I had to hurry Mike along after he was done with his pizza. He looked disappointed, but when I told him that I had to be at work by five that morning – it was currently one A.M. – he looked at me kind of funny.

"I thought you worked from late afternoon until ten at night?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

"I do. But I work the breakfast and lunch shifts, too. I come home for a few hours but then I finish up the day working the dinner shift until closing" I explained to him.

Mikey was quiet with that bit of information. He studied me for a moment, a question obviously forming on his face. Finally he just had to ask me, "So, you work this hard to pay for …" and he hesitated, not wanting to insult me. Before he could continue, I finished for him.

"For this place? Yeah, I do." I said glumly. But, then I smiled, saying, "Hey, when you want nothing but the best, it's all worth it."

Mikey smiled at my humor and nodded his head. He understood where I was coming from.

Before he finally slipped back out the window to go home, I asked him, "Say, Mike, you mentioned you had two others back home. I met Leo during your second visit. But, you also mentioned someone else. A Don or Donny? Is he your brother, too?"

"Yeah. He's our genius brother. Don's really smart, Min. If he could get out in to the real world, Donny would blow people's minds away. The stuff he knows is incredible. Most of it just goes right over our heads, though."

"Why don't you bring him next time? I'd love to meet him." I suggested.

I would love to talk with someone whose IQ was higher than two digits. Not that I didn't think Mikey, Raph, or Leo were dumb – or anyone else that I knew for that matter. But, I truly missed the stimulation of the highly intelligent people that I taught with at the university. Working the diner like I did among people who cared little for furthering their scholastic education had dumbed-downed my own personal expectations. I was starving for intellectual challenges.

Mikey replied, "Not Don. He's kind of shy around people. Despite all his smarts he kind of falls short in the social skills area. He's really nice, though. Don has a huge heart for the down and out. But he's also too aware that the scientific community is rather single minded. He'd much rather stay in his room and tinker with his computer."

"You have computers?" I asked incredulously. Sheesh, I didn't even have a computer but this turtle family did. Who would'a thought?

"Well, Donny does. I haven't a clue how to work it. In fact, I'm not allowed to even go in his room anymore. Not after I crashed his last computer. " Mike explained.

"Oh boy. That's bad. Did he lose all his information?" I asked him.

His reply put me in the giggles.

"No, it actually crashed - right on the floor. It ended up in about a gazillion pieces. I saw a spider and – well – I hate spiders. Tried to kill it and ended up killing the P.C. instead. I had to make myself scarce for about a month after that. He's still ticked off and it happened over a year ago, too!" Mike grinned, "When it comes to technology, Donny's all serious."

I had a good chuckle over that one.

In fact, every time I'd think about it at work later on that morning, I'd bust up laughing. My mirth didn't go over very well with my boss though.

Not knowing why I was in the giggles, he thought I was losing my marbles. "Mindy, you're so tired yer slap happy!" he had accused me.

Anyway, finally Mike and I said our good-nights and he slipped back out of my window.

I had to watch, just as fascinated as the first time, while he crept down the side of the building. I observed him as he slinked below each lit window, making for the point where he could easily cross over to where the manhole cover was located. I watched for foot prints. He waved back at me slightly and as he slipped down into the sewers, I looked at where his trail should have been.

Just as I expected, he didn't leave any.

Mike came back the next evening and took up the second pizza in my refrigerator. I told him then that it was the last one until I got paid Friday. Guess he took it as a hint that I didn't have any more food to share. He told me he was sorry if he had taken advantage of me. I waved it off as no big deal, telling him I enjoyed the company. He didn't return the next night or the one after that. I was disappointed, but I could understand how uncomfortable it would make him thinking that I had to feed him all the time. More to the point, I think he started to realize that my income was rather meager at best. I had to give him credit for being so considerate.

**************************************************************************************

Friday I was paid. I cashed my check at the bank around the corner in between shifts and then went home to wait for the dinner hour. Only one more day of work and then I could rest. Sunday was my one day off each week. Bill wouldn't even let me work the breakfast shift on that day.

"You need a life outside of this dump, Mindy." He explained to me when I asked him about working it. "Do something fun or maybe sleep. You sure look like you could use some." He'd suggested.

He was right, of course. I did need sleep. But, I also needed the money. More so now that I was occasionally feeding my neighborhood mutant turtle. I didn't mind, really, but I was starting to realize that feeding Mikey was like giving a stray cat a few morsels of food. Before too long, they start hanging around permanently. At least he was smarter than the average cat and gave my pantry a rest for the last few days.

Still, seeing how ravenous Mike ate showed me how lucky I was in retrospect. So I didn't have the heart to tell him to stop coming around. Plus, I rather enjoyed his outgoing personality.

Saturday while at home during my break between the lunch and dinner shifts I noticed I was running low on staples. I wanted to pick up a couple boxes of pizza, too – just in case. That seemed to be the one basic food group that my friends enjoyed the best. I decided I would do my shopping on my way home after my last shift. That way, if my friends stayed sharp and witnessed me entering Gracie's, they'd know I would have something for them that night. I would have to ask Bill to let me off about fifteen minutes early so I could make the store before it closed. Gracie always closed her store at ten on Saturdays so she could get to her church's last mass at ten-thirty.

Saturday night proved slower than normal as far as customers were concerned. As luck would have it, at about nine-thirty Crazy Bill called it quits. I asked him what he was going to throw out, explaining to him about my 'neighbors' who were having it really tough. They had resorted to scavenging for recyclables so they could turn them in for money to buy food. This is what I told Bill and I knew for the most part it was true. I just elected to omit what color and species my neighbors were.

Bill was more than happy to help out. In fact, he even went so far as to suggest a sort of fundraiser for them.

"We could set out a container at each table with a note explaining their situation. Hey, I wouldn't mind them coming in once a week for a free meal! But, don't let that get 'round, know what I mean? Otherwise everyone'll be having a tough time!"

I really liked Bill; he had a heart of gold.

However, I told him that any leftovers he was planning on getting rid of would take care of their problem until such time their luck changed. I walked out of the diner with two sacks filled with leftover roast with gravy, some mashed potatoes, a few cups of overcooked vegetables, and part of a pie. The pie wasn't necessary as it would have lasted a few more days. But Bill wanted something special for these friends of mine.

Despite what Bill gave me, I wasn't too sure my friends would want the roast. I had so little information on them as it was. Picking up a couple of pizzas in addition would probably be the safest thing to do. At the very least I could give Bill's contributions to the family across the hallway if my other friends didn't want it. They had kids and were in as desperate a plight as any family living in the neighborhood.

I was about two blocks from my destination; not very far into my walk, thinking about how happy Mikey would be to take my treasures home with him. I had become so used to being escorted that it didn't occur to me they might not be following me at that time. After all, I had left work earlier than usual.

So imagine my surprise when someone clad all in black jumped out in front of me. It startled me so much I dropped my bags.

"Hey, bub, watch it!" I blurted out to him, not thinking about repercussions.

The guy's head was also covered up in black with a type of ski mask. All I could see was his eyes.

Quickly and with menace he told me, "You, Miss Johnson, must be careful who you make friends with. It is all very dangerous for you right now."

His accent suggested he was oriental. I couldn't place what Asian country he might have originated from, but if the symbol on his forehead said anything, I would have to guess Japan. With the varied ethnic neighborhoods in my part of town I had been able to discern Korean, Chinese, and Japanese writings. I didn't have a clue what the symbol said, but it stood out rather well in the under-lit walkway. It was in red.

I didn't want to own up to what he was eluding to. How would he know about Mike and his family anyway? So, true to my nature, I replied sarcastically, "What are you talking about, Mr. P.J's.?"

Yep, that was smart. Sure, he looked like he was in his pajamas, but that was not a bright thing to come back with. Especially when in that same moment I noticed he had a knife!

"Okay, Ms. Head, start acting a little quicker than Ms. Mouth!" I chided to myself. But, it was too late.

In one swift moment he had me by my throat. I saw my life flash before me as he dragged me just as quickly into a small side street. I noticed I had left my purse, my bags, and my life in fact, behind on the sidewalk. It was dark where he was taking me and I wondered if anyone would find me before the next day. I wondered if Gracie would miss me and if Bill would find someone to replace me with. Heck, I wondered if Mikey would. All this flashed through my nearly frozen mind in a split second as I was dragged further into the dark recesses of the shadows.

Mr. P.J. slammed me up against the brick wall and in the next instant decked me with one of his fists. I slumped to the ground, dazed but not out. In the next instant I saw his foot swing around towards my body. In one fleeting moment I was glad he had decided not to use the knife first. I figured if I was out cold, it wouldn't matter what he did to me. I prayed quickly; probably setting a speed record for my Hail Mary's, and then the next thing I saw was – nothing.