Chapter Eleven - Q & A
Sarah ate her cereal in silence, avoiding the looks that Don and Casey were giving.
"Sorry about that" Don finally said breaking the silence.
"Since when was taking a bath a crime?" She said without looking at them.
"Since you didn't answer. We were worried." Casey added. "With everything that's happened, I thought they got you"
"Yeah well, you scared me to death.... why would they?"
"Yeah, why would they?" Don asked. Casey knew better than to say too much.
"Well they didn't ..." Or did they? Casey eyed Sarah.
"Just drop it okay, I'm not used to being embassed like that..." her voice trailed as the phone rung. Casey got up to answer it.
"It's for you" he signalled to Sarah. She hesitated.
"Who is it?"
"I dunno, some chick"
"Hello?"
"Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
"It's Tracy Cunnings from Century 21, I have some news about your apartment if you'd like to come in, say in around an hour?"
"S.. Sure, I hope it's good news this time"
"Better than last time, we'll see you then,"
"Thank you, see you then" and she hung up the phone.
"Well?" Casey asked.
"I gotta run, they have some news on my apartment, wanna come?"
"Sure, Don?"
"Nah, I have to get back, the others are waiting. We still have to find somewhere to live"
"Huh?" Sarah asked.
"The Foot trashed the place and they know where it is"
"Oh, why?"
"Well, it's a long story but..."
"The Shredder killed Splinter's master and wants to get them too" Casey interrupted.
"Oh I see.. Splinter?"
"Our sensei" Don added.
"And they want from you?"
"Revenge"
"Oh" Then why do they want me? Oroku Saki did murder my father. "It's an honor thing, isn't it?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Well, don't these honor types usually go through the whole family before they stop?" Sarah played dumb.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Just curious" Casey shot her a look, as Don excused himself.
"Well, I gotta go, see you later?"
"Sure"
"Lemme know how it goes with the real estate agent"
"Okay, bye" Casey waited for him to leave.
"What's with all the questions Sarah?"
"You heard him Case, you know about my father. It's the same clan, I'm sure of it. They won't stop until I'm dead, I'm the last of my family. They will come for me again...." Sarah cursed at her slip of the tongue.
"Again?"
"Look don't freak, I didn't wanna tell you, but last night ...."
"They came didn't they? That's why you pumped Donnie for answers"
"Yeah, they wanted to talk, I'm okay, Kyle helped me."
"Kyle?"
"Yeah, he's a P.I."
"I know that"
"Well, why didn't you tell me?" Sarah demanded.
"Cuz you didn't ask! Are we goin' or what?"
"Yeah, let's go." They got up, cleared the table and headed out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah sat in the office with her arms folded. She was still angry at Casey. He wasn't exactly talking to her either.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He said in a lowered voice.
"Why do I have to? Nothing came of it, besides you're my friend and not my father!"
"So?" He spat. Sarah turned and faced him.
"It's not worth worrying over. Okay! You got it? This is my problem and has nothing to do with you..." before Casey could reply, a woman approached them.
"Nice to see you again Sarah... you okay?" She asked as she noticed the bruise.
"Yeah I'm okay, a car clipped me a few days back, looks worse than it really is." Tracy nodded. "Tracy, this is my friend Casey Jones"
"Hello Casey, this way please" They followed her to an office.
"Well what's the problem this time?" Sarah asked.
"It's not really a problem"
"Well, are the tentants out or not?" Sarah asked in a calm voice. Getting angry would not be of any help. Tracy had done what she could and Sarah appreciated all that she had done.
"Look, Tracy, I'm not angry at you... it's just..."
"Frustrating?" Tracy said.
"Yeah"
"They are almost out... but you aren't going to like it... it's not good I'm afraid" Sarah cursed under her breath. "What is it this time?"
"Well, out of spite, they haven't left it in the best shape" Sarah's heart sunk. She knew from the beginning that she was going to have problems with them.
"We've kept the bond, but I don't think it will be enough. Upstairs isn't too bad, but the downstairs will have to be redone... the entire floor" Sarah's blood started to boil. All she could say before she lost her temper was "I need to get some fresh air, I'll be back later". Sarah got up and left without a word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah's face redden with anger as she went up the stairs toward her apartment. She paused before knocking on the door which swung open on the first knock. She stepped in and looked around at the trashed apartment.
"Hello?" She called out. Someone poked their head out of the kitchen.
"Yeah?"
"Are you the tentant?"
"Yeah, so who wants to know?"
"I do"
"Look I'm on my way out, what do you want?"
"I want you to take your shit and get out of my apartment!" She snapped. He backed off.
"If you don't leave, I'm gonna call the police"
"Go ahead, call them, this is MY apartment, you were EVICTED three weeks ago. Get the hell outta here, you're tresspassing!!!"
"Why you little bitch!!" The man's face turned red with anger as he balled his fist.
"I wouldn't if I were you!" Came a voice from behind them. "If you lay one finger on her, I've have you charged with assault, not too mention tresspassing and ....." the voice trailed.
"I'm outta here" the guy said and walked out the door. Sarah turned to face Tracy and Casey.
"I knew you'd be here" he mumbled.
"And why shouldn't I be? I own this place"
"Well to add to that, I have some more checking to do, but I may have come across something, I just need to check a few things and I'll get back to you this afternoon" Tracy said. Sarah took a deep breath.
"I really appreciate everything you've done. I'll be here later on if you need to contact me." Tracy nodded and headed out the door.
Sarah looked around at the apartment.
"So what do I do now?" She asked as she sat down on a milk crate, her head in her hands. "It's been trashed, my father left this to me..." he voice trailed. Casey looked at her not sure what to say. He didn't like to see his friend this distressed. He took a deep breath.
"Well you can paint, can't you?" Sarah looked up.
"Why?"
"Well, why don't we fix her up, c'mon, it'll be fun, we can redo the joint"
"I dunno, Case, I dunno" she mumbled as ran her hands through her long black hair. Her father had worked long and hard to buy this place and to see the apartment in this condition was just another slap to the face for her. "They trashed my father's place, his memory... this was the house we were going to come back to..." she paused. Things were not going her way.... again... and it had started to dishearten her. Sarah was a strong person, but she was having one bad thing after another happen to her. She snapped out of her trance as she realised that Casey was waving his hands in front of her.
"C'mon we have to start somewhere, besides I'm homeless now anyhow" Sarah glared at Casey. That was true, and it was because of her.
"There's no point getting down about it - besides didn't Tracy say that upstairs wasn't too bad?" Sarah's eyebrows raised a little. That was true she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Casey flopped himself down onto an up-side-down milk crate.
"Here" he said handing her a Bud.
"Thanks" they had spent almost the entire afternoon clearing the junk from upstairs. It wasn't too bad. All it needed was a clean, maybe a quick paint job and the carpets dry cleaned.
"So you're sure it's okay I move in?" Casey asked.
"I don't see why not, it's because of me that you have to move... besides there's heaps of room. But only on one condition? You help get her up to scratch?" Casey grinned.
"It's a done deal..." his voice trailed as there was a knock on the door.
"Enter..." Sarah said in a poshy voice. She sat up quickly when she saw who had come through the door. Behind Tracy was a middle aged man... someone she had not seen in a long time and vaguely remembered.
"Tracy..." Sarah scrambled to her feet wiping her grubby hands on her overalls.
"I have some great news. You might want to sit down"
Sarah looked up at her. "What is it?" Tracy grinned.
"I had to make sure... but you own another two in the same building"
"W..what?" Sarah asked shocked. "How is that possible?"
"I have a rough idea, but there seems to be something else. There's a small building a few blocks away, it's currently vacant, it's zoned commerical, so what you choose to do with it is anyone's guess" Sarah sat there dumbfounded. "The other two apartments in this building are in good order and one is still leased, the other is vacant as of this morning. The lovely couple retired to Florida, it's fully furnished and I have the keys if you want to see it..."
"How?" Sarah asked "Where did all of this money come from?"
"Well this is where I come in" said the mysterious man as he stepped forward. Then with a faint Australian accent he continued "My name is Frederick Schmit, I was your father's solicitor. I've been keeping an eye on things in his absence, I'm sorry to hear what happened to him. I've been waiting a long time on your return Miss O'Neil" Sarah stared blankly at him. It had been a long time since anyone had called her that.
"That's why it's taken quite a while, we had to make sure that you were the same person." Tracy explained "Despite what you may think, this apartment was actually purchased by Julie. I know that there may have been some confusion. Someone at the office got the deeds mixed up due to an error with the surnames and gave Julie the wrong information. The one on this level was bought by your parents shortly after they inherited the one directly under this. The vacant building a few blocks from here is right in the heart of Greenwich Village and that too was inherited, it was left to your mom, actually one of her aunts left it to her. Your mom was Australian and your dad American if I remember correctly?"
"Well yeah, actually a lot of my mum's family used to live here, but what's that got to do with things?"
"Was your father made an Australian citizen before or after you were born?"
"Well actually..." Sarah paused for a moment as she thought about it. Julie had given her some information just before she had left. "... now that I think of it, I don't think he ever become a citizen, though he was granted permanent residency... why?"
"It means that if he never gave up his U.S citizenship you are entitled to a U.S passport as you are half American. This means that you won't need a visa to stay or work here." It hadn't occurred to her that it mattered. A smile broke on Sarah's face. Not only was she hearing some good news for a change, but she was hearing family history that she did not know even existed.
"I don't want to dampen your spirts Sarah, you will still have to apply for a U.S passport as I assume you came here on your Australian one, then you will need to decide what you want to do. Even though a lot of these buildings were inherited, there's still some debit. I advise that you go to the bank and work something out" Mr Schmit said handing her a business card.
"How much am I looking at?"
"That kind of information I don't have on hand" he answered looked at Casey, not wanting to give her any numbers while there was company "the morgages have been open since the early 80's while the land values around here were still quite reasonable. Everything has been leased out and has been slowly paying things off. You will need to consider the vacant building. The last thing you need are squatters." Mr Schmit looked down as his pager went off.
"Squatters?" Casey asked puzzled.
"Homeless people that live in abandoned or empty buildings. I think it's an aussie term" Sarah explained.
"Does this phone work?" Mr Schmit asked.
"I believe so" Sarah answered.
"Did you want to see this apartment now?" Tracy asked.
"You go ahead, but you will have to excuse me, something's come up and I need to go" Mr Schmit excused himself as he let himself out. Something clicked in Casey's head.
"So your last name is O'Neil? I thought it was Ho"
"It is... they are... I thought I told you that my adopted name was Ho"
"You did, but you didn't mention anything about being an O'Neil"
"What's the big deal?"
"Don't you ever watch the news?"
"Do I look like I have the time...?" Sarah paused as Tracy cleared her throat. "Oh right, the tour"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah and Casey looked at the apartment.
"Wow this place is great" Sarah said as she looked around the spotless apartment.
"Why don't we just move in here?" Casey asked.
"Cuz upstairs in the other one will be livable in around three days, besides there's debt remember, there must be someone I can lease it to quickly" A smile formed on Casey's face.
"I know of someone that needs a place badly. She has nothing. She lost everything when her building caught on fire..."
"Then ask her, when will you be seeing her?"
"Later tonight, I asked her over, hope it's ok"
"Yeah Case, but there's not much to look at"
"She won't mind.. trust me.. she's seen worse"
~Chapter Twelve ~ Up Soon!
Sarah ate her cereal in silence, avoiding the looks that Don and Casey were giving.
"Sorry about that" Don finally said breaking the silence.
"Since when was taking a bath a crime?" She said without looking at them.
"Since you didn't answer. We were worried." Casey added. "With everything that's happened, I thought they got you"
"Yeah well, you scared me to death.... why would they?"
"Yeah, why would they?" Don asked. Casey knew better than to say too much.
"Well they didn't ..." Or did they? Casey eyed Sarah.
"Just drop it okay, I'm not used to being embassed like that..." her voice trailed as the phone rung. Casey got up to answer it.
"It's for you" he signalled to Sarah. She hesitated.
"Who is it?"
"I dunno, some chick"
"Hello?"
"Sarah?"
"Yeah?"
"It's Tracy Cunnings from Century 21, I have some news about your apartment if you'd like to come in, say in around an hour?"
"S.. Sure, I hope it's good news this time"
"Better than last time, we'll see you then,"
"Thank you, see you then" and she hung up the phone.
"Well?" Casey asked.
"I gotta run, they have some news on my apartment, wanna come?"
"Sure, Don?"
"Nah, I have to get back, the others are waiting. We still have to find somewhere to live"
"Huh?" Sarah asked.
"The Foot trashed the place and they know where it is"
"Oh, why?"
"Well, it's a long story but..."
"The Shredder killed Splinter's master and wants to get them too" Casey interrupted.
"Oh I see.. Splinter?"
"Our sensei" Don added.
"And they want from you?"
"Revenge"
"Oh" Then why do they want me? Oroku Saki did murder my father. "It's an honor thing, isn't it?"
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Well, don't these honor types usually go through the whole family before they stop?" Sarah played dumb.
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Just curious" Casey shot her a look, as Don excused himself.
"Well, I gotta go, see you later?"
"Sure"
"Lemme know how it goes with the real estate agent"
"Okay, bye" Casey waited for him to leave.
"What's with all the questions Sarah?"
"You heard him Case, you know about my father. It's the same clan, I'm sure of it. They won't stop until I'm dead, I'm the last of my family. They will come for me again...." Sarah cursed at her slip of the tongue.
"Again?"
"Look don't freak, I didn't wanna tell you, but last night ...."
"They came didn't they? That's why you pumped Donnie for answers"
"Yeah, they wanted to talk, I'm okay, Kyle helped me."
"Kyle?"
"Yeah, he's a P.I."
"I know that"
"Well, why didn't you tell me?" Sarah demanded.
"Cuz you didn't ask! Are we goin' or what?"
"Yeah, let's go." They got up, cleared the table and headed out the door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah sat in the office with her arms folded. She was still angry at Casey. He wasn't exactly talking to her either.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He said in a lowered voice.
"Why do I have to? Nothing came of it, besides you're my friend and not my father!"
"So?" He spat. Sarah turned and faced him.
"It's not worth worrying over. Okay! You got it? This is my problem and has nothing to do with you..." before Casey could reply, a woman approached them.
"Nice to see you again Sarah... you okay?" She asked as she noticed the bruise.
"Yeah I'm okay, a car clipped me a few days back, looks worse than it really is." Tracy nodded. "Tracy, this is my friend Casey Jones"
"Hello Casey, this way please" They followed her to an office.
"Well what's the problem this time?" Sarah asked.
"It's not really a problem"
"Well, are the tentants out or not?" Sarah asked in a calm voice. Getting angry would not be of any help. Tracy had done what she could and Sarah appreciated all that she had done.
"Look, Tracy, I'm not angry at you... it's just..."
"Frustrating?" Tracy said.
"Yeah"
"They are almost out... but you aren't going to like it... it's not good I'm afraid" Sarah cursed under her breath. "What is it this time?"
"Well, out of spite, they haven't left it in the best shape" Sarah's heart sunk. She knew from the beginning that she was going to have problems with them.
"We've kept the bond, but I don't think it will be enough. Upstairs isn't too bad, but the downstairs will have to be redone... the entire floor" Sarah's blood started to boil. All she could say before she lost her temper was "I need to get some fresh air, I'll be back later". Sarah got up and left without a word.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah's face redden with anger as she went up the stairs toward her apartment. She paused before knocking on the door which swung open on the first knock. She stepped in and looked around at the trashed apartment.
"Hello?" She called out. Someone poked their head out of the kitchen.
"Yeah?"
"Are you the tentant?"
"Yeah, so who wants to know?"
"I do"
"Look I'm on my way out, what do you want?"
"I want you to take your shit and get out of my apartment!" She snapped. He backed off.
"If you don't leave, I'm gonna call the police"
"Go ahead, call them, this is MY apartment, you were EVICTED three weeks ago. Get the hell outta here, you're tresspassing!!!"
"Why you little bitch!!" The man's face turned red with anger as he balled his fist.
"I wouldn't if I were you!" Came a voice from behind them. "If you lay one finger on her, I've have you charged with assault, not too mention tresspassing and ....." the voice trailed.
"I'm outta here" the guy said and walked out the door. Sarah turned to face Tracy and Casey.
"I knew you'd be here" he mumbled.
"And why shouldn't I be? I own this place"
"Well to add to that, I have some more checking to do, but I may have come across something, I just need to check a few things and I'll get back to you this afternoon" Tracy said. Sarah took a deep breath.
"I really appreciate everything you've done. I'll be here later on if you need to contact me." Tracy nodded and headed out the door.
Sarah looked around at the apartment.
"So what do I do now?" She asked as she sat down on a milk crate, her head in her hands. "It's been trashed, my father left this to me..." he voice trailed. Casey looked at her not sure what to say. He didn't like to see his friend this distressed. He took a deep breath.
"Well you can paint, can't you?" Sarah looked up.
"Why?"
"Well, why don't we fix her up, c'mon, it'll be fun, we can redo the joint"
"I dunno, Case, I dunno" she mumbled as ran her hands through her long black hair. Her father had worked long and hard to buy this place and to see the apartment in this condition was just another slap to the face for her. "They trashed my father's place, his memory... this was the house we were going to come back to..." she paused. Things were not going her way.... again... and it had started to dishearten her. Sarah was a strong person, but she was having one bad thing after another happen to her. She snapped out of her trance as she realised that Casey was waving his hands in front of her.
"C'mon we have to start somewhere, besides I'm homeless now anyhow" Sarah glared at Casey. That was true, and it was because of her.
"There's no point getting down about it - besides didn't Tracy say that upstairs wasn't too bad?" Sarah's eyebrows raised a little. That was true she thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Casey flopped himself down onto an up-side-down milk crate.
"Here" he said handing her a Bud.
"Thanks" they had spent almost the entire afternoon clearing the junk from upstairs. It wasn't too bad. All it needed was a clean, maybe a quick paint job and the carpets dry cleaned.
"So you're sure it's okay I move in?" Casey asked.
"I don't see why not, it's because of me that you have to move... besides there's heaps of room. But only on one condition? You help get her up to scratch?" Casey grinned.
"It's a done deal..." his voice trailed as there was a knock on the door.
"Enter..." Sarah said in a poshy voice. She sat up quickly when she saw who had come through the door. Behind Tracy was a middle aged man... someone she had not seen in a long time and vaguely remembered.
"Tracy..." Sarah scrambled to her feet wiping her grubby hands on her overalls.
"I have some great news. You might want to sit down"
Sarah looked up at her. "What is it?" Tracy grinned.
"I had to make sure... but you own another two in the same building"
"W..what?" Sarah asked shocked. "How is that possible?"
"I have a rough idea, but there seems to be something else. There's a small building a few blocks away, it's currently vacant, it's zoned commerical, so what you choose to do with it is anyone's guess" Sarah sat there dumbfounded. "The other two apartments in this building are in good order and one is still leased, the other is vacant as of this morning. The lovely couple retired to Florida, it's fully furnished and I have the keys if you want to see it..."
"How?" Sarah asked "Where did all of this money come from?"
"Well this is where I come in" said the mysterious man as he stepped forward. Then with a faint Australian accent he continued "My name is Frederick Schmit, I was your father's solicitor. I've been keeping an eye on things in his absence, I'm sorry to hear what happened to him. I've been waiting a long time on your return Miss O'Neil" Sarah stared blankly at him. It had been a long time since anyone had called her that.
"That's why it's taken quite a while, we had to make sure that you were the same person." Tracy explained "Despite what you may think, this apartment was actually purchased by Julie. I know that there may have been some confusion. Someone at the office got the deeds mixed up due to an error with the surnames and gave Julie the wrong information. The one on this level was bought by your parents shortly after they inherited the one directly under this. The vacant building a few blocks from here is right in the heart of Greenwich Village and that too was inherited, it was left to your mom, actually one of her aunts left it to her. Your mom was Australian and your dad American if I remember correctly?"
"Well yeah, actually a lot of my mum's family used to live here, but what's that got to do with things?"
"Was your father made an Australian citizen before or after you were born?"
"Well actually..." Sarah paused for a moment as she thought about it. Julie had given her some information just before she had left. "... now that I think of it, I don't think he ever become a citizen, though he was granted permanent residency... why?"
"It means that if he never gave up his U.S citizenship you are entitled to a U.S passport as you are half American. This means that you won't need a visa to stay or work here." It hadn't occurred to her that it mattered. A smile broke on Sarah's face. Not only was she hearing some good news for a change, but she was hearing family history that she did not know even existed.
"I don't want to dampen your spirts Sarah, you will still have to apply for a U.S passport as I assume you came here on your Australian one, then you will need to decide what you want to do. Even though a lot of these buildings were inherited, there's still some debit. I advise that you go to the bank and work something out" Mr Schmit said handing her a business card.
"How much am I looking at?"
"That kind of information I don't have on hand" he answered looked at Casey, not wanting to give her any numbers while there was company "the morgages have been open since the early 80's while the land values around here were still quite reasonable. Everything has been leased out and has been slowly paying things off. You will need to consider the vacant building. The last thing you need are squatters." Mr Schmit looked down as his pager went off.
"Squatters?" Casey asked puzzled.
"Homeless people that live in abandoned or empty buildings. I think it's an aussie term" Sarah explained.
"Does this phone work?" Mr Schmit asked.
"I believe so" Sarah answered.
"Did you want to see this apartment now?" Tracy asked.
"You go ahead, but you will have to excuse me, something's come up and I need to go" Mr Schmit excused himself as he let himself out. Something clicked in Casey's head.
"So your last name is O'Neil? I thought it was Ho"
"It is... they are... I thought I told you that my adopted name was Ho"
"You did, but you didn't mention anything about being an O'Neil"
"What's the big deal?"
"Don't you ever watch the news?"
"Do I look like I have the time...?" Sarah paused as Tracy cleared her throat. "Oh right, the tour"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
Sarah and Casey looked at the apartment.
"Wow this place is great" Sarah said as she looked around the spotless apartment.
"Why don't we just move in here?" Casey asked.
"Cuz upstairs in the other one will be livable in around three days, besides there's debt remember, there must be someone I can lease it to quickly" A smile formed on Casey's face.
"I know of someone that needs a place badly. She has nothing. She lost everything when her building caught on fire..."
"Then ask her, when will you be seeing her?"
"Later tonight, I asked her over, hope it's ok"
"Yeah Case, but there's not much to look at"
"She won't mind.. trust me.. she's seen worse"
~Chapter Twelve ~ Up Soon!