As mom was getting ready, I was waiting outside perusing the people around and observing their activities. About 5 minutes later, I caught dad and Sonjoy dada driving off from the camp in our Silver Esteem. After about 20 minutes, an SUV with a shiny metallic white coating entered the camp. The fancy luxurious vehicle gave the impression that whoever has entered the camp is filthy rich.
Upon a closer look, I could see only dad in the driving seat with no one else inside. He came and parked the car next to me. As I was admiring the magnificent vehicle, the letter MD5 was embossed on it. Dad got down from the car and said "This car belongs to Vikash. We will be relocating you and Aamaya to a safer place till we are able to get justice for Abhinu and the family."
"Where will we be going dad…?"
"Well sweety… I don't know yet… We are going to meet your Master kaku first, who is gonna reveal all the details about this part of the plan…" replied dad.
As I was distracted by the sight of the car, Dad instructed one of the orderlies to fetch 2 chairs for us.
We sat on the chairs and after a few minutes of peaceful silence dad posed me a question hesitantly, "Honey can I ask you something…"
"Sure dad…Go ahead…"
"So you knew Abhinu for… what I figure about almost 9 years now… Isn't that right…? "
"Yes dad…I guess it has been almost 9 years…"
"Do you love him?"
"I beg your pardon… you mean love him as in… Love him-love him, or like friends…"
"No..not like friends… romantically… do you love him…?"
Dad's unwavering questioning gaze embarrassed me and I failed to garner up the courage to respond to him. However dad continued in a reassuring tone, "Comeon sweet-heart it's just a question…besides you know I proposed your mom when we were in the third standard…"
His words put me at ease and I opened up about my feelings for Abhinu,"Actually dad…You are right.. I do love him… I fail to find the right words to express how much I love him."
"I KNEW IT…" replied dad with a gloating smile excitedly.
As dad was about to add something to the riveting conversation, we heard Mom calling me from inside the tent. Dad nodded go ahead. As I was approaching the tent, Aamaya di and major Annie tooenter our tent. She seemed to be in a much better condition than an hour before.
On entering the tent, Mom and Major Annie requested me to help her getting Aamaya di get ready.
Mom handed her a sleeveless white laced dress which donned on gracefully.
Her pale skin made the sombre colour of the dress look very appealing. She raised her softly curved arms, and her white and red bracelet sparkled off the sun's rays.
Every girl has that dress in her closet that always makes her feel perfect. Once you slip it on, however you may be feeling, it has the strength to perk up your mood and make you feel like a princess. I was amazed by this complete transformation of Amaya. To match the dress, Mom gave her a pair of white heeled pumps which she put on with a pair of white stockings.
I heard my Mom telling her, "You are looking stunningly beautiful in this dress, Amaya. I remember the day I found this dress and how captivated I was by its simple yet elegant quality. Upon the very first glance, my heart was set out to acquire this dress for my Monika so that the day she is old enough to wear it, I would give it to her. I could not help but imagine her looking like an angel in this attire. But I am glad to see you in this dress. I just realized that it perfectly matches your undying spirit and determination."
Aamaya di stood up and hugged mom and replied "Thank you Aunty… I don't know how to thank you for being so nice to me after the things I have done… After what happened to my brother… My parents were never nice to me…"
****Seeing her trying to bond with my mother, it irked me. I desperately wanted to give her a piece of my mind. I wanted to confront and tell her that it was your fault your brother was killed, and your parents never liked you. I have no sympathy for a person like her who took pleasure in hurting her younger brother and somehow justified her behaviour on the painful experience of the boy she loved having suffered a fate similar to Abhinu. However, some part of me forbade me from taking such a drastic step. ****
Aamaya di stood up and was walking trying to break in the new pair of shoes. Normally when we girls put on a new pair of heels or pumps, there are high chances of scratching the back of our ankles. I guess she was walking to and fro, trying to be comfortable in the shoes.
Mom retreated to the other room, pulled on the drapes and started getting ready. As I and Major Annie relaxed on the bed, Aamaya di continued her to and fro charade which was beginning to annoy me.
About half an hour later, we heard dad calling out from outside the tent, "Aki… Are you ladies done… It's getting late. We need to leave."
"GIVE US FIVE MINUTES WE ARE COMING OUT." My mom shouted from inside the room.
About a minute later mom came out. She caught hold of Aamaya di from the back and pushed her playfully "Lets get going dear… we need to leave… Quick…"
While we were exiting the tent Aamaya di asked "Where are we going aunty?"
"Don't worry dear… we are going somewhere safer. The army guys have work to do… we cannot be staying with them forever…"
I held on to major Annie's hands while we were leaving. As we came out, Dad opened the door to the rear seats, making way for us to sit. As we made ourselves comfortable in our seats, mom rode shotgun with dad in the driver's seat. Before he got onto the MD5, I saw him discuss something with the other officers.
Sagar sir stepped towards dad and said "Sir… you guys leave ahead… we will meet you all in the designated place as planned and don't worry about anything, I will be tracking you on one of our pilot cars and keep a watch over you throughout the journey…���
"Thanks Captain my family owes you one…" replied dad.
"You are embarrassing me sir… they don't owe me anything… actually would you believe if I tell you that the sweet smile of Aarohi had brought my humanity back…"
"How is that captain?"
"During my first 4 years in the army I was only deployed in the active militant zone and being a loner, with my own family being annihilated by terrorists I bore a lot of hate in my heart. However when Lt. Col. Banerjee brought me in to train these 4 special children, the entire experience changed my life. Teaching these children in turn exposed me to the wonderful lesson of how loving others, caring for people without expecting anything in return enriched our lives. My life took a drastic U-turn and all the hatred and despair engulfing and obscuring my life vanished and I took on life with a new sense of purpose and zeal. The expectation might have been for me to train these kids but they in turn coached me on the beauty and significance of life. This experience and the impact of their constant company changed my life. I owe them my life. "
Dad placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and replied, "I hope we get to see the day when Aarohi and Allen will smile at us from the heaven and say thank you for finally letting their soul rest in peace"
What dad just said was true. Everyone starting from Nishi Jethu to Tribeni Dadu wanted Aamaya di's dad to pay for what he had done. We all know that a man who is capable of committing the murder of a high ranking army officer in the guise of an extremist attack, is capable of doing much worse.
Interrupting my train of thought, dad got back into the car. Sagar sir came and tugged at my soft cheeks and said "Go with God… and don't worry about anyone… I will be right behind you on that jeep." pointing towards a gipsy with a machine gun mounted on top of it. We bade farewell to each other and left the camp.
As the vehicle started moving Mom said "You must be wondering where we are going right now… However for your safety, its better that you don't know anything… Right now all you need to know is that we will go and meet Tribeni Mazumdar.."
Before I could say something Aamaya di replied "That's fine Aunty.. Its alright… I trust you.."
A couple minutes later the car stopped again at the gate for security. Dad had to roll down the windows to make the security guys check the inside of the vehicle. Once we got the go ahead, Dad picked up the conversational ball from where mom had left and clarified, "After we meet Tribeni Mazumdar, we will be joined by Miss Sengupta and will proceed to the safe house and stay there till joe and Abhinu are found."
For some reason, Aamaya di didn't throw any tantrum now like she did in the morning. I guess the kind behaviour of my parents towards her has knocked some sense into that thick stubborn brain of hers.
2 hours later
**** Its been about 2 hours now since we have been on the road. The speed of the vehicle was such that I not able to gauge out the location or where we were on the road. It seemed though we were still inside the city limits.
It was getting boring, sitting in that enclosed space and doing nothing. Even Mom and dad were not saying a word. However one thing I must say, these luxury cars are really worth their brand names. It is really comfortable and even with the bad road condition, we were not feeling any discomfort and the long ride was smooth. ****
I looked at Aamaya di and asked: "Di, you know it is getting pretty boring you know, let's play something..."
Aamaya di smiled and replied "Yes dear... I agree. The silence and boredom is getting excruciating... You have anything in mind..."
There were no ideas or car ride games coming to my mind at that moment. As I was deep in thought, I heard Dad slowing down and parking the car on the left side of the road. His cell phone buzzed and he opened his car door
He turned back to look at me with a beaming smile and glow in his face. I guess it was someone whom I might know. "Honey... there is someone who wants to meet you... you might need to get down"
Dad opened the door so that I could get down. Aamaya di tried following me too, however Mom intervened and stopped her.
She said "Honey… Its better you don't get down from the vehicle. It's for your own safety… we don't know where your father's many friends and men might be lurking around. If they spot you, our location would be compromised. Besides it's just one of Joe's friend who has come to meet Monika, that's why we stopped."
Amaya nodded in understanding and stopped.
I followed dad to the other side of the road towards a gas station. Expecting to see a familiar face my eyes were looking in all directions in search of a clue or tell-tale sign. From afar, I caught sight of Koushik dada's familiar red Honda bike. As we approached it, I recognized it beyond any doubt. However, there were 6 other sports bikes accompanying it in parking with their riders
All the riders were wearing the same blue riding ensemble. Three of the bikers approached us. As they took off their helmets, 2 of the faces felt familiar. One of them was Vikash dada, I was unable to recall the other face, even though I could briefly recall meeting him somewhere.
I quickly ran towards Vikash dada and hugged him. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you dada..." and let him go.
He bent down a little, and gave my hair a good tussle and continued "I am happy to see you safe sweetheart. You know when I heard about your kidnapping, I was so worried... but thanks to Masi and her friends you are safe."
Suddenly he stood up and said, "Meet Jessica... she is a doctor and a very old friend of your dad."
The lady had a very nice smile, and seemed very friendly. "Hello Dear... How are you doing...?"
"I am fine ma'am..."
She gave a loud laugh, looked at Vikash dada and replied: "I like this little one…" then she looked at me and softly pulled my cheek and continued "Don't call me ma'am... call me Jessica or aunty..."
I smiled at her, shook my head and replied "Ok Aunty…"
I saw her shake hands with my dad and before they could discuss anything I asked,"But how come you are here?"
"Oh...about that..." she smiled at me and playfully whispered into my ear "I know where your brother Joe and Abhinu are?"
I couldn't believe what I heard and looked at her face in shock, "What...?"
"You heard me right sweety... As a matter of fact, we heading to the place where they are.." as she looked at her wrist watch "26 hours and 20 minutes. You will be stopping somewhere on the way so there is going to be a little delay."
"But I want you to promise something," didi asked...
"What promise didi...?" I asked.
"There is a girl who is with you right now. Abhinu's cousin… sitting in his" pointing her finger towards Vikash and continued "MD5 with you... Can you promise me that you will not mention anything to her about this. We want to see her reaction when she meets him..." didi replied.
"I don't understand…" i asked.
As didi was about explain, dad interrupted "Remember I told you about my psychologist friend Dr. Jessica, well she is the one. Once our life is back to normal, we have to make sure there is someone to take care of Abhinu for the rest of his life. He is suffering from some medical problems because of the intensive surgeries performed on him over the years, and now he will need all the love and care we can give. We need to know if Aamaya is upto the task of taking care of Abhinu..."
"What medical problems are you talking about…"
"Well honey… Over the last few weeks, Jessica has been conducting some psych evaluation on Abhinu and we came to know that he doesn't remember most of the things about his past. He doesn't remember much about Aarohi, and many such significant events from his past. Earlier he was under the influence of some heavy psychedelic drugs which made him sleep peacefully, but now ever since those medications were stopped, it's giving him sleepless nights. He is unable to trust anyone. Even though Jessica is trying her level best to show Abhinu that not every person in the world is like his uncle or Amaya, however, its going to take her a long time before she can earn back his trust and convince to live his life without fear. "
"But why did you stop the medications…" I asked.
"Honey the side-effects of those medications was taking a toll over his health and we had to stop him from taking those meds. You just need to know that Abhinu could only be cured by making him believe that everyone around him loves him."
"One final thing honey… I have asked your parents to ask a question to Aamaya which you might not like… But its my request, please don't react to that question. Its only a part of my mental process to get into her head."
I guess I understood what dad and Jessica di meant and agreed to their condition. "I am with all of you… I will do anything to make sure Abhinu gets better…"
Everyone looked at me and smiled. It felt like they admired my response. Suddenly the biker whom I recognized partially but could not quite place, stepped up and asked "Do you remember me?"
I was still trying to recall who he was, but my mind was failing me. I nodded no and apologized, "Sorry dada… I am not sure… you face seems familiar…"
"I guess it's been a long time since we met. Perhaps more that 5 years… Do you remember Sam…"
The very word Sam reminded me of her brother Daniel. "You are Daniel dada right?"
He nodded his head, winked at me and replied "You guessed it right sweetheart… I am Daniel…"
"What brings you here dada… Its been so long…?"
"Remember I once told Abhinu that whenever he will need me, I will be there for him." He stretched his hands in the air and gestured, "Well here I am… The 3 of you have always been good to my sister… Its my turn to return the favor in kind…"
Before I could say anything further dad spoke up "Koushik, Jessica I think you guys should leave... Your bikes are fast you should reach there at least 2 hours before us." replied dad.
"and by the way… we need to take a detour… we have to meet up with Tribeni Mazumdar on the way…"
As they climbed on the bikes, Jessica didi approached me and whispered in my ear… "I hope you are ready with the dance… Abhinu has been telling me about some dance challenge between the 2 of you and have been pestering me to teach him… Sweetheart you have got a very touch competition ahead of you." Saying this she climbed on the last bike. I suddenly realised that she had hopped on to Koushik dada's bike.
Dad went to them and said "Please drive safe..."
**** As they started the ride... I saw the most wonderful sight... They drove the bike in the opposite direction for about 200 meters to take a U turn. All of a sudden they accelerated the engine at full power and at full speed the 6 of them suddenly raised the front wheel off the ground and drove past us. What a showoff... ****
TO BE CONTINUED…