4
Since Lillian drove a large jeep she offered to give me a ride back to my place.
"Thanks for the ride. Let me send you some gas money." I offered pulling out my phone and she chuckled.
"Don't sweat it. I have a feeling we're going to be going on tons more car rides together in the future." she said. I'm glad I made such a good impression then. I nodded in agreement and April walked up the apartment stairs.
"Do you really want to meet these guys?" she asked, her hands in her pockets and I looked at her with mild worry.
"Yeah I do." I replied and she nodded.
"Okay then, fair warning, these guys have amazing hearts, but they are… different and I mean different as in the world would not accept them if they saw these guys. They're important to me and I just want to make sure you'll be cool when you meet them." she explained. I gave her a slight frown, feeling mildly offended.
"Do you think I'm one to judge people or something? Come on April I'd like to think I never gave that sort of vibe about me." I said and she nodded.
"I know. They're my family and I just know when you meet them you will first be uncomfortable." she said as we stopped at my door. I looked at her still with confusion.
"You want to tell me who they are so I can prepare myself at least?" I asked. Since she didn't respond to my question about where we were meeting them, aka the sewers, I did start to feel hesitant. She just looked down and then up at me.
"They're four brothers who hate bullies and love this city. I hope that'll be enough for you." she said. I could tell from how protective she was being that she cared for these individuals. They must really be important to her. I looked down still feeling uncertain but I nodded up at her.
"Well if you trust them then I'll go off of that." I replied. She smiled and nodded.
"Good. We'll be back around dark." she said turning and walking down the hall. I tilted my head.
"We?" I asked and she nodded glancing back at me.
"Yeah Eva, Lillian, and Anna are dating them remember. We figured you'd feel more comfortable if we were there." she said.
"You make it sound like these guys are some foreign creatures who have to stay hidden from the world or something." I replied. She merely waved.
"See you in a few hours!" she called back. I was left standing in the hall, mind filled with questions. Guess I'd get answers tonight. I moved back inside and did what I could to pass the time. I tidied up, ate, then showered. I even watched some TV for a bit. Once the sun went down, I got a text from April letting me know she was on her way. I couldn't help but be excited. I would be meeting real heroes who saved the planet! That may have been the only reason I was still willing to go back out after all the weird conversations had around meeting these guys. I had on some black leggings, a pair of brown hiking boots, and an old faded pink hoodie.
There was a knock on my door and after checking, I opened the door to see April and the three other women. Eva was in a brown jacket and white shirt and blue jeans. Lillian wore a black hoodies and grey sweats. The other woman, Annaliese was in a white tank, black leather jacket, and black jeans. I stepped out and smiled at the women I did know.
"Hey." I said and they replied with hey's and hi's. April looked at Anna.
"Teleya this is Annaliese. Anna, Teleya." she introduced. We shook hands and she smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Teleya." she said.
"Likewise." I replied. Well if a cop was dating one of these guys, I felt a bit better about meeting them now. The five of us walked down the hall. Lillian and Eva were talking and I just remained quiet as April and Anna would chime in with a question or response. We got into her jeep and took off. Eva sat in the passenger side, April was to my left and Anna was to my right. Eva turned to me.
"You're going to have so much fun tonight. You like pizza?" she asked. I nodded smiling politely.
"Yeah." I replied.
"Favorite topping?" she asked.
"Pepperoni." I replied. Her eyes sparkled at my answer as she looked at April and Anna.
"Huh, who else do we know likes pepperoni?" she teased. April laughed almost nervously.
"Hey it's a popular topping." she said. Lillian suddenly gasped.
"Oh my song's on!" she said turning up the volume of the music. I knew the song. Immediately both girls started singing.
"It's cuffin' season, and all the girls are leavin' to get a big boy, I need a big boy, give me a big boy!" they sang. I smiled and swayed enjoying the music. April laughed and swayed with me and Anna just moved her head from side to side.
Although I was enjoying the music, I noticed we drove only a few blocks into the city, before Lillian parked in what looked like an abandoned parking lot. There were a few cars, but still pretty empty.
"Here's our stop." Eva said as the Jeep was cut off. The girls got out and I followed. I definitely didn't feel a hundred percent about this, but I trusted April. I trusted she would never do anything to hurt me. She gave me a smile and motioned for me to follow the group of women across the street toward an alleyway. Once we were there, Anna and Lillian moved to a manhole cover and they pushed it aside. Okay they were serious about going into the sewers. I looked at April stunned.
"We're really going into the sewers?" I asked and she nodded.
"We are. Come on where's your sense of adventure?" she asked and one by one the ladies weren't down. Anna glanced at me before entering.
"Don't worry, once you get through the smell, it'll all be worth it." she said before climbing down. I looked at April who was going over towards it. I grabbed her hand.
"April…" I said, my voice expressing worry. She paused and looked at me.
"I bet your stomach is tightening and your heart is pounding from nervousness. Your intuition is probably telling you this is a bad idea because of our environment and because it's dark. I felt the same way at one point." she said before looking at my hand and giving it a squeeze. "Trust me, Teleya. If they could live anywhere else, they would." I gave a gentle wince wondering who these guys were, but she was right. I felt everything she described. I looked over my shoulder seeing no one there before moving to follow her down into what I thought would be darkness but there wasn't. It was a large well-lit tunnel. The other women were smiling and waiting for us. I should have been worried, the smell alone down here was horrid, but they seemed to have adapted to it.
They must have been down here a lot.
"Mikey has the pizza!" Lillian said in a sing song voice.
"Did the boys decide on a movie yet?" Anna asked.
"I told Donnie I wanted action or horror." Eva replied.
"And I told Leo, I wanted romance, comedy or horror." Anna responded. Lillian glanced back at me.
"What kind of movies do you like, Leya?" she asked. Wow, already giving me a nickname. I didn't know how I felt about it, but I went with it as the talk of movies piqued my interest.
"Oh I like action, horror and comedies myself." I replied. Eva and Lillian smiled at each other as Anna looked at me.
"Well you'll fit right in with us then." she commented. I could hear the sound of rushing water up ahead and I could see the dark water moving through the sewer system. We turned a corner and kept walking. I guess it was time to finally ask some questions.
"So uh, why do your boyfriends stay in the sewers?" I asked. The girls didn't respond, except looked at each other before looking to Anna for a response. The cop looked at me.
"Our men, as much as they put their lives on the line for the city, know that they can't really have a normal life above. They were raised down here." she explained. I was shocked by the answer and my face showed it.
"Raised?" I asked. Eva looked at me, her hands in pockets as she strolled along.
"It's not as bad as it sounds. Each one has their own personalities and know that when they're ready, they can come above." she explained. I looked at Eva now.
"What makes them so different that they feel compelled to stay down here? Are they… deformed in some way?" I asked lowly and carefully not wanting to offend anyone. But the looks on their face showed understanding. Anna shrugged and nodded her head a bit.
"In a way yes." she said. I nodded and appreciated the honesty. As we walked I could hear noise up ahead… music and laughter. As the sounds got louder, the ladies all slowed down and paused, all four of them turning to me. Anna looked at me seriously.
"Once we introduce you to the boys, how you react is going to determine what happens next. If you feel too uncomfortable around them, we will understand. You just pull me to the side and let me know, and Lillian will take you home." she said. Oh now I was definitely nervous.
"We don't want you to be afraid or uncomfortable, but we would like honesty instead of making you be here when you don't want to be." Eva added.
"And if we take you home, you can never come back here. Hell if you want to turn back now you can." Lillian replied. I looked at all the women taking in their words and then looking at April to see she was just nodding with caring eyes still. I looked down in thought of all their words. Something told me they just wanted to protect their loved ones and I understood that. I looked up at them and nodded looking at April.
"You said their heroes. I'd still be honored to meet them." I replied. April smiled wider and nodded before looking at the other women who nodded and continued on.
"We're back and our guest is here!" Eva called out. I could have sworn I heard someone harshly whisper oh shit. What is the area not clean for company?
"Is the food here!" Lillian called out.
"You know I always have dinner ready when my baby comes home!" I heard an excited guy's voice say. Anna turned and held her hand up to me stopping.
"Wait here. April will bring you in on my call." she said and followed after Eva and Lillian. There were all kinds of lights up ahead and I looked at April confused.
"Well is she here?" a much thicker voice asked. Now I looked stunned. Was someone waiting for me or something.
"Yes. But I think she should see the lair first then you guys come in." I hear Anna reply.
"What then the pizza will get cold!" the happy voice said.
"Screw this, we're winging it." the voice that asked about me stated.
"Raph wait!"
Now forms were shooting across the air. I yelped jumping behind April who just stood there calmly as forms started to appear in the darkness four large forms to be exact. They were big and wide from what I could see. I looked over April's shoulder to stare down at two toed green feet. April slowly moved out of the way so their forms could walk toward me and beneath the lights. My head slowly lifted up at the large green creatures that were before me.
"Teleya… these are New York's heroes: Teenage mutant ninja turtles." she introduced. I was frozen in my spot just standing there taking in April's words and looking at all four of these large turtle creatures of she just introduced.
"Woah." I said and they each reacted in their own way. Eva and the girls approached standing beside each of them. Eva leaned next to the… turtle with a purple headband over his light green eyes with large goggles over his head. Aside from the large shell on his back, he had purple bands around his forearms, and what looked like a cellphone attached to a band on his forearms. This guy had muscle on him and I just let my eyes trail over his body relived to see he was wearing dark green pants. Beside the pair was Lillian and a slightly shorter turtle with an orange headband across his piercing blue eyes and he had a big grin on his face. He had a big chain around his neck with sunglasses and padded orange and black shorts. He placed his three fingered hand around her hip and she giggled leaning in to him. Beside them was a taller blue headbanded turtle with blue eyes and he stood with pride. His hands were wrapped with what looked like faded boxing tape around his hands with a blue belt and black pants. Like the other two he had insane muscle to him and is that a tattoo on his forearm?
Last was an even bigger turtle that I visibly gasped at the sight of him. He was definitely bulkier with a red bandana over his head and half of his left arm was padded with what looked like armor. He had the same light green eyes as the purple turtle, and I could see he had a scar over the side of his lip and a clef in his chin. He was staring at me a lot more intently then the others.
"You gonna faint?" April's voice made me jump and I looked at her.
"They're turtles." I whispered.
"Well she's observant." the purple turtle spoke.
"Give her some room guys, she looks to be in shock." the blue turtle said. Eva took a step forward.
"Just breathe Teleya." she said taking visible breaths as if to show me and I definitely made sure to breathe.
"Wow… these are your… boyfriends?" I asked finally looking from all of them to her and she nodded with a smile. Lillian elbowed the orange turtle in the side.
"Tell her!" she said. The orange turtle moved to the side and raised his hands toward the purple turtle.
"What's up! Donatello over there in the purple he's a tactical genius who is technically a genius!" he introduced and the purple turtle turned so his shell was facing us and gave a dramatic half turn making Eva giggle.
"How do you do!" he said before the orange turtle pointed to the blue turtle.
"This is Leonardo he's in the blue, fearless leader, silent but deadly!" he said of which the blue turtle nodded at me.
"I'm Michelangelo sporting my signature orange! I'm a triple threat: brains, brawn, and obviously a dazzling personality. Everyone calls me Mikey, but my lady calls me a sexy God!" he said and now the other three turtles groaned and Lillian chuckled and gave a flirtatious smile.
"Only when we're alone." she purred and Mikey looked shot a smirk right back at her.
"Heeey." he said before the turtle in the red cleared his throat bringing his attention back everyone. "And over there in the red is Raphael, he's like a big cuddly teddy bear if big cuddly teddy bears were incredibly violent."
I looked over at Raphael who looked down at me and gave a laid-back nod.
"Hey." he said coolly. I gave a soft and pleasant smile.
"Hi." I replied. April looked at the large turtles.
"Everyone this is Teleya Carmichael." she introduced. I looked at everyone now and cleared my throat and held up my shaking hand.
"Hello." I replied trying to keep myself under control. Oh my god these were turtles, big fucking turtles.
"Well now that introductions are out of the way, who wants pizza!" Mikey yelled happily. Lillian raised her hand.
"You already know I do!" she said and the orange turtle just lifted her up and ran off with her. Donatello followed.
"Hey keep it down, Master Splinter is already asleep. He said we can have guests but if you're too loud they'll have to go!" he said with a harsh whisper. Eva chuckled and followed. I looked April.
"There's another turtle?" I asked and she shook her head.
"No. Splinter is their teacher and father figure. He's a mutated rat. You'll meet him another time." she said. I just nodded slowly at her. A mutant rat. Great. Leonardo looked at Anna taking her hand and looking at me.
"Welcome, Teleya." he said before turning and walking with Anna, his arm around her shoulder. Now that was left was April and I… and Raphael who was just standing there like a hulking figure looking at me.