INKWELL

Chapter Twelve

September 20, 2081

We all couldn't hide our anger and feeling of betrayal. Angela was the one who said she wanted an ink free world, yet she had hidden the fact that she was infected.

It had been three days since we found out the truth. I stayed away from her because I couldn't hide my anger and I didn't want to quarrel with her when she was sick. It hurt me that she hadn't thought about the harm she was doing to all of us when she hid her infection from us.

I needed someone to talk to and I didn't want to disturb Wunmi's time with her boyfriend—their relationship seemed to be leading to a happy ending—so I made my way to Mrs. Abimbola's house. When we arrived at Inkwell, I tried to get her to stay at the main house with me but she wanted to stay with the other women in the village who had lost their family. According to her, it saved space and she didn't want people to get jealous because she was being given special treatment. She lived with three other women and they were nice people.

"Ivy, how are you?" Mrs. Shade, one of Mrs. Abimbola's housemates, said as she opened the door for me.

"I'm fine, ma. Is Mrs. Abimbola around?"

"Yeah. She's in her room."

I thanked her before making my way to Mrs. Abimbola's room. I knocked and entered when I heard her voice from inside. The room was average sized, with a bed, a table and chair, a wardrobe and a few of her things. Mrs. Abimbola stood in front of her bed folding a cloth. Other folded clothes were laying on her bed.

"Good afternoon, ma," I greeted.

She dropped the cloth she was holding and moved up to hug me. "How are you, Ivy? Come and sit down." She moved the clothes away to create a space for both of us to sit. "Trisha just visited with London, she left a few minutes ago."

I smiled. Trisha was the girl I met in the spaceship and since we arrived at Inkwell, she had been visiting Mrs. Abimbola with her baby sister. London always brought a smile to Mrs. Abimbola's face and I felt she was a source of comfort for the loss of Tobi.

I was silent for a while but Mrs. Abimbola waited, smoothing the clothes she had folded. I knew she suspected why I was here so I started talking. "I really don't know what to feel. I feel sad, angry, disappointed. I can't even look at Angela now because I don't know what I'll do or say."

"Why?" she asked calmly.

I stared at her incredulously. "What do you mean why? She knew she was infected but she hid it all along. She didn't get tested when others were being tested and all this while...all this time she has been hiding this from us. I don't even know how she lived this long or how she hid it for so long."

"So you think she was..."

"Selfish! She only thought about herself and not what might happen to us," I said before she finished talking, angry tears welling up in my eyes.

Mrs. Abimbola continued folding her clothes, silence taking over. A few seconds of silence passed before she said, "Aren't you being selfish too?"

My eyes widened. "Me? How?"

"All this while you have been thinking of yourself and you might argue, you've been thinking of others too but it's mostly yourself. Your feeling of safety has been compromised. You thought you had escaped the infection of the ink but it turns out that there is a possibility of the infection spreading. I'm sure that's what the others are thinking too but no one has thought of Angela and what she must have gone through. It's normal for a human to be selfish and Angela has all right to be selfish."

"But Tobi stayed back even though he could have hidden his infection and joined us." She fell silent and my face fell. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up."

"It's alright." She sighed, and then held my hands in hers. "Angela worked hard to find a safe place for us. Real selfishness would have been burning all information about the new world when she found out about her infection but she didn't do that. How easy do you think it would be to go through a lot of trouble only to not enjoy the fruit of your labour? To lead the people to the promised land and not be able to enter? To see but not eat? How many have the strength to do that?"

I knew Mrs. Abimbola was right but that didn't reduce my anger. I remembered how I had felt when we were being tested on earth before being led to the spaceship. I remembered wondering how I'll feel if I was infected, if I couldn't leave earth even though I had been the one to bring Angela Cassey to our village. Though Mrs. Abimbola had a point, I didn't feel like agreeing with it.

"But..." I tried to look for an excuse but I couldn't find one. I didn't even know if I had the strength to do that. "She's Angela Cassey, she's..." I didn't really know where I was going with my argument but I didn't want to let go of my anger easily.

"She's Inkwell's president, the world's hero, a superwoman, a supermom, the most influential woman in the world, a role model for everyone around, but she's also herself. She also has dreams, she wanted to see the new world, she wants to watch her son grow, she wants to live longer.

"Angela was always a symbol of hope and persistence. Everyone liked that when it suited them but now when she has hope for herself, when she refused to give up and stay back on earth, everyone is angry with her because it doesn't suit them. She wasn't being wicked, I heard she had a secret team and ordered them to try to find a cure. She was just being who she has always been, a survivor, a woman not willing to go down without a fight. We are angry because it doesn't suit us."

Hot tears rolled down my cheeks. "But what is the need of saving us all if she's just going to infect us?"

"I'm sure she thought or at least hoped the doctors would find a cure."

I sniffed. "How can you be so calm and collected when everyone is boiling with rage?"

"It's because I understand her 'selfishness'. I used to wish Tobi had hidden his infection and joined us. I was a bit selfish. I still am at times. I've learnt to look through the other side of the glass, get into the shoe of the other person. It's the reason why I put up with your attitude when you were younger." She used her palm to clean the tears on my cheeks. "It's okay to be upset but don't let it blind your sense of judgement. I think you should talk to Angela."

I hugged Mrs. Abimbola tightly and she quietly held me. Though I felt upset, I knew Mrs. Abimbola was right about everything. Because of all Angela had done, I had placed her on a pedestal and forgotten she was still human like me. She wasn't ready to give in to death after everything, she had always been like that. Maybe if I was in her shoes, I would have made the same decision.

I was transported back to the time of the test we all had to take before entering the spaceship. I recalled how I felt, how I wondered if I could agree to stay behind if I was infected. If I had a choice to hide my infection, would I have taken that up, or would I have turned myself in? I didn't have an answer to my question and now I felt guilty for turning on Angela.  I felt guilty for not giving her a chance. I had been ready to condemn her despite all she had done for us all in the past.

I pulled back a little and looked at Mrs. Abimbola. "I have to see Angela."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So what do you think? Do you think Mrs. Abimbola's right? Do you feel less betrayed?

Can you relate with Angela Cassey's actions now?

If you were in her shoes, would you make the same decision or choose to remain on earth?

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©Jesutofunmi Fekoya2019