Chapter 14- Your Fault
"VEGETA!" Goku yelled as he pounded on the door. He had been doing this for at least ten minutes, and a few times people had told him not so politely to shut up.
Goku had even gone so far as to call him on the phone. Vegeta hadn't answered.
Either Vegeta was very mad at him or just not home. Vegeta hadn't seemed mad earlier and so Goku figured the latter.
Of course Goku knew that Vegeta would have gone to Gee's, that was exactly what he had come to keep him from doing, and so headed off in that direction.
Goku had only been in Gee's a few times. Those being a holiday or two when he couldn't make the trip to his grandpa's. Since the people at the bar were basically like family, and Vegeta was part of that family, and Goku and Vegeta were such good friends, Goku had tagged along.
Goku got out of his truck after the short drive and crossed the street to Gee's. When he walked through the door, he was stopped by a guy he knew to be Thomas.
"ID." He said flatly. He obviously didn't recognize Goku.
"Hi Thomas. Don't you remember me? I'm Goku." Goku said.
Thomas seemed to think for a minute. "Oh yeah. I remember you. You're Vegeta's friend. I'm sorry but I can't let you in unless..."
The mention of Vegeta's name had reminded Goku of why he was here. "This is about Vegeta." He said. "Is he here?"
Thomas shook his head. "No. He hasn't been to work since the fight Sunday night. Surely you've heard about that."
"Yes. I've heard. But he isn't at his apartment." Goku said.
This sparked Thomas's interest. "I think you might want to talk to Chuckie about that one." He said and moved aside to let him pass.
Goku went straight to the bar and sat down. Almost immediately, Chuckie recognized him and came over. She just stood there and waited for him to talk.
Seeing this, Goku started. "Chuckie, I can't find Vegeta. I don't think he's at his apartment. If he is, he didn't answer. I knocked for fifteen minutes. I even called him. I was wondering if you knew where he was."
Chuckie just stared at him for a while letting all this information sink in. "You think he might be still at school?" She finally asked.
"No." Goku said. "I saw him catch a ride with some girl and...you don't think...?"
"I doubt it. Vegeta isn't one for things like that. But...did you see who it was?"
"She was a red head. That's all I saw."
"Hm." Chuckie said. "Well I don't know what to tell you Goku. I'm sure he's fine. But if he doesn't show up at school tomorrow come see me."
"So you're not worried?"
"Maybe a little." She admitted. "But Vegeta's a resourceful kid. I doubt anything would happen to him."
"Yeah. I guess you're right." Goku said, although he still had a deep sense of worry.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After Rehtaf had knocked Vegeta out, he, Shadow, and Locke had thrown him in the trunk of their car and drove off toward the old house they used as a base.
The old house was in fact the one that Vegeta had lived in with his mother, named Rachelle, and his father.
Vegeta's father, now recognized to be Rehtaf, had been a drug addict. Every night, he would drink and smoke and sniff and chew until he was out of his mind. The slightest things would set him off. Usually it was things like Vegeta forgetting to pick something up or Rehtaf not liking Rachelle's cooking. Rehtaf would get incredibly pissed and beat her and rape her until she was black and blue.
Then with that done, he would move on to Vegeta. Of course he wouldn't rape the kid. He wasn't that out of it. But he did beat him. A lot. He would threaten Vegeta that if he would tell anyone about what he did, he would kill him and his mother.
When one day, a neighbor saw the bruises and whip marks on Vegeta, they had called the police.
Somehow or another, Rehtaf had found out about this and before the cops arrived, had tried to kill them both.
He had succeeded in killing Vegeta's mother, Rachelle. She had died well before the police arrived. Then he had tried to kill Vegeta. He beat him to the point that any normal child would have died. But Vegeta had hung on to the small strand of life long enough for the police and paramedics to be able to save him.
That was why Rehtaf wanted to kill Vegeta now: to finish the job he started. Everyone knew, of course that it was Rehtaf that had killed Rachelle and had tried to kill Vegeta. Vegeta was proof of that fact.
Over the years, Rehtaf had grown to believe that it was Vegeta's fault that all of this had happened. It was his fault that the neighbor had called the police. It was Vegeta's fault that Rachelle was dead, even though it was Rehtaf himself that had killed her.
Somehow, Rehtaf thought Vegeta was the walking incarnation of evil. He felt that if he killed Vegeta, he would be doing the world a favor, that if he killed Vegeta, his name would be cleared.
"So the kid's your son?" Shadow asked snapping Rehtaf out of his reverie. He was tying Vegeta to a chair in the middle of what used to be Vegeta's room. Locke, who was sitting across the room, had been wondering the same thing.
Rehtaf looked from one to the other. "What's it to you?" He said harshly.
Both of them let the subject drop and turned back to the task at hand.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Vegeta woke up, again, with a horrible headache.
He waited until his vision cleared and then looked around the dimly lit room. He recognized it right off. This was his old room, the room he used to live in when his mother was still alive. Of course the paint was faded and chipped and the carpet was stained, but other than that, it looked the same as the last time he'd seen it. It even had the toys that he had been about to pick up when his father had...
His eyes stopped scanning the room and rested on three figures. Two of them, he didn't recognize. The third was very familiar. He saw that face every night in nightmares.
"Hello." The man said with mock sincerity. "It's nice to see you awake. I was afraid I'd hit you too hard. It doesn't hurt does it?"
Even though Vegeta was not gagged anymore, he still didn't say anything.
"You don't want to talk huh?" His father said standing up and walking over to him. The other two men followed suit.
Vegeta, shock completely lost, stared up at his father with open hatred.
"Why don't you talk to me, son? You know that hurts my feelings." Rehtaf said balling his hand into a fist. "Come on! Talk!" He demanded.
"Bastard." Vegeta spat through clenched teeth.
Rehtaf punched him in the jaw. "Don't talk to your father that way!" He yelled. "Do you know how much torture you caused me? Huh? Do you?"
"I caused you?" Vegeta growled. "I always thought it was the other way around."
"SHUT UP!" Rehtaf yelled hitting him again. "I didn't tell you to talk."
Vegeta was about to say something but Rehtaf started talking again.
"Did you know that there were police chasing me for years, because of you? I couldn't get a decent night sleep for years all because of you. You told that woman everything I told you not to tell anyone and then you told the police. Why would you do that. After everything I did for you. I gave you life..."
"And you tried to take it away." Vegeta butted in earning himself another punch from one of the other men.
Rehtaf growled. "IT DOESN"T MATTER!" He yelled raising his foot and kicking Vegeta in the stomach. "When are you going to learn to accept that it is your fault and not mine?!"
"I think you are deluding yourself. It isn't my fault. You killed mom, not me!" Vegeta ground back at him.
"NO!" Rehtaf yelled kicking him again. "IT"S YOUR FAULT! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, SHE'D STILL BE ALIVE!!!!" With that he knocked him out again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If it weren't for you, she'd still be alive... These words played over and over in Vegeta's head. Maybe he's right. Maybe it is my fault...