"I think no one entered the cabin after that," Meera said, "Coz if someone saw the body, they would have reported it by now."
Mithila was completely shaken. "I don't know what to say Meera, this is all too much for me."
"I understand," Meera said giving her a gentle side hug, "But it is what it is. We can't change any of this. But you don't have to worry Mithila. You are a sweetheart, and you have done what no one else ever has. I have another request. Please drive me to Queen's Heart bar in Colaba, I think I worked there. Perhaps I'll remember something more."
Mithila began to drive towards Colaba. It was a long way ahead. It took almost 2 hours for them to reach their destination. Both women were very quiet all along.
Finally, they reached Queen's Heart. The place was alive and buzzing with people. The lights and the music brought back Meera's suppressed memories. She just remained very quiet and gazed that the bar's entrance with moist eyes, remembering all the bittersweet moments she spent there. A tear rolled down her cheek as she stepped out of the car without saying a word to Mithila.
"Where are you going Meera?" Mithila asked, but Meera didn't respond.
Meera kept walking towards the bar. She stared the entrance for a moment and then turned left. Mithila followed her quietly through the narrow lanes and alleys. On the way, Mithila kept trying to talk the her by Meera didn't say a word. She kept walking, like she knew the way. Finally, she turned into one narrow alley and arrived at a building. It looked like an old structure in a congested locality. The paint over the walls had peeled off at places. The building appeared so rickety, looked like it could collapse any time. Meera quietly walked upstairs to the second floor and stood in front of room no 203. Mithila was following her.
There were a few potted plants near the door. Meera reached into one of the plants and found a key. She opened the door with the key and entered the room. It was a humble apartment. She entered the apartment, and touched the objects in the room fondly, with a faint smile on her face, as if remembering them. And then a painful memory hit her like lightning.
Her own screams echoed in her ears. She placed her palms over her ears in a desperate attempt to make it stop. She ran outside the door, down the stairs. Mithila tried to follow her but Meera was too fast. Within seconds she was out of her sight.
"Meera!" Mithila called out, "Meera, where are you?"
It was late night and there was no one on the street. There were dark alleys all around her, Mithila felt like she was trapped in some kind of a maze. She kept calling out Meera's name but didn't get a response. She started looking for Meera at each and every corner or the area.
Finally, she turned into one dark alley and she heard sobbing noises. She found a dumpster there and carefully tiptoed around it. She found Meera hiding next to the dumpster, curled up and sobbing bitterly.
"Hey there girl," Mithila said rubbing her shoulder, "What are you doing here? Let's get you back to the hospital."
"I remember now Mithila," Meera said tearfully, "I was hiding here that night, this was the last place I felt safe before...they found me..."
Mithila helped Meera to her feet and hugged her. "You are safe now sweetheart," Mithila said, "Come let's get you into the car."
Meera took tiny steps as Mithila supported her. She felt...empty, like all her energy had been drained away. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks and ran back towards the dumpster and began to search something underneath it. Her eyes gleamed as she found it and began to reach for it.
"What is it Meera?" Mithila asked.
"My cellphone," she said and she grabbed it and got up dusting her clothes. "The battery is dead, but I'm sure it will still work. The phone dropped out of my hand when they dragged me away and slid underneath here...I was talking to Kabir...I had called him for help..." a tear rolled down her eyes as Meera spoke.
Mithila wiped off her tears and slowly guided Meera back to the car. "We need to get you back to the hospital," she said as she started driving.
Meera quietly gazed out of the window for a long time. When she had gathered enough strength, she spoke.
"I remember a few things now Mithila, not everything but just a few things. The dream about the crate, it was real. Me and Kabir, we landed on the coast of Mumbai about 4 months ago. I believe we were escaping from some place, that is why we had to travel on a cargo ship inside a crate. I really don't remember anything before this point. Travelling inside a crate was a disturbing experience and I don't know how many days we were in there. Perhaps I was drugged so that I don't freak out. Once we landed here, the crate in which I was hiding was unloaded on the docks. Kabir helped me out of the crate. I couldn't remember anything, but Kabir comforted me..."
Mithila was listening patiently. "Go on," she said.
Meera started narrating her story...
"He was a few years elder to me, he was like my guardian. He told me we used to be slaves somewhere in a gulf country. Kabir's looks and Arabic accent made me feel that he was perhaps a native of one of the middle Eastern countries. But he wouldn't tell me anything more than that. I often asked him about where I came from, where my family was, and who I was really. But he never told me anything. All he would say is that I was sold as a slave when I was very young and he watched them do horrible things to me. I asked him about the degrading words written on my body, and he said back when I was a slave in the gulf, my Masters marked me as some sort of a punishment. But he never told me why I was punished. The more he watched me suffer, the stronger his feelings grew for me and the stronger the determination to help me escape."
"Now we were in Mumbai, we weren't slaves anymore, we were free! I still remember the evening we set foot in this city; it was perhaps the most beautiful moment of my life. I was with my Kabir, I remember that beautiful sunset I saw sitting next to him holding his hand, the mark of a new life for us."
"But the joy was transient. Soon cold and hunger consumed our happiness. We had to make a living, we had to feed ourselves. We spent the rest of the evening walking around the city approaching various establishments for a job, no matter how menial, we were ready to do it. And finally, we found a bar by the name Queen's Heart, who needed waiters. Me and Kabir instantly agreed for the job. The bar's manager was a pervert and kept making passes at me but as long as Kabir was around, he wouldn't cross the line."
"There I met Sharon. She was also a waitress at the bar. She was very sweet. She let me share her room and found a place for Kabir to stay too, with some of her male colleagues. The new job brought a new wave of happiness in our lives. We had money, we had a decent place to live, we felt truly free."
"Sharon was a lovely girl. Me and her, we became kind of best friends. She told me about herself. She was from a village near Goa. She had lost her father at a young age and her mother and 2 siblings depended on her. So, she had moved to Mumbai, so she could make some money for her family. We got along really well, we used to hang out, go the malls, salons, do a lot of girl stuff together. We shared secrets and we became the best of friends. And I had Kabir too. Kabir and me, we got to spend a lot of time with each other. Our fondness grew and we fell in love. And one day, Kabir proposed me!"
Meera blushed as she remembered that moment.
"And I said yes, of course...we had dreams you know, of living a life together, so sharing all joys and sorrows and maybe have children..."
Meera's eyes suddenly became tearful. Meera switched on her phone that had charged enough by now. She showed pictures of herself and Sharon to Mithila. "And that is Kabir, my darling." She said showing Mithila a picture of Kabir.
Mithila looked at Meera's face. She had the brightest of smile on her face as she talked about Kabir. Her eyes gleamed with joy as she recalled the beautiful moments spent with him. Mithila smiled looking at Meera's joyful face.
"Everything was fine until one day, Sharon just left in the wee hours of the night. She just sent me a text - "Mom's sick, gotta go home." I tried to call her but her phone was switched off," Meera continued her narration.
"Few hours after she left, there was a rude knock on her door. I looked at the time, it was 3 am. I wondered who could be knocking like that on the door.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"Open the door bitch!" one man shouted.
I was alerted and grabbed my phone. Suddenly the door flung open. The men had kicked open the door. I was terrified seeing four men barge into my flat.
