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magicalgirlartist · 7 years

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West City Public Library, Part 28: Totally Rad

Sorry Raditz

Summary: Raditz has a long and complicated family history, and he has come to terms with exactly none of it. Word Count: 4737

"By the way, when was the last time you called home?" Kakarott asked, leaning over the back of the couch. He looked expectantly at his brother. "It's your mom's birthday soon, right?"

Raditz shifted where he sat on the end of the couch and folded his arms. "You know that woman isn't my mother."

"Ugh. Raditz, we've been over this." Kakarott vaulted over the back of the couch and plopped down next to Raditz. "Em and Garnet are your parents. They're not your blood parents, but they're still your parents. Grandpa wasn't my blood grandpa, either, but he was still Grandpa. So it's the same for you!"

Raditz glared at him. "You don't get it. You might not remember Mom and Dad, but I do. Garnet isn't my dad, and Emerald isn't my mom. My real parents were Bardock and Gine Konsai, and they were yours, too."

Kakarott threw up his hands. "Fine. I already believe you; you don't have to try and convince me we're brothers anymore. Chi-Chi got the blood work to prove it, anyway. But I mean...whether they're your "real" parents or not, shouldn't you call them sometimes anyway? I know if Grandpa was still around I'd be calling him all the time!"

"Don't you dare play that card with me," Raditz snapped. "Besides, if he was still around you really think you wouldn't have him at your house every day anyway? With how much time Gyumao spends over there I seriously doubt that."

"You're deflecting," Kakarott said. He crossed his legs under him and propped his chin on his hand, looking sideways at Raditz. "Why don't you want to call them? I mean, even if they're not really your parents, they still raised you and stuff. Don't you care about them at all?"

Raditz didn't answer. True, Garnet and Emerald (and later their second child, Alex) had always been good to him, even when he was...less good to them. But even so...

"Well, I guess it's up to you." Kakarott clapped a hand on Raditz's shoulder and hauled himself to his feet. "Are you still coming to babysit Gohan on Thursday night?"

Raditz waved him off. "Of course. See you then, Kakarott."

He waved over his shoulder and disappeared out the door, leaving Raditz alone in his rundown apartment again. Raditz flopped over on his side and stretched across the entire couch. Having his brother over was always good--it meant their relationship was on the mend, after all. Hell, just the fact that Kakarott let Raditz call him by his real name instead of Goku was a sign they were finally getting somewhere. But it was a little depressing that the only people who ever actually wanted to spend time with him were Kakarott and his kid. Even Kakarott's wife didn't like him much, and she made that clear whenever they saw each other. (That was fine. He wasn't exactly her biggest fan, either.) Nappa tried to include him in conversations and the like at work, which was nice, but Vegeta--well, he was Vegeta. Sometimes Raditz talked to Yamcha, but they didn't really see each other outside of work. (He had been thinking about asking Yamcha out at one point, but Tien from Circulation beat him to the punch.)

Maybe he should talk to Emerald. Or at least Alex. He'd always gotten along with Alex fairly well, even if he hadn't communicated with them beyond liking their Facebook posts for a few months and replying "Not Sure" to her invite to Emerald's birthday party. He wasn't sure he could handle Garnet right now--his arguments with his adoptive father had always been the worst.

Raditz stared at his phone where it sat on the coffee table. It would be really easy to just pick it up and shoot Em a text. Ask her out for coffee, say something about her new grandkid, ask how work was going.

But it was easier to just roll over and take a nap. So that's what he did instead.

thx bro im rly sry

Raditz sighed and shoved his phone in his pocket. Kakarott was lucky his shift was almost over. If he'd texted Raditz even ten minutes later, he would've already been on the bus home. He glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed. Well, he'd be trying to catch the bus, anyway. His shift finished at five, and the bus stopped outside the library at five after. It was hardly enough time to grab his stuff and run, especially if he was in the middle of something.

But it looked like he wouldn't be catching the 5:05 today anyway, regardless of how quickly he got going. Because somebody (he wasn't naming any names, but it was Kakarott) had forgotten that he was supposed to teach a later class than usual and wouldn't be able to pick Gohan up from the Summer Readers Program at the library. Usually, Chi-Chi would just leave the cafe in Maza's hands for a few minutes and get him, but apparently she was in the middle of training a new employee today and couldn't leave. So because Raditz was right there, Kakarott had texted him to get him to help out. Not that Raditz minded, honestly. Now that Gohan wasn't terrified of him like he had been when he was really little, it was a lot easier to spend time with his nephew. And maybe if he was lucky, he'd get one of Chi-Chi's home cooked meals out of it.

He quickly recounted the books and DVDs he'd processed and wrote the number down, then did the same with the books he'd repaired that day. "Done," he declared, setting aside his clipboard. (Other departments got tablets to do their statistics on, but no, Technical Services got stuck with a stupid clipboard.) "I'm taking off."

"Whatever." Vegeta's computer was already shut down and he was stretching out his back. His desk was a mess, littered with half-processed books he hadn't given Raditz to finish yet, protein bar wrappers, and a parenting magazine that he thought no one knew about shoved hastily under a pile of trash. He stared dully up at Raditz. "You're here tomorrow, right?"

"Every day, Vegeta." Raditz changed out of his work shoes into his ratty, beat-up sneakers and headed for the door. "G'night, everyone."

Nappa waved without looking up from where he was still cataloguing. "See you tomorrow, Raditz."

Raditz waved lazily over his shoulder and headed for the stairs out of the basement. The library's basement had a weird layout--originally there was just a tiny office for the maintenance staff, but then the IT department was built, and then when Tech Serv was moved downstairs a few years ago they'd made another room for it. So now the basement was a huge half-empty warehouse with various storage closets, a furnace, and three rooms randomly scattered around. Tech Serv was on the other side of the basement from the stairs, which was a pain in the ass, but the elevator was broken again so Raditz didn't have much of a choice.

"Hey."

Raditz glanced over his shoulder. Lapis was following him to the stairs. "You got the early shift today?" Raditz asked.

Lapis grinned. "Damn right. Lazuli's pissed about it, too; apparently she had a date tonight or something."

"Ha." Raditz turned away again as they reached the stairs. Lapis was alright, as far as he was concerned. Laid-back and a huge prankster, as long as he wasn't causing trouble for Tech Serv he was alright as far as Raditz was concerned. His sister, on the other hand, was always angry. Fortunately, that usually that anger was directed at Vegeta, which Raditz could sympathize with. Unfortunately, she also tended to direct a lot of it at Vegeta's coworkers, which meant Raditz was on the receiving end of a lot of dirty looks when she was around. He gave as good as he got, of course, but it was annoying as shit. "Well, bye, I guess."

"Later, Rad-man." And Lapis headed off again as soon as they were at the top of the stairs. Raditz sighed. He was not good at holding conversations. No wonder he didn't have any friends.

He sauntered over to the children's program room, hands in his pockets. Piccolo was standing in the middle of the carpet, surrounded by kids and frantically trying to coax them into being quiet while they waited for their parents. Raditz stood to the side and watched for a moment in a sort of sick satisfaction. He had never gotten along with Piccolo--better than he got along with Vegeta, for sure, but still pretty badly--and it was always gratifying watching him fail miserably at his job. Piccolo caught his eye and glared at him. "Can I help you?" he asked with forced politeness.

"Don't you give me your customer service voice." Raditz leaned against one of the supply cupboards. "You know, you'd probably have an easier time with this stuff if you made parents stay with their kids."

"We try." Piccolo shook his head. "Parents don't have to stay if there's an older sibling to help or in the case of special exceptions, but most of the time the siblings aren't much help." He looked over at Gohan, sitting in a beanbag chair and reading a book about slugs. "You're here for him, then."

"Kakarott asked me to pick him up." Raditz fumbled for his phone to show Piccolo the texts, but Piccolo waved him off.

"Whatever, I believe you. Gohan, time to go."

Gohan looked up and noticed Raditz for the first time. "Uncle Raditz!" He beamed at him and struggled out of his chair before running across the room to latch onto Raditz's legs. "Hi!"

"Don't run," Piccolo reminded him, walking away. "See you tomorrow, kid."

Raditz grabbed Gohan under the arms and hefted him into the air. "God, you're getting heavy. You eating too much of Mom's lasagne or what?"

Gohan giggled. "I'm just a big kid now!"

"I should say." Raditz looked at the book still clutched in Gohan's hands. "You need to check that out or what?"

"No." Gohan dropped it on the floor. "I'm done with it."

"Hey." Raditz set Gohan down. "Pick that up; you know better."

Gohan pouted, but picked the book up and put it on a nearby table where it was almost immediately grabbed by another kid, who ran off with it even as Piccolo yelled not to run.

"That's better." Raditz scooped Gohan up again. "Alright, your dad asked me to get you today, so we're going home now."

"Okay." Gohan squirmed around in Raditz's grip so he could wrap his arms around his neck and still see where they were going. "Mommy said she had a new guy starting at the cafe today!"

"Yeah, that's what your dad told me." Raditz headed outside, squinting and blinking in the summer sunshine. Damn, he might just walk home tonight if it stayed this nice. Although he was wearing too-hot work slacks. Maybe Kakarott would loan him a pair of shorts. "How was your day, kiddo?"

"Awesome!" Gohan's hands tangled in Raditz's hair. "Mr. Piccolo read us stuff about plants, and then we talked about how they grow, and we planted beans in waterbottles. And we're gonna leave them in the window all summer and see how they grow!"

"Huh. Neat." Raditz adjusted his grip and kept going. He knew he didn't have to carry Gohan all the time--in fact Chi-Chi preferred it if he didn't, she called it "babying him." But sometimes he just craved some kind of contact, and holding the kid's hand while they walked wouldn't have been enough. Besides, it was good exercise. "Dende and Videl not there today?"

"No." Gohan sounded sad. "Videl's gotta go to the dentist, and Dende's mostly at day care in the summer. I miss him."

"I'm sure he misses you too."

They walked in silence for a minute. Then Gohan tilted his head and looked at Raditz again. "Uncle Raditz, Mommy said you and Daddy are brothers."

"That's right."

"But then she said you and Daddy didn't know you were brothers until you were grownups."

Raditz's heart stuttered in his chest. "Oh."

"How come?"

"Well." Raditz took a breath. Chi-Chi had a big mouth, dammit. "We got separated when we were really little. He was raised by one guy--he named you after him, actually." Gohan's head tilted as he thought about it, then he nodded. "And I was raised by someone else."

"How come you weren't together?"

Raditz shifted his grip again. Could he really have this conversation with Gohan? Wasn't it a little too grown-up for him? Although, he thought, it wasn't anything the kid couldn't see in any given Disney movie. "Well, our parents died." He paused, trying to figure out how much he should actually say. Maybe he'd skip over the part where they were in a gang and their boss killed them to keep them quiet. "So after that, we had to find somewhere else to live. Your dad went with one family and I went with another, because nobody could take two kids." There. That should do it.

"Oh." Gohan looked at the ground. "So how'd you and Daddy find each other again?"

"Mostly by accident." Raditz shrugged as best he could with an armful of kindergartner. "Your parents were getting married and I was friends with someone in the wedding party--your aunt Bulma, actually." Friends was too strong a word, but he wasn't about to start explaining his complicated relationship with his coworkers to a six year old. "I saw that crazy hair of his and knew it had to be your dad."

Gohan giggled. "I like Daddy's hair! It's funny and he lets me mess it up sometimes."

Raditz laughed. "I'd pay money to see that, kid."

"So who're your parents?"

Raditz stopped laughing. That was a much more loaded question than Gohan thought it was. "I'm--they're--" He faltered, stopped talking. Kakarott's words from the day before rattled through his mind: "I mean, even if they're not really your parents, they still raised you and stuff."

God, he didn't remember his birth parents. He only remembered what Dad looked like because Kakarott looked so much like him; he remembered what Mom looked like because he saw her when he looked in the mirror. There were vague memories of Mom holding his hand as the crossed the street to get to school, of Dad laughing when Raditz's teacher told him what kind of trouble he'd gotten into that day. He remembered Dad paying more attention to baby Kakarott to him, and if he focused as hard as he could he could hear Mom comforting him about it. But other than that, all his memories were of...

"My parents are Garnet and Em," he finally mumbled.

Gohan's eyes practically sparkled. "I wanna meet them."

"Maybe someday." Thankfully, they'd reached the Ox Cafe by then, and Raditz shifted Gohan's weight so he could open the door. "Chi-Chi, I brought your kid," he yelled, striding in. It wouldn't do to let anyone know how awkward he was feeling right now. And the best way to cover that up was by being as loud and obnoxious as possible.

"Heya, Rad!" Maza, Chi-Chi's assistant, beamed at him from across the counter. Her bubblegum pink hair was in a messy bun on her head, which looked really silly when it was squished underneath a hair net. "Cheech's in the back. Checking in on the new baker guy." She waved at Gohan. "Hi, Gohan!"

Gohan squirmed and Raditz set him down so he could run off to the apartment upstairs. He flopped into one of the armchairs in the corner and looked around at the empty cafe. "Quiet day today?"

"You just missed the rush." Maza hoisted a tub of dishes and turned to go. "I'll be right back, and Chi-Chi'll be out soon. Make yourself comfortable!"

"Already did," Raditz muttered as Maza disappeared into the back kitchen. He leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused. He was tired. Talking about his family issues always exhausted him. But Gohan didn't know that, he couldn't have known that, and if he had he wouldn't have brought it up.

Still, like father, like son. Both Kakarott and Gohan seemed to like bringing up Raditz's family. And, as Kakarott had so helpfully pointed out the day before, Emerald's birthday was coming up. Tomorrow, in fact. He dug his phone out of his pocket and stared at it. Maybe he should call her. After the last fight he'd had with Garnet, though, Raditz wasn't too eager to talk to either of them.

"Hi, Raditz."

Raditz looked up at Chi-Chi as she came out from the kitchen with an armload of aprons. "You look busy," he commented.

She shrugged and set them down. "Nothin' I can't handle, especially with my new boy in the back. Thanks for bringin' Gohan home."

"No problem." Raditz stretched and hauled himself out of his chair. "If you're looking for him, he went upstairs already. Well, it's been fun, but I'm heading out."

"You won't stay for dinner?" Chi-Chi propped her hands on her hips. "I'm closing up shop when Goku gets home 'round six, and it's burger night."

Raditz hesitated. Chi-Chi's homemade hamburgers were the best. And Chi-Chi didn't offer many olive branches.

He scratched his ear and shrugged. "Sure, if you're offering. Thanks."

"No problem." She turned away again and busied herself with folding the freshly-washed aprons. "I'll even introduce you to the new guy, once he comes out. He's great with pastries, but not with people, so he'll stay in the back most of the time. But if he's going to work here, he'd better get used to you." Chi-Chi smiled over her shoulder at him and Raditz blinked in surprise. Was she saying what he thought she was?

"Th-thanks," he stammered.

"Miss Chi-Chi?"

A head stuck out from the back room, thin and almost gaunt, with sad eyes too small for his face. Chi-Chi shook her head at him. "Broly, I've told you, it's just Chi-Chi. What's the matter?"

"Th-the oven's making a weird noise." Broly seemed to notice Raditz for the first time. "Oh. Hello."

Raditz waved. Chi-Chi ushered Broly back into the kitchen. "Introductions later, weird oven noises now. Raditz, watch the shop. I'll be right back."

Bewildered, Raditz froze for a moment. Chi-Chi had never let him watch the shop before. She was just full of surprises today. He looked around at the empty cafe. Not that there was much to watch. He wandered over to the laundry and absently started folding it. He might as well make himself useful, anyway.

"Hello."

Raditz jumped at the voice behind him. Broly was back, hands twisting in his apron and looking Raditz steadily in the eyes. Something about the prolonged eye contact unnerved him, and he looked away, back to the aprons. "I thought you were needed in the back."

"Miss Chi-Chi sent me off because I don't know how to fix ovens." Broly moved around to the edge of Raditz's sight. "She said Maza would fix it and told me to come introduce myself to you."

"Real nice of her," Raditz mumbled. His hands moved on autopilot and he looked up at Broly again. On a second glance, he was quite tall and thin, his clothes hanging off him. Some of his black hair was falling out of his messy ponytail, and he kept tucking it out of his face. "I'm Chi-Chi's brother in law. Name's Raditz."

"Hi," Broly said. He tilted his head. "You're Goku's brother?"

"That's me." Raditz stacked the last apron on top of the pile and turned his full attention to Broly. "You know Kaka--Goku?" He caught himself just in time. Kakarott allowed Raditz to call him by his real name when it was just them or among family, but to strangers he was always supposed to be Goku. The name felt wrong in his mouth.

"Not really." Broly looked away. "My father does, sort of."

"Oh." Raditz rubbed his nose. Broly wasn't much of a conversationalist, and Raditz really wasn't much better when it came right down to it. He decided to change the subject. "So today's your first day?"

"Yeah." Broly brightened a little. "Father wasn't happy when I told him I'd gotten a job at a cafe, but I told him who owned it and he relaxed because he knew Goku." He fidgeted. "I think he's still mad I didn't get in at the library, though."

Something clicked in Raditz's brain and his eyes widened. He'd thought the name Broly was familiar. Nappa had mentioned it after the security guard interviews. "Y-you--you're not the guy who started flipping out when Kak--Goku walked in, are you?"

Broly looked down and blushed. "He looks like someone I used to know. I got confused and freaked out. Father was so mad after that..."

"Dude, you know he lives here, right?" Raditz propped his hands on his hips and glared at Broly. "You'd better get over that fast or you're going to be fired. Why the hell would your dad be okay with you being around someone he knows freaks you out?"

"He said it'd be good for me," Broly mumbled. "Besides, I was able to talk to him and apologise after."

"No offense, but your dad sounds like a jerk." Raditz folded his arms. "Does Chi-Chi know?"

Broly's eyes widened. "Please don't tell her."

Raditz jabbed a finger into Broly's chest. "Don't make it an issue and I won't have to. Got it?"

He nodded. "I can do that. Thank you, Raditz."

Raditz scoffed. "Whatever. Shouldn't you be getting back to work?"

The bell over the door tinkled and Kakarott came rushing through. "Chi-Chi, I'm home!" He skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, eyes falling on Raditz and Broly. "Hi, Raditz! Hi, Broly!"

Raditz kept an eye on Broly, but aside from a sudden tenseness to his shoulders and jaw, nothing happened. "Hi, Goku."

Kakarott slung an arm over Raditz's shoulders. "Are you staying for dinner? It's hamburger night!"

"I've heard." There was a noise, and he looked up to see Broly walking quickly but stiffly back into the kitchen. "What the hell are you doing?" he hissed once Broly was out of earshot. "How could you let Chi-Chi hire him?"

"It's her cafe." Kakarott shrugged. "Besides, he said he was sorry before."

"Sorry doesn't cut it! He nearly broke Nappa's hand! He should be locked up, not decorating cupcakes or whatever the fuck!"

"Give him a chance. Get to know him!" Kakarott clapped him on the shoulder. "He's really nice! Maybe you two could--"

"If you're about to suggest I ask him out I'll destroy you," Raditz growled.

Kakarott shrugged. "Just a suggestion. He's cute."

Well, he was, but that wasn't the point. "Whatever. But if this blows up in your faces, don't come crying to me."

"It'll be fine," Kakarott said confidently. "Hey, have you called your mom?"

Raditz bit back his automatic response of "she's not my mom" and stuck his hands in his pockets. "No."

"Her birthday's soon. You should call her."

"Sure, Dad." Raditz shrugged Kakarott off and headed for the stairs. "I'm going to hang out with Gohan," he called over his shoulder. "At least he doesn't try to set me up with weirdos or pester me about my family!"

"Hey, you called them your family!" Goku replied brightly before Raditz slammed the apartment door behind him.

Raditz turned his phone over in his hands and stared at the fingerprint-smudged black screen. It was his morning off, and it was Em's birthday. He really should call her. He'd seen Alex's Facebook pictures of the cake they'd made her, and he'd liked them, but that was all he'd done so far. He hadn't even gotten her a card or anything.

He flopped onto his side and stared at the wall across from the couch. Things weren't supposed to be this complicated. Raditz had always hated when things were all mixed up and messed up and not plain and straightforward. "My parents are Garnet and Em," he'd said to Gohan yesterday. "Don't you care about them at all?" Kakarott had asked him.

But it was more complicated than that, wasn't it? He'd spent so many years trying to find his place in the world by himself, pushing away the people who wanted to help him in the vain hope of reconnecting with the only "real" family he had left. Of course he cared about Garnet and Em and Alex and even Alex's kids, the same way he cared about Kakarott and Gohan and, yes, even Chi-Chi. He just couldn't face them after so long trying to make them leave him alone. How could he go crawling back to them now, nearly ten years later, and ask if he could be part of the family again? That wasn't fair.

Well, he figured, he didn't have to start with asking to be part of the family again. All he was doing was wishing an acquaintance--a friend--a happy birthday. That was all.

Taking a breath, Raditz sat up and pulled up Em's phone number, his thumb hovering over the Call button for a few seconds longer than necessary before pressing it. It rang for what felt like forever before Em's voice came crackling over the line. "Hello!"

"Hi--" Raditz started, but Emerald cut him off. "I'm unable to take your call right now, leave me a message and I'll get back to you!" There was a long beep and Raditz hung up.

Of course. Raditz's breath shook and he buried his face in one of the couch cushions. He wanted to cry. The one time he tried to do something nice, something good, and of course he fucked it up by picking a time she couldn't talk. He was an idiot and he'd never fix his relationship with his parents.

The thought startled him. Somewhere, over the last couple days of talking about it, he'd finally come to really see Garnet and Emerald as his real parents. And now he was screwed. His throat closed up and he tried to choke back a sob. What the hell was wrong with him? Vegeta was right; he was a total screw-up, never did anything right. God, he should just--

His phone buzzed and he shot upright, staring at it.

Em was calling him back.

She was calling him back.

He fumbled to jab the Accept Call button and held the phone to his ear with shaking hands. "H-hello?" he stammered.

"Raditz?" Yes, that was Emerald's voice alright. He took a shaky breath of relief. "Did you just try to call me? It said I had a missed call from you; I was driving so I didn't get it. Is everything alright?"

"I--yeah," Raditz choked out, "everything's fine."

"Are you sure?" Em sounded concerned. That was ridiculous, why should she be concerned about Raditz? "You haven't called home in years."

And Raditz was gone, tears spilling down his face as his shoulders shook. She'd said "home." Raditz hadn't thought of their house as home, not really, for a long time, and here Emerald was just--he tried to wipe his face and his voice cracked when he spoke again. "I-I just--happy birthday, Mom."

There was silence on the other end, but when Emerald spoke again her voice was just as wobbly as his. "Thank you, dear," she whispered. "Do you--we're having a little get-together this evening, would you come?"

Raditz gulped. He'd already been invited by Alex on Facebook, but he'd thought it was just out of obligation. He wasn't really wanted. "I don't--I don't even have a card. And I work until seven."

"That's okay." Em's smile was obvious in her voice, breaking through her tears. "Just come."

He nodded. "Yeah. Okay. I will. I'll--I'll see you tonight, M-Mom."

"See you tonight, Raditz. Have a good day at work."

"Happy birthday."

Raditz hung up before he said anything else stupid. But this time when he flopped onto his side, he had a grin splitting his face from ear to ear.

#dbz #dragon ball z #raditz #writing #fanfiction #library!au #west city pl

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