The house was full to bursting the next day as friends and family gathered for the Thanksgiving feast. The dining table had had its extra leaves installed, stretching the enormous table even longer to accommodate so many people. The table had been laid with the finest china and crystalline stemware. The smell of roasting turkey, fresh-made bread rolls, and green bean casserole wafted throughout the house, making everyone's stomachs grumble in anticipation of the long-awaited feast.
"Oh man, I'm so excited!" Goku proclaimed as they finally sat down to eat. "I've heard about Thanksgiving, but this is even better than I expected."
"Is excellent American tradition," Kolya agreed, scooting his chair closer to the table. He reached for a bread roll when Yorgi barked at him.
"You must say prayer now," Yorgi stated. "You reached for food first."
Kolya sighed heavily and got to his feet. He bowed his head and everyone at the table did the same. He seemed to consider his words for a minute before saying in a very somber tone "Dear Lord, I know without doubt, you bless this food as we pig out. We ask miracle on this feast so good, remove the calories from the food. Good food, good meat, good God, let's eat. AMEN."
Yorgi's eyes snapped open as Kolya proudly sat back down and Catie pinched her nose to keep from snorting in laughter.
"Good enough for me!" Goku cried and helped himself to the heavily laden table.
Yorgi slowly shook his head as everyone began filling their plates.
Leelee was picking miserably at her food, wincing in pain as she chewed.
"What's wrong with her?" Eighteen asked her brother.
"She's hung over," Seventeen snickered.
"Best hang-over food everrrrrr," Sabriena drawled, taking a huge bite of turkey and looking exceptionally tired.
"Thith ith delithious," Goku said through a mouthful of dressing.
"We'll have to do this when we go back to Japan," Gohan said quietly to Lindsey and she nodded.
Yorgi's head snapped their direction and he narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.
"I couldn't have planned this any better," Jenny said happily, digging into her own plate. "Pregnant at Thanksgiving! I can't think of a better reason to be thankful."
"Trunks, are you okay?" Chichi asked in a concerned tone, watching as he rubbed at his eyes while eating slowly.
"He's hung over too," Seventeen smirked.
Everyone fell quiet and the only sounds were those of silverware clinking against plates. Unexpectedly, there was a booming chime from the doorbell.
"I get it," Yelena said, standing and setting her napkin on the table next to her plate. She disappeared through the heavy doors of the dining room.
Everyone sat in anticipation of who could be calling on a holiday. There were muffled voices and then Yelena started yelling. Yorgi, Kolya and Kirill got to their feet as the doors banged open and Yelena's voice shouted, "You no come in here! Where you warrant?"
Two officers marched directly for Yorgi, grabbing his arms and pinning them behind his back, barking, "Yorgi Ovcharova, you are wanted for the disappearance of Tobias Shavers. You have a right to remain silent…"
"Filthy pigs!" Yorgi shouted at them, struggling to shake them off. The taller of the two officers gave Yorgi's arm a nasty twist, doubling him over and slamming his face against the table.
Yelena burst into the room, two more officers directly behind her. "Where you warrant?" she screamed at them.
One of the offices beside her brandished a folded piece of blue paper and handed it to her. She looked it over and huffed through her nose.
The handcuffs clicked into place and Yorgi was pulled up to a standing position. "Call my lawyer," he told Yelena.
"Let him go!" Lindsey shouted, jumping to her feet. "You worthless pigs! Let him go!"
Gohan got to his feet, grabbing her by the arms. "Stop."
"I be back soon, Little Dove," Yorgi smiled. "They haff nothing."
Catie sat with her hands to her face, her eyes brimming with tears. "Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no."
Yorgi was led back out of the dining room and one of the officers raised a hand saying, "Sorry to disrupt your dinner, folks."
"Like hell you are," Xander spat at them.
As the officers left, Yelena flopped miserably into her chair. Her lips were pressed tightly together as she screwed up her face, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. She shook her head angrily.
"Yelena?" Jenny asked in a soft voice.
Yelena shook her head harder, then slammed her hands on the table and got to her feet again, screaming in Russian.
"Yelena, my love, stop," Kirill said calmly.
She stared at him for a moment, then nastily spat angry Russian words at him. He looked hurt and sat back down, saying no more.
"And you," she rounded on Kolya.
"You no start with me," he said in a dangerous tone as he sat back down in his chair.
She crossed the room to him and started angrily slapping every inch of him she could reach. "I knew it! I KNEW IT!"
Kolya seemed to be exerting an enormous amount of self-restraint as he flinched and leaned away from her slaps.
"You ignorant bastard!" she screamed at him and backhanded him across the face, her ring splitting his cheek.
That was the final straw for Kolya. He jumped to his feet and grabbed her harshly by the wrists. "YOU STOP!"
Yelena cowered and tried to writhe away, but Kolya held her slender wrists tightly. His face was turning red as he growled something to her in their native tongue. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him, tears sliding down her face. He practically threw her own arms at her as he released her and she stumbled a couple of steps and then ran from the dining room.
"Kolya," Lindsey said.
He glanced at her, narrowing his eyes.
"What happened to Toby?"
"I not know," he said roughly, sitting back in his chair once more. "But Yorgi have nothing to do with it."
"Toby's missing?" Leelee asked.
"If he is, they probably think Yorgi had something to do with it because of the trial," Sabriena said, helping herself to another roll. "Don't worry about it. Yorgi will be home in a couple hours."
Everyone returned to their meal, but the atmosphere had taken a decidedly sour turn. After dessert, the table was cleared, the leftovers stowed away in the refrigerators, and the dishes piled in the sink.
Most of the guys headed to the garage to watch football, but Goku grabbed Shayne's arm and stopped him.
"Do you think they did something to that kid?" Goku asked Shayne in a quiet voice.
"It wouldn't surprise me if they did," Shayne answered. "And if I find out they did, I'll shake their hand for it. He deserves it for what he did to my sister."
"He told the truth," Goku said. "He was right about the drugs."
"He made my sister out to look like a whore," Shayne spat. He turned to face Goku more squarely. "Do you know what people in town are saying about her? I know I wasn't involved much with the trial or with her recovering. That's the way she wants it. I've raised my sister the best I know how, but I'm not her father. And she resents me for it. I know she does. Our family isn't like yours, Goku. It's broken. She hasn't even asked me to be in the wedding. She hasn't asked any of our brothers to be part of it. We're just not as close as we used to be. But that doesn't mean that I don't love her. She's my sister and I would do anything for her. If I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in prison, I'd murder those fuckers for what they did to her. I'd go to their house right now and shoot 'em in the fucking face in the middle of their goddamn Thanksgiving dinner."
Goku continued to stare at Shayne, but didn't say anything.
"You know he deserved whatever he got," Shayne said. "You know it."
Goku started to say something, but paused as Gohan walked by. Shayne suddenly reached out and grabbed Gohan by the front of his shirt and yanked him into the conversation.
"Whoa! What's up?" Gohan asked.
"Listen to me," Shayne said, his green eyes filled with a sort of desperation. Gohan was startled to see his eyes were the same as Lindsey's. "Take my sister and get her away from this place."
"Wha?"
"Give her the life I couldn't," Shayne pleaded. "She can't stay here. It'll destroy her. Take her somewhere safe where all of this can't follow. She needs that. She needs you. Get my baby sister out of this cesspool of a town. I'm begging you."
"Well, that was our plan," Gohan said.
"She agreed to go with you?"
Gohan nodded. "Yeah. It was her idea, actually."
Shayne breathed a sigh of relief. "I know you all probably think I'm horrible. But I want her gone. I want her to have a good life away from this place. That's why I stepped aside. I don't want to be a reason for her to stay."
"We'll take care of her," Goku promised.
"Thank you," Shayne said in an almost defeated sort of way. He ran a hand through his short brown hair and sighed.
"C'mon, bro, the Chiefs are playing!" Patrick grinned, strolling up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Shayne sighed.
Patrick cocked an eyebrow. "Lyin' sack o' shit."
Shayne shook his head. Patrick linked arms with him and drug him out towards the garage.
A winter storm was raging outside by the time Yorgi returned to the warehouse. He marched through the garage door, stomping snow from his boots, the frigid winter air slamming the door behind him.
"Yorgi!" Lindsey and Jenny cried, hurrying over to him.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay," Lindsey breathed.
"I told you I be back soon," he smiled.
"What happened?" Jenny asked.
"Toby went missing from his apartment," Yorgi answered. "They found the door kicked in and blood on his sheets."
"Oh my gosh," Jenny gasped.
"He deserved whatever he got," Lindsey muttered angrily.
Jenny nodded in agreement. "There are lots of people who don't like him," Jenny added. "It could have been anyone."
Yorgi smiled at Jenny and gave her shoulders a squeeze. He waited until she had walked across the garage and sat next to Piccolo before Yorgi leaned in next to Lindsey's ear and whispered, "You're welcome."
She blinked in shock and turned to him, her eyes searching his. They held a kind of satisfied sparkle to them that turned her blood to ice.
"You…" she breathed.
"You remember this. I risk my freedom to avenge you," he said, still speaking in a whisper. And without saying anything more, he strode across the garage and disappeared into the house.