Too Much

Chapter 4 – False Concernment

Seto Kaiba was sitting at his desk in his home office, neglecting the stack of work he knew he should have been doing if he wanted to get his new gaming merchandise on the market in the next 6 months. He was pissed. Earlier that day he was involved in a brawl with that stupid mutt … again. Did he honestly think he could ever win? Kaiba had been in more fights with that punk than he could remember. He thought maybe he’d had beaten some sense into him. Apparently not.

It wasn’t his fault, Kaiba thought; he came at me for Christ’s sake. Yet he still couldn’t shake the feeling deep in his stomach that he thought he got rid of for good. He had seen grown men grovel at his feet after Kaiba had been through with them. He’s destroyed reputable businessmen, ruined people’s lives all in a day’s work and yet he had never felt this feeling when disposing of them. “It’s a dog eat dog world” he said aloud, trying to justify his actions. But what was this feeling that had been bothering him so, deterring him from his workload. Guilt? Pity? He couldn’t possibly feel those things for that sniveling dog. Only weak people let their emotions get in their way, even if he had never hurt that moron as badly as he did that day.

The sight of Joey’s bruised and bloody face passed through Kaiba’s mind, making him feel a surge of anger through his body as he thought of how he crushed that boys face. It was his fault, he had it coming! That mutt better have enough sense to seek medical attention, but knowing Joey’s financial position, he probably won’t. He also remembered the markings he saw on his back. The ones that couldn’t be done by any mere accident. The ones that someone else had to do. That someone else did deliberately. Kaiba felt the surge of anger pass through him once more, but his time, unable to control his temper which he usually kept carefully in check, grabbed the first thing he could get his hands on, being his computer monitor, and sent is crashing to the floor. The sound of shattering glass and metal thwarting as it hit the floor echoed through the entire floor of his manor.

Little pitter pattering foot steps grew louder and the door swung open revealing Mokuba, eyes wide with shock as he peered at the catastrophe that was once a very expensive computer monitor.

“What’s wrong, Seto?” Mokuba said, words filled with worry.

Seto just stormed past him, and said, “Have another computer monitor ordered and if it isn’t here by the end of the week, someone will pay dearly.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey returned straight home from Yugi’s after promising he would go to the hospital, which he had absolutely no intent on doing. He snuck into his apartment, afraid of his father’s reaction, but then as he realized there was no one home, he was able to relax. Joey went to his painkiller stash and grabbed an assortment of Demerol, Percocets, and whatever else he could grab fast enough and downed them, not needing any liquid to wash them down, having lots of experience without. Knowing the pills would take a while to kick in, he stripped and took his spoiled uniform to the bathtub and began to scrub out the blood. Joey was actually quite impressed with his handiwork by the time he was done, the stain was not that obvious. Joey hung up his uniform to dry and slumped into his bedroom, feeling the sedative effects from the pills.

Joey lay on the floor of his bedroom, staring at the wall from his bloodshot eyes. A small grin spread across his face. He felt great! His nose didn’t hurt at all anymore. None of his injuries hurt anymore either. Joey couldn’t feel much of anything. The apartment was empty. He heard no sound but his slow, shallow breathing. All the worrying he had done earlier at the Game Shop about his injuries and his father were all for naught. Joey couldn’t think of a single thing to worry about. He couldn’t believe he was worried about his nose before; it was nothing but a scratch.

Just then a new wave of the sweats overtook his body as he scratched at his skin, in a mangy dog-like manner. This was the best Joey had felt in such a long time, he was totally relaxed and was at peace with the world. Joey tried getting up. Bad idea. Dizziness overtook him and he fell back onto the floor, his hands far too uncoordinated to catch his fall. Joey suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He tried to pick himself up again but there was no use. His nausea worsened. He directed all of his thoughts to not throwing up. He lay still for a few minutes as he felt the feeling pass. Lifting his head off of his arm it was resting on he suddenly felt hot burning fluid rise through his throat and unable to control it, he vomited on the floor. Seeing as Joey hadn’t eaten in hours, there was not much substance to his vomit, making the undiluted stomach acid burn even more. Joey continued gagging, even though nothing was coming out. Finally he managed to relax as he rested his head on the floor beside the puddle he had created and passed out.


When Joey arrived at school the following day, he received many stares and frightened looks. Some students, even teachers stopped and stared at his broken face, not concerned about etiquette. Joey felt the anger consume him and had to use much self-constraint to control his temper as he walked to his locker. As he passed a large glass trophy case, he saw his reflection in the glass panels. Deep blue lay beneath hazel eyes. The swelling of his nose had gone down considerably, which started to reveal its condition. The swing of Kaiba’s punch had made the bone break towards his right, making it quite crooked. At least with the decreased swelling he was able to speak almost normally again. When he woke up that morning, his right nostril began to bleed quite profusely which he remedied by plugging it with some toilet paper, which still remained there.

Joey walked through the school halls to his homeroom proudly with his bloodstained uniform and paper dangling from his nose. Knowing that the whole school probably knew about the fight between him and Kaiba, he had to show everyone that he wouldn’t hide away and be ashamed. He had to keep his dignity and the best way Joey thought he would achieve that was to keep his head up. Joey Wheeler would not give Kaiba the satisfaction of knowing he was ashamed of his mutilated face so instead of trying to hide it and be a coward, he would flaunt his injury. Joey would pretend like there was nothing different. No, he would act arrogant and smug, just to prove his point that Kaiba couldn’t break him. His arrogance in his battered condition would send a “Fuck You” to everyone who continued to stare or thought what happened to him was funny.


As Joey entered the already filled classroom, the conversation ceased almost immediately as all eyes were focused on Joey. Even the teacher was momentarily hypnotized by the sight in front of him. Joey didn’t dare let his eyes gaze over to the far right of the classroom. He knew he couldn’t bear to see a smug faced, snot-nosed, arrogant, egomaniac knowing that he would probably spontaneously combust with rage if he did. Eventually the class started talking again among themselves except the kid to Joey’s right who continued his stare as Joey purposely looked in the opposite direction. Angered, he turned to the kid who had a dumb expression stuck on his pimply, pre-pubescent face. “Didn’t anyone eva tell ya it’s rude to stare?” Joey growled, surprised how angry his voice came out from the pent-up anger he developed from his trip down the hall. Joey didn’t mind, he never cared for the kid much anyway, or the few sparse hairs under his nose he considered a moustache.

The bell rang and the class commenced. Joey tried his best to pay attention but found it difficult from being so riled up from that morning. Halfway through the class, there was a knock at the door, revealing a middle-aged polished woman at the door, wearing red-framed spectacles and a gray, pinstriped suit. Her brunette hair was pulled into a tight bun. She shared some quick words with the professor before Joey was beckoned to the door. Joey stood up with legs as heavy as lead. The woman revealed a shocked, disgusted face as she peered into Joey’s but quickly masked her surprise with a warm smile. “Would you mind accompanying me to my office?” she spoke, her voice dripping with false kindness.

“And do I have a choice?” Joey sneered. Everyone else that morning had been plagued by Joey’s anger, he didn’t see why she should be an exception.

“I’d really like it if you would,” the woman replied, her tone turning icy as she put her hand on his shoulder and directed him down the hall.

The moment the woman touched his shoulder where his belt marks were he winced momentarily, then regained control of his facial features and returned them to his best scowl. He wasn’t sure whether she saw or not, her sharp eyes quickly analyzed his face before looking ahead once more.

They entered her office and Joey was politely told to sit down, which he did reluctantly. “My name is Mrs. Sack and I am one of the counselors at this school. Everything said in this office will, of course, be confidential and don’t mind the notebook,” she said as she raised her black pen. “All my notes are just for your school record.” She smiled sweetly as if taking notes about the conversation Joey knew they were about to have was nothing to worry about.

She continued, “It was brought to my attention that your endeavors in the classroom have been dwindling. Is there anything going on? Are you facing problems at home or school?”

“Well for starters, who brought ‘dis to your attention? Was it one of my professors?” Joey asked, knowing it was probably the nosy chemistry teacher who tried interrogating him the other day when he was out of it.

“I will not disclose who informed me of your recent behavior, but it actually came from a concerned classmate.” Joey was caught off guard. It couldn’t possibly be one of the gang who tipped off the counselor. They all knew things weren’t perfect at home but would they betray him like that? His thoughts were reflected in his face.

“This is why it seems so alarming,” the counselor continued, “Coming from a classmate makes it more concerning seeing as they tend to know you better.”

“Well they can’t know me very well if they think something is up” Joey retorted.

“Perhaps…” the counselor commented offhandedly, not convinced as she scribbled a note in her notepad. “My information tells me you live alone with your father. Do you have a good relationship with him?”

“Yea,” Joey lied, “We get along great.”

“Has he ever hit you?”

“No!” Joey replied a bit too quickly, as if expecting the question. More notes.

“Has he ever touched you inappropriately?”

“Say Wha’?” Joey asked, surprised by the forwardness of the question.

Mrs. Sack gave a great sigh and removed her glasses, then looked at Joey. “Has he ever touched your genitals or asked you to touch-”

“Whoa, hold on ‘dere, I know what ya meant,” Joey interrupted quickly, “Of course not, he would neva’ do that!” Joey stated, being completely honest.

“Hmm” was the all counselor said, scribbling something quick in her notebook.

Mrs. Sack gave another sigh, “Now this is a part of the job I hate but I cannot ignore it” she said, not sounding the least bit troubled. “The student who informed me about your behavior also reported seeing marks on you that seemed suspicious. They wouldn’t tell me when or where but they seemed concerned that your safety was not guaranteed at your current dwelling,” the counselor disclosed, awaiting Joey’s reaction to this information.

Joey quickly understood what the counselor was insinuating. “If you’re suggestin’ that my dad is not bein’ a proper father, than you are wrong. He’s a great dad!” Joey heatedly defended.

“Tell me what happened to your nose then.” She spoke coldly.

“’Dat rich prick Kaiba happened, alright!” Joey spouted angrily. “We were in a fight yesterday.” He continued in a softer tone.

“And what did your father think about your injuries? Did he seem concerned? To me it looks like you’re nose is broken pretty bad and in need of some medical attention.”

“He was very concerned,” lied Joey. His father hadn’t even seen the state he was in.

“Then why haven’t you received the proper care?” she pressed on, eager to find a reason why Joey’s father was inadequate.

“We can’t exactly afford luxuries like doctors and stuff like ‘dat” Joey muttered.

“Not even for his son’s injuries?” She said, not expecting Joey to answer but rather to show her disapproval as she wrote very quickly.

Joey sat quietly and watched her write, becoming more nervous every second she continued. What could she be writing about? Did he give anything away? Finally he needed to break the silence. “What now?” he asked as she continued to write for a few more seconds until she slowly came to a stop. “Well” she said, looking up at Joey with a look of disregard on her face.

“This is how I see it. Every parent has one responsibility for their child and that is to maintain their well being and provide them with all the nurturing and support they need to grow. This includes providing a loving home, and your basics such as food, shelter and protection. It is also very important that if the child has succumbed to injury, that all measures should be taken to provide treatment in order to return the child to a state of health. It seems like your father is failing crucially in that aspect and potentially in many other areas of care.” She stated in a hard voice, no pretence of care or concern in her words, just accusations.

“You don’t know a damn thing about my father!” Joey yelled, as he stood up, sick of listening to why his father was trash. Mrs. Sack looked neither surprised nor affected by Joey’s harsh words, probably receiving them frequently in her line of work.

“It’s the responsibility of any good parent to take proper care of their child and if they cannot perform these duties they have no right to have children.” She retorted matter-of-factly in the same hard, uncaring voice.

“My father is a good man!” Joey yelled each word individually to emphasize his point. “And I don’t have ta listen to this! You know nothing about me or my family so why don’t you butt out!” He turned quickly and had his hand on the doorknob.

“I wouldn’t leave if I were you.” She responded calmly, a smug look present on her hard features.

“And why’s that?” Joey said, turning around swiftly.

“Because I will call your father and ask him personally why your injuries cannot be dealt with. If his answers do not satisfy me, which they probably won’t, then I’ll call the children’s care facility and we’ll go after your father for child neglect.” She threatened icily.

Joey slowly walked back to his seat and sat down, defeated. “What do you want me to do then?” He said, no sound of defiance left in his voice.

“You must get your nose treated professionally and I would like to see a signed doctors note proving this or I will go through with my plans.”

“Alright.” Is all Joey said before getting up and dismissing himself from the office, slamming the door behind him.