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CHAPTER 9:
Reckoning
On the day of Goten's birthday, Trunks planned a party so awesome that he knew that this day would be remembered by their families for all time.
Trunks had been bragging about the event details to everyone for a month.
Despite how this was the first party he ever planned, Trunks decided to put all of his efforts into making this experience as fun as possible. It was the least he could do as Goten's best friend, to celebrate his eighteenth birthday in super -style.
Trunks admittedly went over the top in his planning, when he decided to arrange a custom luxury yacht experience, in which the whole boat was converted into a sea carnival.
The luxury liner ship spanned 200 feet, and had five decks.
The ship's outdoor decks had state-fair type games such as cork-gun shooting, ball throwing, ring tossing, and a even a state-of-the-art virtual reality bounce house in which special glasses displayed coins to catch; its indoor decks had arcades and laser tag gaming along, bowling, pool, darts, karaoke, and a general fun zone.
The parents and other adults had a designated area of the ship all to their own. The guest lounge area was on the top deck, with full-glass views of the surrounding ocean. The big indoor space on the top deck was outfitted to feel like a family room, with lots of lounge furniture, an indoor bar, bathrooms, and a couple of private breakout rooms that had TVs and lounge chaises, which could serve as extra bedrooms.
Trunks had worked with Goten to establish the agenda for the event. They planned for it to start with a cocktail hour as the ship would depart to the open waters. Goten planned to arrive after the ship departed, in a grand entrance, shortly before speeches, food, and gaming.
Now that he was eighteen, Goten was planning to finally announce the news to his mom - that he and Havana were officially going steady.
Goten had wanted his announcement to be in front of as many witnesses as possible to help prevent his mother from overreacting. Trunks thought that maybe if Chi Chi enjoyed her cocktail hour before Goten brought Havana in, that she might potentially "loosen up."
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During cocktail hour on the yacht, Chi Chi was in a chipper, good mood.
As they were leaving port, Chi Chi was originally upset that Goku was not there; he had obviously forgotten about Goten's birthday party. However, all of her concerns melted away when she saw how much fun her granddaughter, Pan, was having. It was her first time on a big boat like this.
Chi Chi was all-smiles, and even treated herself to a couple glasses of champagne from the open bar shortly after the boat had set sail.
For most of the cocktail hour, Chi Chi escorted Gohan, Videl and Pan throughout the ship, taking family photographs of them to make memories for Pan's first boat experience.
For the latter part of the cocktail hour, she hung out in the luxury lounge bar area. The late August summer heat was still sweltering on the open waters, and Chi Chi cooled herself among the air conditioned fans.
Leading up to the time that Goten was set to arrive, Chi Chi had been chatting small-talk with Bulma about Goten applying to colleges. She asked Bulma for a college recommendation if Bulma had the time to spare. Bulma had crooned that she would love to help Goten get into wherever he wanted to go; it was the least she could do for Goten; after all, Bulma loved him as a son.
Despite the jolly atmosphere, Chi Chi sensed tension from Bulma when discussing Goten, but she thought nothing of it. She never cared for any of Bulma's concerns, and Chi Chi was otherwise having a good time. The bubbly champagne was making everything feel a lot more jovial.
Then, word spread that Goten's silhouette could be seen coming in from the shoreline.
Chi Chi rushed to the back of the ship to excitedly await the arrival of her son. She had not seen him that morning; he had left early saying he was going out to "do some things to prepare for his party" that day, and then he vanished like usual, and ended up staying out all day.
Upon seeing Goten's approach, Chi Chi had expected him to be alone on his Kinto'un cloud.
As Goten came closer, however, Chi Chi wasn't sure if she was seeing things; it appeared as if there were a second silhouette…
Each moment that went by, Chi Chi's awareness sparked, and her emotions shifted. Her countenance changed from confusion, to questioning and then slowly, to a shocking realization.
There was a woman who was riding him piggy-back.
Some woman was clutching her son.
Chi Chi's stress, confusion, and rising fury were prominent in her body language.
Chi Chi looked around, noticed how nobody else seemed surprised about the fact that Goten was arriving with a strange woman who looked no younger than in her late twenties or possibly early thirties.
There was no way - fat chance - of that woman being even remotely Goten's age.
Chi Chi sniffed out the bad apple right away.
Right off the bat, she knew that woman with Goten was no good.
Her defensive nature kicked in, compounded with her temper, loaded with two glasses of champagne.
She was a bomb ready to blow.
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Chi Chi held in her temper and her fangs as she watched Goten arrive with the woman. She silently seethed as she saw her baby, Goten, laughingly swing the woman down to land her feet on the yacht.
Chi Chi wanted to consider herself reasonable, and to give her son the benefit of the doubt. She kept hearing a voice in her head remind her that Goten attended a prestigious school. For all she knew, this woman could be another billionaire's daughter, just like Videl.
As Chi Chi processed seeing this woman with her son, her eyes scanned the woman's body up and down with a look of castigating judgment.
Goten shyly introduced them to each other. Chi Chi tried to be friendly, but her eyes were cold.
Chi Chi saw that Havana's demeanor was excited. Chi Chi noticed how Havana projected herself as slightly ditzy. Regardless of how she was obviously older, Havana introduced herself as eighteen.
Chi Chi saw through all of it.
Chi Chi also saw through all of Havana's outfit.
Havana was wearing a red bikini top that was slightly too small to cover her breasts, and a high-top bikini bottom, veiled only by a thin, loosely-knotted red floral sarong.
Chi Chi's expression darkened as she silently judged. Then, she looked in Havana's eyes, brought her eyes to scrutinize Havana's body, and then raised her eyes for one final, stern look at Goten, before Chi Chi pointed downward, and then firmly declared, "No."
Goten didn't understand. The next minutes were filled with questions and challenges, as Goten failed to comprehend his mother's judgment without her even getting to know Havana.
Chi Chi said she "didn't care about any details about that woman." The only detail she wanted to confirm was "if Havana had a pure heart."
And then, Chi Chi immediately challenged Havana's ability to ride Kinto'un.
It was a dealbreaker.
There was no talking her out of it. If Havana could not ride Kinto'un , then Chi Chi would never, ever accept her to date Goten.
It was a dealbreaker that Goten never expected.
Chi Chi placed so much weight on Kinto'un that there was no compromise, and no dissuading her.
She made it clear that she could never accept a girl to be so close to Goten, and to have so much "influence over Goten's life," if the woman by his side had a corrupted heart.
It all came down to Kinto'un's judgment. Chi Chi would never trust someone to be close to Goten if they couldn't ride Kinto'un.
No matter how much Goten tried to fight her and reason with her, Chi Chi kept coming back to the demand that Havana had to sit on Kinto'un.
Havana, of course, refused to try to sit on it.
Havana and Goten already knew that Havana would fall through, and trying it now would serve no purpose. It would only enrage his mother more, or serve to somehow justify her irrational and judgmental overreaction to Havana's presence in Goten's life.
Trying to be conciliatory, Goten tried to explain to his mother about Havana's past, and explained that she "used to be a pirate."
Then there was silence.
The second the word "pirate" was dropped, it was as if all other sounds stopped, too.
There was a pause in the fight as everyone processed the word.
Chi Chi's eyes went wide, and everyone else at the party tensed.
Chi Chi then went ballistic.
Chi Chi exploded as she screamed at the top of her lungs that her son was "losing his innocence" to a "minx."
The rage was so explosive that items were thrown and walls were punched. Destruction followed in Chi Chi's wake as she raged in a maniacal tantrum.
She stomped and shouted around the ship screaming, "You're killing me! You're killing me!"
In her melodrama, Chi Chi tossed objects around the ship, hitting things and knocking over furniture while spouting curses and lambastes.
Videl and Gohan tried to calm her, but she was unwavering and would not relent.
Chi Chi did not approve of Havana, and refused to back down until Goten yielded and accepted her point of view. Goten however was steadfast and tried to continue to reason with her.
After more of their fighting, she started shouting, "She's a scoundrel! A pirate! My son is dating a villain!"
Chi Chi was inconsolable, and adamant that she was correct, beyond any shadow of doubt. She was convinced that she could see it in Havana's eyes - Havana had a corrupt soul.
Chi Chi yelled while she was walking, and Goten had to follow her trying to justify himself and Havana to her. Havana followed behind, with her wrist held by Goten as he led her to stay with him. Worried guests also followed to watch, wanting to jump in, in case things escalated.
"Mom," Goten shouted, "you don't understand, she left that life!"
"Left it or not, she's always going to want to get her grubby paws on treasure! It's in her nature to be a thief! " Chi Chi screamed and knocked arcade machines over as she punched and kicked and damaged things on the ship in her rage. "She can't even ride Kinto'un! Even a cloud can see it, Goten!"
Goten followed her to the main lobby, where she knocked down an entry table and Goten caught it, looking straight in her eye.
"Mom, stop, she's nice!"
"She's a gold digger!" Chi Chi pointed a talon toward Havana, "Look at her! You think she's really eighteen?!" Chi Chi snarled at Havana, "How old are you anyway, woman?"
Havana just batted her eyes and over-feighted ditziness, since it tended to disarm and disengage people. She stuck with her first answer, "Eighteen, ma'am!"
Chi Chi snarled tiger fangs, "That's bullcrap and you know it! How dare you lie straight to my face , you baby snatching minx trying to weasel your way into our family trust!"
Goten was desperate. "Mom, stop it!"
"You're killing me! You're killing me!" Chi Chi screamed as she pulled at her face and cried, then raged with her fist raised, "You aren't the boy I raised! The sweet loving Goten who would have told his mama anything. She corrupted you!"
"She didn't corrupt me, Mom! You just made it impossible for me to tell you!"
Chi Chi raged, "She's a PIRATE! She's only out for the things you TREASURE!"
"No, she's not!"
Chi Chi lifted her chin in challenge, with flaring eyes at Goten, "Tell me how long after you met did she show interest in dating you?!"
Goten was taken aback and stumbled on his words for a moment before retorting, "That isn't your business!"
Chi Chi glared ominously, "How long have you been seeing her?!"
Goten puffed his chest, and felt confident in himself, knowing he had a fallback plan. He had prepared for this moment. "It's been about two and a half months."
"And you've been sneaking around this whole time?!" Chi Chi sneered.
Goten lost his composure for a moment, but then stood his ground again, supporting his case with evidence that he tried to be good. "I've always been supervised! I always had a chaperone!"
Chi Chi rolled her eyes with a snarl, "Who?! Trunks?!"
Goten stuttered and stood firm, "No. D-D-Dr. Briefs!"
Until that moment, the fight had been contained within just Son family drama. Then, the fight began to involve the Briefs.
Bulma immediately interjected, defending her family, "Don't you drag my father into this!"
Goten spun to Bulma, "You've known too!"
Bulma's face was as fanged as Chi Chi's, and her aura was fiery and dangerous on the verge of explosion, "I didn't know she was a PIRATE!"
Chi Chi pointed to Goten and stomped her foot, "You are NOT allowed to date a PIRATE!"
Goten now started to argue with both Chi Chi and Bulma.
Then, suddenly, all of the guests started having opinions. Voices started to rise as the rest of the family began to interject and get their words in.
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Each passing moment as Trunks watched the fight escalate, Trunks felt as though his life were unraveling more and more.
Trunks was terrified to get involved.
He was afraid of catching attention.
He knew who the true villain was. The realization smacked him in the chest like a massive Kamehameha wave.
Seeing how Chi Chi was exploding against Havana, Trunks started to see himself through her judgment.
Trunks was shaken. He was trembling, and felt nauseous.
Trunks feared that Chi Chi could easily point that outrage toward him. And he realized that he did, indeed, deserve all of Chi Chi's rage.
Trunks' inner voice took the tone of Chi Chi's voice and screamed at himself. All he could hear in his mind was the same judgment over, and over again:
Trunks didn't deserve Goten.
But… to confess what he did would mean he'd lose Goten.
He didn't want to lose Goten.
Not Goten. No… not Goten…!
Trunks might lose him. He might lose him forever.
Trunks was distraught. His heart tumbled in crashing waves of sadness that engulfed him.
He felt undeserving of Goten's love. He felt undeserving of any kind of love anymore.
Trunks stood by, in a stupor, with tears in his eyes as all the attention was spotlighted on Chi Chi fighting Goten, who was now standing between Chi Chi and Havana, protecting Havana from Chi Chi's threatening countenance.
In front of the family, Goten fought for Havana's character. He fought for her honor.
Trunks watched as Goten promised there had never been anything wrong between them.
Goten swore that they had only been kissing.
He pleaded for his mom to listen to him.
He yelled at her for accusing Havana.
Chi Chi threw things at Goten, and Goten dodged and tried to throw things back, and then Gohan had to hold him back.
It was a total shitshow.
At some point, the families moved the fight back to the luxury floor where they continued their arguments.
At this point, Goten was accusing his mother of not having any evidence, and just spouting conspiracy accusations.
"Give me one example of her being untrue to me!" Goten shouted to his mom. "None?! RIGHT! Because she's good!"
Trunks, in his state of shock, had frozen. He was caught in a conflict of interest.
Trunks knew that Chi Chi was absolutely, one hundred percent correct in her assumptions about Havana. Havana was a scoundrel to Goten, just as much as Trunks had been.
He should have just come clean, and supported Chi Chi's case, and then everything could just be done, and Goten would be safe from Havana.
But he froze. He was too scared of losing Chi Chi's trust in him. He was terrified of losing Goten.
And he knew that all of this terror from this conflict of interest was because of her… that snake, Havana.
Witnessing Chi Chi's rage tremendously impacted Havana's image in Trunks' eyes. As he looked at Havana, he finally saw her as Chi Chi did.
Havana's curves that no longer appealed to Trunks in any way; all he saw was the snaking body of a sea serpent.
The fog had lifted in Trunks' mind. He was out of excuses, and he was ready to face the reality of how low he had fallen.
Trunks realized that had been cuckolding Goten behind his back for over two months, sleeping with his sleazy, cheating girlfriend.
Trunks was filled with grief, for what he'd done to Goten all this time. Just because he wasn't caught didn't mean that he wasn't the biggest fucking jerk in the world.
Trunks hated who he'd become. He felt fallen. He felt ill.
Trunks was so overwhelmed with emotions and self-hatred that his body heaved, and the world spun.
His body lurched, and his vision went white. His ears rung with a high pitched wail, as if his soul were crying from its deepest, darkest, depths.
Trunks stumbled outside in a stupor, wanting to just die.
He staggered to the side of the ship, and convulsed, and then vomited overboard.
He was sick, over, and over.
He heaved and heaved, and wretched until there was nothing more…
… And still his body grieved. He cried and his body convulsed again.
As Trunks continued to be sick overboard, he was lost in his mental torment.
He failed to see that he had been witnessed...
And he was about to face his own judgment.
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–1/16/24–
