Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the property of Viacom, Nickelodeon, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird and all organizations associated with said names. This is non-profit
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Exile
by BrownEyedBirdie
Author's Note: I was watching TV this morning with my nephew and I saw that the return of season 3 will be in January, including the return to the city. Very exciting, So, I guess I'd better get a move on with this story. Wouldn't it be nice if I got done before the return of the season start? Well, let's make a try. Now, for all you Mikey fans, a special little story. Weiterlesen!
Chapter 4 – Chickens
"Check it out!" April called downstairs. She hurried down the steps, carrying a cigar box. The others gathered around her. She opened it to show a large amount of cash.
"Sweet!" Mikey said, "I'll call the pizza guy!"
"No, you doofus," Raph said, "We need more than that."
"But pizza is a staple, dude," Mikey said.
"We need milk, bread, meat, vegetables," April said, "We also need soap, cleaning supplies, toilet paper and a long list of other things."
"We'll need a lot more than what we can afford here," Donnie said, counting out the cash, "There's $146."
"I've got some cash on me that can make up the difference," Casey said, "We might have $150."
"So we get the basics," April said, "Casey and I will go. There's a grocery store I saw in town"
"I'm not leaving Leo," Raph said firmly.
"You guys shouldn't leave anyway," April said, "No sense running the risk of anyone seeing you."
"It's a long drive into town. Enough time for me to make some repairs and adjustments around here," Donnie said, "I think I can finally get us an internet connection."
"Okay," Casey said, seeming pleased to have the opportunity with April, "We'll make a list and head into town."
"Can we at least have pizza for dinner?" Mikey pouted.
"Sure," April said indulgently, "Pizza for dinner."
Twenty minutes later, April and Casey were on their way. The trip was fairly quiet as Casey focused on maneuvering the party wagon on the icy dirt road.
"This would be a great place to put a road," Casey grumbled as they hit a large hole. April smiled at him.
"Problems, Casey?" she asked.
"Nothing I can't handle," Casey said, "Just relax, Red."
April settled in as the dirt road ended and Casey turned onto the main business loop of the highway.
"Nice weather," Casey said conversationally.
"For January," April said, "I was thinking that maybe we should get a newspaper too. We only have this money and it won't last."
"So we use the paper to make our own money?" Casey asked.
"As Splinter would say, "No….and yes," April said, "We look at help wanted ads. We can get jobs to earn money. If we do it right, we could get pizza for dinner every night."
"Aww, yeah!" cried a cheerful voice. Casey nearly swerved off the road. April tuned around to see Mikey peeking out from under a blanket.
"Mikey!" Casey snarled, "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to help," Mikey said with a smile.
"You think getting caught and sent to some lab will be helping?" Casey said. Mikey looked panicked.
"Don't yell at him, April said, "But he's right, Mikey. This wasn't a good idea. You should have stayed to help Donnie and Raph at the house."
"Help doing what?" Mikey said, "Donnie's buried in wires and stuff that I just don't get. And Raph just sits with Leo or trains. I'm not sure what I can do."
"Oh, Mikey," April said, "I'm sure there must be something."
"Let me help, April," Mikey said, "Food is my thing. I can hold onto it or…"
"Okay, okay, Mikey," April said, "Just stay down while we're at the store."
Mikey grinned and settled himself down as they took the next turn. After a couple of miles, they began to see the traffic pick up and April threw the blanket back over Mikey. The town was a large collection of trailer parks spread out over about 20 square miles. In between trailer parks were restaurants and truck stops. Casey drove the party wagon into the downtown area, retracing their route until they found the grocery store across from the entrance to the highway. Mikey peeked out to see the sign as they turned and felt a twinge of grief at the words "New York – 360 miles."
"Okay," Casey said as he pulled the car into the space, "We get what we need and nothing else." He looked significantly at April.
"What are you looking at me for?" April said suspiciously.
"No "girly" stuff," Casey said.
"The same to you, Jones," April scoffed, "I think you put more product in your hair than most of our cheerleading squad combined." Casey smiled charmingly at her. Mikey giggled and Casey glared at him.
"You stay here," Casey told him, "Don't let anyone see you."
"We'll be as fast as we can," April said, "There are a lot of people around."
The day had turned mild and people were rushing about in the sunshine, getting things and escaping cabin fever. Mikey ducked again. April smiled kindly and rolled down her window slightly. She and Casey shut the doors and went inside. Mikey sat patiently waiting, tapping his fingers to music in his head.
"mm M mm M mm M mm M," he sang. After about 10 minutes, he grew bored. In his boredom, he began to click his tongue. His clicking turned to clucking.
"Buk buk buk buk buk buk," Mikey clucked.
"Brrr-yawk!" the sound echoed. Mikey smiled.
"Cool," he said and clucked again. It echoed stronger and Mikey realized that it wasn't from him. He peeked through the front window and saw a cage with about a dozen fat chickens walking around. Mikey was fascinated. He'd never seen live chickens. Hens of brown, reddish brown, gray and spotted clucked and pecked around the pen. On the fence was a sign. "Free Chickens." Mikey grinned.
Casey and April roamed the aisles, taking careful inventory of the cost of each item. April read the list carefully while Casey pushed, filling the cart with bread, milk, cheese, eggs, and soups. Then they divided. Casey went to the deli and April went down the breakfast aisle. Finally deciding on a simple box of toasted flakes and breakfast pastries, April turned and saw a shelf full of coffee.
"Got the basics in lunchmeat, Red," Casey said, "You find some stuff for breakfast?"
"Sure did," April said, still looking at the coffee.
"Coffee's not on the list, April," Casey said, "And no one drinks it."
"Donnie does," April replied, "And I think he could use it. He's been acting a little distracted and distant. Maybe a nice brew will cheer him up."
"Whatever," Casey said, "I think it's nice that he's not all hung up on you. Maybe he's finally getting a clue about you."
"Maybe," April said, "But I still care about him. He's my best friend and right now, the only close friend I have. Up to now, Irma was the only other person who knew me just as much. I don't want to lose that friendship, no matter how I feel."
"How do you feel?" Casey asked.
"Let's get the rest of the stuff," April said, grabbing a large container of a nice Columbian roast, "Mikey is waiting and I don't want to risk his short attention span."
Casey looked after her and frowned. But he said nothing. They finished up their shopping and carried out the bags of food and supplies. Casey breathed a sigh of relief to see the car still in one piece. April pulled a paper out the newsstand.
"We've got $13 left," April said sadly, "Looks like we'll be looking through the paper tonight."
"Sounds good," Casey said.
"Mikey," April said, "We got some frozen pizza. I hope that's okay."
"Yeah, sure, good," Mikey said quickly, "Can we get going?"
"Oh," April said, "Sure. You heard the Turtle, Case, let's move out."
"You got it, Red," Casey said.
"Mikey, keep the food from falling," April said, "We've got that bumpy road ahead."
"Bu-kaw," was the response.
"What did you say?"
"Oh, just "bu-kaw" doing my "buk" chicken impression", Mikey said , "Heh, I was "buk" bored."
"Okay," April said slowly. She opened the paper to read, mentally highlighting possible jobs as the car drove home. She sniffed and winced.
"Ew," she said, "We'll have to clean out this car."
Casey put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, passing an empty pen full of chicken feathers.
April stared in shock as chickens flew out of the back of the van when Casey opened it.
"Mikey!" Casey bellowed, "Where's the chickens come from?"
"Duh, chickens come from eggs, Casey," Mikey replied, "You really do stink at school."
"These chickens, Mikey," April said, "These chickens."
"Oh, um, they followed me," Mikey said.
"How could they follow you if you were supposed to stay in the van?" Casey asked. Donnie and Raph came out as Casey shouted.
"Mikey, what did you do now?" Raph asked.
"He brought home a bunch of fryer rejects," Casey snapped. Raph rolled his eyes. Mikey twiddled his fingers nervously.
"I thought they…I mean, I thought we could sell them."
"How much did you spend?" Donnie asked.
"They were free," Mikey said.
"Mikey, free chickens out here usually mean they aren't any good," April said, "And selling 12 chickens won't get us a whole lot even if they were top of the line."
"Guess we should be grateful that they didn't cost anything," Raph said, "Mikey, you make the ASPCA proud, but this was pretty dumb."
"Not necessarily," Donnie said. He was looking into the back of the van. In the blanket, were a couple of white eggs and a few brown eggs.
"They can lay eggs?" Raph asked.
"They could still be useful," Donnie said, "If we have a good egg production, we can sell the eggs."
"Wait," April said, reaching for the paper, "I saw an ad in the paper for a farmer's market. Here it is. "Farmer's Market. 1st and 3rd Saturdays each month."
"We've got a couple of weeks to see if we've got good layers," Donnie said, "But I think we might be in luck."
"Yeah, I knew it!" Mikey said.
"No, you didn't," Raph and Casey said.
"Probably not," Donnie said, "But a lucky break. Looks like I've got a chicken coop to fix up."
"Donnie, I got some coffee," April said, "I can make some for you."
"Oh, thanks," Donnie said, "That'd be nice."
April smiled weakly, feeling disappointed at the unchanging distance.
"I think I saw some wire in the barn when I was looking for stuff for Leo," Raph said.
"April and I can go out later to the supply store and get some chicken feed," Casey said, "That's not that far away."
Mikey beamed widely. April squeezed his shoulders.
"Still feel like you're not contributing?" she asked him.
"No way," Mikey said, "I rock!"
"Glad to hear it," April said.
"Me too," Donnie said, "Because the chickens are your job now."
Mikey stared.
"All by myself?" he asked. Donnie nodded and headed to the coop.
"Just call yourself Dr. Cluckenstein," Raph said.
Mickey looked around at the chickens and began to hum again.
"mm M mm M mm M mm M," Mikey sang, "Buk buk buk buk buk buk BYU-KAW!"
The last went up in a screech as one of the chickens landed on his head.
*()()()*
I hope I did a good job with Mikey; he's a little tough for me to write for. But thank you for the reviews you give. They make me feel special and like I'm accomplishing something. I'll see you in the next chapter.
