Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 10: A Mothers Dream

Now that we have made some headway in our quest of saving Sophia from the Banerjee's, Monika and I headed back home.

Dad was eagerly waiting for us. He inquired about  Sophia's situation and we informed him that there is no change.

Monika excitedly started telling Dad about the medallion that Master da gifted her, "Papa, look at this." showing him the Raksha medal that Master da presented her.

"Dr. Babul Sen, one of dada’s friends gave it to me."

Dad leaned closer to take a good look at the medallion. He told her admiringly "Monika, this is a Jeevan Raksha Medal awarded for bravery. Dr. Sen must have a good reason for this presentation, congratulations my dear." he paused and looked at me and said "I never knew Dr. Sen was a recipient of a Raksha Medal"

"I don't know dad, he said that our ex-president Dr. S.D. Sharma awarded this medal to him for rescuing some children from a burning building" I replied.

Dad took her in his lap and acknowledged in a pleasing tone, "I am really proud of you my child. As a matter of fact, we are proud of both of you. Today I feel my life is complete, I can proudly say I have raised both of my children well."

Listening to Dad's emotional words, I could not resist asking him if everything was all right.

Dad let on "When you were gone, Mr. Banerjee came by the house today and told me about your meeting with him in the hospital, and how you promised him that you will be there for Geeta. I am happy that you have stepped forward to help someone you barely knew."

I replied "Dad, it's nothing, the hostel life has taught us a valuable lesson to treat friends as our family and cherish them throughout our life. Our well-being depends on the happiness of our friends."

Dad smiled and asked, “What are your plans now?”

I replied "I am thinking of going to the hospital and volunteer to attend Sophia overnight. The Banerjee family must be very exhausted coming all the way from Kolkata and they haven't slept a wink." 

Dad agreed that it's a good idea and allowed me to leave. 

Vikash told dad that he will keep me company in the hospital. Even though it was quite early in the evening, Mom urged us to have our dinner before leaving the house. 

"There is no need to stay hungry," said my mom in a bossy tone.

We arrived at the hospital at around 7 o'clock. I went to Sophia's room and found both Mr. and Mrs. Banerjee sitting next to her. I urged them to go home and take a rest, and let us stay in the hospital for the night.

Uncle's response to my proposal was partial and he insisted on staying at the hospital with Sophia. He asked aunty to go home as the daughters were all alone and would be hungry. Aunty complied and uncle stayed back.

Vikas said that he will be resting in his parked car and left. Uncle sat on the sofa lying in the corner of the room. I pulled up a chair next to Sophia's bed and sat there.

It was very painful to watch that cheerful sweet little girl lying unresponsive on this hospital bed.

I hold her hand and started mumbling, "Sophia, I hope you can hear me; I beg you to please wake up. Think about what your dear friend Monica is going through.”

“Remember all the sacrifices made by Monica because she wanted you to be safe. I urge you to think of your uncle who you know has always loved you more than anyone else in the whole world and finally, think of me and Vikash Dada. We are all missing your beautiful smile. Please wake up."

Suddenly, I felt an arm around my shoulder. I turned around and saw it was Mr. Banerjee.  

He said "Son, my baby is one of the strongest girls I know." he paused for a while and continued "I also know that God always takes care of their children. believe me, she will be alright in no time.” 

He took a deep breath and continued “Besides, I can see that bracelet on her arm. It has the inscription of one of your saints. I guess you are the one who gave her that bracelet. Your faith in your saints will protect her."

I stood up and said, "I just want Sophia to get well soon, sir"

Uncle replied, "I know son, you blame yourself for not being able to protect her." 

"I am sorry, uncle, I don't understand. Why do I blame myself for not being able to protect her" I was baffled.

He let on, "You might be thinking, if you would have stuffed the stockings back into her mouth, maybe she would not have been here."

I asked, "How do you know I was at your place?"

He took out his mobile phone and showed me a video that showed Monica and me entering the residence. I was embarrassed and could barely reply, "I am sorry sir, to have entered your residence stealthily. It's just that I had a strange hunch about Geeta being in the house and some kind of danger and wanted to check out." 

Uncle assured, "It’s fine son. I don't mind your intrusion. However, the next time you decide to enter the house, you should watch out for the hidden cameras. And please don't tell your aunty anything about these cameras. She doesn't know. I would like to keep it that way. Besides, I cannot deny the fact that you were only there to help my dear Geeta."

Saying this, he took out a piece of paper and said: "This shows the layout of the house and the exact position of all the hidden cameras in the house."

I was at a loss for words and could barely stutter out for forgiveness from uncle once again. However, he intervened: "The moment I saw you entering the residence, I could only feel a sense of relief thinking that you being there must have saved my baby from a fate worse than the current one. I truly believe that your intrusion might have saved her life." 

I requested uncle not to ponder about worse fates than this. For some reason, his words assured me that  Sophia is meant to pull through this ordeal.

I could not help but ask Uncle, "If there are hidden cameras in the house, how come aunty doesn't know about it, sir?"

He replied "The only way she could know about those cameras, would be if your aunty would be the one taking care of the house... I guess you might have understood by now who is the one taking care of the house..."

I asked him, "how this happened to Sophia because when we left her in the room, she was fine if not better. If it can be found out from the camera recordings?"

Uncle informed me that he can show me a video provided I promise to keep it a secret.

"I promise, sir, it will be a secret amongst us," I responded.

He allowed me to call Vikash to watch the video. When he reached the room, uncle made Vikash vouch for secrecy. After which, he showed us a video containing the series of events in the aftermath of the basketball match.

When the girls lost the match, they blamed it totally on Sophia and hurt her both physically and emotionally. As I went through the video, it dawned on me that Sophia has been brutalized since the night of the basketball match and it was the third day, following the match, when we found her. I could not believe the content in it. We continued watching the video and saw something really disturbing. I was really surprised by what Darika and Garima made Sophia do that night.

Vikas could not help and react impulsively. He told, if someone forced him to do the stuff  Sophia was made to do, he would have been tempted to end his life. As we continued to watch the video it appeared that things aggravated at a point when a frenzied Aamaya coerced Sophia through something very dishonorable.

I could not believe my eyes at the extent of cruelty shown by the Banerjee girls especially the younger ones. By the end of it, we understood the reason why Sophia is in a coma. 

I asked Uncle why he doesn’t show the video to the cops.

He replied "If I do that, there will be no one to take care of the girls. Darika and Garima are far too young to grow up without a mother."

I could not help but feel angry at Uncle's selfish justification and asked, "So you mean to say that we should just stand by and let Sophia suffer." 

Uncle replied in a calm tone "I have plans for Sophia."

I asked, "Plans, what plans?" 

Uncle replied, "Sophia has a dream to achieve greatness someday. 11 years ago, I made a promise to her mom, my sister-in-law, that no matter how difficult things turn up I will make sure  that she completes her education.”

“A few years ago, we used to live in Koltata, Something happened with led to Sophia getting expelled from school. I suspect that whatever happened was somehow staged by my wife. Sophia was blacklisted from procuring admission to any school in the city.”

“As a legal guardian, I had to ensure that her studies continue without break. So, I got her home-schooled. Of late her academic performance started to deteriorate and knowing fully well that she needed a good school, I started planning her admission to a boarding school which requires her to clear an entrance test.”

“I have been encouraging her to take the test with confidence so that she can guide herself out of this hell. But in-spite of her repeated attempts my child is unable to clear the test for her entry to any boarding school."

I heaved a sigh of relief at uncle Banerjee's effort for Sophia's well-being but also acknowledged the fact that she needed to study more to clear the exam, knowing fully well about the atrocious girls that they would never allow her to concentrate on her studies.

 Looking at Vikash, I could sense that the video was still haunting his mind and he has not heard a single word that Uncle and I just discussed.

I asked Vikash what was troubling him and he replied instantaneously "I don't think aunty and the girls are ever going to stop. Sophia needs someone who can keep an eye on her and safeguard her when needed." and Vikash spat out the plan about getting master da to be Sophia's tutor to Mr. Banerjee.

Thank God he did not lose his mind entirely and manage to skip vital details of our plan.

Uncle responded, "Since long, I have been looking for a competent person to replace her present tutor. This lady doesn't know the subjects well. I couldn't find a good replacement for her, that is why I have to continue with this lady as a makeshift arrangement. Otherwise, I would have fired her a long time ago. Are you sure your friend will be able to mentor Sophia?" 

Vikash replied "Trust me, Uncle, he is a Ph.D. and has done his MSc in Geology. This man runs a school for the children of backward classes to impart quality education for their better future." 

Uncle conveyed his agreement to our proposal and told us that as soon as Sophia regains consciousness, he will fire the teacher and our friend can start as a mentor.

For once I am happy that there was someone in the Banerjee residence who truly cared about the sweet girl, and I hope he means it and keeps his promise.

                                                                          TO BE CONTINUED…

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