She rushed to a woman selling vegetables nearby.
“Mama, please,” Angela begged. “Did you see the old man sitting here?”
The woman nodded. “Yes. A big car came a few minutes after you left. They picked him up and drove away.”
Angela froze.
“A car… for Papa?”
“Yes,” the woman said. “And the people in the car looked important.”
Angela’s mind struggled to catch up.
An important car did not usually collect hungry old men behind shops.
“Oh Lord,” she whispered, fear thick in her throat, “please don’t let anything bad happen to Papa James.”
Across town, a different kind of fear was living inside a mansion.
Jeff helped his father gently into the house.
Papa James walked slowly, feet dragging lightly across polished tiles, eyes tired and confused, as if he was trying to understand where he was.
“Papa, please sit down,” Jeff said softly, guiding him to a long sofa.
Papa James sat, pressing a hand to his forehead.
He looked around the living room as if seeing it for the first time.
“Where did you find me?” he asked weakly.
Jeff exhaled shakily. “Thank God I found you. Someone recognized you and called me. I rushed there immediately.”
Papa James rubbed his temples. “I don’t remember leaving the house.”
Jeff’s throat tightened. “You wandered out again, Papa.”
A painful silence.
Papa James sighed. “My head… it betrays me sometimes. I am sorry, my son.”
Jeff held his father’s hand. “It’s not your fault. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
But Jeff’s relief quickly sharpened into anger.
Because there was only one reason this had happened.
Mabel.
She was the only one in the house. She knew Papa James’s condition. She knew he shouldn’t be left alone.
And yet his father had ended up sitting hungry by a roadside like someone abandoned.
Jeff walked down the corridor with controlled steps, anger humming beneath his skin.
He heard laughter before he entered the second living room.
Mabel sat on the cream sofa, legs crossed, watching videos on her phone like life was a comedy she didn’t have to participate in.
Jeff stood there for a moment, staring at her like he had never truly looked before.
“Mabel,” he said.
She didn’t respond.
“Mabel,” he repeated, louder.
She glanced up, irritated. “What is it? Don’t disturb me. This video is funny.”
Jeff’s voice stayed low, but it carried danger.
“My father went missing today.”
Mabel blinked once, then shrugged. “Okay. And?”
Jeff stared. “And? Mabel, he has memory issues. He wanders off if he’s not watched. You know this.”
Mabel frowned. “Jeff, he’s not a kid. I can’t follow him everywhere.”
“Follow him?” Jeff’s voice rose. “You didn’t even notice he was gone!”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s back, right? So relax.”
“Relax,” Jeff repeated, laughing bitterly. “Do you know what could have happened to him?”
“Nothing happened,” she said, bored.
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