Chapter 2042 All The Places We Know
“I came to check in on you. What are you doing?” Maya stole a glance behind him and frowned. Things of all nature were strewn on his bedroom floor in a haphazard way that even she did not approve of.
Wilbur used to have an obsessive-compulsive disorder. He must be in a really bad shape for letting his room get to this state. Poor guy! Wilbur gazed placidly back at her. “I’m playing. What are you doing here?”
“Let’s take a break and have a chat instead?” “No! I don’t want to talk to annoying people.” Maya was not offended at all. “That’s fine. Maybe we can play a game?”
Wilbur’s interest perked up at once though he tried hard to conceal his curiosity. “What kind of game?” Maya’s eyes twinkled mysteriously. “Let me in and I’ll tell you.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Wilbur nodded and stood aside.
She sighed as inconspicuously as she could at the sight of the unfinished jigsaw puzzle on the floor.
What is this? “Suitable for ages three to seven?” This is too childish even for Joy and Zayden!
“Were you putting together a jigsaw puzzle?” Maya asked with feigned interest.
He nodded. “Would you like to join me?”
She agreed since it provided her with the opportunity to spend time with him in the hopes of jolting his memory.
“I would love to. Let’s work on the piece together.”
After taking their seats on the carpet, Wilbur pushed half of his pile to her. “You work on these. We’re not having dinner until we’re done!”
Maya took her pieces and allowed several minutes of occupied puzzle-solving to settle in before speaking again. “Wilbur, do you recall any of the places we’ve been to?”
Wilbur jumped slightly at the question before nodding like a nervous hen pecking for food.
“You do, don’t you?” Her eyes gleamed expectantly. “Could you tell me where we’ve been?” Hopefully, I’ll be able to trigger him to recall something!
Wilbur was about to answer when he heard footsteps from outside his door. “Oh, many places,” he answered.
“Such as?” she prompted. “Can you remember anything specific?”
Wilbur knew that the owner of the footsteps was standing outside his door from the abrupt silence. “I’ve soared to the skies to catch some birds,” he recited with a convincing imitation of a simpleton. “I’ve been to the ocean and swam after turtles; I’ve scaled a mountain to fight a tiger. Let’s see, what else?”
Maya’s anticipation faded only to be replaced by a look of disbelief.
He suddenly gave an excited shout as he clapped his hands. “Oh, I’ve also explored the sewers in search of rats!”
“Come on, Wilbur,” she coaxed. “Be reasonable. How is it possible for you to have been to those places?”
“I have!” Wilbur protested in earnest, as though it was the gospel truth. “We were there together, remember?”
Maya felt as if she was getting nowhere. Undeterred, she attempted another line of questioning.
“Wilbur, do you remember what happened when you jumped into the sea? Why did you do it?”
Her tone was gentle and wary. Her mother had told Nina that Wilbur’s accident looked suspicious and had asked her sister to look for evidence of foul play.
On the other side of the door, Mabel’s heart clenched involuntarily at Maya’s question. The idiot wouldn’t be able to recall anything, would he?
“The wind blew me off my ship!” Wilbur shouted after a long deliberation.
“The wind?” Maya repeated incredulously. “You’re awfully large and heavy. How could the wind have knocked you down?”
“It was a big gust of wind. Before I knew it, I was already underwater.”
As if suddenly recalling something, she pressed on, “Could somebody have pushed you instead? You didn’t get a good look at your surroundings, right? Someone crept up on you and pushed you without you knowing, which is why you thought it was the wind.”
“I didn’t get a good look at the surroundings,” Wilbur repeated stupidly.
“That must be it! Think hard, Wilbur. Who could it be-”
