Here's the next one. Enjoy!
It was a great August day. Touma was at home with Hector. The now five year old boy was playing with a mixture of toys outside. Touma, getting used to playing with him, decided to sit down.
"Touma, you can play Donatello and Raphael." The boy said, "Oh and you get Mr. Bucket."
"Of course." Touma said, after being handed the same toys he has become used to, "So what are the Turtles doing today?"
"Saving April from Megatron and Mr. Bucket. Wham! Oh no, Mr. Buckets is spitting out fire balls!"
Touma laughed, "I am the evil Mr. Bucket! I'm here to spit balls and eat them again."
"He can't say that."
"Why not?"
"He's the bad guy." Hector said, giving Touma a look.
"Fine, I'll take it back."
They were waiting for Carla to return from work before heading out. They had planned a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle birthday party for the boy. Touma had called his father to get some money for more 'books' to help his girlfriend out with the party. Although he wasn't allowed to work, his father would still send some money. Touma usually spent it on Hector or some random new book, instead of college things.
"Mueren las Tortugas!" Hector yelled, with Megatron in one hand and Michelangelo in another.
Holding Raphael, Touma made a smart-aleck remark.
"Touma that wasn't a good word."
The warrior of Tenku laughed, "He totally swears in the comics, but the kid show is good for you, I know."
Hearing a couple of doors slam, Touma heard Carla and her mother arguing about something in Spanish. Hector seemed to ignore it as they came closer.
"Mama, Grand-mama; Touma got me another Turtle. I have all four now!"
"That's nice of Touma. Did you say thank you?" Carla gave Touma a small smile.
"Si, Mama."
"Good," she turned to Touma, "We need to talk later. I prefer when Hector is in busy."
"Yeah." Touma said.
Her mother, Sophia, gave him a nasty look.
Piling into Carla's small car, they drove to a pizza place.
"Party, party!" Hector was calling out from the back seat.
Touma felt a bit jealous, knowing that all he got for his fifth birthday was a book, but the boy ran into the restaurant to meet with friends. He could help but laugh. Carla sighed. As he and Carla walked in, Hector quickly ran over.
"Touma, there's ninja turtles everywhere!"
"Cowabunga dude." Touma said.
"Cowabunga!" the boy yelled.
"It's a good thing there's plenty of room for them to run around in." Carla said, "Do you have many places like this in Japan?"
"Some, but I never went. I was apparently too smart for them." Touma had his arms crossed, "What's with your mother? She seems angry at me."
"Oh, she's angry with me too." Carla said.
"Does it have to do with what you want to talk about?"
"Yes." Carla sighed, "It's not completely bad."
"Oh, that's good. I was starting to think that I had to move back to Japan."
"You may want to after I tell you."
"Spit it out then. It can't be that bad." Touma said holding her hand.
"I'm pregnant."
Touma gave her a blank stare, "Like one of my sperm and one of your eggs joined together in you and had now imbedded itself as a zygote in your uterus, pregnant?"
"Is there something else they didn't teach us in school that I should know?"
"No." Touma sighed, "Ah fuck. So what do we do now?"
"I don't know. I was hoping you stay, but if you decide to not stay, we'll survive."
"Are you kidding me? Sure I know nothing about taking care of a kid, but I can't just let you take care of it by yourself. Trust me; I know what it's like not having parents around all the time." Touma paused, "I have to apply for a different kind of visa, and take a test and stuff to become a citizen and to stay here."
"You're going to stay?"
"Sure, Los Angeles has grown on me. Although driving on the right side of the road still scares me."
"Touma, Touma, watch what I learned." Hector said running over, and placing his fingers to the side of his face, "Chinese, Japanese, Swiss cheese!"
"Hector!" Carla yelled, "You shouldn't do that. It's not nice."
"What?"
Touma laughed, "I don't look like that."
Carla then laughed. The boy took the time to run off.
"Sorry about that." Carla said.
Touma didn't say anything about it, "So, does this mean I can save money and not buy condoms?"
"Touma," Carla sighed, "This is a big responsibility. I almost didn't go to school because of Hector."
"I know." Touma said, deciding that humor wasn't the best idea for this moment, "We'll be fine. I'll work on campus, or I can charge others for tutoring. Our kid's going to eat raw fish and refried beans. It'll be great."
He received a gentle push.
The sun in Somalia was punishing Shin, while the ocean was teasing him. He would go swimming but there were too many sharks to attempt to. He was sitting in the sand with his shirt off, trying to stay cool, but also trying to enjoy the beach a bit. He was temporally on the American base waiting for his Pakistani counterpart to finish briefings. Colonel Amir Younis was a happy man, with a short beard. He was the doctor Shin was assigned to. The man stopped many times during the day for prayer, which he usually explained what he said to Shin afterwards. At first Shin didn't know how to take it all, but after a month and a half with the man, he was interested for knowledge's sake. Unknown to Shin, he was given the name Ameen. He didn't want to be rude and ask why he was given that name, but it bothered him a bit.
"Ameen, dear friend, we are finished here." The doctor said, walking out to him, "We shall return to the stadium. Come friend."
Grabbing his things, Shin followed. Before entering the armor vehicle, he put his boots and shirt on and then his helmet and vest.
"How was the sand Ameen?"
"Soft surprisingly. It reminds me of home. Just it is hotter outside."
"Good. Later today, we are going to provide the people medical care. I want to make sure you are feeling ready."
"I'll be ready." Shin said.
Shin heard his name called when they entered the old stadium. It was one of the soldiers he was stationed with. Although they couldn't communicate very well, Abdul always invited him to a card game.
"Come. Cards." Was what he usually said after Shin tried to teach him some English.
"Okay." Shin responded, following.
The last part of July, Shin had always watched them play. Eventually he figured out that they were playing rummy. Eager to play, he jumped into the game.
On the table was a plate of flat bread, water and a hookah. At first he didn't touch anything on the table, but as the days went by, he started to enjoy the bread with them.
Today though, he gladly ate the bread. He missed breakfast, and couldn't get anything at the American base.
"Ameen?" one of the soldiers, held a pipe from the hookah.
Shin declined. The game went on for a couple of hours with one of the other soldiers winning. When Colonel Younis came to get him, he was relaxed and laughing along.
"Come dear friend, we have a job to do."
Grabbing his things, Shin and the others followed. It was a short ride to the countryside. While Shin and Colonel Younis were to treat any injuries or sickness, the others that came were searching houses for weapons.
He was redressing shrapnel wounds on a kid when the Pakistani soldiers came back. From the looks of their faces, they found something serious.
"Ameen, friend, stay here."
Shin nodded. Looking out an opposite window from the others, he could see someone watching them. Shin couldn't make out many details. Trying to look like he hadn't seen the guy, Shin continued to make the boy laugh with faces. When he was finished, he walked out to let the doctor know. Next thing Shin knew, he was on the ground. Bells were ringing in his ears. The building he just left blew up, and collapsed. Seeing that the others were not firing back meant the rebels were not picking much of a fight with them, but trying to scare them.
Getting up, Shin was still staring at the building that blew up. He couldn't believe that he was in there one moment helping a young kid, and then suddenly it was all gone. Throwing down his blue helmet, Shin let out a growl.
"Friend," Younis was offering a cigarette, "It's not your fault."
In his anger, Shin took it. He immediately coughed making the officer laugh.
"Come, we are done here." The doctor said.
They both stopped when a couple of the soldiers brought a man to them. Shin couldn't help but notice it was the same guy that was watching them. But what stood out to him was the fact that the man had the snake tattoo, and was giving him a mocking look.
'They're still following me.' Shin thought.
When they returned to the old stadium, Shin followed the other soldiers back to the card game. For the rest of the night, the hookah was his friend.