A/N: I just wanted to say thank you once again to the people who read and review this fic as often as they can. You have plenty of choices of fics to read on this site, thousands in the YGO section alone, and you chose to read this one. I appreciate it. Now on with the next chapter!
Angry People
Chapter 13
She loved Joey like a brother, but sometimes the boy could be as dense as a boulder! She tried to explain as tactfully as she could that the ticket was not for Yugi, but for someone else. Now he just stared at her like she was some sort of alien, clueless as he could be.
"Um...so if the ticket's not for Yug...then who is it for?" Joey's brow furrowed as he went deep into thought. Thenhis face curled into a furious snarl."NO WAY! ANYBODY BUT THAT NO-GOOD, ARROGANT, COLD-HEARTED SONUVA-BI-"
Before Joey could get the rest of the sentence out, he recieved a surprisingly hard slap to the face.
"If you ever talk about Marik like that again, I'll rip your head off, understand?"
Tea tapped her foot impatiently waiting for an answer as Joey held his now-sore cheek. For a moment, the two friends looked at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. Suddenly, Joey's blank expression turned into a warm, goofy grin.
"I wasn't talkin' about Marik..."
It appeared that Joey wasn't as dense ashe led other people to believe.
"How did you find me, Carter?"
Jack was rather surprised. He had made his way to Madrid without leaving any tracks behind to follow. The fact that a detective found him was a real surprise. Then again, his brother wasn't any ordinary detective.
"I looked. It helped that a few birdies pointed out that this is one of your favorite cities to visit." The detective took a seat in the outdoor cafe. The streets were packed with tourists, businessmen, and ordinary folk just trying to get through the day hustling about.
"Visit? I live here now."
"I know...I got your postcard." Carter's face went from being nearly devoid of emotion to a serious glare.
"You did? Then you must know how I got the money to pay for my early retirement, no?"
"I do...who set it up?"
Jack took off his signature derby hat and wiped away some sweat from his forehead. "Now you know as well as I do I can't tell you that. Not good for buisness, you know."
"And the gas chamber, is that good for buisness?"
The assassin laughed. "Yeah right! You and I both know that you don't have anything on me. Tell me Carter...why did you come here?"
Carter looked away for a moment, and pulled out a crumpled up photograph. He slid it across the table to his younger brother. Jack picked it up and gazed at it for a moment. It was a little girl, long brown hair going down her back, blue eyes, and a beautiful smile.
"Her name is Ruth."
Jack looked up into his brother's eyes, which were starting to tear up.
"She's only eight years old. Her mother died in a car accident a year after she was born, leaving her with only her father to take care of her. Although he was known for his white supremacist beliefs, he worked two jobs full-time to take care of her. He and some buddies got drunk and headed out for some fun one morning...they weren't seen alive again. Ruth, well she has no one now. They're probably going to put her in the orphanage now, Lord only knows what after that. Does it make you feel happy knowing that you orphaned a child?"
No answer. Jack's attention was focused on the photo.
"LOOK AT ME YOU BASTARD!" The assassin felt his head being pulled upward as his older brother grabbed his jaw. "IS YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN WORTH DESTROYING PEOPLE'S LIVES?"
"Listen brother, and listen carefully. I'm deeply sorry that little girl lost her father, but I feel just as sorry for the people that this man and his cronies terrorized for years. To tell you the truth, racist beliefs don't really bother me. If someone thinks they're superior to all others, more power to them. But it's when people like that scumbag take their beliefs too far and start to assault, rob, and rape innocent people that I have no sympathy for them. You call what I did a crime? I call it divine justice."
Carter absorbed all of this slowly. When he realized that a crowd was starting to swell up around him wondering what on earth was going on, he let his brother go.
"You listen now. You too can believe what you want, but I'll say this: If I ever hear of you laying a foot on American soil again, I'll blow your fucking head off myself. They won't need the gas chamber."
Carter walked away. He didn't have to know who ordered the hit. This case was now officially closed as far as he was concerned. He had all the answers he wanted.
"So when were you going to tell us?"
Tea was flabbergasted. She had no idea that Joey knew. Yeah, he had seen them together at school, but he acted as if he didn't see any signs of attraction at all.
"Well, I was going to surprise you guys...we were going to do the whole Vegas thing and come back hitched."
Blonde and brunette alike laughed at the joke. "That would have been pretty funny...uh-oh..."
Tea followed Joey's nod towards an approaching vehicle, a powder blue convertible. Three boys were riding in it, wearing the purple and white letter jackets of their high-school, a cross-town rival.
"Hey, you're Van Gardener's sister?" one of them yelled out.
"What's it to ya, punk?" Joey yelled.
"Calm down, man. I just wanted to see if that hottie would want to come to our victory party this Friday after we kick her brother's ass!"
This got a bit of laugher from his buddies. Joey wasn't amused in the least, however. "You punks just keep drivin', comprende?"
"Ooooh, yes sir, Mister Wheeler!" The ringleader said in a mocking tone. "Besides,I hear that slut has a thing for foreign boys anyway. What a waste!"
Tea felt a blush of embarassment rush across her face as Joey yelled out more insults and threats from beside her.
"Well...let's get outta here boys...HOTTY TOTTY GOSH AMIGHTY, WHO THE HELL AM I? I'M AN HONOR STUDENT FROM THE GREAT MACARTHUR HIGH!"
The three boys sped off as quickly as they came, and neither Tea nor Joey were sad to see them leave.
"Don't let those morons get to ya...Tea, you OK?"
No, she wasn't. Honestly she felt like crying. Kicking, screaming, anything to let out her frustration. Whose busisness was it who she liked? Why does anyone care what race he was? As usual, however, she played the good friend and kept her emotions in check. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good. Now that I've had a chance to see what you were doing for prom, I have an idea for Yug I wanted to run by you."
Tea let Joey whisper in her ear what his idea was and she jumped back in a bit of surprise. "You're serious?"
Joey gave her an evil grin. "Of course...they're made for each other."
Tea giggled. "Have you asked Duke or Tristan yet?"
"Nope...and if they have any problems with it, I'll be glad to beat some sense into them."
Tea smiled and shook her head. One more year, she would have to put up with these knuckleheads.
Next time: Joey sets Yugi up for his date, Ishizu gives Kaiba her decision, and a soccer game for the ages...
Well, that's it and that's all. Thanks for reading this chapter. Like I said before, you had lots of choices, but you decided to take some time to read this. Thanks.
BDB...out