Joey turned over and looked around at each of his friends in turn. Each and every one of them had always been there for him, and he had let them down by keeping this awful secret to himself after all that time.
"I lied to you guys before, about being in the gang fights. The truth is, it was my father that did this to me." A gasp could be heard throughout the room as the others took in what had happened to their best friend. Tea reached forward and put a sympathetic hand on Joey's shoulder.
"Why didn't you tell use before?" Tea asked.
"If I told, he threatened to kill my little sis. My dad blamed the fact that my mom left him on me, and after that he started drinking. Besides, it was never this bad before," he said, trying to shrug it off like it was nothing.
After a moment, Gramps came back into the room. "Joey, I called a friend of mine. He's a doctor, and he'd like to come and make sure everything is ok, as well as help to file a report against your father." His voice was calm, but it still made Joey pull himself to his feet.
"I'm fine, I don't need a doctor to check over me," he said. As every muscle in his body ached, he knew it was a lie, but he tried to convince himself more than the others.
Gramps turned to the others, with a soft smile. "Why don't you kids go on home? Joey will be here and just fine in the morning." The gang all smiled and left until only Gramps, Yugi, and Atem remained.
"What time is your friend going to get here, Grandpa?" Yugi asked.
"In about an hour. Joey, do you want something to eat?"
"No thanks," he said surprising everyone. Food was the one thing in the world that Joey would never turn down. So for him to refuse to eat meant that something was really wrong.
Instead the boy sat there in silence until Mr. Moto's friend arrived. Gramps meet him at the door and welcomed him in, before introducing him to Joey.
"Joey, this is a friend of mine, Dr. Harper."
"It is nice to meet you Joey. Mr. Moto, is there a room that I could use to examine Joey?"
Gramps pointed them to a back room, where a reluctant Joey sat down on the bed. Turning to face him, Dr. Harper asked him, "Son, how long have you been abused by your father?"
"A few years now," Joey admitted. He kept his eyes on the doctor, as If to let his distrust be known.
"Son, can I get you to take your shirt off?" Dr. Harper asked. Joey looked at him, before asking "Why" However, he knew the minute it was out of his mouth that it was a dumb question.
"I just need to do a quick examination," the older man explained. With a sigh, Joey pulled of his shirt and allowed the man to check on him. After it was over, Joey got dressed and headed back into the main room. He heard the phone ring in the background behind him, and Yugi answer the phone.
"Moto residence, how may I help you?" Then a pause followed by, "Hang on a moment please."
Yugi walked into the living room, and held up the phone toward Joey. "It's for you," he mouthed. When Joey asked who it was, Yugi shrugged. He took the phone in his hand, and said "Hello."
"Joey, it's me, "a girl's voice said on the line. Joey let out a sigh of relief as he recognized his sister's voice. Not too long ago, Joey had told Serenity to call him over at Yugi's. He spent more time here than at home anyway.
"Hey sis, what's up," Joey asked. He heard a muffled sound, as if someone was moving on Serenity's side, then just steady breathing.
"Serenity, are you there?" Joey asked trying hard not to panic. The breathing continued, and then he heard an all too familiar voice say, "Hello Joey."
Joey fumbled the phone trying hard not to drop it in shock. He said there petrified as he heard his dad say, "I've got your sister and your mother. If you want to see either off these stupid bitches again, then I suggest you do as I say. You still there boy?" His dad's voice was gruff, but for now at least it did not sound as if his dad was drunk.
"Yeah, what do I do?" Joey could handle the abuse that he had suffered, but there was no way that he would let his father hurt his sister. He listened patiently as his dad gave him instructions. He was to meet him at his mom's house. He should come along, and not tell a soul. Joey was pretty sure what he was about to do would be considered a death wish, but he had promised that he would never let anything happen to his sister. It was time for him to keep that promise. The only problem was getting out of the house without anyone discovering where he was going. Joey was glad that Yugi had left the room after handing him the phone. He wasn't sure, but he thought that the others were in the kitchen. It was time to escape.
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