Ch 35. Reflections of the Mind
The ride home was a quiet one, Leo stared out the window, thinking about what had happened in the last several hours. The words his aunt had said in his father's study continued to haunt him, he had wanted so desperately to confront her but now he knew that could never happen. Even though Splinter had not actually told him about her death, the look in his eyes when he had wanted to leave to speak with her told him everything he needed to know.
As soon as they arrived home, Leo followed the Hamatos inside, they were all exhausted and in need of a long rest. After the four turtles walked up the stairs, Raph watched Leo slowly make his way over to the guest room. He wanted so desperately to say something to him, to let him know how much he wanted to be there for him.
"Leo…." Raph stared at Leo as the older turtle slowly turned to look at him, his eyes were blood shot and he looked so much older than normal, "I.."
"Leo!" Mikey ran over, followed slowly by Donnie. Mikey wrapped his arms around Leo and cried into his shoulder, "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your aunt." He whispered, "I'm so gonna miss her."
At first, Leo hesitated to hug Mikey back, but the longer Mikey held him, the more Leo found himself pressing Mikey harder against him. "I'll miss her too Mikey;" He whispered, "Thank you."
Donnie placed a hand on Leo's arm, "We're sorry about your dad too Leo," He said in a soft voice but Leo shook his head.
"Thanks D," Leo said as Mikey slowly released Leo. "But personally I hope he's rotting in hell."
Donnie and Mikey nodded slowly at him then slowly walked to his room. After their doors had closed, Raph went over to Leo and placed a hand on his shoulder, "She came over the house and spoke with my fath….with Saki," Leo whispered, "I heard everything she said and that's how I found out what he was doing," Leo swallowed hard. "He was blackmailing her and she knew….SHE KNEW…" Leo started crying harder as the weight of day finally crashed on him. Raph brought him into a hug and held him for several long seconds. "It's not fair Raph!' Leo screamed, "I'm all alone now, I have no one!"
Raph pushed Leo slightly away from him and gave Leo a stern look, "Yes you do Leo," Raph told him adamantly, "You have me and the rest of my crazy family, and you have our friends and..." he placed his hand underneath his chin, "And so much more then you did before." They wrapped their arms around each other into a fierce hug. "She called us you know," Raph said as he brought Leo into his room; Leo sniffed and looked at Raph as they sat on the bed. "She wanted us to help you and tried to tell us what was going on but…." Raph lowered his eyes, "She never got that chance."
Leo nodded, "There were several times I think she wanted to tell me but she was so scared." The two turtles laid on the bed and wrapped their arms around each other. They spoke for a several minutes about what had happened and what needed to happen in the next few days before finally drifting off to sleep.
The news of Irma's death quickly spread among the faculty and students of Roosevelt high and on Sunday, many of the Hamatos friends and their teachers came to the house to pay their respects, but even with so many people surrounding him, Leo felt very much alone.
"We're going to dedicate the championship game to her Leo," Spike told him, "Will you be able to make it?"
"I'm going to be there," Leo assured, "But I don't know about playing yet."
"We know with your dad's and your aunt's passing things got to be weighing heavily on you Leonardo," Slash added, "But it won't be the same unless your there."
Leo smiled at them and nodded, "I'll do what I can," He put his fist up for a fist bump, "thanks guys."
"So what happened with Leo's dad?" Casey asked Raph as they watched the turtle walk around the room speaking and acknowledging the guest, but Raph could still see the detached look in Leo's eyes.
Raph and his brothers quickly explained all that had happened that Friday night. "But for Leo's sake, as far as anyone else is concerned Saki just died in the explosion, nothing else."
"Yeah, and since it can't be proven otherwise, Ms. Langinstein's death is going to be nothing more than a robbery gone wrong." Donnie added angrily.
"It just doesn't seem right," Mikey whispered as Renet brought him into a hug.
On Monday, Leo decided to skip school and speak with the police regarding everything that had happen. Raph had wanted to go with him but Leo would not hear of it, "I'll be okay Raph," He told him, "You go to school and give my regards to everyone."
"Okay babe," Raph said as he rubbed his thumb over Leo's cheek, "Just remember, Dr. Rockwell wants to see you this afternoon and start checking into the drug that bastard shot you up with."
Leo gave a small smile and, with a nod, watched Raph and his brothers go off to school. Shortly after, Leo got on the bus and made his way downtown. After speaking with the police, he went to the morgue to say goodbye to his aunt, he stared down despondently at her form for several long moments before finally bending down and giving her a tender kiss goodbye. "Rest in Peace Auntie" He whispered as he straightened up to leave.
He then made arrangements with the local funeral parlor to have his Aunt cremated and have the services set up for the coming weekend. Afterwards, he took the subway to TCRI and spoke with Dr. Rockwell.
"Although the small amount of blood I got from Raphael's shirt was a help in determining what was happening to you at that time," he was saying as he withdrew Leo's blood, "I want to verify if the drug is still doing anything to your system." He placed a band aid on Leo's arm. "I believe Raphael said your father had been giving you shots since you were five years old, is that correct?" Leo nodded. "Then you're blood was compromised and that can do quite a bit to one's DNA as they get older."
"But I've been feeling fine up until Stockman gave me my most recent shot." Leo reminded him.
"Yes; and that drug he gave you was meant to enhance your system so that you would have extreme healing abilities as well as your strength, hearing and vision would all be above normal." Rockwell stated as he placed the vials of Leo's blood in a box to be sent to the lab. "But we want to make sure it doesn't do the opposite and start to break down your system instead."
Leo stood and made his way toward the door. "When do you think you'll have the results?"
"It will take a few days and then we'll get in touch with you." He told him as he escorted Leo out of his office. Before Leo left, Dr. Rockwell put a hand on him and made him turn to look at him, "Leonardo," He began with sincerity in his eyes, "You have gone through a lot these past few days," Leo nodded stoically as the monkey pleaded with him, "Please go home and rest, give yourself time to accept all that's happened to you."
"I may at some point come to terms with what's happened to me Dr. Rockwell," Leo told him as he started toward door, "But I don't know if I'll ever accept it." With that, Leo walked out the door and made his way back to the Hamato home.
The next few days seem to go by slowly for Leo, he went to school and did his best to sit in each of his classes and pay attention to what his teachers were doing, but it was difficult and the end of the week couldn't come fast enough. When Saturday came, Leo stood before many teachers and students from Roosevelt high and gave the eulogy at his aunt's funeral. He spoke slowly and his voice sounded tired. After thanking several of the guests for coming, a tall thin man stepped forward to speak with him. It was his Aunt's boyfriend, Vern Fenwick, and in his hands he held a large envelope.
"Hello Leonardo," the human greeted him as they shook hands, "How are you holding up son?"
"Hello Mr. Fenwick," Leo returned the greeting, "I'm doing the best I can, how 'bout you?"
Vern nodded and looked down sadly. "We do what we can to make it through." He replied. "I just wanted to tell you Leonardo, you know your aunt loved you very much and…" Leo watched as Vern seemed to hesitate with what he wanted to tell him, "Well…" He handed Leo the envelope, "She sent this to me the day she was murdered," He told him as Leo took the envelope, "It's addressed to me but the contents are for you." Leo furrowed his eye ridges. "It probably has something to do with her estate." Vern continued.
"Her estate?" Leo questioned.
Vern chuckled lightly, "Yes, your aunt was an heiress," Leo looked at Vern in surprise, "You didn't know?"
"I had no idea," Leo replied.
"Her Grandmother was a rich widow, left a load of money to her two children, Irma's mom being one of them and after she passed, Irma got what was left which was, from what I understand, millions of dollars." Leo continued to stare at the envelope in disbelief. Vern's hand on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. "If there is anything I can ever do for you Leonardo,"
"Thank you Mr. Fenwick," He replied and nodded toward Raph and his family, "But I think I'll be okay."
After the services were finally over, Leo walked to the car with Raph at a slow pace, his mind elsewhere as he processed what Vern had told him. "What's in the envelope babe?" Raph asked; attempting to get Leo out of this strange mood he was in.
"Something from my Aunt," He said as he got into the car, "I'll open it when we get home."
They got to the house a few minutes later and Leo opened the envelope, inside was a small cassette tape along with photos and various papers and a letter addressed specifically to Leo. "What is all this?" Mikey asked as they sorted through the papers.
"Bunch of pictures and papers with a lot of strange writing on it," Splinter muttered as he assisted in sorting through things.
"Look at this photo," Donnie told them. "It's a picture of your dad Leo," He said as Leo picked up the picture. "It looks like he's talking to some men."
"Here's one with him and the purple dragons." Mikey said. "And another with him and that guy Stockman and Bradford."
Raph picked up some of the pictures, "I recognize some of these people but not all of them." He peered hard at the photos, "It looks like some of these men are loading or unloading large shipping crates."
"Donatello," Splinter handed him the other papers. "Can you make any sense of these?"
Donnie looked it over and his eyes widen in astonishment. "These are lab reports of the chemicals Stockman was using to make that drug you were shot up with Leo." He continued to read over the information. "It goes into everything he's ever done to you since you were five years old." He began to gather up the papers and photos. "We should get this to Dr. Rockwell," He advised. "I wonder how she got these things?"
They turned to look at Leo who was reading a single white piece of paper. His eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears as he silently read. "Leo?" Raph placed a hand on his arm, "What is it?"
Leo handed Raph the paper and the green eyed turtle looked it over. "It's from Irma." He said and cleared his throat.
My darling Leonardo,
If you are reading this then I am probably no longer around but I can only hope I did everything I could to get you away from your father before he could do any further harm to you. To start off with, I just want to tell you how very sorry I am for all that has happened. I knew long before your mother became ill what your father was doing to you, but because of my foolishness I could not tell you anything for fear he would kill me. At one time in my life, I was married to a very abusive man, Saki found out and offered me a way out. He arranged for my husband to be 'taken care of' and I was only too happy to let it happen. I bought the gun that killed him and for the last twelve years, Saki has held that over me.
The photos I left you shows your father with the three men who killed my husband along with other people Saki has been involved with doing illegal activity for years. Your mother became suspicious of him and started following him in order to prove everything he was doing, but unfortunately she could not go to the police because Saki had contacts in the department so she sent everything to me in hopes I could do something, but she didn't realize Saki had already tied my hands. Even after she became ill I still wouldn't do anything because of everything Saki had over me.
So now I leave this to you. Please find someone who you can give this information to. I know it's unfair of me to put all this on your shoulders and I know you must hate me for everything you now know but I pray you find it in your heart to forgive me. I know I've done you and your mother, (may she rest in peace), a terrible wrong but I truly hope you know, that no matter what, I love you very much.
All my love, Aunt Irma.
Everyone looked at Leo as the tears fell down his cheeks. "I knew she was being blackmailed." He told them, "I heard everything that night," He shook his head, "Why couldn't she just come to me, tell me everything that was going on?"
Splinter placed a hand on his shoulder, "Would you have believed her if she had?"
"I don't know," He whispered.
"She did try to make amends Leonardo," Splinter said, "You must find a way to forgive her and move on with what she did."
Leo nodded and stood to go upstairs. "I will Sensei," He smiled at him then took a breath. "I'm really tired, I think I would just like to go to bed now."
"Leo," Raph gave him back Irma's letter, "She left information for you to contact her lawyer regarding her will."
Leo nodded, "We'll give these photos and this tape to Rockwell, see if he has someone he trust he can give all this stuff to." The others nodded at him. "I'll call the lawyer on Monday after school."
The following Saturday, The Vikings faced off against the Panthers in the championship game of the season. Spike raced down the court with the ball dodging the other team as he attempted to make the basket before the final buzzer. As he jumped up to shoot the ball, a player from the other team stole the ball and quickly made his way to the other basket. Leo along with the rest of the team, determined not to let the Panthers win, quickly chased after him, and as the player jumped up, Leo caught his hand, but the ball was already sailing toward the basket, everyone in the gymnasium watched with fear and anticipation as the ball began to swirl along the rim, and just as the buzzard sounded, the ball fell off the rim missing the basket completely allowing the Vikings to win by one point.
Everyone in the gym yelled in triumphant uproar as the Vikings rejoiced in their victory. Leo looked up at Raph and his family and gave them a thumb's up. He looked over at the scoreboard and smiled widely, "That was for you Aunt Irma," he whispered as he made his way to the locker room.
An hour later, Leo stood in his room and stared at the urn that kept his aunt's ashes. "I do forgive you Auntie," he said as he placed a loving hand on the container, "Rest in peace and know…" Leo swallowed hard. "I love you too."