It didn't even occur to me that I would meet someone in person that I had met online. But here I was. Waiting. On the corner of North Moore Street and Varick Street. I was pretty sure who I had been talking to was a girl, but you can't be certain. I didn't know what to expect. I figured that she would take one look at me and freak out. I had spent hours talking to her. She knew a great deal about my life...where as I knew very little about hers. Her name was Avi and she lived with her divorced mother. She asked, or rather insisted, to meet here at nine o'clock sharp. It was about a minute until then.
Man oh man, what had I gotten myself into this time? My brothers thought I just needed some alone time. We had been cooped up together for a long time now in our home...each of us handled what was going in our own ways. Leo still felt the need to patrol the city every so often. Raph was doing a nice job keeping Angel out of trouble. Mikey was getting more and more into cooking. Splinter, unfortunately, was spending most of his time in his chair in our living room of sorts reading different books that we picked up for him. His age was becoming incredibly apparent since the "fall of evil" as Mikey liked to put it. Other than the usual thugs and thieves, we had had nothing to worry about. Splinter was able to guess what I was first up to when he noticed that I was staying up later and had a smile on my face most of the time.
I sighed and looked at my digital watch again. "9:00" was displayed brightly against the night around me. There was a street lamp, but my appearance kept me from stepping into it. She would probably scream and run off. I had told her that I was difficult to look at, "Not any more than I, I suspect" had been her reply. At that point I agreed, however, rather unwillingly. I had hoped for our online relationship to last longer, but sometimes, all good things must come to an end. Suddenly someone stepped into the light in front of me with their back turned toward me. They had on very baggy clothing, browns and blacks mainly: a pair of cargo pants whose legs were longer than its owners, a black sweatshirt that seemed one size too big, and a pair of shoes that were falling apart everywhere. The person's brown hair was cropped to just above the collar.
"Don?" It was her!
"Right here." She spun around to look into the shadows at me. Her hair fell in torrents covering most of her face from the light.
"Thank you for coming." Her voice was very wispy and faint.
"Your welcome. What's going on?"
"I can't stay there tonight."
"Why?"
"I just can't."
"Were you hoping to stay at my place?"
"Well, I thought we could meet at least since I wouldn't be able to get on the computer. And the library's closed."
"Alright. What do you want to do?"
"We could just wander for now." She turned onto Moore Street and headed west toward the docks.
"Okay." I walked along beside her. It was a little awkward for us. I tried to stay out of most of the lights and she seemed to as well. We got to the docks without much hassle or conversation.
"I come here when I can't be home." I looked around, it was nice. Cars came and went every so often, and people on the sidewalks were even fewer. She wasn't just giving me information about her home life, but she was letting me in on some sort of secret as to where to find her.
"It's nice. I don't usually hang around this part of the city, but I might come here more often then."
"Why did you agree for tonight when you hadn't before?"
"I guess...because you were so insistent." She seemed to nod from what little I could see of her. Her baggy clothes made her seem very slumped over, like the world were resting on her shoulders.
"Do you need a place to crash tonight?"
"I dunno. Sometimes Michael will take me in, but he has a date tonight and I don't know when he's getting home."
"Michael...oh yeah...your flaming neighbor."
"Yeah." There was a laugh underlining that one word.
"My father said if you ever need somewhere to go, you can come with us." She seemed to shrink even more after that sentence. She was already shorter than me by a full head height, now she just seemed to want to disappear into the darkness.
"You know...the stars are duller tonight than I've ever seen them. It's as if they know that I will never get out of this stupid city. And they are dulling because they don't want to waste themselves on me."
"You really have a way of ruining a moment."
"Sorry. Anyways, I should probably go. It's different talking to you in person rather then on a screen." She turned away from me.
"I have one question."
"Yeah?"
"Why are you always so depressed?"
"I dunno." She started to walk away. I don't know why I did this, but I reach out for her. My hand grabbed her arm and she took a sharp breath inward.
"Are you hurt?" My medical side immediately kicked in.
"It's nothing."
"Bullshit." I pulled her to me so that my other hand was also on her other arm and she was facing me full on. She looked up at my face and I looked down at her's. My hat and trench coat weren't enough. We were standing in a light.
"You're a turtle?"
"What happened to your face?" Her right eye had a big scar across it and she had a number of other minor scars all over her face. But that wasn't the half of it. Her face was also marked by that of a burn victim's. What might have been the most beautiful face in the world was shamed into hiding by fire and hate.
"I asked first."
"Well, the answer is quite obvious. Now, what happened to your face?"
"Well, the answer is quite obvious." She was just as quiet in person as she was online. Answering questions with my responses.
"Who burned you?"
"Ancient history." I knew that if I pushed her she would just shut down in one way or another. Online she would just sign off, what would she do now?
"Fine. Ancient history. Now that we've seen each other, do you want to crash at my place?" She stared at me for what felt like the longest time.
"Sure." She had pretty much given up. My eyes looked into hers for one last minute, then I took her by the hand. I turned and walked to the nearest man hole cover. She didn't ask any questions during our trip back to my home. I was constantly looking at her, I couldn't see her face, but that one look at it was enough to melt my frustration with her. Her answers to all of my questions from the beginning had always been so vague. What we predominantly talked about were computers and programming. She always had questions on that subject, but then she would go quiet when the conversation veered. I wanted to hug her, but I just opened the door into our home instead.
The light blinded me for a second and then I heard a familiar voice, "well...well...well, looks like Donnie has a girlfriend." Thank you Raph.
We stepped into my amazingly lighted home and I looked again at her, ignoring my brothers' questions. She was staring at the ground. Maybe this was a bad idea, but when was the last time I had to act on instinct?
"Donatello, is this Miss Avi?" Splinter's voice pierced my thoughts. I looked at him and nodded. "It is wonderful for you to come here Miss Avi. We have a spare room if you would like to spend the night and I am sure that we have left overs from dinner if you are hungry. Now excuse me, my sons, I am tired and wish to sleep."
"Good night sensei, father." My brothers and I said in almost unison.
"So her name is Avi?" Mikey's voice was the first to ask after Splinter shut his door. I saw Avi nod out of the corner of my eye.
"Why did you bring her here?" Leo was always on making sure as few people knew about us as possible.
"She needs a place to stay for the night."
"You're such a softy Donnie." Raph poked me in the side. "And your loosing your muscle."
"We don't need to fight, so why keep it up? Besides with all the repairs I keep having to do for you three, it's amazing that I keep putting up with you." That shut them up.
I put my hand softly on Avi's back and walked her toward the kitchen area. "Are you hungry?" She nodded. We did have some left over rice and chicken that might taste good still. Mikey hadn't been in his usual experimenting mood tonight, thankfully. I made up a plate for her, tossed it in the microwave and zapped it. Mikey and Leo were still curious about Avi and had followed us into the kitchen, but Raph was now probably pissed at me and was either in his room or the dojo. I put the plate along with a fork, knife, and napkin at one place at the table and sat next to it. She sat down and my two brothers sat opposite us.
"So how did the two of you meet?" Leo's question had basis to it. Look how April O'Neal and Casey Jones fell into our lives.
"Online, we were both in the same programming chat room. We started exchanging e-mails quickly there after." Leo just raised his eyebrow at me. Mikey smiled. Some joke was going through his head, and I was pleased that he was using what little self control he had to not say it.
"I asked him to meet me tonight." Avi said between bites. Her voice was a little stronger now, but she still sounded like she might just flow through my fingers. Leo and Mikey looked at her in amazement. I got up, put my coat and hat inside the closet, and sat back down.
"Why?" Leo went into big brother mode immediately.
"I needed a place to stay."
"Again, why?"
"Just did." He was going to get as much out of her as I was able to.
"So, would you rather take the bachelorette room or the bridal suite?" Mikey, Mikey, Mikey, please give me a better opportunity to hit you.
"What?" Avi looked at my orange brother in sheer confusion.
"I'm joking. By the way, I don't know if Donnie here has introduced me, I am Michaelangelo, a.k.a. Mikey." He puffed his chest out and made himself seem stronger than the utter couch potato his life normally led.
"I know that." She looked to Leo, "And you're Leonardo, or Leo. And the red one is Raphael, Raph. And your father is Splinter. But sometimes Don calls him Sensei."
"Well, I didn't know you were so friendly about us Don."
"What can I say, she brings out the information in me."
"And I thought you knew better computer etiquette."
"Thanks fearless leader. Don't you have something else to do?"
"Not at all." Mikey and Leo smiled while I cringed and Avi ignored us.
Avi finished her meal in silence, took one fast look around the kitchen area, and took her dishes over to the sink before any of us could blink.
"Here, let me help you with that." Leo got to the sink before I did, took the plate from her hand, and started to load the dishwasher.
"Do you want me to show you to the guest room now?" I asked quietly. Mikey smiled and quickly turned his face away. Where had my brother gotten his new modesty from?
Again, Avi nodded. We started to head out of the kitchen, when she suddenly got a startled look on her face and turned back to Leo.
"I'm so sorry. I forgot, thank you."
My two brothers and I had the same shocked look on our faces. She turned back to me.
"Any time." Leo called after us as we headed to the guest room.
"You can ignore them; that's what I do most of the time."
"They're nice." Her sentence seemed to trail off as she partially walked beside me and mostly behind. I pushed open the door to the guest room and let her go in first, I flicked the light-switch, and she seemed to let out a small gasp.
"You all are going to let me stay in a room like this?" It took me a second to realize that her tone was that of amazement in the joy sense, not the "well this room is fucking messy" sense.
"Why not? This is the guest room, I could let you have my room if you really wanted, but it's a lot messier than this room. I have the tendency to hole myself in there for a while on end, and nobody else really comes in, so I don't clean it as...often as I should." She turned to me.
"This room is amazing, thank you so much Don. You're kindness means so much to me." She began to tilt her face downward. I lifted my hand to under her chin so that I could raise it and look her in the eye.
"Anytime. There might be some sleep clothes in the dresser that would fit you. If you need anything else, I'm right next door. Knock, yell, bang, or scream. I answer to most." I smiled and left the room, closing the door behind me. What the fuck was I getting myself into?
Mikey and Leo were just out of sight from the doorway, but I saw them the moment I actually stepped out of the room.
"What?"
"She's cute."
"What happened to her face?"
"Mikey, shut up. And I don't know. She hasn't told me. I figure she'll tell me when she's ready."
"Raph was right, sort of, you are getting soft. A year ago, you wouldn't have gone to meet some random girl on the internet, none the less felt safe enough to talk to someone consistently whom you didn't know." Suddenly, I had a feeling of anger at my older brother right then and there.
"How do you know what I was and am capable of Leo? How do any of you know? Do any of you actually want to have a conversation with me without it going into one of me building or fixing something. What I said to Raph earlier was true. I'm honestly tired of it. I want to do something for myself. Avi may not be completely straightforward with me, but the only thing she's asked me to do didn't make my life difficult."
"And what's she asked you to do?" Leo crossed his arms. I recognized this stance from his many confrontations with my other older brother. Mikey was beginning to slip off somewhere, knowing exactly where this was heading.
"Be her friend."
"And how can that not make you're life difficult, Donatello. She's a human and you're a mutant. We were lucky with Casey and April, but how many more times do you think we're going to be lucky like that? She could - "
"She could what Leo?! She could be working for the Shredder? Oh wait, he's dead. She could be working for some government agency? What's that called again? Oh yeah, the National Enquirer. She's someone who's had the shit beaten out of her and wants a fucking friend! Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." I left immediately and went to my room. I knew that Avi had overheard that entire conversation. These doors and walls weren't thing enough to block that. I leaned against my door and waited for a minute before peeking out. Leo had left and I slipped to the door to the guest room and knocked.
The door opened and Avi looked up at me.
"May I come in?" She opened the door wider and I noticed that she had changed into some pjs April had left there at some point.
"I'm so sorry about that." She closed the door behind me and I sat down on the bed. I gave her once last look before burying my head in my hands. "You're not a burden here. Don't think that argument was about you. It's been long coming. I'm just getting so tired of being the bitch here. It seems like everyone else has these important roles in our family and I don't." I sighed heavily and closed my eyes. At some point she sat down on the bed because I could feels the springs I was sitting on shift a little bit. We just sat there in silence. Neither of us really knew what to say or do.
"Is that what an argument with a brother is like?" She finally asked. I paused for a second before looking at her.
"I guess...I guess there really isn't an actual definition of what an argument with a brother is like. Sometimes they are more light-hearted, but sometimes they are like that. I haven't blown up at Leo like that in a long time. I think the last time was when I was trying to fix some wiring in our old place and accidentally blew a fuse. I was the only one working on the project for the benefit of us all, and Leo decided he should scold me for not being careful. And, well, I already said what I did."
"Do you still love him?" I looked at her more closely this time. The shirt left most of her arms without covering. This left her scars, burns, and bruises show more clearly than through a sweatshirt. "Yes, he is my brother. No matter how much we piss each other off, I will still love him." Avi looked away from the turtle and gazed at the wall. "May I ask what you're thinking about?"
"I was thinking about families and love."
"Do you want to still stay here? I can take you back to where we met up."
"I'd like to stay here please."
"Alright, I'm going to let you sleep. As you found out, these walls aren't very thick if you need me." He stood up, smiled at her again, and this time actually went to bed.
I wasn't sure how long I had been out, but I began to hear a soft tapping on my door and woke up quickly. Avi was outside my door, her hair was quite a mess.
"Good morning. How'd you sleep?"
"Uh, alright." She looked down at her feet.
"Are you hungry?" Before she could say anything her stomach growled and the first few wafts of bacon cooking floated down the hallway.
"Sounds like it, and it smells like someones cooking, let's go."
Again, she walked slightly behind me to the kitchen. Mikey was up and busying himself in the kitchen. He was fixing a masterpiece by what I could smell. Avi's stomach let off another grumble and she blushed.
"You guys are in for a treat!" Mikey proclaimed when we showed ourselves.
"Mikey, what are you making this time?"
"You'll see!"
I motioned for Avi to sit at the table while I made it up for three. I then noticed some motion elsewhere in our home and made the table for all six current inhabitants.
"When did Raph get in last night?"
"He never left."
"Surprising."
"Mumbled something about wanting to be here when the shit hit the fan. 'Scuse the language little lady." Mikey slipped into a fake Western accent as he placed down a glass of orange juice, milk, a mug of tea and a sugar bowl in front of her. I was still amazed at how much Mikey was able to juggle delicately.
"How long till the food is ready?"
"It'll be ready whenever I say it is!" Mikey nagged back in a nasally high pitched voice waving the spatula at me. Avi let our a snicker.
"Took you long enough. Most of the time I get a laugh with the "little lady" piece. Man, you're a tough cookie to crack."
Avi blushed again.
Just as Mikey was setting out the dishes on the table Leo, Splinter, and Raph showed up.
"Knew I smelled something cooking." Raph took in a big whiff of the bacon before settling down in a chair and looking towards his father. Avi watched as the brothers all look to their father before digging in. Splinter took his fork and put it on his plate.
"I lifted it, please, begin."
Avi was amazed at the speed and ferocity the boys took in claiming their food. It seemed as if she were watching lions on the hunt and each claiming their own prize. Sometimes something was stolen off of someone else's plate while the owner was temporarily distracted. Before she could even blink the dishes in the middle were destroyed and she and Splinter had plates full of different foods sitting in front of them. And neither of them had moved a muscle.
Splinter drank deeply of his tea that one of boys had gotten for him before beginning to eat slowly and gently. Avi timidly picked up a fork, wondering if any of the turtles were going to steal food off of her plate like they did to each others. Mikey had made scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, muffins, and oatmeal. And it all tasted magnificent. Avi had never been a very good cook herself, so whenever she had the rare occasion of tasting someone's food who was good in a kitchen was a blessing upon the girl.
She did not finish eating until shortly after Splinter, whom also did not clean his plate like his sons. There, of course, were leftovers. Once the turtles notice that both their guest and their father were done eating, they all moved to complete their different chores of cleaning up the kitchen. Within ten minutes the table was clear, all the leftovers were in the refrigerator, and the dishwasher was running in the background.
"Miss. Avi, did you need to go back today?" Raph and Leo had already gone into the dojo for some exercises.
"Uhm. I don't know."
"You can stay if you want." I said quickly without thinking. Mikey and Splinter looked at me. I knew the moment it came out of my mouth that I had overstepped things a bit. But Splinter smiled at me.
"My son is correct, Miss. Avi. If you wish to stay longer, I would have no problems with it. But I do believe you understand our situation by trusting you."
"You could be rounded up and kill for experimentation. You and your sons are too kind for me to do that, sir."
"Please, call me Splinter. I have never been a "sir." I'm going to go meditate before my stories comes on. Please excuse me." Father took his cane and his tea and made his way slowly out of the room and into his. Avi must have noticed Mikey and me watching after our father.
"How old is he?"
"We're not sure. Older than us, that's for sure." Mikey responded. "Are you good at video games?"
"I've never really played them." Avi stated. My brother's mouth hit the floor.
"Never played them! My god, girlie! You haven't lived! You're not leaving here till you come play on the entertainment system." Mikey reached towards her hand, but quickly noticed her beginning to flinch away. Instead, he bounded behind her chair, repeating "come on, come on," over and over again, until she got out of her chair and followed my hyperactive brother to our televisions to learn how to play video games.
I followed behind them only to hear my brother ask, "You chat with Donnie on the computer all the time. How have you not really played video games?"
"I've never been able to stay at one computer for long enough to really get a good handle on them." That explained a lot of why she would randomly sign off. She spent most of the morning with my younger brother playing video games. I pulled out my laptop to hang out in the living room with them, but I wasn't a huge fan of actually playing video games. I did love the programming and the thought that went into building one of those games though. At some point, my two older brothers joined us. Raph picked up another controller and Leo spent his time cheering Avi on and giving her hints to help her beat the other two. On several occasions, Avi won, and on one occasion, Mikey got her to give him a high-five. As one o'clock rolled around, I knew that my good luck was slowly beginning to dwindle.
"I should go home." She mumbled after the last game that they played. Her eyes were flickering back and forth very quickly. "Don, would you mind?"
I closed up my laptop, sighed, and said alright. We stood and the other three protested.
"I'm sorry. I just need to go home." She looked at me. I went over to the coat rack and got my coat and hat. Though it wouldn't be extremely helpful in broad daylight.
"I can take you to the manhole near where we met up last night. Other than that, I really shouldn't."
"That's perfect." I looked her in the face and noticed she was glowing slightly. I smiled and we left. I took her to the ladder of the manhole cover.
"It shouldn't be too hard to push off. They typically leave these pretty loose. Here, I want you to have this." I handed her a shell-cell.
"Why? What is it?"
"It's a shell-cell, as Mikey likes to call them. That way you can contact us at anytime. Each of us has one, including our friends April and Casey." She looked down at it and then looked back up at me. She had a tear in her eye.
"Thank you Don. You and your family have been so wonderful to me." She hugged me, put the cell in her pocket, and shimmied up the ladder. I stood there watching her go. If she needed me again, now, she would have a direct contact.
I didn't hear from her for a week. Not online, and not by cell. I was too scared to call her, in fear of whomever finding out. But I finally did get a call from her.
"Don?"
"Yea, Avi?"
"May I come spend the night again?"
"Of course!" I nearly shouted. I had been out in the living room with Mikey and Splinter. Splinter was watching re-runs of his stories that I had taped. Mikey and I were keeping him company and smiling with our outrageous imitations of the actors. They had both looked at me when my phone went off. And they smiled as I answered it as quickly as I could.
"Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Same as last time." And she hung up.
"Miss. Avi?"
"Yes, sensei, I hope you don't mind that I said she could spend the night again."
"I do not. Please becareful."
"I will Father."
"Can I come?" Mikey was nearly bouncing himself off the couch.
"Not this time Mike. Next time, I promise."
I went to get her, this time she was waiting right by the manhole and with a backpack. We got down into the sewer, and I hugged her. I noticed that she flinched again when I touched her. My heart dropped a bit, but I lead her back to the lair.
When we reached the light, I saw why she had flinched. Her face looked like some had taken a baseball bat to it. And when she pulled off her sweatshirt, her right wrist was in a splint.
"What -." I was beginning to ask when my orange clad brother flew over and stopped short.
"Who?" Was all he asked.
"Don't worry about it. I fell."
"Bullshit." Raph and Leo appeared from the dojo.
"I'm fine. I really am."
"We don't believe you, but we're happy that you're spending the night." Splinter walked over. "I'm sure my boys will take care of you. In that case, I'm going to bed. I hope to see you in the morning, Miss. Avi."
"Thank you for letting me impose again, Splinter."
"Anytime."
The five of us wandered over to the couches. When we sat down, nobody said a word.
"I'm sorry. I knew I'd be a kill-joy. I shouldn't have called you." I was sitting on her right, Leo on her left, Raph on the arm of the puffy chair, and Mikey on the floor.
"I'm glad you called me. We're all just worried about you. Even Leo." I looked at Leo.
"That's right. I may be wary of you, but my brother likes you, that makes you family."
"Who?" Raph asked the question this time.
"My mother." Avi let out a sigh and crumpled. She had been holding her composure together till now. She started bawling her eyes out. I gently put my hand on her back. When she didn't flinch away, I scooted next to her and gathered her up in my arms. Mikey reached up and rubbed her back as I let her cry on my shoulder.
She sobbed herself to sleep right there. Raph carried her to the guest room, while Leo turned down the bed to put her in it. Mikey and I were too shaken to do it.
"She's not going back there." Was all that Raph said when they came back.
She stayed with us for several days. She had put some clothes in her back pack, and some money. It seemed as if she knew that she was going to be here for a little while. She also spent many hours each day talking with Splinter. After each one, she seemed to be a little more at peace. But we all knew that that peace could shatter in a second, and when it did, we were all going to be there.
She had been acting strange all that day. And she went to bed earlier than usual, claiming an unusual tiredness. None of us believed it again. Each of us situated our selves in certain spots. Mike was out in the sewers, playing spy. Raph and Leo were up on the roof tops near the manhole she had come down from. And I was situated in my room. Door slightly open, pretending to be working on my computer on something. Once, Mikey spotted her heading out of the lair, he notified us.
The two of us tailed her to the manhole. We watched her shimmy up and out. Leo and Raph took over from there, tailing her from the skies while Mike and I caught up. She entered into an apartment building. And we watched the lights from all four sides. Finally, Mikey spotted her again and signaled us to her window. She was rummaging around in her room for something when a woman who was plainly drunk showed up in her door.
Avi immediately put her hands up to protect herself from the woman's hits. That was when we went in. We swung in through the windows of the apartment, and got in between Avi and whom we assumed to be her mother.
"So you're who she's sleeping with, the little whore." Was the accusation the woman stated to us. "Should've known she'd get involved with freaks in green costumes."
"You also should have assumed that we'd take care of her in time of trouble." Leo took one step toward the woman, as I put my hand on Avi's shoulder, ready to grab her and run at a moments notice.
At that point, the woman pulled out a gun from the back of her jeans.
"If I can't have my daughter, no one can!" And before anyone could react she let off two shots. One was aimed at Avi, and the other at her own head. Despite however much alcohol was in the woman's system, both hit their mark. I immediately got out of the room with Avi, and headed as best I could to the nearest hospital. My brothers right on my tail, one calling April and telling her what had happened and where we were going.
I did the only thing I could think of. I dropped her in front of the ER and ran off as fast as I could. April arrived there shortly after the orderlies took her in. We all waited on the roofs nearby till early in the morning. I got a message from April for us to meet her back at the lair. And we headed back there.
My heart was racing so fast. How had I let that woman hurt Avi? How had I let her get that shot in? I was faster than that, right?
We showed up in time to tell Splinter what had happened that night, and them promptly repeat it to April when she showed up. The other three did most of the talking, thankfully.
"April. What happened?"
"The bullet pierced her stomach lining. She died of acidosis." My breathing caught and I went immediately to my room. My tears began to pour as I sat down in my desk chair. Splinter was the only one that came in. He laid his hand on me and said, "I am truly sorry for your loss, my son. I know that she was not just a friend."