The Retribution

She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf. She was in no hurry. She had finally made peace with her demons that had tormented her all her life. She took a deep breath and slowly took her mobile out and dialled the only number she knew.

“Hello.......mamma I did it.”

Seventh September was the day Cathleen became Ms.  Cathleen Cooper. She had finally found someone who was ready to accept her and her seven year old daughter-Amy. Robert and Cathleen had worked in the same office for more than three years but it was only during last office New Year party that they got acquainted through mutual friends.  He himself was a widower and was uncertain about starting a new relationship till he met her. Cathleen was looking for someone who would support her and at the same time be a father figure to her daughter. Robert Cooper was everything she had hoped for and more. The date was fixed.

Amy had grown up calling her biological father papa who visited her once every month. He brought her presents every time he came to meet her. He had a white car in which he took her for long rides along the beach. She enjoyed having the special banana sundae with him. She liked him most when he made those funny faces.

Cathleen feared that he might fight for Amy’s full custody once she became Ms. Cooper. But he had no such plans. He was happy as long as he was allowed to visit Amy.

Amy knew how important Robert was to her mamma. She seemed happy around him. He always made her laugh. They seemed to be happy to be together.

Robert had been married for a very short period of three months. He had always loved her and believed that she would love him too. But she had those dark days when she was no longer herself.  She screamed, she moaned. She inflicted wounds on her body. She woke up with no memory of the happenings. Yet he loved her. But death has a strange way of showing up. Robert had gone to work as usual and had tried calling home. When no call was returned, he panicked. Little he know that his worst fears were about to come true. He reached home only to find the lifeless body of his wife immersed in the bath tub. He mourned for weeks and weeks tuned into months. He no longer could feel things like love and care. That day he too had died with her from the inside.

He always avoided the question of a second marriage. But now it seemed inevitable. He was in love with Cathleen. She turned him back to the man he was once, slowly and steadily through understanding and patience. She never asked for anything from him and he only her.

The first time he met Amy, she reminded him of his Lisa. Small, petite and pale. The resemblance was striking. It wasn’t easy. It wasn’t hard either. They got along just fine. She showed him her drawings while he helped build the princess castle. He became a regular visitor and soon came the day she called him dad. That was all he needed.

It was Amy’s tenth birthday party. Robert and Cathleen had bought her a beautifully sequinned blue gown. Her papa showed up with a doll house. Her happiness knew no bounds. She hugged him tight.

“Happy birthday Amy. You look beautiful darling.”

“Thank you papa. Dad and mamma bought it for me.”

“The dress is as beautiful as you Amy.”

“Blue suits her well. It goes well with her complexion. That’s why I got her blue. It adds colour to her,” Amy’s papa is interrupted by Robert.

After a brief talk with Robert he leaves wishing Amy once again.

Cathleen had to be away for two days on an official trip. She had been worried sick during the entire duration of her journey. She had asked Robert a hundred times yet she felt guilty and she sat there worried sick.

The taxi took forever to reach her home. Once she reached, she walked as fast as her legs could carry her. There was no sign of Robert or Amy. Her heart almost missed a beat. She ran upstairs to find Robert and Amy waiting for her with a cake.  She was overwhelmed with joy. She hugged both of them.

Everything was finally falling back to normal when she realized Amy was no longer as cheerful as she used to be. Something was amiss. She waited for bedtime to ask her.

“Honey, are you okay? Are you not feeling well? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, mamma.”

“Are you sure?”

“Uh hmm.”

“Okay. Good night baby. Sleep tight.”

The years passed by soon. Amy was 17 and she grew up to be a beautiful young woman.  But her eyes no longer held the life in them. She was not the cheerful young girl anymore. She was different. Everything had changed but not the pain. She patiently waited for the day to come. The day she would be brave enough to change everything.

The blue silk scarf was his present on her thirteenth birthday. She always loved blue. But now she hated it. Anything blue and she would either destroy it or replace it. Her mother did not understand her actions but Amy knew one day she will.

He always insisted she wear the blue scarf. It made her pretty. It all started with the blue gown and now it was the scarf. She was too scared to talk about it but she knew something bad was happening to her.

Finally, the day arrived. She heaved a sigh of relief. It was finally over.  Deep inside she knew he deserved it, for all those years of pain he had caused her. Those seven long years that had destroyed everything she ever had. She wrapped the blood stained knife with her blue silk scarf.

Cathleen repeated the line inside her mind a thousand times. She could not believe the words. She could believe her darling daughter was capable of such a heinous crime. She had made a terrible mistake. God forgive her. It was too late. The damage had already been done. She screamed her heart out. Composing herself she drove as fast as she could to be with her baby.

On seeing Amy, she hugged her tight. She wanted all of it to go away. But the pain was a constant remainder. She had failed her daughter and herself. She stared outside the car window and everything appeared blurry.  Outside the police station it was not Cathleen who was holding Amy but was the other way round.

“We are here to report a murder.”

“I killed someone.” Amy blurted out at the surprised chief inspector.

James Spencer in his thirty years of service had never seen a convict stop by to report the crime he/she had committed. It was his first so was hers.

“The coroner has ruled the cause of death to be internal haemorrhaging sir, from multiple stab wounds found on the chest and stomach,” explained the junior officer.

“Thank you Patrick, you may leave.”

James took one look at Amy and everything what happened just flashed in front of him.

“So you accept you killed him?”

“Yes....I do.”

“And the murder weapon?”

“The kitchen knife. It was the sharpest one I could find. If only it were sharper.”

The coldness in her voice almost choked him. James saw no remorse in those eyes. Only a stillness that loomed all over her.

“Miss Amy did you know your victim from before?”

“Yes... I knew him.”

“How well, was he a friend, an acquaintance or a neighbour?”

“He was my father.”

Shocked, he turned to the woman who accompanied her.

“And you are?”

“I am Cathleen Cooper, I am her mother.”

“Ms. Cooper where were you at the time of the incident?”

“I was at the bank. That’s when she called me.”

“So you’re telling me you had no idea what your daughter was up to?”

“That’s right inspector.”

“Do you know why she did it?”

“Yes. It was for the wrongs she suffered at his hands.”

James looked in disbelief at what he heard. He looked at Amy whose coldness slowly turned into a smile. A smile so chilling it was sharp enough to pierce everything.

“Cathleen, Cathleen.”  A male voice came barging inside.

“Who are you sir and who gave you permission to come in like this? Patrick... Patrick”

“I am sorry inspector.  But that’s my wife and daughter.”

“Your daughter?”

James looked at the mother and daughter duo.

“Ms. Cooper, then who was....”

“Wade Walter was my ex husband and Amy’s biological father,” Cathleen sobbed uncontrollably.

James now understood what made Cathleen defend her daughter’s actions than her deceased husband. The real victim was not him but his own blood and flesh, his daughter. Everything fell into place at once and James now saw Amy in a new light.