Raphael
"Make sure that door is shut as far as it can go. It won't shut all the way for some reason and I'm not tryin' to let any freeloaders waltz in and take my spot," Casey said, and they all went out.
"On it," Mikey said, and closed the door, but it slowly opened back up. Mikey then started to look around and grabbed a few cardboard boxes that were stacked up. Using the boxes, he managed to close the door slightly more but not all the way.
"It'll do for now. Come on, we ain't got all night," I said.
An hour-and-a-half later
"Anything little brother?" I asked. Mikey popped up from the dumpster.
"Not even a leftover slice of pizza," he said.
"Dammit!" I cursed, crossing my arms. "That's the fifth one straight."
"Not even in the garbage two blocks down. Why is it they say that people are wasteful, but we can never find it when we need it?" Casey asked.
"What are we gonna do now?" Mikey asked.
"I guess we'll just have to skip dinner. We've gotta get better with not eating our food all at once, Mikey." I said.
"Awwww," he whined.
"I'm sorry I can't spare any more food," Casey said.
"It's fine, Jones. Thanks anyway. I guess we can head back to…"
"I already told your other buddies that I ain't interested!" a voice shouted.
"Look. All you gotta do to make my friends here go away is to pay us your annual protection fund. It's as simple as that." another voice said.
"I ain't payin' you jack!"
"I wouldn't try any funny business if I were you. Someone could get hurt," the second voice said. The group went quiet. I pulled out Celia while Casey tip-toed over towards the street where he saw a small grocery store with a grocer standing in front of the door that was wide opened with two kids hiding by his side.
"Dragons," Casey hissed.
"If that's the way you want it," the leader said. He nodded, and four guys went inside and started vandalizing the store.
"Get the hell out of my store before I call the cops!" the grocer warned. Suddenly, one of the group members hit the man with a baseball bat that knocked him out cold right in the middle of the doorway.
"Daddy!" the two kids yelled.
"Oh hell no!" Casey said and ran towards the store.
"Mikey, stay here. No, wait! Run back to the hideout and stay there until we come back. Make sure the bags are ready to go," I said, and ran after him. Casey put on his hockey mask before running in there and throwing a hockey puck at the one that knocked the grocer out.
"GOONGALA!" he shouted, before jumping, and hitting the guy closest to the door right in the gut that made him fall over.
'Who do you think you are? Mikey?' I thought as I ran inside too. I aimed Celia at one of the guys, but suddenly my eyes went wide.
All of a sudden, I was back in our so-called bedroom sitting on the window sill. Mary was standing in front of Mikey holding up a belt.
No! She's gonna hit him!
The next thing I know, the scene changed and Mary fell backward and hit her head on the side of the shelf hung up on the wall. She went down limp and the shelf fell on top of her hard. Blood seeped down her head and Mikey looked at me with horror.
'What the hell happened?" I asked myself, and looked down and saw my hands were stretched out in the direction where Mary hit the shelf. She didn't make a noise or move.
"Is she dead?!" Mikey asked. Oh, God. I killed someone. I KILLED SOMEONE! What have I done?! Then my baby brother looked at me. The color in his face faded and panic flared in his eyes; a panic that was aimed right at me.
NO!
I pulled myself together and looked at Celia. I pictured blood staining her and shivered at the thought. Unconsciously, I put her in my pocket and turned my attention to Casey who was surrounded by the three dragons.
"Pass me somethin', Jones!" I said. I would use Celia only if I absolutely had to. Casey looked like he was doing just fine. He reached into his bag and threw me some type of stick with a flat piece of wood.
"What the heck is this thing?" I asked.
"Cricket bat," he said, going towards the other guy.
"Cricket?! Do I look frickin' British to you?" I asked. That's when Casey tried to use his hockey stick to hit him, but the other guy dodged. He then kicked Casey's back, causing him to fall over hard. That's when I ran over and hit the guy's head with my cricket bat. The guy fell to his knees, while Casey took out his bat to deliver the final blow. He kept hitting him even blood started to stain the bat.
"Come on Case. Enough!" I said, pulling him back. Then a big buff guy with yellow blonde hair, and a purple dragon tattoo, and a symbol on his chest that looked like a foot of some kind on whatever shirt he was wearing.
"You two wanna play games?" he asked us.
"Hun," Casey hissed. Then he started cracking his knuckles.
"Give me your best shot." Both of us started to run at him at an angle, but he pushed me away and then kicked Casey away on the other side. Both of us got back up, and Casey pulled out a hockey stick and puck. Afterward, he tossed the puck in the air and swung at it hitting Hun right in the face. That turned his attention on Casey leaving me open to jump and hit his head.
All of a sudden, we heard the sound of glass shattering. It all fell to the ground and a loud alarm sounded. I looked over and saw Mikey picking up more rocks and throwing them at Hun. As soon as they all heard the alarm, the two that we hit first got up and started to run off.
"Where do you idiots think you're goin'? Deal with these two while I take care of our little problem," Hun said. The thugs we fought earlier were slowly getting up while Hun started walking towards Mikey outside.
"Uh….hi?" Mikey said, slowly backing away.
"RUN, YOU IDIOT!" I screamed, running towards him, but one of the robbers from before grabbed my jacket and slammed me to the ground. Mikey started to run off, but Hun was faster and grabbed the hood of his jacket pulling him towards him and squeezing his shoulders.
"You messed with the wrong…wait, I know you. Your Mary's little brat ain't ya?"
"Get off me!" Mikey yelled, trying to kick Hun, but that did nothing due to Hun's big body.
"You know, Mary and I were just havin' this conversation about you. There's a big reward goin' around for information about you or your brother. But imagine what they'll give me when I hand you right over to them. Especially after the beat down, you're gonna get," Hun explained.
"Raph! Help!" Mikey screamed. I struggled with all my might until I turned my body around and wrapped my legs around the guy's waist. He reached for me, but I grabbed his wrists and kicked him off me while he was distracted. We both got back up and kicked him in the groin to take him down. Then I ran out of the store towards Hun with the Cricket bat. I hit the guy in the neck, which caused him to drop Mikey, and turned around to face me.
"Looks like I'll get double the reward. Must be my lucky day," Hun said.
"Not quite. NOW, CASEY!"
All of a sudden, Hun screamed and fell to the ground stunned. I looked over and saw Casey holding out his left glove with some kind of taser attached to his thumb electrocuting this Hun guy. Mikey wasted no time in getting up and running off. Suddenly we heard police sirens in the distance. "Let's go!" Casey yelled and run off.
"Right," I said, and I ran after them.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
"Nice job with the rocks, kid" Casey said after we stopped running. All of us were panting not far from the hideout. Suddenly I smacked Mikey's head.
"Ow!" he whined.
"And that's for not listening to me!" I snapped.
"I wasn't just gonna leave you," Mikey whined.
"Next time I tell ya ta do somthin' you better do it!" I warned. "Let's move." We all ran and started to make our way back towards the warehouse.
"Hey, Raph," Casey said.
"What?"
"Thanks for the backup back there. I heard those kids screaming and I just….well I couldn't help myself. Those kids were younger than I was when the fire happened to my old man's place."
"Don't start gettin' all wishy-washy on me, Jones. Thanks for helpin' me with that Hun guy," I said.
"Oh, that was my pleasure. He and I go way back. He was the one who was responsible for startin' that fire at my old man's place," Casey explained.
"Ok good. So now we're even," I said.
"Guess we are," Casey chuckled and held out his fist. The both of us fist-bumped, and we all started walking towards the entrance.
Suddenly we heard people talking in front of us. All of us looked at each other and pushed ourselves against the ally wall inching towards where the warehouse door was. I carefully looked out and saw some cops patrolling the area.
"185 to Sergeant 63. My partner and I are 10-23 (arrived at scene), and we're beginning to search around for any signs of the boys a few blocks away from where they were last seen," one officer said.
"10-4. More backup is on the way," a reply was heard.
"Sh**! They're on to us," I whispered.
"How do we get back inside?" Mikey said.
"Casey? You got another way up there?" I asked.
"Not to my floor. It's an old building with only one way in and out unless you forgot to tell me you're Spiderman," Casey joked. "What's up there that we need?"
"The map of the city and the notes I've made about springing Donnie," I said.
"Can't we just get another map?" Mikey wondered.
"They're desperate to find us. If they find those plans, we'll never be able to get Donnie or escape the city," I explained.
"Do you really think they'll search the hideout? No one has ever found you in there before, right Casey? What if we come back later when there aren't as many cops?" Mikey suggested.
"Not unless they find out that the door in front of all those cardboard boxes doesn't shut. Cops have some dumb law where they can search whatever or wherever they want just because they can," Casey said.
"That's not fair! How come when we do it, we go to jail, but they don't have to?" Mikey asked.
"No time for stupid questions," I said. "I'm pretty sure Chelsea's that way," I said, pointing towards the direction where the cops were patrolling. "I can stay in the shadows pretty well. Casey, you and Mikey start heading south, I'll catch up with you after I grab our stuff."
"Where?" Casey asked.
"I don't know. What's around here that isn't dangerous or won't be surrounded by tourists?" I asked.
"I'll take him two blocks down from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Just stay on 3rd avenue and we'll meet up on 87th street," Casey said.
"Deal."
"But Raph…" Mikey whined.
"Don't worry," I said, putting my hand on his shoulder. "I'm gonna be right behind you. Stick with Casey, and he better take care of you, or I'll break every bone in his body," I said glaring at him.
"You're threatening me now?" he asked.
"Of course not. I'm promising you what will happen if there's so much as a paper cut on him, Jones," I said, glaring at him.
"Fine. Come on, kid," Casey said. Mikey looked back at me still unsure.
"Save me some food when you get there," I told him, and his face lit right up. "Make sure you…"
"Yeah yeah," Mikey said, putting his hood up.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Donatello
10:28 AM
Murakami's place
"Okay, okay! Let me try that again," I said and cleared my throat. "Kon'nichiwa, watashi no namae Donatello…No, wait! Watashi no namae wa Donatello desu."
"Hai! Donatello ni o ai dekite koueidesu," Mr. Yoshi said, as he was painting the wall to the right of the bar area. I froze and just looked at him. Then he started laughing.
"I said 'I'm honored to meet you, Donatello" he explained.
"Yes!" I cheered. "You said hai first though, right? Doesn't that mean yes?"
"It does. Very good," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Though if I may Donatello. If you ever go to Japan and say that, some people may pronounce your name as Donaterro," Mr. Murakami said.
"Donaterro? Why? It's Donatello," I said.
"The L sound simply does not exist in Japanese," Mr. Yoshi explained.
"Really?"
"Well…at least not the way you pronounce it. Rs and Ls sound very similar in Japanese. Some people even have a difficult time telling the difference between the sounds," Mr. Murakami explained.
"I struggled with that quite a bit when I was learning English as a child," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Why is learning this so hard? I was up all last night trying to learn how to start writing in Japanese. There were just so many rules and symbols that mean different things and that was just the basics…" suddenly my phone started to vibrate. "Not. Again!" I complained. Mr. Yoshi laughed at me, and I quickly ran outside to reassure Ms. Adams. After I was done, I ran back inside to Mr. Yoshi and Murakami-san talking.
"…the first time I've heard so much joy in your voice since we first met on the boat," Murakami-san said.
"I'm afraid I do not know what you are talking about," Mr. Yoshi said, and immediately went back to painting.
"I assume that was your mother's check-up?" Murakami-san asked.
"Yes. I'm really going to have a conversation with her when I get home," I whined, and went back over to painting my spot on the wall. I put more paint on my roller and continued with my section. I happened to look over and noticed Mr. Yoshi painting his section very slowly. It was then that I noticed the bags under his eyes looked worse than before. He looked more miserable than the day we met in that ally.
"Mr. Yoshi?" I asked. He didn't answer me. "Mr. Yoshi?" I said again louder.
"Yes, Donatello?" he said, suddenly snapping out of his daze.
"Uh…..nothing," I said, and turned away from him.
"Would you like me to take a look at your book with you after we finish painting this wall, Donatello?" Mr. Yoshi asked.
"Would you?! Uh…I mean, I suppose we can after we get all the work done," I said.
"Of course!" he said. "I may have only known you for a few days, but you seem like a clever boy. I have confidence that you'll understand our native language with some practice in no time," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Thanks, Mr. Yoshi. Wait, this all isn't about me. I'm sorry Murakami-san. I'll stop talking," I said, and went back to get more paint feeling my cheeks burning.
"Don't worry yourself, Donatello. In fact, you know so much about us, but I'm afraid I don't know that much about you," Murakami-san said.
"Oh. Well, there's not much to tell about me," I said.
"I am quite interested in you as well. Why don't you start with your family and what you enjoy doing for fun in this city," Mr. Yoshi suggested.
"M-my family?" I mumbled and froze where I was. "Well….my mom was uh…..s-she was born and raised in Chelsea and so was I. I never knew my father, but I don't need one. It's always been just me and mom a-and I'm happy with that. She even takes in foster kids while they're waiting to reunite with their parents, or until the state can find them a home," I said. I mean that's basically the truth.
"That's very admirable of her," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Y-yeah. S-she basically lets me wander off and hang out with my friends as long as I'm back by a certain time and check in often. I don't mean this dumb 'every half-hour thing,' but if she knows the area, she'll only check in every few hours."
"I would love for her to stop by after I open up. She can bring your whole family including those she fosters," Murakami-san said.
"I'll…..I'll let her know," I said. I'd have to have a long talk with the other kids about what not to talk about in front of them first.
About a half-hour later, the walls were finally finished painting, and we all were sitting on the little stools talking.
"Now let's take a look at that book. Murakami-san, may we borrow a pencil and some paper?"
"Of course. Help yourselves while I prepare us some lunch before Donatello has to leave," he said.
"Murakami-san, I hope I'm not making you waste your food; especially since I'm not paying for it," I said, as Mr. Yoshi got the pencil and paper.
"Absolutely not. As I said yesterday, it's the least I can do to thank you for helping me," he said. That's when Mr. Yoshi sat next to me with a few pencils and paper.
"Japanese may seem intimidating, but similar to how certain letters together make a particular sound in English; certain Japanese characters represent different sounds or things. There are three types of writing scripts that we use."
"Why three? What was wrong with just one?" I asked, as he made two lines on the paper making three different columns.
"Not important. As I was saying, the three types are hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and kanji (漢字)," he explained and wrote each type in one of the three columns with some Japanese writing. "Hiragana is what you'll most often encounter when reading Japanese as it's the primary way used to represent Japanese words. Katakana are words that we stole from other languages; most of the characters are Chinese."
"Chinese? Why would you steal characters from China? Don't you guys have a big rivalry with China or something?"
"We absolutely do. Don't interrupt!" he warned.
"Sorry," I said.
"And kanji are symbols that represent a single word, but similar to English, single kanji characters can have multiple meanings. We won't focus on kanji until you are a little more familiar with Japanese. For now, we'll focus on hiragana and katakana. Your first lesson is to write this:
ドナテッロ
He handed me a piece of paper and a pencil. I took the pencil and copied what was already written down. When I was done, I looked at him.
"Your first character doesn't have dots on the top, it's more like two small lines like this," Mr. Yoshi said, and stood up to stand behind me. He then grabbed my right wrist still holding the pencil, and traced the first character with me. True to his word, the dots on the first character were more of a small line that reminded me of when I would paint something. Then he moved on to the next one.
"It looks like a lowercase 'T' but the bottom couldn't go down straight," I commented.
"Make sure the bottom and this part in the middle stop at the same point. I should be able to take a ruler and measure if they match or not," he continued. Afterward, we moved on. "I know it looks like it, but these two lines are not the same length. The top one is just a little bit shorter, and make sure your line at the bottom is sharper like you did with the previous character. The next one, your corners are too sharp. It's just a small almost straight line like this." I wrote it with him guiding me and then he let go of my wrist.
"So I basically did everything wrong," I said.
"Yes. I will accept the last one you did though," he said.
"Great. The only thing I know how to do right in Japanese is make a square. Please tell me what I wrote is the most difficult thing I'll ever have to write," I said. He just looked at me.
"It was not a bad attempt to write your name for the first time, Donatello," he said. With that, I just rested my head on the table.
And that's all for now. Sorry to make you guys wait for long but I just started my Master's program and that includes an internship two days a week. Luckily I'm on break now for a little while.
Happy Holidays to all and I'll see you in 2022!
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LaurenHardy13