A flame in the Storm

Chapter 22

I wanted to leave everything behind me, mom and dad started from home for my grandmother's house in Coorg. I didn't want to come back anytime soon and didn't plan to bid farewell to any of my friends. I wanted to hide somewhere where no one knew my story as I had grown tired of the pitiful eyes and fake sympathies of people around me and hoped that Coorg provided that escape. We were to take a flight till Bangalore then cover the distance by road from there. It was 6 hours journey from Bangalore to Coorg by road. But it took us 10 as we made stops throughout the way. I had covered myself from head to toe by wearing Burqa and along with face veil. Only my eyes were visible to the outsider. I had never worn Burqa in my life till the date. It was imperative in Islam to cover our hair and our modesty by a cloth. Considering ourselves as moderate Muslims we never adhered to that custom, now circumstances drove us to do what we should have been doing all along as mom joined in with me. On our way, mom and dad told me about the events that had happened after I went missing. "On that fateful day you didn't return from school, no one had any idea where you were. As you had told that you would not go to tuition, I didn't think you were there. Nonetheless I called Rizwan to ask about you and Of course, he lied. Our mistake was that we believed him. Not only that he came to us offering help and even came to the police station with us to register a complaint. He continued teaching in the school for two weeks, one day he told that his distant relative has fallen sick and he wanted Rizwan to be there when he is dying. He resigned from the school. And in fact, came to us biding goodbye. That scoundrel." It was the first time I heard mom swear. She continued. "We never in for a second thought that Rizwan might be behind your kidnapping."

"After searching for you for months, we developed a doubt that you weren't there as there was no call for ransom or any trace of you. But I didn't let my faith flatter. I prayed in every breath for your return. I woke up in the middle of the nights and offered prayers and begged and begged and begged Allah to give you back to me, and one day my prayers were answered. The day you were found Salman with his friends had gone swimming in a lake deep in the forest for adventure. They saw you drowning there. Salman brought you to the hospital. As you were bruised and your face was swollen, he couldn't recognize you. Your missing complaint was already lodged so the police officer informed us." Dad said.

"The moment we laid our eyes on you, your father and I felt like we were broken into a thousand pieces. You were unconscious for three days. During that time I wailed and wailed. When I saw the bruises on your body, it was like they were inflicted on mine. I felt as much pain as you might have experienced and even more. But we were thankful to Allah that he has returned you to us. We wanted nothing more. Those days without you felt like there were holes punched in our hearts. All this time Raafay was with us helping to find you. He was as broken as us. They were many nights he was awake with me praying for your safe return. When you came back, he couldn't look at your condition and was waiting outside your room all the time, taking your health report every few minutes. When your health condition improved a bit, I forced him to go back to college, I didn't want him to waste his education. He was with us for the whole three months. Remember the day he was in your room? Mom asked.

"Yes."

"He had come to say goodbye, but after seeing you he couldn't make himself go after that."

"We had to literally push him through the door to make him leave, poor soul."

"He still calls to know about you." dad said

Listening to all this made me hate Rizwan even more, he didn't hurt me alone, he had hurt every person who ever cared for me. I wish he has the worst possible fate written. I remembered my part in his doing. I had trusted him; it was the biggest mistake of my life. I wanted my parents to know that but I was hesitant of their reaction. But when we stopped for lunch at a roadside hotel I gathered the courage to tell them.