Chapter 7

"Are you satisfied, Mr. Joe-new-chee?" Ms. Williamson said his name in careful syllables as if she had struggled to get the pronunciation right.

"Yeah." Jou sighed. Two hours with his son had been emotionally exhausting.

"So will you stop all this foolishness and just sign?"

"Sign over custody?" That was the last thing on Jou's mind. The last two hours had satisfied him that he needed to be in his son's life. "Hell no."

"Now look here, I don't know what your angle is, Mr. Joe-new-chee, but my grandson needs a home where someone can look out for him and love him. Nobody wants that child but me! Sherri don't want him anymore. You never did."

"I didn't know! How was I supposed to know?" Jou yelled. "Sherri took off! A week later, I got divorce papers. I signed them, mailed them back and went home! I didn't know she was pregnant until I got the paternity request - in Japan!"

"And you figured out of sight, out of mind?"

"I was nineteen!" Jou threw up his hands. "Do you know what it costs to fly here and back? I didn't have a job - I couldn't pay to eat, never mind to fly!"

"You seem to be eating well enough now." She pointed out drolly.

"That's why I'm here now."

"You are here now because Sherri told Renee that you were Trey's father when she saw you on the news. And I thank Renee because otherwise we would never have known where to look for you."

"Yeah? Well, I thank her too, because I finally met my son."

"And that's all you need to do, Mr. Joe-new-chee. That boy does not need any more complications in his life!" She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Did you look at that boy, Mr. Joe-new-chee? Do you think it's been easy for black child who looks like he does?"

"What's wrong with how he looks?!" Jou glared back. "And don't think I don't get it. The States aren't the only place where how you look matters. Or do you think it was easy being the only natural blond in my school for five years straight! Out in the some of the Prefectures, out by my grandparents, they still think this," he tugged a lock, "is a sign of demons. Trey's beautiful. Anybody with eyes can see that!"

Ms. Williamson softened a bit. "You don't need to tell me that; I'm glad you agree. But my point is, Trey's different and children can be cruel. He needs a stable home, not people who come running in and out of his life when they feel like it."

"Ma'am, if I had known Sherri was pregnant, I would have never left." Jou shook his head sadly. "And when I found out, I couldn't do anything."

"Well, you can now. You can give him a home and provide support."

"I don't want to be some name on a check to him!" Jou snapped. "I want to know him - I want him to know me!"

"And how you gonna do that from Japan?"

The courtroom was wooden. Wooden benches lined the gallery where they waited for their case to be called. Wooden tables filled the space between the parties and the judge. A wooden podium rose dramatically above them for the judge to sit on high and decide their fate.

Sherri was dressed conservatively for once, like she thought looking like a mother would make the court believe she cared to be one. She'd probably borrowed the suit from Renee, who sat beside her. Her cameraman was waiting in the hall, but Renee was Sherri's best friend.

Ms. Williamson was clearly the person to be contended with; Sherri was fighting for custody but only as a pretense for the money she seemed sure Jou had, and sure the court would award her.

Yugi sat beside Jou. He had come across for a convention, but had been able to arrange to spend a few days with Jou. He'd worn a dark suit, but it looked rather incongruous with his wild hair. Still, Jou was glad of any moral support. Jou had an attorney, but there was nothing like having a friend with you when your life was up in the air. It was only topped by having the man you loved at your side.

Since that wasn't about to happen, Jou was happy with Yugi.

"He's mine, alright." Jou told Yugi the first night they'd caught up. "He has a serious attitude problem."

Jou did get a moment before they entered the courtroom to introduce his son to his best friend.

"I know him." Trey tsked. "That's Yugi Mutou - he's a real Duelist." The boy looked at Yugi. "You really know my father or he just tryin' to impress somebody?"

Yugi laughed. "I really know him. We went to school together. Jou was the best man at my wedding."

"Huh." Trey thought for a moment. "Can I have your autograph?"

Now, Trey sat with his mother and grandmother, headphones on, drawing pad open on his knee. He had steadfastly ignored the proceedings as soon as he determined that nothing he said mattered.

What Trey'd said was that he wanted to go to Japan.

After Jou and Trey met, the Judge interviewed the boy, in chambers. Sherri, Jou and Ms. Williamson had waited in the courtroom pretending that the door to the back had the most fascinating carvings.

An hour later, the judge sent Trey off with a social service worker and called in the attorneys. Jou climbed the walls for another hour while Sherri had had a loud cell phone call out in the hallway.

When the Judge finally returned, he recessed for the day. That was when Jou's lawyer relayed that Trey told the Judge that he wanted to live in Japan. The Judge was ordering the boy to see a counselor - mostly to see if the kid was serious or just being a brat - and held the case over for another month to give all the parties involved time to consider this new option.

Live in Japan. Did Jou want full custody? He hadn't even considered it - never dreamed it was possible that he could go home and take his son with him. Yugi had called to say he'd be in town just when Jou most needed someone to talk the decision over with.

Jou really wanted to discuss it with Kaiba. He wanted to introduce Trey to Seto. He wanted Kaiba to discuss parenting with Ms. Williamson. He wanted BB to tell Sherri where to go and how to get there.

The longer Jou was in New York, the more feverently he wished he'd taken the damn phone. Every time he closed his eyes, Kaiba was there - wet, shivering, beautiful.

Jou had eventually broken down and logged into his account at the store. All of BB's tapes were available for streaming. It wasn't the same as having him in person, but even as BB, Kaiba was so sexy...

Why didn't I take the damn phone? Jou asked himself time and time again.

Now, with Yugi - not Kaiba - at his side, Jou waited to hear what the Judge decided.

The gavel banged.

"Next case." The bailiff called out. "Wheeler vs. Jonahchee."

"Wheeler?" Yugi hissed. "She kept your name?"

"She claimed it was easier."

Yugi muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'witch' as Jou stood up. "Good luck!" He said aloud.

It'll take more than luck, Jou thought as he moved toward the front of the room. Ms. Williamson had forcibly taken the headphones from Trey and Jou tried not to grin as the boy slumped in his chair.

"Ok." The Judge sighed. "I have heard all the arguments, and I have reviewed all the evidence, and I think I'm ready to decide. Only took us seven months. Let me just make sure I have all this straight." The Judge shuffled through the months of accrued paper. "Ms. Wheeler, you contend that Mr. Jonahchee left you and your unborn son, with no warning and with no means of support. You want both spousal and child support for the past ten years, in addition to on-going child and spousal support."

"And my divorce, your honor." Sherri added. Jou had already learned to keep his mouth shut when his 'wife' opened hers, but it had been a hard lesson to learn.

The Judge grunted and picked up another sheet of paper. "Mr. Jonahchee, you contend that you were served with divorce papers, and had no knowledge of any pregnancy."

"Yes, sir."

"Further, I see that the original family court ordered no visitation and $200 a month child support which you have never paid because you were unaware of it. Is that correct?"

Jou bit back his initial response. How could they award child support if we were never divorced? "Yes, sir."

"So now you want joint custody of your son?"

"Yes." Joint custody. It would mean coming to the US to see Trey, but Jou could call or e-mail anytime.

"You realize that whether you win that or not, you still owe Ms. Wheeler $24,000 in unpaid child support - plus penalties and interest?"

"Yeah, I get it." The money was all Sherri was after. She'd made that clear enough.

"Alright." The judge shuffled through the pages again. "And then there's you, Ms. Williamson. You want sole custody on the grounds that both of these parents have abandoned the child and you have waived all rights for financial support from both parents. I see you have also requested to formally adopt him?"

"No way!" Jou snapped without thinking.

The Judge gave Jou a stern look and went on. "Alright. Convince me. Why should I take this child away from both his parents?"

"Your honor, my grandson has had a difficult life." Ms. Williamson began. "He never had a father." Jou tried not to growl and let her go on. "For whatever reason. And his mother..." She shook her head. "I love my daughter, but she is not able to give herself to a child. I can do that. I want to do that. I know Trey is a handful. He has some discipline problems. But he's smart and he's talented and if he can learn some focus, he could make a success of his life. He needs stability, your Honor. One home, one family, one church that help him stay focused on school. And not get all swept away in these dreams of foreign lands and celebrities and whatever."

The Judge nodded his head. "I agree. Why can't his mother or father do that?"

"I can." Sherri interjected.

"You can." Her mother agreed. "You won't." She looked at the judge. "And his father lives in another country! How can the child have a stable life with his father half a planet away?"

The Judge nodded some more. "I considered that too. Mr. Jonahchee, you asked for joint custody. How were you expecting that to work?"

Jou cleared his throat. "Yeah. Well, I figured he could be here - with his mother and grandmother - when school was in. Then when school lets out, he could come stay with me."

"In Japan."

"No." Ms. Williamson shook her head.

"Why not?" Jou snapped. "Your honor, yeah, the kid definitely needs some boundaries. But he's creative - he needs to see new stuff, too! Keeping him locked up in one house, one town, one life is not going to focus him, it's going to smother him. He's my son. Half of him is American, but half of him's Japanese. I want him to learn about that half. Doesn't he have a right to know where he came from?"

"He knows where he came from!" Ms. Williamson shot back. "When he's older and has more experience, maybe..."

"How many kids never get older?" Jou yelled. "My mom's never met her grandson - how would you feel if it was you? Trey's got an aunt, an uncle and three cousins. And great grandparents - out in Dau Prefecture. They own a rice farm on the side of a mountain. I want Trey meet them. I'm not asking for full custody! I'll pay child support! I just want to see my son for long enough to get to know him."

Standing in front of airport security, he understood what a friend was.

"Yugi - I don't know what to say." Jou looked at the envelope, stunned. "I - I just..."

"Yami wired it. As soon as he heard how much the fine was." Yugi smiled. "I just wish I didn't have to get back."

The court records showed that notice had been mailed to Jou. And since so long had passed without support payments, Jou fell under something called the 'deadbeat dad' clause. It essentially allowed the State to re-calculate the child support order based on his highest income during the intervening period. Renee, helpfully, had supplied Sherri with the industry estimates of what JK Video grossed in a year. The courts had then subpoenaed his financial records and determined a number that looked more like what Kaiba should pay than anything Jou had ever earned.