The Story of Meera Ch. 06

Meera entered the kitchen and knelt on the floor. The rug she used to sleep on was still lying on the kitchen floor. She lay down on the dust covered rug and cried her heart out.

"Are you tired Meenu?" a soft voice called out to her.

The next moment Meera felt a gentle hand running over her body. As she lifted her gaze, she saw a young girl smiling back at her. Meera instantly recognized her.

"Naina di!" she said and hugged the young girl.

"I'm sorry Meenu," Naina said, "I left you all alone. And I will never forgive myself for what you had to go through because I left you all alone. I was weak, Meenu, but you are so strong. You are a survivor. I'm so proud of you."

"I need you Naina di," Meera said weeping bitterly, "I always needed you..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you," Naina said tearfully, "Will you ever forgive me for being so weak?"

Meera held Naina's face between her palms and wiped her tears with her thumbs. Naina's eyes were red and she looked weary. Her lip was bleeding. She was wearing the same red dress that she wore when Meera last saw her.

"What did he do to you di?" Meera asked with intense rage in her eyes, "You were so happy that night you left for his birthday party, you wore your favorite red dress and you baked him a cake...and returned like this in the morning - bleeding and broken! What happened that night?"

Naina didn't answer. She just closed her eyes and wept.

"It's all my fault di," Meera said, "I should have woken up that morning, I should have held you, I should have told you how much I love you and how much I needed you..."

"It's not your fault sweetheart," Naina said with a weak smile, "It doesn't matter now...it's a long lost story..."

"It DOES matter di! It fucking does!" Meera said bitterly, "Neil never loved you di...that sick manipulative bastard was only using you! That son of a bitch thinks he is going to get away with this cruelty and live happily ever after, I'm going to make his life a living hell, and I fucking mean it!"

"And as for you di," Meera said gently running her fingers through Naina's hair, "I'm buying this house for you. This is your house. I'm gonna make this place sparkling clean, like I used to, and then you can live in this beautiful house for as long as you wish..."

Naina smiled at her sweet gesture and her spirit faded away.

********************************

Meera got into her car and drove to Mithila's house.

Mithila was so happy to see Meera after a long time. She looked much stronger than when she had last seen her.

"I'm sorry, I am disturbing you at this hour," Meera said.

"No problem at all Meera," Mithila said, giving her a warm hug, "You are welcome anytime. How have you been? I've been worried about you."

Mithila noticed that Meera was visibly shaken.

"Are you ok Meera?" Mithila asked.

"I saw the blue-eyed man from my dreams today," Meera said softly, "He is real Mithila, his name is Neil. I remember him now, I remember everything..."

Mithila placed a hand on Meera's shoulder to comfort her.

"You said dreams are symbolic," Meera continued, "I had a dream about him killing you, ripping your heart out while you were still alive...because he did that to my Naina di..."

"Who is Naina?" Mithila asked, "I remember you once called me Naina, back when you were at the hospital."

"When I was a child, I lived with my mother. My father died when I was very young. I have no memory of him. My mother was a servant and we lived in the same house where we worked. This is my mom," Meera said fondly showing an old photo of herself and her mother to Mithila.

Mithila looked at the picture and smiled.

"I even found this," Meera said, handing over her birth certificate to Mithila, "According to this, I am 22 years old now. Meenakshi Joshi, that's my real name. But Naina di, she called me Meenu."

Mithila looked at the old wrinkled birth certificate.

"I have some vague memories about my childhood, about how I played within the walls of that house. I was however just the maid's child. I was still happy though, mom loved me and took care of me. The Patil family was a joint family, Naina and her parents lived with their uncle and his family. One day, Naina's parents and my mother left in their car early in the morning. Naina's mother was sick, and her father was rushing her to the hospital. And they met with a terrible accident, killing all three of them on the spot. Me and Naina, we both became orphans." Meera said.

"Everything changed after that," Meera continued, "The Patil family didn't treat either of us any good, they wanted to send me away, but Naina cared for me, she convinced them to keep me as a servant so that I'd have a roof over my head. She took care of me, made sure I got enough food, she spent time with me. It was like we were each other's family. She taught me to read and write, she taught me all I know. She tried to give me a good life. When I first met you Mithila, you were so kind to me, you always cared so much about me, perhaps I was subconsciously trying to find Naina in you..."

Meera couldn't hold back her tears as she spoke.

"Where is Naina now?" Mithila asked.

"She's dead," Meera said, "Neil killed her! He drained the life out of her slowly till she was broken completely...she loved him with all her heart, and when he was done taking her body, he took her life..."

"Did he kill her in front of you?" Mithila asked.

"Naina returned from his birthday party at odd hours in the morning. She looked devastated. I was tired from the day's work and I was fast asleep. She came to me for the last time, kissed me while I was still sleeping. And left me a suicide note. She wrote that she failed in love, and that she was completely broken. She wrote she was sorry for leaving me all alone in this world," Meera said, "Neil did something to her that night! He was always such a sweet-talking abusive bastard, but that night he did something that completely broke her...so much that she didn't want to live anymore. I don't know what it is that he did, Mithila, but I am sure they did something horrible that's why they tried to shut me up. Neil and that friend of his...I still don't know his name, but I can never forget his face...when I confronted them about Naina...both of them locked me in a car...and the next thing I remember is I was a slave in a place far far away from here!"

Mithila was moved to know the truth. She hugged Meera tightly trying to comfort her.

"I'm gonna find out about this other friend of Neil, Mithila," Meera spoke vengefully, "And whoever else that might be involved, and I am going to make them fucking pay! I won't kill them; I'll make their lives so miserable that they will be forced to kill themselves! Just like they did to my sweet Naina di..."

"And you know..." Meera said looking tearfully into Mithila's eyes, "The house where I lived with Naina di...I went inside and I saw her...she still lives there...I miss her Mithila...I'm gonna buy that house, so that Naina can live there forever, undisturbed. And I'll visit her when I miss her, or whenever she calls out to me..."

Mithila didn't know what to say. Meera had been through so much, and came out stronger each time, she could only admire her.

"Stay over tonight," Mithila insisted, "You've had a stressful day, I guess you could use some rest."

"Thank you, Mithila," Meera said, "For everything you've done for me."