My charge had been bornhim.But had neverchosento be born him. That had justhappenedto him. Then life had happened to thathim,exerting upon it certain deleterious effects, including but not limited to: the powerful nature of his early desires, which had led him tostrive,which, in turn, led him toaccomplish,and, inaccomplishing,he had brought aboutharm,even as the mind he’d been given, from the start, bloomed forth, just as it must, causing him, in the face of that harm (and the accusations made against him due to that harm), to suppress and deny the reality of the harm and become, over time, averse to even acknowledging it.
It had all unscrolled just as it must.
It did not seem strange to me, butinevitable.
Aninevitable occurrenceupon which it would be ludicrous to pass judgment.
And yet judgment was being passed.
Most harshly.
—
I leapt out the window and down I swooped, through one Mel and then the other, thinking, as I did, ofhacking,slicing:a kniferippingthrough a watermelon, an axsplittinga log.
When I came out on the other side, the Mels and my charge had been lacerated into thick sections, which, after a few microseconds of confusion, began reforming into the Mels and my charge.
The rope, because inanimate, remained cut.
My charge stumbled away, putting some prohibitive distance between himself and the Mels.
Iwhiskedthrough one Mel, then the other, imagining, this time, that they were empty vessels, with openings in the tops of their heads, and that two streams of wet concrete were pouring in, one per Mel, instantly hardening.
I came out on the other side, looked back, and there they were: legs splayed, sitting side by side, heavy as could be, like statues, Mel G. leaning slightly off to the right, Mel R. to the left. Because their arms were made of stone, they were unable to catch themselves as they tipped (G. to the right, R. to the left).
Unfair, said G., from there on his side, slightly cracked.
Manifestly unfair, said R.
We waited all night for him, said G.
Twelve years I waited for him, said R.
Nine years I waited, said G.
You can’t do that, said R.
You can’t just do that, said G.
And yet I did, I said. I just now did it.
Who are you? said R.
What are you? said G.
Who and what are you, anyway? said R.
For me to know and you to find out, I said.
It served those two doofuses right for always being so crappy and mean to everybody.
Suck eggs and die, creepos, I said.
Iwhiskedthrough them once more, imagining the concrete turning to water.
And it did.
Coughing and gagging, they hustled away, cursing me but only under their breaths, so terrified were they of my new capabilities.
