THE LONGEST SUNSET
by TJ HECTOR
-Warning: Coarse language. Namely, some f-words and lotsa g- and h- words.
-Summary: A raw-Raphie-centric story. His dangerous and excessive lifestyle is causing him naught but troubles. A phone was secretly slipped into his pocket, and now the Foot is chasing after him. Will he pull through? And how is he going to face his family and himself? Human AU. Rated T for language, violence and teenage contents.
-A/N:
This story is set in the same universe as my last Human AU fic, Stranger Whistles. But no worries for those who haven't read Stranger Whistles, there's not much connection between the plots. And for those who have read Stranger Whistles, this takes place some months after the last story.
And a dear reader requested this to be Raphie-centric, which suits my will exactly. Hopefully this one can carry on a bit longer, because I don't want it to be fast-paced.
And I'll try some change of tone and style.
-Background Info:
For those who haven't read my previous Human AU, all you need to know is that Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey were adopted sons of Hamato Yoshi, who ran a dojo. The four brothers weren't blood-linked except for Raph and Donnie, who were twins. Leo's 17, Raph and Donnie's 16, and Mikey's 14 in this. Oh and Donnie's a prodigy so he went to grad school. Lucky bastard didn't need to suffer high school. Yay.
-Disclaimer: I had not, did not, have not, do not (and I wish I will) own TMNT no matter it's turtle or human. And those beautiful lyrics belong to their rightful owners.
Part One
Over The Rim
"What's wrong, what's right, you know, people don't care when they hate their life
But how can I explain personal pain, how can I explain personal pain?"
"…Ya know I ain't have much to live for..."
-Gimme the Car, Violent Femmes
1
He opened his eyes. Damn his head hurt like hell.
It was the first morning of the summer vacation.
And he wasn't in the bed.
What—
"…the fuck?" he groaned under his breath.
"Well, looks like Raph wakes up," someone was laughing not far away. And Raphael's first reaction was the urge to rush to the person and give him a good smack on the head, because the guy sounded so happy.
"Good mornin', Raph," Mikey laughed cheerily—it's Mikey, of course, who else could it be? —while staring down at him. "I believe dad wants you in his room, like, NOW."
"Better put some clothes on, Raph." Leo's feet passed through his still blurry vision.
"…Why does it hurt like it's cracking?" he moaned again, feeling the splitting pain inside his head shattering his whole body.
"Excessive indulgence of alcohol," Donnie's voice from his gigantic desk in the corner of their living room—wait, so he has spent the night in the living room? "I've warned you before, Raphael. Those pleasures come with a price."
"Oh shut up, Smart-ass," he cursed, finally gathering strength in his limbs and trying to sit up.
"Language, Raphael," a stern voice said, and this time he sprang to his feet as if he was suddenly electric-shocked.
Raphael stood in the middle of the living room in his loose jeans without his belt (Where the hell is it? Oh, who cares?), realizing that he had probably fallen asleep on the foot of the couch after entering the apartment in the early morning.
"S'up, Master Splinter," he said through his dream-plagued throaty voice.
"When did you come home last night?" Hamato Yoshi spoke in a hard voice.
"Um, I have…no idea?" he tried, forcing out a stupid smile.
"Friendly tip: 4 a. m.?" Donnie suggested.
"Would you shut up for a moment, Donnie?" Raph snorted.
"Raphael!" Yoshi exclaimed.
"Yeah, sorry Sensei," Raph sighed, "I guess I sorta lost track after Casey and I went to the third bar."
"Raphael, you know I strongly disapprove of you frequenting those locations—"
"Yeah, I know, I know," Raph stuck his hands into the pockets and fumbled with the coins inside. He's screwed.
"Why didn't you listen to my advice, my son?" Yoshi inquired.
"Well, uh, I don't know," Raph said, feeling extremely stupid. "We were just havin' fun—"
"Fun?" Yoshi repeated, "So it is 'fun' that you were seeking, Raphael?"
"I guesso," Raph shrugged.
"Well then," Yoshi said thoughtfully, "I have come up with an idea. Meet me in my room after you showered and got dressed."
"Alright, Sensei," Raph said, watching the father disappeared to the narrow hallway.
He sank down into the couch with a grunt.
"Wow, I can't believe he's not mad," Donnie said in a surprised tone.
"Me neither," Leonardo mumbled, emerging from the kitchen with a cup of hot tea in his hand.
"I thought Raph was goin' to be hanged," Mikey said with a sigh, following behind the eldest brother sipping a glass of milk. "Uh you wanna drink somethin', Raphie?"
"Nah, thanks," Raph sneezed, "I feel like throwin' up, and my throat's…ah God."
"Maybe it's a cold, not a hangover," Donnie stood up from his chair and came to Raph's side, sighing. "I'll give you some pills that'll make you feel better."
"Thanks."
-:-:-:-:-:-
After he showered, shaved and got dressed, the unbearable pain reduced to a level that was endurable, but his throat and nose still felt funny. However, when he stood in front of Splinter's door, he felt like a fresh person—well, anyways, as fresh as he's gonna get.
"Enter," Yoshi's deep voice came out through the door after Raphael's fourth knock.
He turned the doorknob and walked into the room. It was the most spacious room in the small apartment shared by four and a half men. The floor was covered by tatami, and his footfalls on them were quiet.
He knelt down before Yoshi, who was standing beside the wardrobe.
"Raphael," the man began, "Do you have any idea what I am about to say?"
"Not a clue, Sensei," Raph muttered. Nope. Not a single goddamn clue. All he knew was his father was a genius at lecturing.
"Use you brain, my son," Yoshi said, "You told me that you were just 'having fun', is that right?"
"Yeah."
"What is 'fun', Raphael?"
"Uh, dunno, just a good feelin'," Raph said, "Doin' stuff that'd make ya feel good. Yeah."
"Why would you do these things?" Yoshi asked, "Are you not happy about your present states, my son?"
Raph shrugged, glancing down at his knees, "…Maybe? I don't know."
"I want you to think about this," Yoshi said, "Think about you present states, and tell me how they are. And, if possible, come up with another way of solving your distress. I want you to report to me. Sometime later."
"But, Sensei," Raph looked up at his father with irritated confusion, "What the he...heck's my present states? And how d'I know—"
"So you would rather be punished?" Yoshi raise an eyebrow, "Like a seven-year-old? You are almost seventeen, my son. It is time that you think about the reason why you do things without considering their consequences. Be responsible for your deeds."
Raph found himself unable to speak. Master Splinter was simply too good at this kind of stuff. Lecturing and all. What was he supposed to say? What the hell's wrong with winding down a bit at the end of the last school day? He hadn't pick a fight with someone else—well, he had almost gotten himself into one, but he was too drunk to even stand still then.
"It is going to be a long summer, my son," Yoshi sighed, "I do not want to see it going to waste. Time is precious, especially the times when you are young. Plan your time wisely. You may go now."
Raphael turned to leave. What a lousy beginning of a wonderful vacation.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Tell me," Mikey asked, resting his chin on his folded arms, "Where did you lose your shirt and belt?"
Raphael grumbled and kicked the football on the floor aside as he entered the kitchen.
"Oh com'on!" Mikey cried, "What kinda fun were you and Casey been havin'?"
"I'm not sure if you should know about this, Mikey," Raph glanced at his little brother, who had grown six inches since last year and was now almost as tall as he—but the baby face stayed almost the same, to Mikey's dismay. Raph personally didn't think he himself was going to grow any taller, which was sad because he hated to lift his eyes when he had to look at Fearless and Donnie in their eyes.
Through his fringe of light wavy blond, Mikey stared at him expectantly. "What about it? Tell me."
"It's not what you think. It's actually pretty stupid," Raph sat down in a chair, "Casey and I wound up on a bridge, and we sorta…just jumped into the river, or was that a canal?"
"You WHAT?"
"We're wasted, Mikey," he smirked, "It's a miracle that I still remember it, geez."
"So you jumped off…from the bridge?"
"Yeah, and when we finally made it back to solid ground, I couldn't find my shirt and belt anywhere."
"No wonder you're coming down with a cold."
"Yeah, no wonder," Raph laughed, and sneezed again.
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Good-bye, my sons. I will see you all this evening."
Yoshi stood by the entrance of the living room before leaving for the dojo.
"G'bye, dad," Donnie said from his desk.
"Bye dad," Mikey said from the couch.
"Bye," Raph buried his head inside his magazine next to Mikey without glancing up. Suddenly someone snatched his zine away. "Hey!"
Leonardo gazed down at him, "Raph, you promised yesterday you'll go shop for groceries."
"…Really? Huh," Raph snorted, "Give that back, Lame-O."
"Not until you promise again," Leo said.
"Alright! Alright! I'll go, but Donnie has to come with me."
"Don't drag me into this!" Donnie yelled from his desk, "I'm very busy right now…"
"What? It's a goddamn vacation!"
"I finally got time for the things I want to do!" Donnie said, "And it's your turn for groceries Raphael."
"Donnie," Leo sighed, "Just go with him, please."
"Not fair," Donnie closed his notebooks that was filled with squiggles that none of his brothers could decode. "Every time I went with him he just made me carry all the bags!"
"I gotta go now," Leo said, "Dad's waiting for me in the car. Just…do the chores guys, 'kay?" He shoved the magazine onto Raph's chest and headed toward the door.
"Bye guys," he said, looking back once more.
"Bye Leo," Mikey was the only one who answered good-humoredly.
The door closed and the living room was quiet again.
"Teacher's pet," Raph grumbled.
"Actually he's TA now, if you could have such a position in the dojo," Donnie mumbled.
"Teacher's ass then."
"C'mon Raph! Groceries would be fun!" Mikey said excitedly, poking his his ill-tempered older brother in the stomach. "I've been thinkin' about a new recipe! I wanna start my experiment today! Let me write down a list for ya…"
"Just come with me, I don't need your stupid list, Mikey," Raph said, shoving the younger boy off.
"Okay," Mikey tilted his head and thought for a moment, and then he shrugged, "Yeah! I suppose that works, too."
-:-:-:-:-:-
"Next: beef. Beeeeeeffff—Ow!" Mikey cried as Raph's palm went down on his head.
"Shut up, people are starin'," Raph grunted, pushing the cart along the long passage between boxes of cereals.
"They are starin' cuz they're dazed by how awesome I am, Raphie," Mikey said.
"…Wait, Mikey, beef?" Donnie asked.
"Ye-ah," Mikey glanced at the lean teen.
"But…"
"What?" Raph interrupted, "Yer worry about that mad cow disease?"
"Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, actually," Donnie said, "It will cause your brain to reduce to a spongy—"
"Stop it Donnie! Creepy!" Mikey covered his ears and shrieked, which earned him another spank from Raph.
"Mikey, this is very important," Donnie opened his mouth to continued, only to be stopped by his grouchy twin brother.
"You two, would you shut up fer a moment," Raph muttered, feeling like his head's going to split.
-O-
They stood in the row waiting for the busy cashier dude. Raph always hated it when there were supposed to be three counters or so but they only sent out one guy to handle the business. It was a weekday morning after all, but those bourgeois women always seemed to emerge at this kind of ungodly hour. Their faces and conversations annoyed him to no end. They were worse than Mike and Donnie. At least Donnie jabbered about some hight-tech crap which was supposed to be useful and Mikey was, come on, Mikey managed to be both adorable and noisy as hell at the same time, but you couldn't hate that guy even if you wanna just seal his trap.
But those women. They just complained about their mother-in-law or crazy neighbors and showed off how great their kids are, how they do well in school and stuff, or discussed the godforsaken soap opera or those women shows that tell you about the link between your mood and the stars and…hell, his head ached.
He was supposed to be asleep in bed, or wandering down the streets, but absolutely not standing here in this fucking line. He started to feel his ears burning, and then he sighed. Damn this temper, it was way worse than those bourgeois mothers. How was he supposed to know their troubles huh? How could he judge them?
He glanced at the women standing in front of him—she was around the same age as Splinter. But man she looked so boring—even worse than Splinter. At least Splinter said a bunch of wise things, which Raph had learned to respect. But the woman just stood there staring into the air, eyes vacant with a kind of dullness that would make your stomach grumble…make you think there's no future whatsoever…looking like one of his old schoolteachers, always telling you what to do and what not to do because they have some wonderful, glorious philosophy of the goddamn life but actually they are just lonely people who need a listening ear…
"Hey Raphie?" Mikey asked, "What's wrong?"
He blinked.
"Oh it's nothin'," Raph smirked, and then threw his wallet to Donnie. "You two take the stuff home okay? I'ma—" he started to walk toward the exit.
"Where ya goin'?" Mikey yelled.
He just waved and then left. Man, need to get some fresh air.
-:-:-:-:-:-
[Yesterday]
"I dare you, Hamato…" Casey was saying in a rambling way. "Y'll chicken out even before you reach the front steps of her house...and next time ya saw her y'll just run away coz yer afraid that she might recognize ya huh am I right?"
The two of them were reeling on the sidewalk, reaching the middle of the bridge.
"Shut the fuck up Case you talk too much," Raphael leant against Casey's left shoulder, but Casey was staggering, too. Raph fell to the ground before his friend was able to catch him.
"Wowwatch out…" Casey slurred.
"Gimme a hand I can't even stand s-still." Raph coughed. "Is it cold ya think? I'm shivering…"
"'Cause that big bartendercdude poured a bucket of cold water over ya…'cause I ain't cold Raph," Casey said.
"Mothahfucker," Raph growled, "He'll pay."
"Man y'can't blame 'im!" Casey laughed, "Ya threw up at his fuckin' place! If I were…if I're the guy I'll…I'll…"
"Y'll what," Raph elbowed his friend, "Yer a traitor Casey Jones. Ya have no morals."
"Yer talkin' 'bout yerself, my friend, yes, ye, yesssss."
"Waitaminute wiataminute, teeeelll meee…" Raph said, pointing a finger at his friend's face. "Why would the girl see somethin' in meeee…"
"Dunnooo…maybe I'm too good-lookin' fer her. She thought it's more likely she has a shot with ya."
"Ha!" Raph laughed, "Good one Casey. Yer more good-lookin' than me huh. Ya looked like Tarzan. I'm laughin' my ass off here…hahaha!"
"Shut up yer fuckin' trap ya stupid redhead!" Casey blurted through Raph's shriek of laughter. "And com'on Tarzan's one handsome sonovabitch."
Raph just laughed and pushed his friend toward the road; Casey cursed and jumped back onto the sidewalk in time to avoid a dashing car.
The two of them tottered toward the margin of the bridge.
"How 'bout…how 'bout we go swimmin' Casey…bet dat feels good…down there in the cold rush of stream…wash away our sins…"
"Wow poet, nice line," Casey gave him a shove and he fell again.
"S-seriously C-casey. You have no cre-creativity…" he grinned.
"You're crazy, Raph…Why would I wanna do somethin' so idiotic? Convince me."
"Because…I dunno…C'mon it'll be fun!"
"It'll be cold."
"Yer a coward, Jones."
"Don't 'coward' me, Hamato."
"Coward."
"Am not!"
Raphael laughed, noticing how silly they were.
"I'll go first, tough guy," Raph said, unbuttoning his shirt.
"I tell ya yer crazy! Get the hell offa theah ya hear me!"
Raph got rid of his jeans, sitting on the edge of the bridge and whistled.
"Bye, Casey, nice ta know ya," he said solemnly, and suddenly he jumped off.
The wind hissed through his ears and cool water hit his face like an explosion.
"WHOAAAA! It's so REFRESHING!" Raph managed to stick his head out of the water, "COME ON! CASEY!"
He could barely see Casey from under the bridge. Spitting out the water—which stank—he swam towards one shore, found a big rock and crawled up there.
"Gimme your shore woman!" he shouted to the darkness, and then chuckled to himself. "Man am I fallin' apart."
And no, summer was never long.
—End of chapter one.
I just skipped this class, sitting in a subway station listening to some loud music and typing this—taking easy and all…well it's supposed to feel great. But not so great and not so easy lol.
Kids, don't skip your classes. And don't swear. And don't drink. Bad, bad role model. I personally don't swear as much as my story (lol) and don't drink, perfectly clean ;)
The pacing would be slow...at first. The plot would gradually unfold, and before you know it, it would get pretty intense (I'm already on chapter 12 when I'm typing this so you can trust me, anyway lol).