Hi! Long time no see… ugh, I'm so sorry everyone. My job plus my promotion plus adulting has made me busier than ever. Now add on the world situation and putting all that to a halt, like many of you may be feeling, I have no idea what to do with myself. But, I figured outside of my reduced work hours, I can do some good by writing to hopefully make all your days a bit brighter! So, without further delay, the one shots and mini-arcs continue! Back to the Kaya arc! Hope you all enjoy!
(Kaya's POV)
I kept looking at the Jiang's Golden House building across the street, and also giving myself an ulcer at the same time.
Okay Kaya, you haven't been getting anywhere at school. Just rip off the bandaid and suck it up.
I tried to take a deep breath even though it didn't do literally anything to get rid of the twisting feeling in my stomach that felt like that time when Kaito was training me in Kendo and he gave me a good counter in the stomach with the brunt of the hilt after I got a little too cocky. But unlike that which went away after a while, this just sits in my stomach like a rock.
And it's felt like this ever since almost a week ago after the moment I… Ugh, dammit. Guilt sucks.
As much as I hate it, I know grandmother and Caitlin are right.
Well, correction, grandmother's right about my situation with Darren. Mother and I right now to me is a dead end, but Darren… I know I need to make it right, and since he's being a pain in my ass right now by trying to avoid doing anything to talk to me.
Well yeah, I get it but will he just let me say sorry already?!
So, I don't give a shit. If the only way to get rid of this guilt is to track him down, so be it.
After trying to get a grip, I finally decided to bite the bullet as I walked across the street and just stepped through the door, setting off the bell as I got in. It was early in the afternoon on a Sunday, but the whole restaurant was empty except a table with two elderly couples sitting at it.
Then I flinched for a second when I heard that feminine southern bell voice, Darren's mom, call out of nowhere, "OH! Hi there stranger! Been a while since we've seen ya."
She charged forward with her usual overly friendly aura and smile just blindingly radiating off her that I can only compare to Sammie. And trust me, that's saying something.
After I collected myself a little and still trying to figure out how the hell she's able to sneak up on me like that all the time.
"Hi, Mrs. Lee. Uh…" And before I could even say or anything she did the last thing I wanted her do right now at the moment as she looked back and called out, "Darren! Come out here!"
I froze up in shock as she turned back to me and said, "Oh thank goodness yer here, sweetie. Darren's been a bit wound up lately and I think havin' you here will help calm 'em down a bit."
At this moment, I realized two things. One was that Darren didn't tell them we had a fight and two I just realized how delusional Darren's family was if they thought Darren and I were friends.
Before I could think about it anymore, Darren walked out of the double kitchen doors, but stopped when he saw me and I just stared right back at him.
Fuck… well, if I didn't feel like I was screwed before, I'm definitely screwed now if I thought this could happen in any way lowkey.
Darren's expression went from his usual to just this hard glare before he immediately turned around and b-lined back into the kitchen.
Yeah, not surprised.
I snapped out of it as I saw Darren's mom put her hands on her hips as she said, sounding miffed, "Darren! Ugh, what's wrong with that boy?!" She turned to me again, and said, "Sorry Kaya, I'll get 'em for ya and have 'em apologize."
She started to walk away and I panicked as I grabbed her arm and said quickly, on the verge of having a breakdown, "No!"
God, this can't possibly get any worse.
She turned around and gave me a confused look as she said, "What's goin' on? Kaya, I'm sorry, but I'm not standin' for my son's rudeness to ya. He knows better than tah act that way."
I saw her about to break away when I said, still panicking about turning this into a whole thing, "Look it was me okay!"
Seriously, can this get any worse right now?!
Now she was looking at me even more confused than before as she said, "What?"
I think she saw the look on my face after a bit as she looked back right as the doors opened. My stomach clenched, thinking it was Darren until I realized it was Dallas.
"Dallas, can ya cover the front for me?" She asked as Dallas turned and said, shrugging, "Sure, I was plannin' on it to get away from Darey Downer bein' a buzzkill anyway."
Dallas sat in the chair near the host station as I heard Mrs. Lee say, "Follow me, hun."
I felt her grab my wrist a little and walked us into the back overflow area that I've been in several times before. We got to a booth and she let go of my wrist and motioned to one of the benches as she said, having a tone, "Sit 'ere. I'll be back."
I had no idea what was happening as I slowly sat down and waited in the silence.
All I could hear were the vents from the ventilation system expanding from the hot air until the curtain gave way as Mrs. Lee whipped into the room almost seamlessly balancing a tray with a tea kettle and 2 cups on it with one hand and set it all out on the table and pouring both of us a cup of what looked like normal hot tea.
I was still trying to figure out where exactly this was going when she sat on the bench across from me and folded her hands as she gave me a very direct, confused, yet still somehow nice, as she demanded, "A'right Kaya, pardon my language, but… honey, what in the hell is going on with you and my son?"
I felt my body tense up.
Again… fuck.
Also, is she seriously talking to me about language? If she considers 'hell' a real curse word to say in front of me then she really has no idea who she's talking to.
I mean, c'mon, I swear worse than my Uncle Raph when he watches football or UFC, especially when Jimmy's on TV playing football. And that's really saying something.
But, then again, how can this possibly get any worse?
Also… I don't know what was going on since I felt like Darren's mom was not going to let me leave. It was like she was using some crazy maternal telepathy that was making me feel like I couldn't escape unless I told her.
But you know what? Screw it.
I'm already knee deep in shit creek without a boat or paddle at this point. And judging by the death glare Darren shot at me, and that being the first time he acknowledged I existed all week… yeah, there's no way in hell I'm getting anywhere with him.
I saw Mrs. Lee still eyeing me down as she took a sip of her cup of tea.
Yeah, she's not letting me leave.
I grabbed my cup in both hands as I decided to just go for it. I felt like I was going to chew off my bottom lip until I finally said, "So… did you want to know how Darren got that split lip from last week?"
She gave me this confused look as I hit the point of no return.
Besides… what else do I have to lose?
15 minutes later
Well, I think I figured out a way to put a middle aged woman into shock.
Darren's mom has been silent and looking at her tea cup for almost a full minute with her mouth open a little. But, I literally just unloaded on her about pretty much everything that's been going on between me and Darren, well everything except for the patrol stuff.
She doesn't need to know that. The fact that Darren knows is enough to make me feel like I want to pull out my hair.
I didn't know what else to do as I took a sip of my tea until I heard, "Well, I'm not gonna say I condone that kinda fightin'. But... I'm gonna have tah disagree with you. It's not all on you, Kaya. From my opinion, Darren ain't completely innocent either fur this situation, I'll tell you that much."
I whipped up my head up and choked on my sip of tea for half a second as I replied, knowing I sounded as shocked and confused as I felt, "Huh?"
Is she kidding me? I literally just told her that I punched her son in the face, and yet she's playing it neutral?! What the hell is happening right now?!
She brushed her hair behind her ear a little as she sighed a little before saying, "Kaya, believe me, I'm his mother so I know my son's personality pretty darn well. My Darren really is a good fella, but I'll be darned if my son ain't one smart aleck son of a gun. Take what you just told me. When you said you were in a mood that day you met my son and made a remark to him, lots of people would just ignore something like that and move on. But, the fact that he sassed back to ya does not surprise me at all. For as serious and quiet as my son is… that boy can be a pusher sometimes, I'll tell ya."
She breathed out a laugh a little at what she said as she took another sip of her tea.
What?
All I was trying to do was process what she just said, and… honestly, she wasn't really wrong. Actually she was spot on saying Darren knows how to push buttons. Probably why I thought Darren was frustrating as hell from the beginning. I mean, if his mom just admitted that Darren is a smart ass then that's really saying something.
Then again for me… takes one to know one, right?
Honestly that's exactly why Darren and I drive each other insane. As much as it pains me to admit it, but Darren was kind of right about me. I can be a stubborn, bitchy smartass if I'm pushed. But, if you look at who I come from, mainly my mother and grandmother, is that fact much of a shocker?
"Kaya." I whipped my head back up as I saw Mrs. Lee looking at me after she called me out of space.
"I wanna be honest with ya. I don't judge you fur what happened since what happened was as much yer fault as it was Darren's. I can tell you ain't a bad girl. You're a bit rough 'round the edges, but you seem like a decent girl to me if ya went through all this trouble… much like my Darren. And trust me, I ain't perfect either just like everyone else to totally pass judgement, but… anyway..." I had to suppress a twinge at being compared to Darren, until I caught what she was saying toward the end.
It was quiet until she started, "Just give Darren time though. He's been havin' a bit of a rough time. After my dad's passin' last year, the move tah New York, and then there's the whole situation with…" She stopped and we both whipped our heads over when we heard a crash of what sounded like a plate shattering.
Then we both stood up as we heard a gasp and what sounded like a woman cry out.
"Oh no…" I heard her say under her breath as she raced to the curtain into the other room. I followed her on reflex, trying to figure out what the hell was going on until I came into the room and stopped dead.
The two old couples were now standing with a broken tea cup on the floor next to their table.
But, that wasn't what confused me.
I looked near the host station and saw Dallas on the floor.
He was laying on the ground shaking in a fetal position on his side. He was pretty much hyperventilating and he was looking wide eyed at his hand that had the fingerless flesh colored glove on it that I saw on his hand the first time I met him.
One of the older men from the table was half crouched next to him as he asked, looking freaked out to completion, "Are you okay there, son?!"
Mrs. Lee rushed over to Dallas, knelt down, and started rubbing Dallas's arm and saying, "Dal, honey, it's mom. It's okay, yer home. Everything's fine."
The old man, sputtered, "I-I'm sorry. I accidentally knocked the cup off the table and it broke and… he just fell over! Is he okay?"
Mrs. Lee looked up at the old man and said, "Oh no, it's fine, sir. I'm sorry, this happens sometimes. I'll be by to bring ya'll a new cup in a second."
I heard the sound of the kitchen door swing open as I saw Mr. Lee standing there before his facial expression dropped and he said, "Oh hell…"
He ran over to Dallas and Mrs. Lee as he said, "I'll take 'em to the kitchen, Lola. C'mon Dallas, I got ya." But, from what I was seeing, Mr. Lee was struggling with trying to pick him up and I was about to walk over, not sure what exactly I was going to do, until Darren came out of nowhere and pulled up Dallas, who still looked out of it but was at least able to move a little now, off the ground.
"I got 'em." I heard Darren say almost so quiet I could hardly hear it.
"Thanks Dare." Mr. Lee said, very grateful, with a slight grunt as they finally got Dallas to his feet and started to carry him back to the kitchen.
My feet felt like they were glued as I watched Darren, Dallas, and Mr. Lee disappear back into the kitchen.
I kept staring until Mrs. Lee pulled me out of my head as she put a hand on my shoulder, "Kaya, I'm sorry 'bout this. I hope you don't mind, but I think this is gonna have tah wait 'til another time."
"Is he okay?" I asked, just saying the first thing that came out of my head.
I mean… I don't know?! I just saw a grown man shaking and flipping out on the ground for pretty much no reason at all.
She shook her head and looked like she was really forcing her smile now as she said, even though I could totally see through her, "Oh don't worry. Dallas'll be fine. Well, he'll be better anyway. I'm sorry, I gotta go check on 'em."
She sped away back to the kitchen and all I did as I walked out was feel like my brain was being sucked into a black hole as I tried to process what just happened and what I saw.
And… I still don't know what I'm going to do about this? I started to walk back home until I felt my phone go off in my pocket.
I pulled it out and saw I had a message from Nana Hamato:
Hi Kaya, your grandfather and I just wanted to check up on you and your other grandmother. Are you both doing okay with your parents out of town? If either of you need anything just let us know!
I was about to write a total lie of a message to her that everything was fine until I stopped dead in my tracks. As I bit my lip and kept debating on what to do, I grit my teeth and let out a deep breath and decided to go for it.
I hesitated until I replied:
Hi Nana! Everything is fine. Can I come over to visit you and grandfather right now though?
Oh! Looks like Kaya is falling into Leo's old habit of getting some sage advice from Splinter. What will Splinter have to say? What happened with Dallas? What were some of the vague things Darren's mom was referring to when it comes to Darren and the rest of the Lee family? All will be revealed as the arc progresses. And perhaps some new POV's will be opened up? You all shall see! Haha. ;) As always if there are any one shot ideas you would like to see please let me know with a PM or review. Thanks to you all so much for reading and please leave a review if you would like! Constructive feedback really means a lot. :) I hope this chapter helped fill some time in your day.
Stay classy, healthy, and safe everyone!
Dexter1995
