Chapter 24 I Can Do Something

I leaned in close to my new tulip, taking in a long sniff so that I could fully experience the smell. Awww. Man, tulips really were the sweetest-looking and sweetest-smelling flowers. Sure, some people would prefer the scent of roses and lilacs, as those flowers produced aromas that were stereotypically flowery. However, I did find appreciation in the grassy green scent of tulips. It wasn't too overpowering, and it gave the smeller a happy bout of joy through the nose. Yeah, tulips were perfect.

I stood up, all while my mind formulated a plan. After Mommy was found, and I told her right to her face that I was going off on my own and not joining the royal guard, I was going to go set up a flower shop in Toad Town. Yes, Toad Town. Being the location closest to Princess Peach's castle, it had the most activity and the largest population size in the whole kingdom. That would be the best place to set up shop. Sure, I had no idea how much the rent would cost, which admittedly did make me feel a little uneasy about the whole situation. But at the same time, I was willing to tackle that fear. The coins Shady…oh sorry, Roy had lent to me gave me more than enough confidence that I would be able to get by on my own.

A smile grew on my face. Man, it was just so liberating! Being able to follow my own dreams and my own passions! And it was all thanks to one pink-headed Koopa notorious for wearing sunglasses. I owed Roy a lot. He helped me in ways that I never thought possible, especially considering my current circumstances. I don't know if I would necessarily call him a friend at this point, but I certainly respected him. Celia was lucky to have him as a boyfriend.

Speaking of Celia, she came in through the front door within no time flat. I turned toward her, smiling as I did. I wanted to tell her my plans, what steps I would take now that I had Roy's financial support. My heart fluttered just thinking about this, both with nervousness but also with a humongous bout of glee. I was going to take the world by storm. People better remember the name Albert Patch, because his name was going to go down in the history books!

"Hey, Celia." I stepped closer to her, beaming as I did. "I know what I want to do when…"

I stopped as she lifted her head. With wet cheeks, red eyes, and a quivering lip, it didn't take a genius to tell exactly what her emotional state was. My mind instantly entered panic mode; something bad had to have happened.

"Are you okay?" I came even closer to her, which allowed me to hear the little whimpers coming from her throat. "Is everything okay?" Something instantly occurred to me. "Where's Roy?"

Celia bit her lip and dried her eyes. "He…he…" she broke down, not even having enough strength to finish her sentence. She trembled, looking like her legs were about to give out and make her drop to the floor

My heart pumped. Seriously, what happened? If it was enough to make Celia cry and shake, it couldn't have been good. Almost on impulse, I reached out and touched her shoulder. I gave it a pat and a firm squeeze, something Mommy used to do for me when I was little and in a similar emotional state.

"Just calm down," I said, trying my best to use a soothing voice. "Breathe, relax. It'll all be okay."

Celia shook her head. "No. No, it won't be." She sniffled again and wiped another tear (or to be more precise, a stream of tears) out of her eye. "Roy's been… Roy's been…"

I leaned in close. "Roy's been what?" The tension in the air was killing me.

Celia bit her lip again, this time extra hard. "Arrested," she said, her voice barely loud enough to qualify as a whisper.

I blinked. Arrested? As in, the guy who lent me money and bought me a bought me the most beautiful tulip I've ever seen? He's been arrested?

My face fell. I shouldn't be surprised. I am, but I shouldn't be. Roy's a koopa, after all. Mommy was right; koopas were scum. Roy probably just led me to believe that he was a nice guy just for his own selfish gain. Heck, it's possible even him lending me money was for no other reason than to…I don't know, frame me for something? Yeah, that would make sense. Man, I can't believe I ever trusted a koopa.

At least, those were the thoughts running through my head until I looked back at my tulip. My stomach churned when I saw it, and all at once, everything that I had just been thinking had been put into question. Roy gave me the tulip to cheer me up. He went out of his way to do something nice for me; not just once, but multiple times. So… there had to be more to this. There had to be something I wasn't seeing, maybe a deeper reason why Roy got taken in.

"What did he do?" I asked, surprising myself with how much my voice squeaked while asking that.

"Nothing!" Celia exclaimed. "He…he…" she took another deep breath, sniffling like she had come down with the common cold. "He was falsely accused!"

Admittedly, that did pique my interest. The reason being was because it aligned up with everything Roy had shown me about his personality. Maybe I wasn't wrong to trust him?

"What was he accused of?"

Celia swallowed a lump. "While we were heading out to the restaurant, the lady who ran the flower store we went to to get you your tulip showed up with a police officer. She said her store had been robbed, and she believed Roy to be the one responsible for it."

My stomach flip flopped. "And he wasn't?"

"No! Believe me Albert, I was with him the whole time! He didn't do anything wrong!" Her expression sharpened into a glare. "But that didn't stop the toad from thinking he did!"

My heart sank. "Because he's a koopa?"

Celia nodded. "Yeah. Because he's a koopa."

All at once, guilt poured on top of me like a torrent of heavy rain. That Toad was a racist scum, exactly like… like me. My first instinct was to jump to think Roy was in the wrong, just like how they had done. The only difference was that the Toad had actively done something that screwed over Roy's life. And even then, that wasn't that big of a difference. I bet if I had been in the same position, I would've done the same thing. I bet I would jump to accusing a koopa of theft to, even if I had no evidence to support such a claim.

This realization made me feel sick. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around my crying cousin. I didn't even bother worrying about salmonella, I just knew that she needed me to do this. As she cried, I couldn't help but cry too, except I was doing it for more reasons than just Roy being arrested. I couldn't believe how scummy I was. I couldn't believe I was willing to change my mind about a koopa who had done nothing but good to me, all because of a belief I previously held that had zero actually basis in fact. I was a racist scum. Just like the Toad.

"It..it'll be okay," I said after a while, hoping those words would reassure Celia. Even as I said them, I had a lot of trouble believing them to be true. I couldn't even wrap my head around a way that this whole debacle could turn out for the better.

Oh, what was there to do?

…

That question I asked myself earlier stayed with me into the hours of the night, as I laid down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. I sighed and turned over, thinking about all that had happened just a few hours prior. Uncle Singe and Aunt Ruby had come into the house soon after Celia arrived, and she had informed them of what exactly had happened to Roy. Naturally, they had been dumbfounded. And like me, they had absolutely no idea what the next course of action should be. They had eventually settled on going to the Koopa Kingdom to get Bowser help (on a side note, I was still in disbelief over Roy being Bowser's adopted son). Unfortunately, they didn't know when or how they would be able to do that, as Celia had school and Ruby had work. Singe had free time, so he could do it. Unfortunately, even with that in mind, we all knew that a trip to the far side of the Koopa Kingdom would take forever. Plus, there were too many dangerous enemies in the path for anybody to effectively and safely make the trip.

I groaned and rolled over on my side. It really wasn't fair, was it? All this trouble Roy was in, and for what? He hadn't committed any crime; the only crime he had committed was being a koopa in a kingdom full of mushrooms. That's really it. And really, no matter what way you look at it, this just made this whole situation ridiculous to the nth degree.

And to think I wouldn't have seen that ridiculousness until I met Roy.

I rolled back over on my side. Man, I wish there was something I could do. I wish there was a way I could get Roy out of the situation he's in. Like… I don't know, maybe I could find a magic wand that could transport me back in time to stop this from happening. Or maybe I could use magic to shift the emotions of the Mushroomers to see that they were in the wrong. Sure, it wouldn't be moral, but it still wasn't nearly as bad as imprisoning someone just based on the fact that they were a scaly reptile.

I sighed. Unfortunately, I didn't have magic. Magikoopas had magic, but a long journey into the treacherous lands of the Koopa Kingdom was required to find the lot of them. So, we were all still stuck at square one.

My tossing and turning grew more unmanageable now that it was fueled by frustration. Oh, why can't I do something? Roy was nice enough to buy me a tulip and lend me much-needed money! Why couldn't I do something in return? Why couldn't I…?

I stopped. I rose to a sitting position, my eyes wide and my jaw dropped. I realized at that moment that there was something I could do. Why? Well, there was one four-letter word that I had completely forgotten about in my aggravation.

Bail.

I could pay Roy's bail. That way, he wouldn't have to spend whoever knows how long in jail. He'd be able to go back to the Koopa Kingdom, completely forgetting about the horrid Toad who had decided to screw him over as she did. Sure, I planned on using the money for my own personal ventures. But you know what? In this point in time, that mattered very little. Roy and his needs were more important to me than chasing my dreams.

With this thought in mind, I got up and went over to my wallet, sitting on the dining table. I opened it up, getting a full view of all the glimmering gold coins hiding within. I hoped it was enough. Sure, there were a lot of them, so I was willing to assume that it would be enough. But even then, I couldn't help but worry.

I shook my head, pushed those thoughts to the side, and marched over to the door. I took a deep breath as I prepared to open it and step outside. I was going to do this. I was going to help Roy out. I opened the door…

"Oh Albert, I'm so glad to see you!"

I gasped as I got squashed in a very loving embrace. My mind raced with more emotions than I could ever possibly name, all while I tried my best to wrap my head around what exactly was happening.

"M…Mommy?"