CHAPTER THREE
Joey was exhausted, but stayed awake for the drive home. Yugi and Yami dropped him and Mokuba off at the front step to the apartment complex. Joey made a promise to call Yugi later. Mokuba watched quietly as Joey stepped up to the call box by the front glass doors. He typed in a series of numbers.
The door buzzed. Joey reached out and pulled the door open. He led Mokuba inside past a front desk and mailboxes to the elevator. They rode up to the fourth floor, walked down a long hall, and stopped in front of a door marked 414.
Mokuba waited patiently as Joey fumbled with his keys. The blonde grew frustrated when the keys dropped. With a small smile, Mokuba bent down and scooped them up. He picked the right key and stuck it in the lock. Joey shot him a grateful smile.
"Thanks, kid. Guess I'm still a bit out of it," Joey apologized.
Mokuba grinned. "That's okay, Joey."
When they entered the apartment, Mokuba wasn't sure what to expect. Because of the front gates and security door, he expected a nice apartment. However, the actual apartment was beyond what he had imagined.
The entrance was a short hallway with a short table. A keybowl sat on it where Joey dropped his keys and wallet. The hallway led out into a spacious and well furnished living room. Off to the left was a medium sized kitchen with new appliances. To the right of the living room was a window overlooking the courtyard and a desk with a closed laptop sitting on it.
Down a separate hallway from the living room and dining room space was a spare bedroom, master bedroom, and a spare bathroom. There was a decent sized master bathroom from within the master bedroom. Overall, it was a great place and Mokuba loved it.
Joey sat back on the couch while Mokuba checked out the game system he had.
"Is it all right if I play your system until Roland brings my school work?" Mokuba asked.
Joey nodded sleepily.
"If you don't mind me going back to sleep. Those meds kinda make me sleepy. I promise I'll spend time with ya after I rest," Joey replied, rubbing at his eyes.
With a small chuckle, Mokuba nodded. Popping a game in, the young man made sure to turn the volume down before getting comfortable in a chair. Joey stretched out on the couch, pulled the blanket off the back, and drifted off to sleep. Mokuba shot Joey a secret, appreciative smile before starting the game.
Mokuba loved the game. Joey had an old system so he had games that were older than Mokuba. Maybe even older than his brother. He played for about an hour, beating level after level, until there was a small knock on the door.
He paused the game and stood up to pad quietly over to the door. Mokuba went up a little on his toes to look through the peephole. He smiled when he plopped back down on his feet. He unlatched the keychain and turned the lock before opening the door. Roland stood there with the young boy's backpack in hand.
Mokuba didn't even ask how the security head had come through and up without Joey buzzing him in. He wasn't the head of security for nothing.
"Thank you, Roland," Mokuba said, taking the backpack from him.
Roland nodded his head before reaching to the side for a separate bag. Mokuba frowned.
"I'm only staying the day," Mokuba said.
He jumped when Joey's voice came from behind him. The blonde looked much more awake now he had some rest.
"Roland called this mornin' when you and Yug' were gettin' breakfast. He suggested that maybe you and yer brother could use a break from each other. You're staying the weekend and I'm taking you to school on Monday." Pause. "If that's okay with you."
Mokuba turned his head back to Roland.
"Is Seto okay with this?"
Roland nodded. He didn't think it relevant to inform either male that it had been Seto's suggestion of the weekend stay. After bidding goodbye to the security, Joey and Mokuba settled back inside. While Mokuba worked on his homework at the dinner table, Joey worked on making lunch.
Mokuba struggled a little with his math, but he tried his best. When Joey brought lunch over, Mokuba showed it to him. Joey smiled while glancing over it.
"You got everything right here. You just flipped the formulas. See right there?" Joey pointed out.
Mokuba looked at where Joey was pointing and suddenly lit up.
"You're right, Joey! Thanks!"
He made the correction and pushed his homework aside for lunch. They munched and chatted about things. After lunch, Mokuba finished his homework while Joey did some cleaning around the apartment. The phone rang right as Mokuba was finishing his last sentence.
"Hello, this is Joey. Oh, hello, boss. Yea, I'm doing okay. Yea, Mokuba's doing better, too. Thanks for taking care of him. What was that?" Pause. "Boss, are you sure? I mean I can…Oh, okay. Yea, yea. A week. Yes, I hear you. A week."
Mokuba looked up curiously as Joey hung up the phone.
"A week of what?" he asked.
Joey sighed.
"A week off of work. Her and the owner wanna make sure I heal up okay before I come back," Joey replied.
Mokuba let out a low whistle. He knew the manager liked and respected Joey a lot. If the owner was anything like her, then Joey was very lucky. With Mokuba's homework done, the two spent the rest of their afternoon in style.
They played video games and ordered out for dinner. Once dinner arrived, they had a movie marathon. It was late into the evening when the two finally stumbled off to their beds.
The next morning, barely after dawn, they went for a jog. Joey took Mokuba through a nearby park and circled around past the restaurant on their way back to the apartment. They took showers in the bathrooms and ate a hearty breakfast Joey whipped up.
Then while Joey was doing a little work on his computer, Mokuba watched television. When he was done, he came over and plopped down on the couch beside the young brunette. They sat together in silence before Joey finally spoke up.
"You want to talk about it?"
Mokuba sighed. He lifted the remote up and muted the show. Tucking a leg under him, Mokuba turned so he was facing Joey.
"I told Seto they should call the company Seto instead of Kaiba Corp."
Joey nodded.
"I told him I'm sick of school and if I'm not perfect, then maybe he isn't, either."
Joey nodded again.
"I told him I lived with a CEO and not a big brother."
Joey nodded. "Yea. I know."
Mokuba's head drooped.
"Yugi told you?" he asked, quietly.
Joey shook his head.
"Nah. I'm a light sleeper. Even with heavy doses of medication. When you've lived the kind of life I have with the kinda father I have…"
Mokuba nodded sadly.
"I didn't mean for it to all come out like that. I mean…I mean I meant everything I said." Sigh. "Just wish I could have said it better."
"Ya feel like ya maybe hurt your brother's feelings?" Joey asked.
Mokuba sniffled and wiped at his nose with the back of his sleeve before nodding. Joey reached over behind him to the Kleenex box on the end table. He handed it to Mokuba who gladly used it and then held it in his lap.
"Maybe when you next see him…maybe try sitting with a snack and talk it out. Think about the things your brother does that you like and don't like. Think about things you can accept and you can't. See if your brother's not too busy to set aside a time for you two to just be brothers again," Joey suggested.
A small smile flickered at the edges of Mokuba's mouth.
"I think I'd like that, Joey. How'd you get so smart?" Mokuba asked.
Joey chuckled.
"I like to think my life experience has helped me to grow," Joey answered.
Mokuba lifted his head.
"Joey?"
"Yea?"
"You never told me what happened to your dad after he kicked you out," the small boy hinted.
This time, it was Joey's turn to sigh.
"Well…when I say he tossed me out, I mean it literally. He jammed my arm behind my back so hard it left some bad bruising on it. And he tossed me down the front steps. I went straight to the hospital and they documented all my injuries. After I got off the phone with my boss, I went straight to the police and filed charges against my old man."
Mokuba listened as Joey told him the details of his father, for once in his miserable life, owning up for what he had done. He had plead guilty, the case had been kept quiet since Joey was only 17, and Wheeler Senior was put away for a long time.
"Why did he plead guilty?" Mokuba asked.
"Well, the way I see it, he figured he would wind up with more time if he tried to go with a not guilty. Smartest decision he ever made in his life, I guess," Joey answered.
They sat in silence. Mokuba was processing a lot. Joey's birthday had been in January and his father had tossed him out shortly after that. It was early October now. That meant Joey had been on his own for eight months.
Mokuba spoke quietly again.
"Are you okay, Joey?"
The blonde's shoulders lifted up and down in a slow motion.
"Some days are better than others. Sometimes…my umm injuries flare up. Sometimes, I have to get up in the middle of the night and check all the locks and make sure the apartment is safe."
Mokuba bit his bottom lip. Slowly, he reached out to gently touch the top of Joey's hand.
"Do you ever talk to anyone about this?" Mokuba asked.
"I…umm…I've only told Yugi the need to know stuff, but he's known for a while about the bruises and stuff. I've also see a…umm…psychiatrist a few times. He's on call if I need him. I think I'll try and see if he has an opening this week since I have the week off," Joey said.
Mokuba could tell Joey was growing uncomfortable with the conversation. He knew it was because Joey was probably not used to talking about himself or his living situation.
"How's Serenity?"
Joey's face broke out in a laughing grin.
"She's great. She was just here a few weeks ago for a visit. Mom's a lot more understanding about letting her visit. She might be coming to stay with me during Christmas."
"That's awesome, Joey."
END OF CHAPTER THREE
