Chapter XXIII Part II: Bright Coyote; or Mai's Story
Hi, again, everyone. I should give fair warning before you read, so you can avoid this if you really want to. We're dealing with emotional trauma, sexual abuse, illicit affairs and binge drinking. This also has mild language. I think this chapter is worthy of the T rating…
Author's note, some time later: I broke up at least one paragraph and divided sections that were dreams and different points of view. I do hope this isn't too confusing.
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Twelve-year-old Mai was running through her house as fast as she possibly could. This time, she'd gotten away, but her father was close behind her, and if he caught her, he'd force her to... He didn't care that she didn't want to; all he cared about was his need. She ran down the hall where she knew there was a stairwell (at least in the real world) which led out of the house. But in this dream… OH NO! Mai was trapped and the only escape routes were…
"Dead end, Mai… You've escaped me for the last time," her father said, his brown eyes glistening with animal lust and evil. "You know what I want," he said as he undid the belt of his smoking jacket.
"No!" Mai screamed, knowing in her dreams as she'd known in real life that there was nothing she could do to stop what was about to happen… No way out… She'd wished at this point in her life that someone would come and intervene. But no one had and no one would…
"Leave her alone." The door on Mai's right opened, and a young boy's voice (with a Brooklyn accent, Mai noted) spoke out.
"What?!" her father exclaimed.
"I said, leave her alone. I won't let you hurt her no more," the small figure said, emerging from the room's shadows. A tow-headed nine-year-old boy with honey-brown eyes placed himself between the twelve-year-old girl and her predator father. "Mai won't get hurt by you or anybody, 'cause I won't let it happen."
"Joey, run!" Mai yelled.
"I'm not leavin' you, Mai. Ever," Joey said with a determined look in his eyes. And then he helped Mai to her feet and they grew to their present-day forms. He kept his hand in hers, reassuring Mai that he would keep her safe.
"You're dead," Joey said. "You've been dead since Mai was thirteen. You were a rotten, no-good jerk who probably used women because you were sick. You didn't care about them and you obviously didn't care about Mai. You had money, power and lived in high society, but you were lower than the guy who scrubs out the pans in the kitchens. You're a pedophile and you didn't give a crap about anyone other than yourself. Mai's the most amazing girl I've ever met and you weren't worthy to be her father. I'm going to do whatever it takes to be worthy to be her guy. So get outta her head and get outta her life!"
The man's specter stared at his daughter. "You can't be rid of me, Mai. I was the only thing that made you worth anything!"
Mai had fought this part of her dream for quite some time. But with Joey at her side, she was able to do what she had never, even in her dreams, been able to do. "No, Daddy, I'm worth something in spite of you. I'm done thinking I was at your mercy. You're out of here… forever!"
With an incoherent scream, Mai's father vanished away. "You want to get out of here?" Joey asked. Mai nodded.
"How did you get in here?" she asked.
"Why don't we get outta here first?" he asked. The stairway was back where it should've been, and hand in hand, they exited the house into a blinding light.
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Mai could feel her hand clasped in Joey's larger one as she slowly woke up. She opened her eyes to see him sitting next to her, looking at her in concern with tears in his eyes.
"J-Joey? I wasn't dreaming, was I?" He shook his head.
"Well, you were but you weren't, Mai. You were havin' a nightmare and… well… Lisa helped me go in and fight it with you. So it was your dream, but you were able to control it. I couldn't just let you face it alone."
Mai moved her head a bit to see the teen doctor. "Lisa?"
"It's true," Lisa said, taking the older girl's wrist and checking her pulse. "I helped Joey form a bridge into your mind so he could help you fight off the nightmare. You were under the effects of Jedi Knockout for three hours and under the effects of a tranquilizer for a little over four hours. You were pretty upset."
"Everyone knows, don't they?" the model asked the doctor and the teen boy. They nodded.
"You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to, Mai, but if you do, everyone else is waiting. No one in the group will force you to talk, though I will have you talk to the rape counselor when you're up to it. She'll want to meet you, but she won't have you talk about it until later."
Mai took a deep breath. "I want to tell everybody… everything. But Joey… can you...?"
"I'll stay here if you need me, babe," he answered, then blushed, realizing he'd used a pet name to address her. Mai, in response, squeezed his hand.
Lisa smiled inwardly at this turn of events, but outwardly managed to remain serious. "Listen, Mai, if it's all right with you, I would like to bring the counselor in to meet with you. Do you want her to listen when you talk to the gang?"
Mai nodded. "That way, I'll only have to say it once. I know she's going to tell me what you're all going to tell me… that it wasn't my fault. I know intellectually that it wasn't, but when your parents didn't really love you in the first place, you always wonder." Joey squeezed her hand, knowing in some ways where she was coming from.
Lisa walked out from behind the curtains surrounding Mai's bed and headed outside of the room. Everyone was sitting in chairs out in the hall. "Is she awake?" Teá asked, eyes mirroring the concern of everyone else in the group.
"Yeah, she's awake, and she wants to tell you guys all at once. I've just got to get the counselor in there so she can listen to what Mai has to say as well. I'll let you in there in a second."
Back in the room, Joey kept holding Mai's hand. Don't hold back anything, he sent, don't do what I did.
I'll tell all I can, she answered. I'm sorry, Joey.
Sorry for what?
I'm damaged goods, she answered.
No, you're not, he sent back, the pain in his eyes visible. It wasn't your fault, anymore than it was my fault that my dad beat up on me. That doesn't make us damaged goods. Don't let that thing win. Mai nodded, thinking deep in her mind that she should keep replaying what Joey said until she herself believed it.
Lisa returned finally with a young-looking African-American woman, dressed in a very nice Juicy Couture pink track suit. "Mai, this is Zelda Goodwin. Zelda, this is Mai Valentine."
"Hello, Mai," Zelda said, shaking the girl's hand. "I'm one of the rape counselors here at Domino Children's. Lisa said you wanted to tell all your friends what happened. Are you sure about that?"
Mai nodded. "It'll be easier if I just tell everybody at once, Zelda, then I can work with you and not have to keep repeating it to them."
"All right, then. I can just stand outside and listen or find a corner and sit while you talk, all right?"
"Okay. Lisa, could you bring them in?" Lisa nodded, and again, Joey squeezed Mai's slim hand in his broader one. Joey knew all he could do at this point was reassure the woman he loved and maybe give her the strength she needed to fight and win. Zelda sat herself in a comfortable chair with a notepad so she could remember what Mai said later.
Lisa stepped outside and within minutes, the rest of the gang entered the room and sat or laid down. "You guys know now," Mai said. Everyone nodded, and so she continued, "I've never told anyone what happened until now. And now you'll all know why." She paused, struggling for control.
"Why lettin' someone past your defenses is hard?" Joey asked. Mai nodded.
"It's tough when your parents didn't love you. It's even worse when you know you didn't do anything except be born and yet somehow everything is your fault…" And Mai began her tale….
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My full name is Mai Deirdre Valentine. My first name was taken from the Navaho Indian tribe and to the Navahos, my name means "coyote," an animal that is alone. My middle name, Deirdre, means "sorrowful" or "wanderer." My mother and father named me thus because they hated me. One day, my mother told me to look up my first and middle name because she said the Navaho meaning of my first name and the meaning of my second name was what she wanted for me.
I was born here in Domino to Hillary and Bennett Valentine. My mom only had me to make her and my father's company look good. She didn't want to have a baby because it would mess up her figure and her modeling career, but did it so Valentine, Inc. would have better profits. My father knew that a company with a family image did well, so I guess he convinced my mother to get pregnant. As soon as she could, though, my mother handed me off to nannies, and that was when I was two weeks old. Mom got to go to day spas, gyms and beauty shops, and I was with nannies.
The nannies I had never lasted long, though. Some only lasted a couple of weeks, while others lasted a few months. I didn't find out until I was seven why they kept leaving. Most of them were young girls, as young as Teá, in many cases. I also had tutors from the time I was three, but they didn't change like the nannies did.
One nanny I remember left when I was about six. I called her Nanny Lissa, but her name was Melissa Tsubaki. She left because she was pregnant with a baby who would've been my half-brother or sister if she hadn't died in a car crash that killed two other people. I didn't find out until later that she'd been underage and been having an affair with my father. She found out she was pregnant a week after she turned eighteen. She had friends at a sorority and got drunk with them. Then she tried to drive home to talk to her parents, but crashed into two innocent people instead.
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Everyone abruptly sensed the pain coming from Yugi. Teá, sitting next to him, stared. "Yugi, what..?"
"Your nanny was Melissa Tsubaki?" he asked Mai.
"Yeah. Oh, my gosh, it was your parents she hit! Oh, Yugi…"
Yugi, tears in his amethyst eyes, said, "Grandpa told me that Melissa's parents said she was sad about something, but never really got a chance to tell them. I think he knew after a while, but didn't want to tell me. I know now… And don't think it's your fault, Mai, 'cause it's not. You didn't hurt her; your dad did. And just because you were there doesn't mean he wouldn't have done what he did." Mai considered this and managed to continue her tale.
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After Nanny Lissa came Nanny Beth. She was 22 and was only my nanny for three weeks when she quit because my father kept hitting on her. Then my parents hired Nanny Leia. She was 64 and was my nanny for two months when she died in her sleep because of a heart attack. And then my parents hired Nanny Kelly. She was really nice and took good care of me. She had red hair, green eyes and freckles and she was about nineteen. She read me stories, helped me with my studies and made sure I took good long naps. I found out one day why my naps were good for her… and my father.
I woke up from my nap because there were people shouting. I followed the sound to my father's bedroom and I could tell it was my parents shouting. I got closer, and the door was open. When I got in the bedroom, I saw my mom dressed to the nines and my dad in his bathrobe. Nanny Kelly was in my dad's bed, covered up and her clothes were on the floor. She gasped, seeing me. My parents took one look at me when they realized I was there, and kept on shouting. I turned and ran out of the room and to the other end of the house so I didn't have to hear any more shouting. Nanny Kelly was gone the next day.
After Nanny Kelly left, I ended up just having tutors. I studied seven hours a day with breaks and I was at high school level work by my tenth birthday. I was at the equivalent of junior year high school work by the time I was twelve. My father, after the incident with Nanny Kelly, began taking lots of business trips. My mother didn't care than her husband was with other women, but she cared that it was possible for people to find out. As long as he kept it out of the house, my father got what he wanted. Even though I was still young when Nanny Kelly left, the tutors allowed my mother to keep away from me. She kept making her trips to day spas and other places to keep up her looks. My mom had been a model before she married my dad, and she was really vain.
Mom started acting really crazy, especially after I knew about my father's indiscretions. She started making comments about my looks, asking where I'd gotten the idea that I could upstage her. She said that even if I was a rocket scientist, I'd never be taken seriously because I was pretty. I began to realize that I couldn't depend on my mother or my father. I became afraid of my mother, but I wasn't afraid of my father until one day when he hadn't been on a business trip for a while.
I was twelve years old on that day. It was a Sunday and I wasn't being tutored, so Mom went to a beauty shop to get her nails done. Dad said he'd take me shopping for a new outfit. He insisted also that I get a new bra and underwear, so I did. When we got home, he told me to change into all of the new stuff so he could see how beautiful I looked. I didn't think anything of it at first, but I wish I had. But maybe it wouldn't have mattered. He told me to come to his room after I changed, and when I did, he was sitting on his bed in his long silk robe. He told me to turn around in my outfit, and then after he'd gotten a look at me, he told me to undress to my bra and panties so he could see how I looked in those. I didn't want to and he didn't like that I was balking.
He grabbed my wrist and I tried to break free, but he was too strong. "You're such a pretty girl, Mai and since I pay for your outfits, I have right to see you however I want," he told me. He kept his grip on me while I took my pants off, and then he pulled my top off. And then he forced me to kiss him, but not like a father kisses a daughter. I started to struggle, but it didn't matter. He hit me hard and I was knocked silly. When I came to, he was….
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Mai couldn't talk because she was suddenly choked by sobs. Joey slowly pulled her into a hug and she hugged back tightly, forgetting that Joey was recovering from five broken ribs. But the teen boy didn't let Mai know that it hurt. Instead he held her, making soothing noises and rubbing her back like she was a frightened child.
After a few minutes, Mai drew a very shuddery breath and continued, "He didn't stop for almost an hour. I kept trying to fight him and begging him to stop, but it didn't matter. He was so much stronger than me. And my mom came home two hours after that. I told her what happened."
"What did she do?" Joey asked softly.
"She didn't care. Her exact words were, 'Oh. So you finally got what you deserved, you little slut.'" Mai had briefly had control of her emotions, but again the tears came and Joey kept her close.
"You didn't deserve that, Mai, and you are definitely not what she called you," the blonde boy said clearly. She stayed relaxed in his hug for a minute more, and then went back to just holding his hand. She continued her tale….
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After it happened, I was in a daze. Part of me wanted to die and part of me wasn't sure what I'd do if he came after me again. But I realized ending my life would play right into my parents' hands. If I killed myself, they'd have found a way to cover it up, either by planting drug paraphernalia in my room or making it look like I was a bad or mixed up kid because I fell in with the wrong crowd. Even though I never had any friends, they would've figured a way to manufacture some kids from "the wrong crowd." They had the money and power to do it.
I then decided that I would find a way out of that house forever. I sped up in my coursework and got my GED by my thirteenth birthday and not too long after that, my parents died. Mom and Dad were home together and I had gone to an etiquette lesson. I don't know, but somehow, I think my parents decided to have one last fight. It might've been that Mom was having an affair and what was good for the gander obviously wasn't okay for the goose. But there was no evidence of that and all I know is that my dad killed my mom and then turned the gun on himself.
So I was thirteen and alone and in charge of a company I didn't want. I didn't want to go into foster care, so I got myself emancipated. When I was fourteen, I sold both the house and the company for quite a bit. Those things meant nothing to me. And then I got the job on the cruise line. Since I looked older, no one cared that I was four years too young. Men hit on me, but I wouldn't let them get close. And then I learned about Duel Monsters. I could duel well, and no one mistook me for just a pretty blonde after I took them down a few pegs. And the Harpy's Ladies… I really liked them a lot because I could see them protecting me and clawing the eyes out of anyone who tried to hurt me. But they weren't real, so I was still alone. I'm still a coyote, and…
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"I'm so screwed up," Mai concluded as Joey held her close.
"You don't have to be a coyote anymore," he said softly, looking deep into her eyes. "Does your name have other meanings?"
"I don't know," Mai answered, looking sad. Then Lisa abruptly smiled.
"I have a baby name book with me… I started looking at these things with Jaden Yuki, Jayda's little boy, and found out name meanings." She pulled out the book from her purse and thumbed through it for a moment. "Hmm… Valentine means 'strong' or 'healthy.' And Mai means 'brightness' in Japanese, and 'flower' in Vietnamese. Deirdre does mean 'sorrowful' and 'wanderer,' but being a wanderer doesn't have to be a bad thing. Joey, what do you think of Mai's full name?"
Joey regarded the beautiful woman he had in his arms at that very moment. "Well, I think you're a strong, healthy, bright wandering flower that makes people happy. I know you make me happy," he said.
"I glare sometimes, though, don't I?" she asked with a shaky smile.
"I wouldn't have you any other way," he said smiling, but winced, turning very pale. Then Mai remembered.
"Joey, I shouldn't have hugged you so hard. I hurt you, didn't I?"
"I'm all right," he said, trying to act macho, but quickly finding he couldn't hold the pain back any longer.
"Joey, let's get you back to bed," Lisa ordered, helping the teen boy stand. She knew he didn't want to leave his girlfriend's side, but if he didn't get back to bed, Joseph Aaron Wheeler risked impeding his recovery. Mai knew that too.
"Joey, do what she says. Yugi…."
The small King of Games looked at his friend and walked over to her bed. "Mai, you're my friend. And what I found out doesn't change that. I…" Yugi struggled for a minute, tearing up, and managed to continue, "I never knew much about Lissa, but I found out today that she was a nanny to a really nice girl who knew how to help her friends." He couldn't say more and Mai enfolded him in her arms in a sisterly hug.
"Thanks, Yugi," she said softly, and then yawned. Despite having had a few hours of uninterrupted sleep, Mai's exhaustion was taking her down. "Excuse me," she said groggily.
"Mai," Lisa asked, "I gave you a sedative earlier, and I need to know now what you've been on." Mai told her. "Okay, then, if you're okay with this, I'm going to give you a mild sedative. It's a little stronger than what I gave you this morning after I knocked you out." Mai nodded, and Lisa got a syringe loaded with the sedative. She injected the syringe into Mai's IV, and the effects were almost instant. Mai was soon fast asleep.
"My guess is that she's going to be out for a while," Lisa said gently. "She's exhausted. Joey, are you okay?"
He'd regained some color as he lay in the bed, but he still looked a little pale. "Yeah, just kinda winded, Leese. And a little hungry."
On cue, a pretty redheaded nurse named Jodie brought in two trays of chicken soup for the boys. "Thanks, Jodie," Lisa said.
"No problem, Dr. Hammond," she said, and left the room. It was fairly early in the evening, so Joey and Mokuba had eaten and were both falling asleep by 7:30. Yugi, Teá, Tristan and Duke elected to head home, so as soon as they were done getting the boys to sleep, Lisa, Seto, Elizabeth and Serenity were alone.
"I think I'll stay with the kids tonight. Serenity, I think you should go home with Seto and Lisa," Elizabeth said.
"But Mom…"
"You need your rest, honey," Elizabeth said in a voice that broached no argument.
"Your mom is right, Serenity," Lisa added. "Besides, I think Dr. Misawa will want to have a look at your eyes and it won't help him if they're bloodshot. So come home with us." Serenity nodded.
"Elizabeth," Seto said, "you're going to need some dinner. Is there anything you'd like to have brought in? When you decide, tell Roland and he can go pick it up for you." Roland was standing outside the door with Bryce, and stuck his head in the room, indicating he'd heard his boss.
And within a few minutes, the three teens were speeding away from the hospital. Meanwhile, at Yugi's house, the amethyst-eyed teen boy was sitting down to dinner with his grandfather.
"Yugi," Solomon Muto asked, "is everything all right, my boy? You've been awfully quiet since you got home."
"Grandpa, I found about Melissa Tsubaki today," the boy answered as he took a bite of his grandfather's really yummy rice balls.
"Yugi?" Solomon asked, eyes becoming sad as he remembered the parents of the teenage girl who'd accidentally killed his son and daughter-in-law.
"She was Mai Valentine's nanny and she was pregnant with Mai's half-brother or sister. Mai's dad was evil, Grandpa." And so Yugi told his grandfather what he'd learned.
Finally, chapter 23 is done! The next chapter will be a bit more light-hearted, I promise! Serenity goes home with the young couple and spends the next day with Lisa!
Read and review, folks! Thanks!
