(3108 words)
Raph Drops two heavy boxes to the floor, making a loud thud. "That's that I guess." He mumbles to himself. He glances to his right and winces slightly. Donnie was sitting on his bed, glaring at him and making it very obvious that he was covering his ears. "Oh, sorry."
Donnie puts his arms down. "Do you not know how to just like... Set things down? Like gently?" Raph rolls his eyes and picks up one of the boxes, setting it back down gently before kicking it under the bed so that it hits the wall with another thump. "Wow, you really suck." Donnie says with fake surprise. "Yup, I'm a suck-ass suck-fuck." Raph replies, adding in unnecessary swears for fun.
"Real classy." Donnie gets up from his bed and looks out the window. "Did you know that we moved exactly 3.58 miles closer to April's house?" Raph raises his eyebrows and just looks at the taller boy. "Really?" He says, commenting on the fact that he knew that. "Yeah, I checked." Donnie answered, not picking up on the tone of voice.
Raph shakes his head subtly and leaves the room, walking down the hall and into the living room-kitchen split. He sees Yoshi stacking food into the cupboards and fridge before his eyes wander to the little turtle cage that held Spike. Raph waves to Yoshi, who had glanced over at him, and takes the cage back to his room.
He sets the cage on his bed and opens the latch, setting the little turtle on his shoulder and giving his head a little pat. "I never got to ask-" Raph looks up. Donnie was laying on his bed, head hanging off the side and one leg up on the wall. "Why'd you name him Spike?" Raph holds back a nervous laugh.
"I- Uh... I had a friend... A while ago, I thought he was dead. It was almost a tribute. Turns out he's not so that's awkward." Raph mumbles the last part, looking away from Donnie. "Oh, okay." Don replies, grabbing a book out of an open box that was stacked up high enough to be within reach. "That's kinda nice of you. Didn't realize you could be nice too." Donnie jabs.
"Oh fuck y-" Raph stops, his phone ringing. He takes it out and checks the number. It wasn't any one that he recognized. "Uh... Hello?" Raph says, picking up the call. "Raphael! I got tired of waiting so I did some research and found your number. Did you know you have had like twelve different phone numbers?" It was Mona.
"Uh, yeah. I know." Raph replies, glancing at Donnie who was watching him awkwardly. "You know, I had to call a few of those before I got the right one. There's some real assholes with your old numbers! Some even knew you!" As Mona talks Raph looks around and opens the window, climbing out and sitting on the fire escape. "Yup." Raph says, obviously annoyed.
"Why are you calling?" He asks, exasperated. "Oh, I just wanted to say hi!" Mona says happily. Suddenly there's an indistinguishable voice in the background of the call. Raph can't quite make it out until it's very close. "Mona, give me the phone please." Someone says. It was a man's voice, very authoritative.
"Hello? Who is this?" The man asks. Raph frowns and doesn't answer right away, prompting the man to ask again. "Who is this?" Raph sputters a bit before answering. "Uh- Raphael... Who are you?" The man huffs and says something under his breath. "I'm Mona Lisa's uncle, guardian I should say."
Raph watches people from above the New York streets, hoping this wasn't going to get nasty. "Listen man, she was calling me so don't-" Raph gets cut off as the man speaks over him. "I'm sorry she bothered you, I've been telling her she can't just call people she just met or doesn't know but she goes off into her own worlds, literally. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
Shocked, Raph furrows his brow. "Oh, uh... It's fine?" Raph and Mona's uncle stay quiet for a while. "What's... What's up with her?" Raph half mumbles. A sigh comes over the phone and there was a few more seconds of silence. "She has delusions that make her almost go into her own world, her mind changing almost anything."
"Oh." Raph gives himself a little shrug. "Okay." The man was shocked that Raph was so calm about it but it was very hard to tell. After a while the conversation ends. Raph says goodbye to Mona and hangs up, climbing back inside and laying on his bed. It was only five in the afternoon but it felt like he had been awake for hours longer than he really had been. It was mere seconds before he fell asleep.
Raph wakes up to the sound of someone knocking on his window. He looks outside, past the large crack in the window and noticing first how dark it was outside. He swings his legs over the side of his bed and climbs out, only seeing the dark figure once he was closer. Raph jumps back before the figure's bright eyes shine in the darkness.
Ralph's eyes widen and he flings the window open. "Spike? What the hell man!?" Raph whisper shouts. "I told you Raphael, its Slash now." Raph shakes his head tiredly. "Slash." He mumbles. "Why are you here? I thought they- you're not- the last time you came to my window at night like this you jumped off the roof of a seven story fucing building." Raph says cautiously. "I don't know what you want, but I'm not going on another roof with you."
Raph wasn't about to tell his old friend that if he jumped off a building Raph might just follow. "Don't worry Raphael, I just came to hang out." Slash says, rolling his near glowing eyes. "In the middle of the night?" Raph says with annoyed skepticism. He checks behind himself over his shoulder to see Donnie fast asleep. "Well, did'ja really think I was gonna come in the light of day? You almost said it yourself. You thought right. They did send me away."
There was a moment of tense silence between them before Slash speaks up again. "Look, I'm sorry about all the shit I put you through. You didn't deserve it and I shouldn't 'a done any of it. But I wanna make it up ta'ya brother." Raph crosses his arms and scowls. "I promise, No roof tops, and nothin' that'll kill tha' either of us."
Raph looks away at the floor and then the small digital clock that sat between the two beds. It was just past midnight. He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a big, silent sigh. "Okay man, fine... What do you want to do?" Raph asks, feeling a little uncomfortable. "How about one more job. For old times sake." Slash says gruffly.
Raph tightens his folds arms and avoids eye contact. "I-I dunno know man. I don't want to get in any more trouble..." Slash squints his already small eyes. "Awe, has 'ol Raphie gone soft?"
Raph growls. "Not in a million years." He says, a small smile creeping into his face. "One more. For old times sake."
Raph creeps down an alleyway, leading his 'friend' towards a small shop. "'Kay dude, this place has an apartment above it so you gotta be super careful with this one." Slash rolls his eyes. "I can handle it." He says gruffly. Raph goes to the back door of the building and picks up the large lock on the door.
He sets to work, pulling out a few tools from his pocket and spending five minutes picking the lock before he pulls the door open quietly. "So what's in this place anyways?" Slash whispers. "It's like an antique shop or something. We could get some good shit here and sell it online." Raph says, moving stethily in the dark.
The boys search around the store for easy grabs and expensive items. "Fuck dude, the good stuff's all locked up." Slash says, motioning to a glass box. Raph barely gets to look away from the item he was inspecting before Slash says something that makes Raph's blood run cold.
"Not that I can't get through this." Raph jumps as Slash slams a lamp through the glass box, absolutely shattering the case with the biggest crash Raph had heard in a long time. "SLASH! What the hell!?" Raph shouts quietly. "'M gettin' some shit and we'll get out'a here." Raph wasn't completely sure but he thought he heard the creaking of stairs behind him.
Raph spins around when the lights in the store all flick on. His breathing stops and his eyes go wide. Standing in the doorway behind the checkout counter holding a small pistol was none other than April O'Neil. Raph takes a staggering step back before sprinting out of the store, the one item he had taken still in his hand.
Raph couldn't breathe and he was running out of energy to keep going. He hides three alleys away, trying to breathe at all. He didn't know where Slash was but he hoped he'd get out of there while he could. After a few minutes of deep breathing Raph realizes how much trouble he was really in.
If it was anyone other than April he would've been fine. He could get out quick and no one would actually know who he was. But it WAS April. She knew him and she knew the people he lived with. She could get him in so much trouble. Raph holds his head in his hands. "Fuuuuuck." He drones out.
He knew he shouldn't have gone along with Slash, he'd always gotten him in trouble. He just wasn't thinking. He couldn't get into more trouble right now but he went anyways. This made his breathing speed up two fold. He sits, just trying not to get flung into a panic attack when a hand clasps onto his shoulder.
Raph jumps and looks up into Slash's glowing eyes. "Haha! Brother, that was the best! It's been so long since we've done anything like that." Raph goes from scared to furious. "Slash! She knows me! I'm going to get in so much trouble, do you know that!? The Hamatos, they're my only chance here okay?! If I fuck this up too badly then I'm out of luck! I'm finished okay!?"
Raph slams his fist into the trash can beside him. "Whoa, man... I-" Raph pushes himself up from the ground. "Shut the fuck up Spike." Raph says, seeing the frustration in Slash's face at him using the wrong name. "I need to fucking try and fix this before April tells my foster family to throw me out."
Raph shoves past Slash and marches down to the antique store, almost holding his breath all the way there. "What the fuck am I doing." Raph mumbles as he knocks on the door frame. He could see April standing at the broken counter, just barely setting the phone back down on the hook.
"April-" Raph starts. "What the hell!?" April screams, the pistol she had before lying on the unbroken part of the counter. "What- WHY- why the hell were you robbing me!?" April screams. Raph crosses his arms. "It-It wasn't my idea." Raph tries to start. "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK WHO'S IDEA IT WAS!"
Raph cringes. April wasn't one for swearing. "April, I'm sorry, I-I- My friend, he- gah-!" Raph grabs his head, frustrated. "Here." He says, thrusting an arm out towards her, a small statue he had taken in his hand. April looks at him skeptically before cautiously taking the statue.
"Please don't tell the guys or Yoshi... I- They're my last chance." Raph says sullenly. April glares at him and picks up the pistol, holding it at her side. "Maybe you should've thought of that before you went breaking, entering, and robbing people." Raph cringes. "We didn't take anything else and-and... I don't know what to do about the counter... I'm sorry." Raph takes a step towards her and her arm instinctively jerks upward, wanting to point the gun at Raph.
Raph wants to ask her why she even has a gun but assumes it's for situations like this. "Where's you friend?" April asks, never taking her eyes off of Raphael. "He-I don't know." Raph replies. "Doesn't sound like a very good friend if he doesn't stick with you when you screw up together." April says.
She was trying to prove something, that was for sure. "Tell me who your friend is and I'll leave you out of all this. But just. This. Once. If I catch you doing this shit again, I will not hesitate to call the police and get you sent away to juvie or someplace else much, much worse." Raph shivers. He didn't know how dark April could sound until this moment.
"Uh, Slash. Slash... Snafing." Raph says, having to think for a moment as to what his last name was. "Okay." April says. "Now get outta here. I called the police five minutes ago." Raph nods and turns, sprinting out of the store and down the street, going through alleyways and back roads to get far away as fast as possible.
Raph was running so hard he could barely see, he needed to just get back to his room. He needed to run faster, get back quicker, be safer. He runs like this for only a few minutes when he gets caught by a large form. "Ah!" Raph screams, stumbling back. "Hey kid. What'dya runnin' from?" A gruff, but calm voice says.
Raph shakes his head and looks up at a tall, scarred African man wearing a faded green tank top, even though it was pretty cold outside at this point in the year. "I-I-I um f-fuck." Raph mumbles, grabbing his own arms tightly. The man smiles a toothy smile. "Hey, it's alright." The man says. "I've got to go-go home." Raph says quickly.
The man looks him up and down, taking in his restless and frazzled demeanor. "Is it alright if I walk you?" He asks. Raph shakes his head slowly, taking a couple steps back. "I-I don't think-" the man holds up a hand, his middle finger missing. "I know it sounds pretty sketchy. But if it makes you feel any better, I'm an army veteran. I served for twelve years."
Raph stares at him, realizing how high this panic really was as it goes down. "My name is Jeremiah coonly, but I got the nickname Leatherhead because of this." He points to the right side of his head where the skin looked leathery. "Burned but I got a cool nickname out of it."
At this point Raph's breathing was less sporadic and his eyes were actually starting to focus. "I actually have this ID if you want to take a look at it." The man, Leather head, says. He pulls out his wallet and hands a card to Raph from it. Raph takes it, his hands shaking from adrenaline.
'Jeremiah coonly: born: October 15th 1986.' Raph doesn't read much more of the card after this, his eyes jumping around on it too much to put effort into reading the whole thing. It said more about his ranking and blood type and things but he got the general Idea. Raph looks around a bit before saying anything more. "I guess... But only till we're like a block away." Leatherhead smiles and nods.
Raph leads the way and they make small conversation, all while avoiding the topic of why Raph was running. It was almost peaceful. The streets were surprisingly empty for the city and the calm back and forth of the talks the two shared were nice. It was nice to not think about anything important for a little bit.
Suddenly Raph stops, staring at the street signs. "'Kay, gotta go." He mumbles, standing awkwardly still and hoping that Leatherhead would take the hint to leave before he revealed where he lived. "Alright Young one, be safe." The older man says, turning to walk away. "And stay out of trouble." Raph nods curtly and waits for him to be half way down the opposite street before he starts speed walking back to the new Hamato residence.
At this point it would've been easy to forget all that had happened that night. To forget that he'd ever gone out, that he'd even ever woken up. It would've been easy... If it wasn't for the fact that on the news the next morning he finds out Slash is being tried as an adult for crimes that could easily get him sent to jail. Just as easily as Raph could have forgotten that he had gone out that night all together.
Life is funny like that.
It's no big surprise you turned out this way
When they close their eyes and prayed you would change
And they cut your hair, and sent you away
You stopped by my house the night you escaped
With tears in my eyes, I begged you to stay
You said, "Hey man, I love you but no fucking way"
Twin Sized Mattress
The Front Bottoms
Yeeeiiiikkkeeessss~ Do you guys know that most of this chapter was written on September tenth of last year? Crazy right!? I had the idea while being bored at my cousin's birthday party and I'm just now using that giant splurb of word vomit!
Haha, anyways! I hope you liked this chapter! It's a little divergent from the "Main story line" Kind of but this was the best place to use my September Splurb. Welp, it's not too late but I'm still tired so I won't "talk" too much more. Comments and reviews are always welcome!