Chapter Song: Jimmy Eat World - A Praise Chorus
Chapter 46: Neverland
Tamara pulled up to the curb on Wendy Street in front of a yellow two-story house with a blue and orange dragon coiled around a tree. A table splattered with paint and several drying objects stood in the middle of a covered driveway.
Joan sprang out of the car, stretched, and pulled her backpack out of the trunk along with a case of beer they'd picked up on the way. She left the suitcase she'd packed for Japan in the bottom of the trunk along with her laptop bag. Mokuba and the bodyguards picked up their own backpacks, and Joan led her entourage up the concrete walkway. The sound of guitar, drum, and trumpet music emanating from inside the house grew louder as they approached.
Joan opened the door without knocking and headed past a small mural of an alligator and pirate ship. Several names in cursive script, hers among them, crested the tops of ocean waves, blending seamlessly into the art.
Mokuba and the bodyguards paused awkwardly at the threshold of a great room. Sunlight sparkled through a high, iridescent window. A creepy clown doll, perched on a support beam, grinned down at them.
Joan dropped the case of beer on a kitchen island alongside a fluffy orange cat. Joan exchanged eyebrow raises with three musicians before unloading as many bottles as she could fit into the refrigerator. She then grabbed Mokuba's hand and tossed her backpack behind a couch before sinking into it, pulling Mokuba down with her. Joan then sang along with the chorus of the song until it ended.
"'Sup Joan?" A bald man with a well-groomed beard put down his guitar and came over to Joan for a hug. Joan introduced André to Mokuba as they shook hands.
The drummer, the tallest of the bunch with dark brown hair and a perpetual smile over his clean-shaven face, stood next in line to hug Joan. "This the big bad billionaire from that news article?"
"One of them, yeah," Joan said. "Dimitri, Mokuba. Mokuba, Dimitri is the one who introduced me to the rest of these folks. He was my TA in calculus."
"TA?" Mokuba asked as he shook Dimitri's hand.
"Teaching Assistant," Joan clarified as she recalled Mokuba had never gone to university.
"Oh yeah," Mokuba said, "I've seen that on several job applications."
"Dude, did you just skip college and go straight to being a CEO?" André asked.
Mokuba rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, though I feel like I missed out on a lot."
"It's never too late to start," the trumpeter chimed in. The trumpeter wore round glasses, a bright yellow dress, and long, purple hair with a matching beard. "I'm Kris and I go by they/them." Kris shook Mokuba's hand and hugged Joan.
"Hi Kris. I'm Mokuba and I go by he/him. Nice nail polish," Mokuba commented.
"Thanks," they said. Kris went over to the bodyguards and introduced themself while Joan asked André and Dimitri what they had been up to lately.
The sliding door to the back yard opened, and in walked a short woman with a cloud of red hair. "Hey, Joan! Give me a minute to get this dirt off my hands." She went to the kitchen sink and began washing.
Dimitri gestured at the redhead. "That's Jessica. We're her Lost Boys."
Jessica finished washing her hands and came over to hug Joan. Jessica then rose as high as her tiptoes would take her to hug Mokuba. "So, you're one of the Kaiba brothers, huh?"
Mokuba returned the hug clumsily. "Yeah, I'm Mokuba."
Jessica drew back and nodded at the bodyguards standing against the wall. "Who are your other friends?"
"We're bodyguards," Tamara said.
Jessica's eyebrows shot up. "OK, but do you have names?"
"I'm Tamara. I train with Marc sometimes."
"Joe," Mokuba's bodyguard stated without elaboration. "You always leave the front door unlocked?"
"Yes," Jessica said. "We've got six people living here, so there's always someone home. If you think there's some sort of threat though, we could lock it tonight."
"I've had death threats," Joan admitted, "but those people probably have no idea I'm here."
Jessica pulled out her phone. "I'll text the others and make sure they have their keys."
"Wait, real death threats?" Kris asked. "How serious are they?"
Joan plopped back onto the couch, and Mokuba put an arm around her. "I don't know. I only read the first one before handing it over to Seto and letting his staff handle it."
"I wish you'd told me sooner," Mokuba said. "I need to see those records." He pulled out his phone and texted Roland.
"Roland showed us," Tamara said. "There were six threats in all. Nobody from this area, but better safe than sorry."
"Roland the guy who got arrested?" Jessica asked.
Mokuba slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Yes, but we bailed him out the next day. He's been working for Seto and me for over a decade."
"Good to know you take care of your peeps," Dimitri commented.
A slight blush crept into Mokuba's cheeks as he thought of how his only friends over the past five years were the ones he paid. Still, when it came to learning about new people, work seemed like the most logical place to start. "So, what do you all do?"
The Neverlanders made their rounds explaining their occupations. Dimitri and André both lectured at the local university while Kris worked towards a bachelor's degree in physics. Meanwhile, Jessica pursued a master's degree in social work.
As they got better acquainted with one another, Mokuba began feeling some of what Joan had mentioned earlier about home being wherever the people you love are. He didn't know if Joan had any romantic connection with these people, but he could tell she loved them like he loved Seto. Neverland was a second home to her. Maybe someday, it could be his as well.
