replied, "I am not sure where he lives, but let me propose something to you. Why don't you go and meet Sophia, you know she has regained her consciousness. Apologize sincerely for not being a good teacher to her and pray for her forgiveness. This is just my advice."

“If you follow my advice, I will try to convince Miss Sengupta to save you from your current plight. She is the only one who can save you now."

Mrs. Das did not resist and straight away rushed into Sophia's room. Her frantic steps made it seem like she was being chased by some rabid dog or she is trying anxiously to find some direction to escape our company. Vikash and I followed her hurriedly.

As we entered the room, Sophia's face paled in fright at the sight of Mrs. Das.

Mrs. Das politely asked "How are you doing my child. Are you feeling better now?"

Sophia softly replied, "I am feeling a little bit better Ma’am. Maybe in a few days, I will have the strength to walk properly too."

"My child, I just wanted to tell you, I am really very sorry for treating you badly. I know there is nothing I can do which can take away the pain that I caused to you. But if you think you can find a sliver of forgiveness for your teacher, please accept my apology." saying this Mrs. Das folded her hands and directed a remorseful glance towards Sophia.

I was not buying this display of remorse from Mrs. Das but for Sophia's sake, I did not say anything. It felt good seeing her beg and her arrogance shattered.

Sophia tried getting down from the bed but she was far too weak to stand up and pleaded, "Ma’am, please don't say that, you are my teacher, you should not be saying sorry to me, you are embarrassing me. please don't do that."

Mrs. Das continued her efforts to convince Sophia for forgiveness. Finally, after a lot of begging Sophia expressed her consent to close the embarrassing chapter.

Watching Sophia concede to her teacher's request, Monika burst out in a loud voice, "I WANT YOU TO ROT IN HELL; YOU DON'T DESERVE MY FRIEND'S FORGIVENESS."

Hearing Monika's raised voice, Mom, Dad, and Mr. Banerjee rushed into the room.

I was shocked at what Monika had just said. I turned and saw her raving in an angry tone, "Instead of teaching Sophia how to solve Maths problems, teach her science and English, do you remember what you taught her... I really don't want to divulge in front of these people what you made her do, instead of teaching."

As Mrs. Das was struggling to respond and uttering something incoherently, Monika continued aggressively, "I AM NOT DONE YET. LET ME ASK HER 2 QUESTIONS IF SHE CAN ANSWER THEM CORRECTLY, I WILL SEEK HER FORGIVENESS ON BEHALF OF YOU."

She looked at Sophia and said "Can you tell me how much is 15 multiplied by 15? This is easy."

I saw a blank look on Geeta's face as she fumbled for an answer.

Monika continued "Ok forget that question, you must be very exhausted right now and might not have enough patience or strength left for mathematical problems but let me ask you something else. This is a simple one for children of our age, Can you name the current President of India?"

The blank expression on her face persisted. It finally dawned on me that she has not taught anything useful to Sophia for the past 6 years. It felt like she has been duping Mr. Banerjee into paying absurd amounts as her fee but cheated the innocent child in her pursuit of knowledge. This is the reason why Sophia was unable to clear any entrance exam for her admission to boarding school.

Monika turned and addressed me in the same aggressive tone, "Bro, why don't you ask her what did she do during the last 6 years whenever Sophia needed to prepare for the entrance exam."

The same question-making rounds in my mind so asked Monika instead, “What did she do?"

Monika lifted the blanket which covered Sophia's feet and showed a huge scar mark on her right ankle. "LOOK AT THIS BRO, CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW SHE GOT THIS?”

“Sometimes back in 1996, once Sophia begged her to teach something useful so that she can perform well in an exam which was less than a week away but she replied that she should not bother, people like her don't need to study. Then I started to help her as much as I could, without Mrs. Das’s knowledge, so that she could clear the test.”

“But I could not do any miracle in such a short time. She appeared in the examination but failed miserably. Although I tried to extend my secret teaching mission with Sophia but failed to continue under the strict vigil of Mrs. Das. The same pattern continued in all her later attempts at any exam. But slowly she started discouraging Sophia in her studies and appearing in the examination.

"In a later attempt when Sophia tried to resist and tried to force herself out for an exam centre, she took a mop with an iron handle and hit her on the ankle, fracturing her leg in the process. They had to put a rod to get her leg fixed. This is the surgery mark."

"You know, every-year during the winter she suffers from extreme pain and uses an ankle crutch to walk, but this woman is least bothered. She does not have any sense of guilt in her mind about what she did to her. Does she deserve forgiveness for all these wrongdoing?"

I was having difficulty processing what I have just heard.

Vikash turned to Sophia and urged her "Dear, please confirm if Monika is telling the truth? Don't be afraid of Mrs. Das, if all this is true, I promise you to deliver justice instantly."

Mrs. Das kept looking at Sophia probably to coerce her not to tell the truth, Sophia was so frightened in the presence of Mrs. Das and burst into tears and softly whimpered, "Vikash dada, Monika is speaking the truth, she keeps telling me that PEOPLE LIKE ME don't deserve any education."

"Then what do you deserve my dear... did she tell you that?"

Sophia was silent and then Vikash looked at Mrs. Das and demanded, “mind telling me what do you mean by PEOPLE LIKE HER... explain it?"

Mrs. Das uttered something unethical in response to Vikash's demand which made my blood boil in anger. I could barely control myself. Had Mrs. Das not been a lady, I would have broken her jaw. For that simple reason, I was unable to act on my whim and work on curbing my wrath. I heard a loud thud and found Mrs. Das lying on the floor with her nose bleeding profusely. I could not understand what the hell just happened.

Suddenly I saw mom, shaking her right hand as if it was hurt. “Damn… that hurts... I should start hitting the gym again…”

Looking at my stunned face she replied "I know son, you were restraining yourself because we raised you like that, but I couldn’t and gave her what she deserved. This woman has no right to use that filthy word against a child and I consider her an offender in a true sense," and without further deliberation, mom landed another kick on Mrs. Das.

I never knew, my mom was a fighter and very good at landing punches. I was proud of what she just did. Mrs. Das writhed in pain on the floor and kept mumbling that she is going to complain to the cops.

As she rose to walk out of the room, Mom stopped her, "Where do you think you are going? There is someone who wants to talk to you. You are not going anywhere right now."

We surrounded her to block her exit and waited for some more time. About half an hour later, Miss Sengupta accompanied by a couple of lady constables arrived and arrested her.

Miss Sengupta informed her, “Mr. Banerjee had raised a complaint against you for child a***e. We are arresting you under sections 23, 24, and 26 of the Indian Penal Code."

Mrs. Das started her usual rant of not being guilty of any such crime and how she was innocent and falsely framed but Monika's testimony was more than enough to send her behind bars. As she was being taken away, a group of men in armed forces uniform led by the same person who came to meet Sophia and Monika earlier in the day stormed in.

Miss Sengupta and the officer discussed something outside the room and Miss Sengupta asked her subordinates to hand over Mrs. Das to the M.P.(Military Police) stating that it’s  M.P's case now as she has been booked under the militancy act.

Master da really outdid himself. How come he knew one of the most wanted men in West Bengal and how did he frame Mrs. Das.

As she was being dragged away, Miss Sengupta requested the officer if she could have a quick word with the accused. Upon their permission, she whispered something into her ear and asked the army personnel to take her away.

Amidst all these happenings, Mrs. Banerjee finally made her entry into the hospital. She had an excited look on her face.

She approached Mr. Banerjee and asked, “Isn’t she Mrs. Das, our Sophia's teacher. Why is she been taken away by those army men?"

Mr. Banerjee looked at her and replied "The army has proof of her link with some extremists elements so they booked her under Militancy Act."

Mrs. Banerjee's face turned pale and she exclaimed, “Thank god, she didn't attempt anything serious with us and the army could find evidence against her."

"Trust me, she would have been behind bars anyway," replied Mr. Banerjee.

"I... I don't understand... what are you implying?" asked, Mrs. Banerjee.

Mr. Banerjee responded in the same line as Monika described her offenses earlier. He repeated with a slight twist "In spite of charging an exorbitant fee as Sophia's home teacher she has not done anything to teach her. Besides, Mrs. Das was responsible for her right ankle injury which required surgery for its correction, and not our Aamaya whom we have been suspecting all along. The police were here to arrest her but the army beat them to gain her custody."

I saw a contented look on aunty’s face when Mr. Banerjee was describing Mrs. Das, probably she came to know for the first time that her daughter has not done something bad for Sophia. I am pretty sure Aamaya might look tough on the outside, but she definitely cares for Sophia.

Aunty took leave and went to Sophia's room to meet her. I followed her too and found Monika sitting in the bed next to her.

As aunty entered the room, I saw Geeta struggling to get up. Aunty gestured her not to move, went near her and stroked her hand soothingly against her head and said "How are you doing my child? Are you feeling better?"

Sophia replied softly "I am fine aunty. I shall be well in another few days."

Aunty addressed both of them together in a comparatively feeble voice, “I hope both you remember the promise I made to you when we first came to Purulia.” She paused, took a deep breath and looked around as if to ensure that no one was around and continued, “Girls… the time has finally come… The Phoenix called me today, he has taken care of Abhishek..."

At that moment I heard something which surprised me "Thank you Maa... I really don't know how can I thank you for this..."

I was surprised when Sophia called Mrs. Banerjee Maa, however, what Aunty replied was something I never expected "Honey you don't have to thank me... Maa Kali had given me this opportunity to atone for my sins, maybe that is a way for her to tell me that I have been a coward my whole life and for once I need to stand up and say no to Jafar's misdoings," she paused and gave Sophia a hug and said "If you really wish to thank me... promise me that if something happens to me, you will ask the Phoenix to honor my sacrifice by not cremating me, but bury me next to my Allan and you will not shed a single tear for me..."  

As Sophia was about to say something, the doctor entered the room and announced, "Everyone needs to leave the room for some time, the child is exhausted and needs to sleep. I can allow only 2 people to stay here for the night."

All of us went out while the doctor examined Sophia.

Aunty volunteered to stay for the night. Miss Sengupta also wanted to stay with aunty and convinced uncle to go home.

Uncle decided to take the girls home. Dad gestured me to stay in the hospital in case there is an emergency, and left home with Mom and Monika.

Vikash, as usual, said he will be downstairs in his car. I was feeling tired and went with Vikash to the cafeteria to have dinner and finally went to his car to take a short nap. As I closed my eyes, all I could remember was the happy smiles of my sister and Sophia, and the discussion they had about the Phoenix, Abhishek, and the sacrifice by Aunty. Will all the thoughts in my mind, I fell into a deep slumber.

                                                          TO BE CONTINUED…