₦airaland Forum

11

Later that evening, Vince went into her room. Mabel was doing some work. It was her favorite subject.
Vince felt edgy, his movement furtive. The request he was about to make would not be easy. Yet, it needed to be granted.
She'd noticed him come in, but she wasn't giving him attention. Vince was sure of it, even though she hadn't looked up.
When Vince got close, she looked up. “This has got nothing to do with going back to that house. Has it? Cos you'd be nuts to suggest something like that after today.”
“Come on, Mabel,” Vince said, sitting on the table and trying to catch her eyes, which she didn't want. “You signed up for it. We have an advantage already in knowing his house. We just have to get in and do a brief check. That's all.”
She looked down at her books, her expression noncommittal.
“Grow some balls for some seconds.”
She looked up, a look of amusement on her face. "Some balls, you say?"
“You know what I mean, Mabel. You can't always be like this. Let's get it done once and for all. I promise that I'll stop after this. No more requesting your help.”
“What am I supposed to take that for?”
“The truth. You think I can't be honest?”
“I do not doubt that. But the way this thing works is that what we'll discover will lead to another. . . And I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want to be part of it, Vince. Read my lips.”
This girl was an ingrate. How could she be so unreasonable?
Gosh!
How could she be so dog-headed when the person in question they were trying to help was the same one who had accepted her, allowed her into the house, the same house she still lived? For crying out loud, he had forgiven her despite all these atrocities she committed against him. Why couldn't she reason?
“As much as there's the possibility of running into trouble, we have to do this still. We have to get Crayon back. Can you imagine what he'd be going through right now as we speak? For all we know, he could be in some serious persecution, facing some terrible hell. We have to find him and rescue him. It's our duty.”
“At my peril?” Will I need to give my life for him?”
“Who's talking about your life, Mabel? You are taking this thing too far.”
“No, Vince. You are the one taking this too far. Why don’t we allow nature to take care of things?”
“Mabel, you don't even understand the essence of magic even after all this time. We don’t get to leave nature to do anything. The reason we have these abilities is so we can alter the course of things. We have the power to move things in our favor. We have the power to ensure that things go right. We give things their meaning.”
Mabel looked lost in thought. She came back when Vince finished speaking. “I still maintain that I'm not going.”
Vince bit his lips. “Damn, Mabel. You are a chicken,” Vince erupted, banging his fist into the table. “I wonder how you shake with every challenge and expect to come out on top.”
Mabel stood up. “What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what you heard.”
“Get away from my room, Vince,” she said, pointing towards the door.
Vince crossed his arms. “I'm not going away until you give me a word.”
Mabel arched an eyebrow. “What word?”
“That we’re going back there tonight, Mabel.”
“This is so damn unbelievable.”
“So is your cowardice.”
Mabel came to Vince and stood, eyeing him squarely, face to face.
“So what are you going to do? Beat me up?”
She sighed and looked away.
“You know this is important. You know the right thing to do, but you don't want to face it. Mabel, there comes a time in life when you have to take the bull by the horn. Common, girl, you don't have to be passive in matters like this. It sometimes pays to be stupid, so stupid enough to take up the mantle and be the one to bear the cost. Maybe you could.”
“See who's giving me a pep talk. You talk to me about bravery as though you don’t remember the realm, the Outworld.”
“What about that” Vince asked, folding his hands into his chest.
“It was I who helped you escape, not once, not twice.”
“And you weren’t the cause of the kidnap happening in the first place? You were stupid enough to allow your stupid heart to love foolishly. The bloke filled your head with words, and you couldn't think well again.”
He was pointing to her now. “And look. Let me tell you. This new home you’ve got, it came because of him, Crayon. You are only here because he allowed you in.”
The anger coursed through his veins with every word he spoke. It reminded him of the times when the rage was still with him.
Mabel plopped to her chair, sitting with her head down. She looked up at him with disappointment etched in her eyes. The tears came streaming down.
“Alright. I'm sorry, Mabel. That was a silly thing to say. I'm really, really sorry.”
Mabel turned away from him, backed her chair to face the wall. “You don't know how that makes me feel. You always have to make me remember my parents, right?”
She was crying now.
Vince got up and went to meet her, squatting in front of her, he wiped the tears away. “That wasn't my intention. I was so angry, and I didn't think about the effect of my words. You understand my position.”
“I do,” she said, playing with a strand of thread on her skirt. “I understand you. Maybe, I haven't been true to myself. Crayon did much or me. You deserve to get help. I'll go with you.”
“You don't have to go anymore, Mabel. You don't have to go if you don't want it.”
“No, Vince. I want it now. More than anything else, I want you to know that I truly appreciate all the both of you did for me.”
“You don’t need to prove anything.”
“I want to. I'll make it up to you, to him.”
“You don't have to make anything up to me.”
“We are family now.”
“You don't have to repay family.”
“Quit talking, Vince!”
A big grin appeared on his face. “Alright, Mabel. We meet in ten minutes.”