Hanami – Chapter 29
Out on the back porch, the light streamed in and illuminated Pipes' figure. She was working on something in her lap. Mike had been kicking around the house, looking for Cabbage when the sound of a harmonica drew him around to the back porch. The music was definitely coming from the back porch. None of the windows were open. He couldn't see any radio. With her hands over her lap, it wasn't Pipes playing the thing. 'What the hell?'
Mike hopped up onto the edge of the porch with his feet hanging over the side. He scanned the yard. Nothing. He turned to Pipes, "Do you hear that? Sounds like a harmonica. Where the heck is it coming from?"
The harmonica stopped mid-'Whaa.' Pipes looked up at him, blushing slightly. +"Sorry. Just singing to myself. Didn't expect an audience."+ His blank stare prompted her to fill the silence +"Yoko Kanno's "Diggin' My Potato."+ She opened her mouth and let out a few chords. She added a low, slow beat somehow, her throat pulsing gently. "Whaa-wa-wa-wah wah-ba-hah…"
Mike's blank expression was slowly replaced by a toothy grin of awe. "Whoa…" He shook his head, "Raph never said you could do THAT."
Pipes went back to work on the object in her hands. +"I never bothered to submit a resume, I just told him I was a good mimic."+
Mikey scrambled up onto the porch next to her. "What else can you do? If you had a real harmonica, could you play that? Would you teach me how? Whatcha workin' on?"
Pipes answered, "Mimic. Yes. Sure. This." She held out a small statue. "It's fragile now, be careful." She laid a miniature Splinter in his hands. The body was still rough, but the way the figurine stood and the detail in its face astonished Mike.
"How…?" Splinter stood with his hands resting lightly on his walking stick; his tail curled around his feet. His kimono hung naturally and even bunched a bit at his belt. His one ear was so thin, the morning light shown through it. His face and neck were marked all over with small lines, giving the impression of fur. "What's it made of?"
Pipes smiled as she took it back. +"A bar of soap. And I borrowed one of the paring knives from the kitchen. It won't stand up to much handling, but it'll do for a rough draft."+ She tilted her head, +"You're more than welcome to keep me company, but you'll have to move out of my light, ok?"+
"Yeah. Sure." Mike watched her carve for another ten minutes before he moved on to find Cabbage. As he rounded the porch, he heard a piano start up quietly.
Shima came out onto the back porch and sat down next to her sister. "I love it when you sing Chopin." She had bundled herself in one of the guy's coats. She set down a pen and some paper as well as the book of patterns. Pipes smiled, but moved smoothly into a restrained guitar piece. Shima looked up, "Gypsy Kings? Love and Liberty?" Pipes nodded and returned to carving. The two of them worked peacefully on the back porch until Leonardo called them in for lunch.
Cabbage watched Mike lap the house again. 'Wonder if I should give a shout out and find out what he's looking for?' She'd found the perfect perch in an apple tree. The branches were bare and about matched the color of her shell. A fork in a large branch made the perfect seat. The sky was high and blue and the slow-moving wispy clouds made her feel lazy. 'This is wonderful. I don't think I've ever felt so peaceful. No white walls, no cages, no bosses, no injection schedules, no surgeries… damn, I could get used to this!'
"There you are, babe!"
Cabbage blinked. He was right beneath her. No, in the heartbeat it took her to register that, he'd moved. He was in the tree with her. " 'Lo. " She stretched. "So if you guys don't actually live in this paradise, who's guests are we?"
"This whole farm belongs to a really bodacious chica called April. She's a human, but since she's so cool, we've declared her an honorary turtle."
"I thought you stealthy ninja-types weren't allowed to let humans see you, let alone rent winter villas from them."
Mike smiled, "That's a long story dudette: one I'd like to tell without having branches up my shell. Let's go on down to the porch swing, ok?"
Sterling was pissed. She stormed out of the house, silently seething. Building her anger, she stalked out into the yard. 'What the HELL is his problem?! He was there when I told Shima I'd fix the machine. I'm not incompetent. I wouldn't have even minded working on it with him! But he didn't ask! He just had it in pieces. "Don't touch that, oh and hand me a screw-driver, Philips-head, the star-shaped one." How condescending can you get?!'
The fact that Donatello hadn't done any of it on purpose some how made it worse. 'He assumes I've got my head up my ass… that I bit off more than I could chew and some how he was gonna rush in and fix everything for me…He didn't even think I knew the names of the tools! "Pass me the 5/8" socket wrench. That's the one that -- oh, nevermind, I've got it." Of all the arrogant -- ' Sterling stopped short. She counted to ten, took a deep breath and thought real hard about the sewing machine project. "Nope. He's just an asshole."
"Who's an asshole?" Raphael's voice caught her by surprise; she jumped. Then she wheeled on him. "Don't sneak up on me like that! Your brother! Donatello!"
"Donnie?" Raph wrinkled his forehead, "You sure? The quiet guy? With the purple mask?"
"Yes!" Sterling's voice went flat. "Yes. I know what I'm talking about. I am not a child. Please quit humoring me and do NOT patronize me." She sighed angrily. "Look, I'm not fit company. Are there any boundaries to this place? I'd like to just get away from EVERYBODY right now."
Raphael nodded slowly. "Follow me. There's a mile loop that's stays within the property. We use the trail for our workouts." He turned and led her behind the barn to a small clearing with a path that stretched beneath the trees. "If you're not back in an hour, I'm coming after you." With that he spun on his heel and left her.