Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 99 : The Selection

Jessica looked at me and said, "Joe, I want you to select all the male members in your team..."

"Ok...!!!" I replied with a lot of hesitation in mind and then asked her "But why Jessica..."

"Nothing... Something just popped my mind... and I want to try something..."

I decided not to argue, I guess it might be one of Jessica's healing procedures to ensure Abhinu is comfortable with all the girls in his team...

She then looked at Abhinu and continued “Honey I know it would be difficult, but I want you to ask Aamaya to be in your team.”

By the look on Abhinu’s face, he appeared to be a little uncomfortable but let Jessica continue. “You can ask me to be in your team too…” As Abhinu smiled Jessica continued “I am a pretty good player honey… you can count on me…”

I saw Abhinu smiled at her as she said she is a good player and then out of the blues Vikash interrupted, “Abhinu Beta… do you think your brother Vikash can be in your team too…”

Abhinu got up from his seat and hugged Vikash by his neck and replied “Of course Dada why not…” and then Abhinu turned to look at Jessica as if asking her to allow Vikash to be on his team atleast.

Jessica continued “Actually Vikash, I want you to be on Joe’s team and Joe should ask Capt. Sagar, Capt. J.P. and Commander Christopher to be a part of your team too.”

“We will need two more members, leave that to me, I will get them.”

I was not sure what Jessica was up to. What is it with the basketball match?

 Now looking towards me she continued, “Joe, I want you to talk sweetly and give these packets to Aamaya and ask her to wear this marked one during the match” and she handed me over 3 packets from the gifts she bought from the store.

I tried to peep inside the marked packet to check what they actually contained, and Jessica continued “Don’t open them, it contains a white top with the portrait of Lauren Jackson imprinted on it, a thigh length skirt, a pair of white stockings and finally a pair of knee-length wedge boots.”

The particulars of the clothing as specified by Jessica, reminded me of the clothes Abhinu was made to wear on the day of the basketball match.

I felt like Jessica was reading my mind when she spoke again, “Do you remember the day of the basketball match, You told me how Aamaya and her sisters tried to play prank with Abhinu that day… I think it’s time to give her a taste of her own medicine…”

“And finally, one last thing, we all know you both have a sweet feeling for Aamaya,” looking at me and Vikash she continued “and because of this self-indulgent liking you might have a second opinion about troubling her, but you need to trust me on this. Remember something, Aamaya is underage that is why Miss Sengupta has agreed to take care of her and be her legal guardian, we must ensure that she is ready to live a normal life. She is a teenager and not mature enough to differentiate between right and wrong.”

As Jessica had done her talking, Vikash came in “Jessica… remember one thing, the first day I met this boy, he called me dada. Back then I didn’t know his true identity, but that day I have a vague conviction that he was the only one in that family who talked to me with respect. What I mean is every young girl ends up calling me dada, but his expression was different and it appeared to be the only one who actually meant it… and when a brother comes to know that his siter is in trouble, how can he look the other way” He turned to look at Abhinu and said “Remember what I said the day I met you in hospital…”

Abhinu replied “Yes dada… you said that I will always be your Sophia… and that you always take care of me…”

“Aaaand…” asked Vikash

Abhinu replied “I will still be that sweet girl Sophia even though I become Abhinu for the rest of the world…”

Vikash looked at Jessica and continued “You know Jessica, I might not be as learned as you when it comes to human psychology, but when I came to know about Abhinu I consulted a psychologist just to understand and get some details of all acts that will be harmful and beneficial to Abhinu’s all-round development…  I even asked him if I call him Sophia, will that be a problem… I was advised that normally they wouldn’t recommend it during his recovery years, however at times calling him by that name would remind him of his indomitable spirit of survival against all odds. His hope of seeing the sunlight one day gave him the strength to survive every moment of his life. This would help him recover from the trauma much faster than expected.”

He looked at Abhinu and spoke “Beta… frankly I don’t know about other culture, but in our tradition, there is a saying, ‘For a brother, a sister is his soul mate and the best part of him.’ The day you came to my life, your presence reminded me of the younger sibling I always wanted…”

I saw Vikash picking up a tissue paper from the dashboard of the MD5 and rub the tears off his eyes. Neither Jessica nor I had any words to comfort him. I have known Vikash since the day he headhunted me for training with SAI. Amidst all this Abhinu’s eyes were wet too. 

I finally decided to make amendments to the situation and intruded, “Jessica, don’t mind me interrupting you, but I think you guys have forgotten the makeup kit for Aamaya…”

They all looked at me in shock and Jessica started going through the bags and took out a box. She smiled and replied “How clumsy of me, I nearly forgot… you know…” she looked at Abhinu and continued “this cute little gentleman sitting next to me makes me forget everything…”

“HA HA HA…” we all started laughing at the same time and then Jessica spoke again. "There is one last thing."

"What Jessica..." asked Vikash.

"Well I have something in my mind... but I will need the opinion of the 4 of you before we do that?"

"What do you have in mind Jessica?" I asked.

"Well as you all know how Aamaya and her family treated Abhinu for 7 years..."

"Yeeeaaassss...!!!" we all replied together.

"Well maybe at times she might also have protected Abhinu," she paused a little and then continued "but then one good deed cannot outweigh your 10 evil deeds..."

"What are you implying?"

"When the match starts," she looked at Vikash and continued "I want you to tell your friend Joy to make fun of Aamaya, more like tease her and her costume as she enters the field..."

 Before anyone of us could say a word, Abhinu Interrupted her "No aunty... I don't want to be a part of this... this is not right... they may have treated me bad, but that doesn't mean we should also do the same... what will dad think about me when he knows we did this..." 

At that time even Vikash agreed to what Abhinu said and I also supported the 2 of them. At that moment Jessica began to smile and gave a high 5 to Vikash. The 2 of us were totally confused at what just happened and then she said "well bacha... the thing is, after what happened today morning, Vikash and I came up with this plan where I would tell you about this situation and wanted to see your reaction... this totally proves that a part of you forgives her for treating you cruelly..." 

And then Abhinu said something which surprised us totally. "Aunty... Aamaya di is not that bad as all of you think she is... you know Monika always kept saying 'The Truth is Always Stranger than Fiction' when you know the truth about her, you will also forgive her."

"Then what was it this morning, were you guys playing along with us?"

"No Aunty... I will never forgive her... there were days when her tortures made me miserable... my body would ache, I would cry in pain... and no one would land me a shoulder to cry on... but then there is another truth as well, after any tortures, she would also be the one to apply ointments on my wounds, tuck me in the bed at night, and whenever I would have nightmares she would tell me that she is my mom send from the heaven to give me relief from the nightmares... well that part might be an imagination too because you see, I would be heavily sedated every night because of the effects of the steroid meds I had to take" He paused and then said, "She was such a 2 faced snake that you cannot even predict whether she is a good human being or a monster in human clothing..." 

We all were lost for words. This little child has seen so much at such a young age. I just hope no one else suffers the same fate he suffered. But then the truth is there are more kids just like Abhinu in various parts of the country and there is someone out there who is trying to rescue them as I kept thinking. 

At that very moment, Jessica again reminded us that we were still 30 kms away from the village and its nearing 1 p.m. and everyone might be awake.

Vikash suddenly said “Everyone… please hang on tight… and tighten your seat belts…”

“AA… OOO… GOD PLEASE PROTECT US…” I suddenly shouted…

“What happened Joe?” asked Jessica

“Na…Na…Nothing… you just hang-on tight… you will know soon enough…” I replied.

*** What happened next was really something we would never forget. The distance between Meli Police Check Post to our village is about 30 km and the road has lots of twists and turns, We saw the real potential of Vikash’s driving and the power of MD5 on a hilly road.

By the time we reached the village it was about 1:05 P.M. Koushik has instructed the rest of the riders not to bring the bikes anywhere near Captain Sagar’s home. That is the place where arrangements for our food have been made till everything has been settled.

Jessica promised Vikash that she will never sit on the vehicle ever in her life if Vikash would be driving. 

We were very hungry and decided to rush to have our food. Jessica asked us to leave the bags in the car for the time being and we will take care of them later. Master Daa and Vikram have not reached yet. Even though there was a dining table in the room, everyone decided to sit at random and have their food. Mom, Dad, Nishi Sir, and Brigadier Shahi were sitting on the sofa having their food. There was Joy and Sanjay standing near a pillar. Monika and Aamaya were alone and sitting separately. Abhinu picked up a plate of food and went to sit with Monika and I decided to sit next to Aamaya. Jessica went and sat next to mom.

It took us about 30 minutes to complete lunch. There was a tradition that was followed in the village. During lunch and dinner, no one is allowed to leave the company with whom they were having food until the last member has cleared their plates. I was the last one to complete. ***

Once we were done, as per our plans Jessica left her seat to make an announcement. She took a water tumbler and with a spoon softly tapped it to gain attention. Everyone turned towards Jessica and she started, “Before we disperse, I would like to make an announcement… there will be a basketball match today at around 3:30 PM… I request all of your kind presence in the field…”

Everyone started to nod their head in agreement as Nishi sir enquired “Who will be playing…?”

“Actually sir… a month ago… Abhinu had challenged Joe for a basketball match, and since the two lovebirds” looking towards Monika and Abhinu “are finally united… I guess what a better day for the match would be, than today…”

“Since you have already planned everything, I guess you might have decided who all are playing as well…” Nishi sir asked.

“Well, sir… that we haven’t… I wanted Joe and Abhinu to pick up their own teams.” She stopped a while and continued “well if you can spare another 10 minutes, we can select the teams, and finally without wasting any time we can start the match on time.”

Following a unanimous response, Jessica asked me and Abhinu to step forward to pick their teams. As planned Abhinu asked Jessica and Monika to be on his team and I asked Capt. Sagar and Capt. J.P. and Vikash on my team.

“Anyone else would be interested to play…” asked Jessica

As no one was coming forward Jessica continued “Come on guys it will be fun… Shahi sir, Nishi sir, Joy, Sanjay, why don’t you participate.” As she was going through the faces, Mom and Dad raised their hands. For some reason, Mom wanted to be on Abhinu’s team and Dad wanted to be on mine.

Nishi sir suddenly spoke, “I will be the match referee and Mr. Shahi will be the chief crew.”

Looking at the brigadier it appeared like he was not expecting this, however, he agreed to it.

Suddenly Abhinu asked softly “I want Aamaya didi to join my team… if she is ok with that…”

                                                 TO BE CONTINUED...

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