Chapter Two: A Fork In The Road
Thanks for the reviews....umm...They were nice! .
pisces14071: No way! Calista Bolidaman is not my name, but she is my trademark Yu-Gi-Oh! character. And, with much controversy, there is a specific reason on why I decided to put her into this fic, but her real importance is in "Really And Truly".....HintHint Thanks for reviewing!
moocow33: Thanks for reviewing! There aren't enough Joey/Mai fics out there, are there? That's unfair, so I decided to write one dedicated to one of my favorite couples....I hope you really like this story!
Melodylink: LOL Thanks for reviewing!
Luthien-Anwaman: Thanks for reviewing, and good guess on what's gonna happen in the this chapter....
Lina567: I hope that you like this fic....It wasn't so popular, I guess, at first, but I seem to have luck with second chapters! Thanks for reviewing!
Moonlite Goddess: Aside from the fact that you're my cousin....You actually managed to review. LOL Thanks
DayDreamerz: You like this fic? I'm glad.....And if you think that Bolidaman has got to sort out her priorities in THIS fic, you should read my Seto/Serenity fic... :shudders: LOL Thanks for reviewing!
Once again, O. Henry created "A Retrieved Reformation," I'm just making a parody out of it.
I also don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! But I do own Calista Bolidaman....Yeah, I know, I really don't own much.
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Joey was still cleaning some dirt off of his shoes when he heard the dismissal bell ring. He looked away from his shoes quickly to see if Serenity was ready to go home, and sure enough, there she was all cute and adorable. Joey watched her as she was putting on her little blue coat while managing holding onto two....Erm...rather disheveled paper dolls in her hands.
Joey couldn't help but simply smile at the way she was cradling the two dolls that were most likely made for their mother. She was keeping them safe, while putting on her little blue coat, from all harm that could've touched them (including the shredders/Bolidaman's hands).
"Joey!" Mai called, interrupting Joey's proud thoughts of his sister, "Hey, Joey!"
Joey shifted his direction to his right side, and he saw Mai Valentine frantically waving her hand in the air while trying to get his attention. She was standing under a cherry blossom tree, and she was a good few yards away so the only way Joey could've heard [Due to all the children's excited noises about the school day finally being over] her was if she raised her voice a tad bit.
Joey noticed the striking lilac overcoat that she wore, and he couldn't help but shift a few hues redder.
"Whaddya want, Mai?" Joey replied as he cupped his hands over his mouth.
"The weather's looking bad, so I figured that you and Serenity would like a ride home," She answered as she pointed her finger up to the threatening black clouds that were taunting the children of the playground.
You see, Mai's father was a rich man, a good man, but an extremely, filthily, abnormally, unbelievably LOADED man.
In these times that our stars were living in, not every little kid was fortunate enough to have a carriage carry them around to every destination that they had to reach.....So it wouldn't be uncommon to see practically 99% of the school's children walk home, despite how brutal the weather was.
Not many children in the school had a carriage to take them home like the wealthy Seto Kaiba and Mai Valentine did. But Mai Valentine, unlike Seto Kaiba, was sweet enough to offer her friends a ride home while Kaiba laughed as he boarded his carriage while laughing hysterically at the "fools" who had to walk home...
Joey thought for a second, and it was a very short second that he thought, but he did alas answer:
"No, thank you, Mai. Me and Serenity are gonna walk home!" He called back with his hands still cupped firmly over his mouth so that Mai could hear him loud and clear.
Mai, who did hear Joey very well, pursed her lips together for a second, and she barely mouthed to herself, "Why not?"
Joey waved a good-bye signal to Mai, who seemed to be mumbling to herself, and he started searching in every direction (except his right) to find his sister.
"Serenity! Come on! We have to get home soon," he called as his head anxiously shook from all that searching.
But soon, like a second after he called her name, he could smell her smooth rosy skin near him....
"I'm right here, silly," his sister's voice said (from Joey's right). "Do you wanna know how mean Calista is?"
Joey sighed a sign of relief as he turned around to his sister who was still guarding the two barely-bonded paper dolls. He looked at his adorable little sister with her little petticoat on snugly around her.
Although Joey loved the site of his little sister's face when he saw her preparing to go home, he had no choice but to scowl in confusion when he saw the look upon her face.
Her happy face went into a look of such an anger that Joey was surprised to see his own sister like this.
"What did Calista do?" Joey asked, remembering that she had come to him complaining about how mean Calista Bolidaman was.
And so Serenity started complaining about every little bit and piece that Bolidaman could've possibly done to her. She complained about her paper dolls, that one time where Calista used up all the pink crayon, that incident in which Calista "accidentally" kicked dirt in Serenity's face, last year when Calista snipped the ribbon of Serenity's new and only doll because she thought it was uneven, the moment when Calista told everybody that she only talked to Serenity because she was a poor, needy orphan that hardly bathed and desperately needed some attention etc.....
And this...erm....Calista-Complaint session lasted a good deal into Joey and Serenity's walk home....
It's too bad that Serenity wasted one of her final moments with her brother by complaining when she really should've been, as she would find out soon, telling him how much it meant to her that he was her brother.....
"The weather's starting to look bad," Serenity told Joey as she stared aimlessly at the clouds above her that were starting to swirl ever so slowly yet vehemently at the same time. "We better get home soon or Mom will worry."
Joey, who was beyond relieved that Serenity was finally through with her inordinately long list of complaints, nodded his head in agreement as he slightly pushed Serenity's shoulder forward, telling her to quicken her pace.
Serenity outstretched her legs trying to cover more distance, but every time she managed to get a glimpse of her torn paper dolls, she couldn't help but think about Bolidaman and her stupidity level which increased daily.
"And do you know what Bolidaman believes?" Serenity asked, causing Joey to sigh, as she looked down at her two remaining paper dolls, "She thinks--as in she actually believes-- that she will one day marry, and I mean MARRY Seto Kaiba! What a loser!"
"I pity the girl who wants ta marry Kaiba," Joey mumbled as he shook his head in disappointment, a bit happy that he could swiftly change the subject to a bit of Seto Kaiba bashing...
"Yeah, as if he didn't get like twelve boxes of chocolate everyday from girls," Serenity said as she looked to her older brother, "Bolidaman thinks that Kaiba will choose her out of all those girls....And...."
Joey wondered about what else Serenity had to say about this topic, for she hesitated and bit her tongue as if she questioned whether or not to say such a thing.
"And? Come on! Ya left me hangin'!" Joey complained as he informed Serenity that he wanted to hear whatever it was that she had to say.
The two Wheelers hurried themselves up for Joey felt a rather viciously falling raindrop in his nose, and Serenity could feel them pinpricking her hair.
Serenity looked to her brother with the same hesitant look upon her face. It was almost like Serenity wondered if she could let Joey in on a little secret....
"And," Serenity said slowly, "Seto Kaiba is a MEAN JERK who thinks that beating up innocent people is fun...and....and...I hope he gets what he deserves.....And...and....nobody in their right mind would ever want to marry him!" She really contradicted herself actually, when she said that last part about nobody ever wanting to marry him......
Serenity bit her lip as she finished her fuming statement and looked up at her brother. She was perfectly positive that Joey would scold her for using such rude language {mean, jerk...} to address a boy, but there was no way that she would let Seto Kaiba bully her brother around anymore without her saying something...
Joey returned Serenity's stare with a disapproving look on his face.
"Serenity," Joey started to say as he continued walking alongside his sister, "I did not approve of dat voice you used," he tried to speak solemnly without his New York accent interfering, "But let me just say...." he stared even harder at his sister.
Serenity bit her lip harder as she awaited her scolding.......
"Let me just say dat you are da smartest girl I know!" He exclaimed as he felt proud of her inherited Kaiba-Hating gene. In fact, he was so proud of Serenity that he drew her in closer to wrap her in a hug.
Serenity simply smiled as she felt proud of herself, too.
While these two Wheelers were rejoicing in a moment of pride, they really couldn't notice those sounds coming from the house in the not too far distance.....Those sounds, those oh so familiar sounds.........
When Joey and Serenity Wheeler were able to reach their block that they lived on, they were able to get a good view of their house due to the fact that it was only the second house on the block from their point of view, and it had this really high gable that you could see from a few blocks away.
But it's fair to say that when they saw the vision of their house, they were a little awestruck by what they saw...
"What---is DAT?" Joey Wheeler pointed an excited/angered finger towards the shiny and elegant carriage that stood patiently in the front of their yards. It looked so black and sleek and smooth that it was....Well....it was better than anything Joey and Serenity ever expected to find in the front of their house.
"Cool! Are we rich now, brother?" Serenity asked excitedly as she looked about the grand vehicle which they thought was in their possession.
"I don't know," Joey mumbled as he lowered his finger. A bit weary as to why such a beautiful coach was waiting facing their house, and he was just a bit angered as to why he and his sister had to WALK home if their parents had finally bought a luxury vehicle when the weather was practically turning black in front of their eyes.
Joey's eyes darted suspiciously at the horseman who was sitting quietly atop his stoop, ignoring the children, reading the weekly edition of the newspaper.
Serenity's eyes widened as she stared at the lovely snow-white stallion that was the force of the wagon. It was really a marvel to see: It had unbelievably flaxen hair so much so that it emanated white, matching its fur wonderfully. It had deep, large, almond shaped eyes that Serenity wish she could get a better look at, but her brother warned her to stay away from the coach, and his brotherly grip on his sister became a strong grasp on her arm, forbidding her to go.
"I wanna ride it," Serenity breathed in awe. "Joey can we ride it, please? Oh, please?! Please? Please? Please? Please? Pleeeeasseeeeee?" She tugged on Joey's hand tightly as she tried to keep her stare from the majestic vehicle.
While Serenity thought the wagon as Majestic, Joey couldn't help but recall this coach as specious. A deceptively attractive cart that had no purpose being in front of the Wheeler household. This was not a cargo wagon for it seemed to charming for that purpose. They really had no rich relatives, so it was highly unlikely that the carriage was dropping someone off-
Joey's eyes widened as he thought of what the wagon's purpose was in front of the household.
If it's not here to pick someone up, Joey thought as his eyes felt horror within them, Then maybe it's....It's...picking someone up!
"Excuse me---Sir!" Joey tried calling out to the driver, but he never got the chance for he immediately heard the footsteps of his mother and father hasting from inside the house, through the sunroom, and with a creak of the rickety door, his father came angrily outside.
Joey's eyes didn't look at his father's face directly to greet him politely. Instead they fearfully focused on the medium-sized black leather bag that Mr. Wheeler held so forcefully in his clasp.
Mrs. Wheeler followed her husband just as speedily as she anxiously looked over the carriage and children that were waiting outside. But, as quickly as she came out, she darted her attention to her husband who was now conversing with the carriage driver.
The only vision that came into her mind as she looked upon her husband was the sight of a lovely heart being torn into two pieces, with Joey written on one piece, and Serenity written on the other.....
Although Serenity was just a child, even she could tell of the evident worry that was sprinkled over Mrs. Wheeler's face. Her eyes were raised, and her mouth was slightly open while it searched for the right words to use.
"Hey, mom, what's the carriage for?" Serenity asked, with a large smile on her face, out of the childhood curiosity that sparked within her every time she saw something new and marvelous.
Joey's increased the grip he had on his sister; although he, too, was curious about the carriage, he sincerely wished that Serenity had not asked that question.
Serenity's poor mother looked over at her children with tears apparently welling inside of her eyes. She couldn't bear to see her two loving children be so close when she knew that in a matter of moments, they'd be so far....
While Serenity and her mom had an almost staring contest with the expressions that they gave each other, Joey couldn't help but wonder what his father was doing: He was talking to the driver of the vehicle, and he was impertinently waving the bag he had in his hands---while one fist, unknown to Joey, was clenched into an intimidating weapon.
What's in dat bag? It seems so...heavy, Joey thought to himself carefully.
While Joey was lost in a moment of concentrated thought, Mrs. Wheeler couldn't help but stare at her two loving children that deeply cared for each other. It was then that she crouched on one knee and decided to call her daughter to her before Serenity, too, was taken away.....
"Come here, Serenity," Mrs. Wheeler told her daughter. And as obedient as she was sweet, Serenity quickly listened to her mother, let go of her brother's arm, and she ran over to her mother who was opening her arms widely to her.
Joey felt his sister let go of him, and he snapped back into reality just in time to see his mother envelop Serenity in an emotional hug. A bit baffled as to why his mother was holding onto Serenity as if she'd never see her again------
Joey was old enough to put the pieces together....
And that's when Joey stared with a fixed glare at his mother who was practically locking Serenity in a loving embrace while covering her with kisses and telling her how much she loved her.
On the other hand, Mr. Wheeler was obsessed with shaking that bag, which Joey decided to call a suitcase, vehemently while forcing directions into the cab driver's mind.
"Joey, Mom's calling you."
Joey looked over to see his mother's tear-stained face looking at Joey as if she were seeing him after a decade. She had Serenity wrapped in one of her arms, and as she knelt to the ground, Joey could easily see her silently calling out to him with the way her shining eyes were glistening.
Now, what good kid could honestly refuse such a look given to them by such a caring mother?
Joey couldn't, so he did go over to his mother. And although he walked to her hesitantly and suspiciously while keeping one still eye on his father, he couldn't help but want to cry when he saw his mother in such a condition.
"Come here, my son," Mrs. Wheeler told him as he came close enough for her to shroud him in a tender squeeze. "I love you so much," She whispered as she gently ruffled his soft blonde hair and embraced him with her only free arm left while she grasped Serenity in the other.
"I...er.....love ya, too, Mom." And although Joey did really mean what he had just said, his exceedingly curious couldn't help but wonder as to why she was acting so gentle, and why was she transforming her eyes into living waterfalls.
"I love you, Mom," Serenity cutely agreed with a purely innocent little smile on her face. She had no idea what was really going on. She believed nothing bad to be of her mother's tears, and she never thought twice about why her father was so aggressively rumbling that suitcase. Her young mind thought of nothing more than telling her mother that she loved her and endless fantasies about riding the pony that went along with the carriage. She was brilliant in so many other ways, but why did she seem so clueless in this scenarios?
"Don't ever forget how much I cherish you children," Mrs. Wheeler mumbled as she closed her eyes to prohibit any tears from leaving. She brought her children in closer to herself, and she kept on mumbling, "Don't ever forget...I love you."
The worry that was originally building inside of Serenity started to rise higher and higher like lava ready to emerge from the top of the volcano. But, using the childish heart that she had, she tried to and succeeded in eliminating that anxiousness.
"Joseph my boy! How would you like to take a ride with daddy?"
Now Joey had heard it.....Now Joey could finally link together the missing links that was the chain of his confusion.
Mr. Wheeler was done talking to the driver, and he was through in dangerously shaking that suitcase. Now he stood with a wry smile playing his lips and a lifeless yet heavy bag dangling from his left hand. He was standing right in front of the carriage, and he waited patiently, only about six feet away, for Joey's answer....
"No, no -- please don't. He's my only son, I'll do anything to keep him ---," Mrs. Wheeler broke into sobs as she buried her tear-bearing face into her son's pillowy blonde hair. Now even the young Serenity could fit some pieces of the puzzle.
"A ride to where?" Joey asked with eyebrows raised in angry interrogation. His father had completely ignored his mother's sobs and her recent plead to keep Joey. "Dad, where are we going?"
"Oh, just here and there! A little ride around the countryside. Bet you'd like that, eh my boy? You've never been in a real carriage too many times before, have you?" Mr. Wheeler grilled as he wrung his hands nervously together.
"Why isn't Mom going?" Joey almost instantly asked as soon as his father stopped explaining.
"Joey, don't go," His mother begged with weary eyes as Joey felt her hug on him increase tremendously. "Don't go with your father ¾ please."
"Mom?" Serenity asked as she saw a trio of tears fall to the earth and dampen the soil.
"Your mother isn't feeling well today, Joseph, and I was thinking about going into the meadow today to teach you how to fish for catfish by the stream," Mr. Wheeler lied as he deceitfully tried to pry Joey away from his mother's grip.
And the moment he finished weaving the links of web of lies, he showed Joey that he was sincere by opening the carriage door and gesticulating for Joey to enter by using a welcoming hand.
But, aside from the friendly gestures, Joey noticed something else: A large, bulky, filled to its capacity, no doubt a suitcase resting under one of the booths of seats. It was huge and it was stuffed so much so that it looked as if it were a balloon: Shiny, round, and ready to pop if anything else was dropped into it. It made the other suitcase that Mr. Wheeler was holding look nothing more than a puny and miniscule handbag.
"Serenity?" Joey asked his father.
"Oh, well I'm afraid that she will have to tend to her mother while we are away."
"But Dad, why can't Mom and Serenity come with us? You've always said that the country air makes ya feel betta'."
Mr. Wheeler gave his son a look of pure, evil hatred. He had never expected such resistance from his son for he always doubted Joey's intelligence level. But was he wrong... He didn't like the way Joey was stuck to his mother with so much devotion, and Serenity was starting to suspect a few things, too.
"Now Joey," Mr. Wheeler muttered impatiently, "Please get into the carriage, and I'll order another one for your mother and your sister-"
"Why can't they come with us? There's enough room in there," Joey interrupted as he himself started to hold his mother tighter.
"Well, we're gonna pack quite a few loads of fishing gear, son, so there really would be no room-"
"No, Joey, he's telling lies. He wants to take you away from me. Don't go...." Mrs. Wheeler whispered into Joey's hair as she cried into it some more. "Don't go!"
"Mom?" Serenity asked as she found herself, for some bizarre reason, wiping away tears from her small face.
"This is getting ridiculous!" And Mr. Wheeler made the move that changed this story's plot for a not-so-good direction. Yes, he did walk the few feet up to the poor and defenseless mother, and do you wanna know what that scumbag did?
DO YOU?
That cowardly man walked up to that frail woman, and he stole as swiftly as the flight of an eagle, the boy holding onto his mother. He simply came to her, and with one hasty move, he ripped the screaming boy from his wailing mother. He left the girl trembling with fear as she screamed her brother's name. And the mother was left to collapse as she felt her pillar of a son be torn away from her. She sat there, trying to mouth the syllables to his name, but all efforts proved to be futile........Joey Wheeler was slashed away from his mother, and the mother was slashed.
"MOM! MOM! I WANT MOM!!!!" He screamed and he begged, but nothing proved to work as the strong man tore his son away from the mother that he loved so much. Twitching like a breathless fish, he wiggled in his father's arms, but all his father kept saying was:
"You'll thank me for this one day, Joseph."
"JOEY! PLEASE WAIT! JOEY!! DAD DON'T GO---DON'T TAKE HIM AWAY!!!!" The Wheeler sister cried as large, bullet-sized tears came dripping down the poor thing's cheek. She stayed glued to her mother, but she cried as if knives were raining from the sky and spreading gore everywhere. If it wasn't for the fear that her mother would literally crumple down and die without the aid of Serenity, Serenity would've raced to the carriage and slammed the door on her father's hands to prevent him from taking her only brother away.
"No -- No....my son!" Mrs. Wheeler cried as she felt the power drain away from her body. "My son...My only son!"
"MOM! SERENITY! HELP ME! I DON'T WANNA GO! MOM! SERENITY! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!"
Serenity was about to forget about her mother as she watched Joey be thrown into the carriage, but her mother pulled on her dress's sleeve, and mumbled:
"Don't go...He'll take you, too."
"MOM! SERENITY! HELP PLEASE!!!!" Joey cried as he furiously banged on the window of the carriage. For the first time in her life, Serenity saw her brother cry. He was releasing tears like rainwater gushing out of the gutter.
"JOEY! DAD PLEASE WAIT!!!!!!!" But everyone of Serenity's yelps seemed to have been rudely ignored by her own father as she clutched to her mother.
"MOM! SERENITY--HELP ME! PLEASE, I NEED YOUR HELP!" And as Joey cried and banged against the window, little did he notice or hear the crunching sound of the wheels starting to move against the gravel. Little did he see the gray and evil clouds above turn into a hideously vicious brown color......
"JOEY!" Mrs. Wheeler cried as she buried her face in her hands.
And as the wheels of the carriage started turning.....The carriage started to move at a slow pace at first, but it gradually increased with every inch that the wheel burned as it rolled along it's diameter.
And off the carriage went. With the mother crying, the daughter screaming, the boy hollering for help, and the father devilishly smirking in the carriage, the coach rode off and left a small trail of chomped gravel in its path....
"JOEY!!!!" Serenity didn't want to see her brother leave, so she did what she thought was the smartest thing to do: She left her weeping mother only to run into the middle of the road to find the carriage bumping itself into the dull horizon.
And as if the small Victorian village was sad to its Joey Wheeler depart in such an angry way, the dun sky started darting tears of rain.
Serenity felt these tears around her face. They felt cold and chilled her as they contrasted with the warm tears already flowing gently out of her eyes.
And this chill that Serenity felt as the rain hit her would not go away.....At least....Not for another ten years it wouldn't....
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It's not too late to delete this fic!
R/R if you liked that chapter.....If I continue, then they're only little kids in the next or poart of the next chapter!
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