Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 38 : The Farewell

The photograph of Aamaya di and I standing close to Aarohi's grave reminded me of the day when Aamaya di did something which made me realize that she is not the person which everyone believed she is.

That was the day I understood the true meaning of sacrifice. You could sacrifice everything and still let the world feel that you are the meanest person alive. Aamaya di had the purest of heart. 

No matter how much I try to be like her, I don't think I would even be half the person she was. 

                                                                  7 years ago

That morning, at around 8:30, am, I called Daniel Dada and told him that I will get his Helen to Aarohi's grave by 10:30 a.m. He was surprised that I was able to figure out who was Helen so quickly.

I replied that maybe I was lucky or maybe God wanted me to find her so that Abhinu could get justice. He told me that Amy didi said that she is extremely grateful to me and that wanted me to be extremely careful from now on.

I left home at around 9:00 after I had my breakfast. I was still having doubts why Amy didi wanted me to be careful. But what I was about to witness in the next few hours, made me wish that I was not present there with Aamaya di at Aarohi's grave.

By 9:15 I was in Aamaya di's place. The moment I rang the doorbell, It was Darika who opened the door for me. 

"Monika di... how are you..." she smiles at me and asked.

"I am fine dear..." I paused and then asked her "is something wrong... it's unusual for you to open the door for me?"

She showed me her 32 teeth and smiled and then said "Normally I wouldn't but you Aamaya di wants Sophia's help and has asked her to be in her room now..." she paused and continued "Its really stupid you know, Sophia is supposed to take care of the house but whenever Aamaya di wants that dumb girl to be with her we are the one who has to do all her work...  b****y dumb bitch..."

I was mad at her when she was referring to Abhinu as someone from the opposite gender, but right now I didn't want to make a scene and so, I decided to keep quiet.. 

She then said, "If you have come for that freak Sophia... then you might be out of luck today?"

 I decided to ignore her remark but I was sure it was going to be difficult for me to ignore it and so I said "Naah... who wants to meet that sissy... I have come to meet Aamaya di..." and stepped into the house.

As I entered the room, Aunty welcomed me and said "Aamaya is waiting for you in her room..." she paused and then said, "I will get Sophia her breakfast and be with you shortly... don't go anywhere without meeting me..."

I smiled and replied "Ok..." and began to walk towards Aamaya di's room.

The moment I was at the door to Aamaya, she caught hold of my hand and pulled me in, and locked the door from inside. Abhinu was sitting on her bed and was trying to put on some lipstick, but the moment he saw me he kept the cosmetics aside and got off the bed, He was wearing a white frock today and had his hair tied to the back like a ponytail. He had a white ribbon on the head as well which held his hair properly to the back. For some reason, he looked beautiful and confident.

As I was about to say something, he spoke up, looked at me, and said "Let me get you some water Monika didi..." and stepped out of the room.

The moment he stepped out of the room, Aamaya di asked me "Monika can I tell you something..."

 "Sure di... anything..." I replied.

"I am so excited to finally meet my brother you know..."

"You brother...!!!" I paused and continued in a surprised tone "I am sorry I don't understand..."

She was about to say something and then changed the topic and said "Monika, remember the girl who approached you... can you tell me a little bit about her please?"

"Who...?" I paused and then asked, "are you talking about Amy didi?"

"yes..." she replied excitedly.

I was surprised at the excitement but decided to tell her about Amy didi anyway. "Amy didi... she was really beautiful... she was tall not very tall but I guess she should be able 5 feet 7. She really has a beautiful voice..." I paused as I was trying to recall something that Daniel dada said: "she is also a doctor... daniel dada addressed her as Dr. Amy Harper"  as I was trying to recall more details about her, I saw something which made me feel that for some reason, Aamaya di's has a resemblance to Amy didi face. Was she somehow related to Amy didi. 

My thought was interrupted when Aunty entered the room and hugged Aamaya di. Abhinu was also standing at the corner of the room, allowing the 2 of them to have their moment together. For some reason, she was crying and said "My child... I have been raising you ever since you were little... and today you are finally reuniting with your family... I hope you will forgive me if ever I have treated you bad..."

Aamaya di wiped Aunty's eyes with her fingers and then said "After I learned the truth from dada... I can never forgive that woman for what she did to me... you are and always be my mom... and no one can take that away from me..." The 2 of them hugged each other as they shared a moment of Mother-daughter bonding. 

I was still confused about what they were talking about. I could see tears in Abhinu's eyes too. Something told me that probably Aamaya di is not returning back.

A few minutes later Aunty let go of Aamaya di and said with a heavy voice "no go... get away before I change my mind..."

As we were about to leave, Aamaya di stepped towards Abhinu and hugged him, and said "Stay safe my brother... I know you have a perilous journey ahead of you... but I promise you Sophia will finally have her freedom..." and then she kissed him on his forehead and bid him farewell.

It felt strange, and everything that was going on at that moment was confusing. But since we were getting late I didn't ask her anything. We began to walk towards Aarohi's grave.

None of us spoke a word as we kept walking towards our destination. As we kept walking I kept thinking about Abhinu. I could still recall the white frock he was wearing and the way he was trying to put on the makeup. It really felt as if he was slowly accepting the fact that he was meant to be a girl.

                                                TO BE CONTINUED...

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