Apologies in advance if there are any errors. When I uploaded this doc it was covered in codes. I did my best to fix it but if there is any word omissions or typos; I missed them while proofreading. I'll make another sweep in the morning but for now, here's the delayed chapter 3. Another slow chapter but it'll pick up soon, I promise lol
The Backpack
Chapter Three:
Distraction
Fog hung over the city giving the street lights an eerie glow. The neighborhoods closest to the docks had little visibility because of this. Lars Williams, a long-time employee at the docks, leaned against a storage container with Korean letters on it. He stuck to the shadows, as he waited for the buyers to show. Two armored vans arrived with one practically dragging on the ground. The back doors flew open with a powerful blow from one of the occupants. The other drivers and passengers from the other vans froze as a large man stepped out of the back. The van creaked as his bulk left the vehicle and sprang up.
Lars stepped out of the shadows and approached the large man who was cracking his knuckles.
"You got my money, Hun?" he asked in a low tone.
Hun nodded in the van's direction. "You got our merchandise?"
Lars grinned. "Follow me."
They moved through a dimly lit and packed warehouse in a single line. Hun's wide frame barely had enough space to move between large crates.
"This better be worth it," Hun growled.
Lars ignored his leader's complaints and fished for the keys in his pocket. They winded through the containers until they made to the back of the warehouse where the locker rooms were. With a turn and a shove, the door opened, and he led the Purple Dragons inside.
"You're gonna love this, Hun. Pure, grade A, and Columbian. None of that hillbilly or ghetto trash you come across here in the US."
Lars glanced at Hun hoping for any sign of approval but the hulking man never changed his expression. Lars swallowed and opened one of the lockers.
"Here it is, man."
He pulled out a wooden rectangular box and gently laid it on the floor. Grabbing a crowbar, he opened the lid, revealing packages full of premium cocaine.
"Well?"
Without a word, Hun's massive paw grabbed for a block. Holding it up, he eyed it carefully before tossing it to a woman with a purple mohawk.
"Test it, Leesa," Hun ordered.
The woman gave a nod and made a small opening. She made a line on her knife and snorted the white powder. Her eyes dilated, she gave a small twitch and grinned.
"It sure as hell ain't drywall. This is the best stuff I've had in years!"
Hun took the brick back much to the woman's dismay.
"Is there any more?" Hun asked.
Lars nodded. "Come on, it's in this container," he said, pointing at a blue one.
An hour later, the Purple Dragons left with their supply. Lars gave a sigh of relief as he watched the vans pull away with Hun in the back. Going as far back as the early days, back when they were known as the Black Dragons, Lars had been with the gang, making him one of the oldest members next to Hun. There were a few others, but they were more or less retired. Only called on when truly needed. He wanted to say he was proud to have survived this long, but in truth, he regretted joining. It cost him a lot more than he'd bargained for. His friends stopped speaking to him and in his adult years, his girlfriend left him, making sure he never saw his son again. The dragons were supposed to be his family, but it didn't feel as if they were, at least not anymore.
But that was in the past now he waited for someone to come along and put him out of his misery.
In an unmarked, faded blue van, May O'Neil of Channel Six News, sat behind the wheel while eating a cold can of Spaghetti-Os and reviewing the footage she'd captured only an hour ago. Being light-footed and stealthy (thanks to cousin April), it was easy for her to slip inside the warehouse, climb onto a metal beam and recorded the Purple Dragons' drug deal. Once they finished, she slipped out as quickly as she came.
She was giddy as the footage ended. This would be the story that could take her to the top! For the last two years, they dismissed her as a ditzy girl at the studio, but after this, she could become a real reporter. No more stories on cats being rescued from trees, or buffalo wing eating contests. After tonight she would get to report real stories.
"You're going to anger a lot of people."
May almost forgot her co-worker, Vern Fenwick, was sitting in the passenger seat. He was a slimly built, skittish man with receding black hair. Although he was older than her by ten years, it didn't stop him from trying his luck a few times. She'd never say yes, and he knew it.
"Good," May replied.
"May, they won't take you seriously. Remember what Burne said…"
Oh, she remembered. The day she applied for an internship, Burne Thompson looked her in the eye and told her girls like she were too "cute" to be on TV. Not sexy, pretty, or beautiful, but cute. With her round face and button nose, her features were considered childlike, especially when she smiled and her dimples showed. Her auburn hair was long, coming down her mid-back, adding to her youthful appearance. She was told by one of the senior reporters to cut it at least shoulder length. At one point, she thought of getting a pixie cut, but in the end decided she'd never change her appearance, believing that her looks shouldn't matter and that it didn't affect her work ethic.
"Burne doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. In fact, I can do his job ten times better!"
"I'm not sure about that..."
She shrugged. "We'll see." she turned the key in the ignition, bringing the van to life. "I'm heading back to the station. Want to come along?"
Vern shook his head. "Drop me off at my place."
She agreed as she pulled out of the alley. In other situations, it would have annoyed her, but tonight she was too excited to care. This was going to take her to the top.
A few days passed since Mikey learned of Allison's murder and he still had told no one of his discovery. Who could he trust? Everyone would think he was crazy or a creep for keeping a dead girl's journal. Maybe he'd tell them eventually, but for now, he enjoyed having a secret.
On a foggy night, Mikey was at the scrap yard helping Donnie find a processor or motherboard or whatever it was. It didn't seem to matter because everything he found, Donnie said wasn't the right part. He was ready to give up and wait in the Battle Shell.
"With all the time you hover around me while I try to work, I thought you would've at least knew what it looked like," Donnie said.
"I like watching you put it together. Doesn't mean I understand or like hearing the technobabble," Mikey replied.
Don rolled his eyes and climb onto a large hill of junk.
"Careful, bro, I don't think our tetanus shots are up to date," Mikey said.
"I'm more careful than you! Go try that pile over there." Don pointed toward a small heap.
He did as he was told but groaned the entire time. Ten feet from him, he saw Raph and Leo pulling parts from an old motorcycle. Raph's bike was on the fritz again. His own shell cycle went unused and needed new tires. He thought of letting Raph use it for parts, but being nice to Raph wasn't very fun. At least they were looking for something interesting. He was stuck hunting for computer parts. What he wouldn't give to find a rare comic.
It bore him to tears, and he was ready to give up. There wasn't anything here that he recognized. It was tempting to gather it all into his arms and throw it at Don and say: "Here, you sort this junk out!". What he really wanted to do was go back home and read the journal. He needed to know what happened next. What her last year on this earth was like. He hoped that at least it was a good one but something told him it wasn't.
Since learning about Allison Blackwell, Mikey had a sudden drive to know more. He wanted to know why someone would take her life. This wasn't some random killing. Someone planned this and took the time to do so. Somewhere out there, someone knew something and Mikey would find out who. Only he didn't know how he would accomplish this.
"I found it!" Don said, holding up the computer part.
"About time!" Mikey replied. "Can we go now?"
Don raised a brow. "What's with you, Mikey? You normally love going out. Are you sick? Do I need to take your temperature?" There was a playfulness in Don's voice, but Mikey knew he was partly serious.
"I'm just bored that's all."
"Is your ADHD getting worse?"
"Funny."
"Lighten up!" Don said, patting Mikey's shell. "Wait… did I really just tell that to you? Is this the Twilight Zone?"
With their hunt over, Mikey followed his brothers back to the Battle Shell. When they made it back home, he retired to his room where the journal waited for him.
Leo watched Mikey go, curious as to what was bothering his little brother. Don and Raph stood on each of him, puzzled as well. This would be the time when Mikey plopped down on the couch with his favorite snacks and play video games until someone kicked him off. It concerned they as they couldn't think of a single reason he would suddenly feel this way. Each brother mentally retraced their steps, trying to see what could have happened, but none of them came up with anything.
Soft paw steps came from Splinter's room. The elder rat emerged from his room moving slower these days. Carrying his tray with his teapot and cups, he stopped at the site of his children gathered together. His whiskers twitched, sensing something was off.
"Where is Michelangelo?" Splinter asked, setting the tray aside.
The three brothers turned to face their sensei.
"In his room," replied Leo.
"Unusual," he commented.
"Very. Mikey's acting... strange and we don't know what to do about it."
Splinter had noticed but kept his distance from the issue. His sons were adults now which entitled them to their space. If they needed him, they could always come to him when ready. However, he felt in this instant; he needed to speak with Michelangelo.
"Has anyone upset him recently?"
All three shook their heads.
"We've taken jabs at him, but nothing too mean," Raph admitted. Guilt flickered in his eyes. It was brief but Splinter caught it right away. "I mean, no more than usual."
"Has he witnessed something upsetting?"
Again, they shook their heads.
"I will talk to him."
"We might as well go back to our own routines," Leo said.
"Whatever is bugging Mikey, I'm sure Splinter can handle it," Raph said.
With that, the three brothers went to their own corners of the lair. Leo finding a quiet spot for meditation, Raph going to his punching bag, and Don returning to his lab.
Don took his usual place in front of his computer with the new circuit board in hand. He turned on the computer and waited for it to load. He thought back to the day they went into that unexplored part of the tunnels. The weird graffiti, that maintenance closet, a stranger, the backpack. Don paused as he was about to type. The backpack. It was coming back to him. A random item couldn't be the reason for his brother's odd behavior, could it? He tried remembering the name on the bag, but his mind was blanking. It was Allison… something.
Swiveling his chair towards Mikey's door, he looked up at the closed door, hoping Splinter could figure this out.
July/4th/1980
Watched the fireworks from the roof today. Sam was with me until his friend showed up. Mom and Dad went to a party with their friends. Called Diana and Ellie but neither were home. Ever since I got sick they both ignore me. Fuck em I guess. After the fireworks I went walking around the neighborhood and thats when I encountered Marcy again. She was on her roller blades with an ice cream cone in her hand. She asked what I was doing and I told her walking around. She wanted to know if I liked to hang out and I said sure. She confessed she didn't know much about the town so I decided to be her tour guide. The heat got to me again, but I brushed it off. I showed her around and introduced her to people in the neighborhood. Marcy was acting all shy witch I didn't understand when she approached me like it was nothin. Things went ok though. Til Lars showed up and started shit. I dont know what the fuck his problem is. He tried flirting with Marcy but she shot him down quick. Then he gets mad and calls her a slut so I punched him square in the nose. He fell back and gave me this look as he wiped blood from his face. I thought he'd fight me but instead he told me-
A sharp knock at this door startled Mikey from the journal. He slammed it shut and set it aside.
"Come in!"
The door opened slowly. Splinter poked his head in before slipping the rest of his body through. Shutting the door behind him, he took his place beside Michelangelo and placed a paw on Mikey's shoulder. His sensei's touch was cold, making Mikey want to squirm away.
"Michelangelo, your brothers and I have noticed you acting strange lately. Is everything alright?"
Mikey nodded. "Everything's fine, Sensei."
"Are you sure? Has anything upset you, my son?"
Mikey blinked. "Upset me?" He almost laughed but seeing the serious look in Splinter's eyes kept him from doing so. "No, of course not. Why do you guys think something is wrong?"
"You are staying in your room a lot more lately. We want to make sure everything is okay."
"Oh, I see. I didn't realize I was doing it. I've started writing a lot more lately, and it's kept me distracted."
Guilt crept into him. He had not meant to make his family worry about him and it was partly true that his writing had him distracted. The laptop went into sleep mode, but Mikey didn't move the mouse to revive it.
Splinter stared at him as though he were trying to decide if he believed Mikey or not. His ears twitched, and he gave a nod. "Very well. If you need to talk, you know where I will be."
Mikey nodded. Splinter removed his paw and turned to leave. As he turned the handle, Mikey stopped him.
"Sensei, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"Um… there sort of is something bothering me, but it's nothing major… I mean I guess it is but it's not like that… It's, uh, for my book."
Splinter's ears pricked. "Go on."
"Well, if someone was hurt a long time ago and everyone moved on from it… should someone still do something about it?"
Splinter looked at him for a moment before answering, "Yes, the person causing harm needs to be punished for their actions. No matter how much time has passed."
"Oh okay, then."
"Are we still talking about a book?"
Mikey nodded, afraid his voice would give him away. Splinter remained in the room for a few heartbeats longer before leaving. He watched his father leave then gave a sigh of relief. Picking up the journal, he returned where he left off.
He told me to meet him at an abandoned warehouse near Red Hook in two days. He said if I can throw a punch like that then I need to meet his friends. I dont know… I'm nervous but curious as to who his friends are. I think he might be in a gang. It does explan alot.
Mikey shut the journal. Opening his laptop, he searched for directions to Red Hook, a place he and his brothers visited once before. It made sense a gang would hide out in the area. The question was, which gang was it?
Looking up the directions, he realized it was a three-hour journey on foot. He could take the Battle Shell, but the trick would be to get his brothers in on it and already knew their answers.
If I want to know more, then I'll make a little trip by myself.
He needed to make a plan if he wanted to itch his curiosity. Rising from his chair, he decided to take a break for now. Raph was playing Mortal Kombat in the living area.
It was time for the Battle Nexus Champion to beat Raphie boy at his own game.