Raphael
I hid in the alleyway watching the two officers closely as they searched every nook and cranny of the ally near the door to Casey's hideout. My heart was beating so fast and loud that I thought it would give me away.
"I can't believe those kids haven't been caught yet. It's embarrassing really. New York's Finest can't find two young teens that are wanted for questioning after running away," one officer said.
"I know. All the drug activity, crime, and I know they've gotta be short on food. Soon they might turn to steal, and it's hard to turn back once you start," a second officer said.
'You just let me worry about what I'm doing with my life and that of my brother's.' I thought. They were patrolling the alleyway searching every nook and cranny for a lead or something. Casey said there's no way to get up to the warehouse up top, so I'll just have to make them go away myself. Quickly, I ran over to the next ally over and found an old metal trash can and lid.
"Bingo," I muttered to myself. I carefully went over and picked up the trashcan lid. I walked backward a few steps and held it like a Frisbee. Finally, I swung it as hard as I could against the can and it made a loud noise.
"AHHH! HELP ME!" I yelled in my fakest girly scream ever. At the same time, I jumped up a nearby fire escape and started running up it as fast as I could. I made it towards the top and stayed in the shadows until I heard feet running.
"Hello?! Who's out there?!" I heard one of them say. They had their flashlights out and started scanning the alleyway. "NYPD! Come out with your hands up!" they yelled again.
'No chance,' I thought to myself. They walked past where I was hiding and started to scan the ally next to this one. After they were completely gone, I quietly came back down and went back over to Casey's Alley. I slid inside and made sure the boxes keeping it closed still looked like they didn't move. With that, I ran upstairs and packed up everything from the map of the city to Mikey's torn-up sketchbook. Everything else was left behind as it technically belonged to Casey and had no connection to us.
After that, I tip-toed back down and took a quick peek outside. I faintly heard the officers' voices talking to what sounded like an elderly lady, but the coast was clear. I pulled my hood up and quietly walked out of the building and slid the boxes back.
"Meow"
I looked down and saw that damn cat sitting in front of me glancing up at me.
"Mi-key!" I growled behind clenched teeth. "What do you want?" The cat then went back towards the door and started scratching at it. "Mikey ain't here. So scram!" I continued. With that, I pulled my hood up and made my way back onto the streets making sure to keep my head down as much as possible.
Michelangelo
One hour later
Casey and I got to the meeting spot an hour ago and had been sitting and waiting in the ally. I was sitting down and holding on tight to my legs shivering.
'What if Raph doesn't come back?'
'What if he can't find us?'
What if aliens invade earth and they kidnap Raph?'
'Or worse; what if he gets caught by the police and they separate us?! I'll be all alone forever!' Now I felt tears start to form in my eyes.
"Kid? Hey kid, relax. I'm sure Raph will be alright; at least I hope so," he said muttering the last part. With that, a few stay tears went down my face. Suddenly, I closed my eyes and tried to picture our mystery mom smiling at me as she wiped my tears away in my dreams.
Finally, someone wrapped their arms around me in my imagination. I gripped them hard as more tears ran down my face. I could practically smell the cherry blossoms on the person like a perfume.
"Mom," I whimpered.
"Shhhh. It's okay Michelangelo, everything will be alright," she said.
"The right family just hasn't found us yet," another voice said. I looked up and the black-haired faceless woman disappeared and took the form of a black-haired teen whose face I could actually see.
"L-Leo?"
"Don't you worry. I'm gonna make sure you have a Mama and Papa one day; I promise," he said.
"But…"
"No matter what it takes," he said mysteriously.
Suddenly, I was thrust back into the dark alley with Casey and shivering. Whether from being cold or fear, I couldn't say. That's when we heard someone running nearby getting very close to us.
"Who's out there?!" Casey asked, holding his bat.
"It's me, who else?" I heard Raph say.
"Raph!" I said, running up to him and hugging him. He gave me a quick squeeze before pushing me off him. "You found us!"
"You didn't doubt I would, did you kid?" he asked. I shook my head.
"Did you bring me a snack?" I asked.
"I tried, but it's getting harder to find anything decent," he said looking guilty.
"Aw man," I said. Then Casey looked at his watch.
"Shoot! It's almost midnight?! Guys, I'm sorry but I gotta go! Mom's gonna kill me if she comes home and I'm gone," he said.
"It's alright, Jones, we can take it from here. Thanks again for everything," Raph said.
"No prob. Good luck out there guys," he said.
"You too," Raph said. With that, Casey grabbed his bag and went on his way. That's when I felt some raindrops on my head.
"Great. It's spitting," I whined.
"You'll survive," he said.
"Can I change my clothes? I'm really getting tired of wearing them and they're starting to smell weird," I said.
"Yeah, that's what happens when you're on the run. It's either smell bad on the streets, or smell good in jail," he said.
"Can't we find a pool to jump into? I can at least handle smelling like chlorine," I said.
"Too risky if we got caught."
"Awww," I said. Then I dug into my bag to find the spare change of clothes I had. I quickly changed into a green shirt and khaki shorts. "At least I smell a tiny bit better."
"Yeah. Well, we should keep going for as long as we can since they're on to us," Raph said and pulled out the map. "So we're here," he said pointing to a dot on the Upper East Side. "…and Chelsea's right here."
"We're on the other side. So we should cross Central Park and then head down there, right?" I said.
"But that puts us very close to Times Square. If we go down straight and then left, we run into more tourist places which will be harder; especially at night," he said.
"So which way do we go?" I asked.
"I…uh…." He stuttered. His eyes suddenly went wide.
"Raph! What are you doing?" I asked.
"Shut up, I'm thinking!" he yelled and even started breathing quicker than normal.
"Raph?"
No answer.
"Raph, you're scaring me," I said.
Still nothing.
"Raph!" He suddenly grabbed his red hair and started to panic.
"Raphael!" I said grabbing his shoulders. He looked up at me and I saw panic in his eyes. Without thinking, I grabbed him into a hug. "It's okay bro. We're gonna make it," I said softly. His breathing suddenly slowed down and quickly hugged me back, but only for a minute.
"Yeah. Thanks, little brother," he said and let me go. "Now that I think about it, we're gonna have to take the long way anyway."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because there are police precincts all over the place near Times Square. While there's more tourist stuff the longer way, there're fewer precincts and we might be able to blend in more; especially since there's a lot of people and cops around for the fourth," he said.
"Oh no! We're gonna miss the 4th of July picnic! That was one of my favorite days of the year," I said miserably.
"You'll get over it. But that's why we gotta avoid Midtown at all costs this weekend or whatever day of the week it is."
"I think I saw somewhere that it's Monday the 30th," I said.
"Which means the 4th is in four days. Actually, it's three considering it's almost midnight. So we're gonna have to stick to a strict traveling by night only and sleep during the day schedule, but if it gets too crowded, we might have to skip a day. Friday, we're not going anywhere since it'll be crowded all day and most of the night. We'll have to find and save as much food as we can for it."
"Why can't we find food that will fill my stomach out here?" I asked.
"Because we don't exactly have a microwave, stove, or anything else we need to cook something," he responded. "Come on, we gotta keep moving."
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Donatello
Three days after I first wrote my name in Japanese, the hardwood floor was now put in and there was a big sign outside the restaurant saying "Opening Saturday" after the 4th of July.
"Ohayou gozamasu Hamato-san. Ogenki desu ka?" I said. (Good morning Hamato-san. How are you?)
"Watashi wa genki Donatello-san mo?" Mr. Yoshi said back to me. (I'm fine Donatello-san, and you?)
"Watashi mo subarashidesu arigato," I said back. (I'm great as well thank you.)
"Well done. Your pronunciation has gotten much better," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Thank you. Wait! Arigatou gozaimasu," I said bowing. Mr. Yoshi smiled and bowed back to me.
"This place is looking great! What else do we have to do Murakami-san?" I asked.
"If all comes back well on the final inspection, then we will be ready for Saturday. If not, then we'll fix it and open it whatever Saturday we can," Mr. Murakami explained. "The only thing we'll be waiting on is my machine."
"Really? So what will you be doing on Friday?" I asked.
"I don't have anything planned. What about you Yoshi-san?" he asked Mr. Yoshi.
"I have nothing as well," he said.
"Oh. You're not doing anything for the 4th?" I said.
"You do things for the 4th of July?" Murakami asked.
"Yeah. It's a very big deal here. There are parades and cookouts and then fireworks at night. We have the best spot to watch them too. My mom is good friends with an office manager and she lets us go up to the top of her office building to watch the fireworks. It's the perfect spot without all the crowds and you can see them all without trees or other people in your way. Some of my foster siblings have problems with that," I shared.
"Oh! I knew that the United States celebrated its Independence on the 4th of July, but I never knew how big it was," Mr. Yoshi said.
"It doesn't have to be, but we try to make a big and fun day out of…you know what, hold that thought, I'll be right back," I said and ran outside. I walked a few feet from the restaurant and then pulled out my phone.
"Donnie?" Ms. Adams said.
"Hi, Ms. Adams. This is you're half-hourly check-in that I'm still pushing for every two hours," I said.
"Alright Don, what's going on? You already checked in with me fifteen minutes ago," she reminded me.
"Yeah," I said messing with the back of my hair. "So it's about the picnic on Friday."
"You mean the one that you said you weren't going to come to this year?"
"I didn't say I wasn't going to come. I said that I probably wasn't going to come. But I think I've decided that I want to come and… I kinda wanna invite Mr. Yoshi and Mr. Murakami. I know that it's usually just us, but they just told me they're not doing anything special and they've been working so hard on this that I feel like they need a chance to relax and have a good time."
"I think that's a great idea, Don! This way I can meet them formally and introduce myself," she said.
"Right. But remember, when they're here, I'm your son and the other kids are foster kids that you take in. Okay?" I said.
"How long is this charade going to go on, Donnie? You've no reason to lie to them. Remember, the fact that you're a foster child isn't your entire identity. I doubt anything will change as far as your relationship with them."
"Yes, it will. If they find out, they'll mostly feel pity for me and I don't want that. Everything's fine just the way it is right now," I stated.
"If that's how you want it to go, but remember that you'll have to tell them eventually. The truth has a nasty habit of revealing itself with time and the consequences most often are worse off than if it was revealed earlier," she said.
"Yeah, I know. Just, please do this for me?" I pleaded.
"Ok fine," she said.
"Thank you. I'll go ahead and invite them then," I said and hung up after we said our goodbyes. I walked back inside.
"Hey, Murakami-san? Mr. Yoshi? I just got off the phone with my mom and she's inviting you to come with us for our 4th of July picnic. It's at Chelsea Park, but I can meet you guys at the subway and take you there if you want to come." Mr. Yoshi looked at Mr. Murakami who nodded.
"We would be honored," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Great! We usually head to the park at three after the younger kids have a nap, hang around for a bit and then go watch the parade downtown. Then we usually go home to drop the stuff off before going to watch the fireworks like I was saying," I explained.
"I look forward to it," Murakami said.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
Two Days Later
I was helping Ms. Adams pack our picnic basket and cooler when I froze. I heard the T.V on and the girls chatting with themselves, but I hardly heard anything. That's when I felt my eyes start to get watery as I clenched my fists.
"I know honey. It is too quiet in here isn't it; especially today," Ms. Adams said, putting her hands on my shoulders.
"Mikey was always so excited about the 4th. He loved the fireworks and especially making friends with every person he came across at the park. I remember he wouldn't stop talking while we were trying to pack," I said with tears slowly falling down my face.
"You're right. None of us could get anything done with his talking and never doing what I asked him to do promptly," Ms. Adams said.
"I wish I would have been there when they ran away. Maybe I could have talked some sense into him or calmed him down before he hit his foster mom or whatever happened. I still don't believe that's what happened," I said.
"I want to, but I also know about his temper," she said.
"Come on! He's never put his hands on you once!" I stated.
"Yes, but he's also been in my care since he was three years old and knows not to cross me. I don't know if he'll offer that same respect to his new foster mother. Where did that bump come from if it wasn't him?"
"She could have hit her head by accident or something else like that. I refuse to believe it until I talk to Raph first," I vowed.
"I hope we'll get to ask him very soon," she said, and then looked at the stove clock. "We better get going if we're gonna get our spot. You probably should head to the station if you're picking up Mr. Murakami and Mr. Hamato. We'll meet you down there. You remember the place right?" she asked me.
"Yup; right across from the playground. I'll see you over there," I said.
"Send me a text when you get there and when you're on your way back," she said.
"I will." With that, I was on my way to the subway.
Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break*Break
I got to the subway and waited outside the gate for them. A few minutes later, I saw them walking up the steps. Mr. Yoshi was sticking close to Mr. Murakami who held a walking stick and a basket of his own. I waved at Mr. Yoshi who for some reason didn't have noticeable bags on his eyes like before. They weren't even as red as they were the first time I noticed them the first time I was practicing Japanese with him.
"Konnichiwa Hamato-san, Murakami-san," I said waving.
"Konnichiwa Donatello," Mr. Murakami and Mr. Yoshi said.
"Mom and the others went ahead, so we'll meet them there," I explained.
"Wonderful! Shall we?" Murakami asked.
"Yup! Follow me!" I said cheerfully. With Mr. Yoshi staying close to Mr. Murakami, we were on our way.
About fifteen minutes later, we arrived at the park. Everyone was sitting at a picnic table as Ms. Adams was passing out sandwiches and snacks to the other kids.
"Hi Mom," I said waving.
"Hi, Don! Perfect timing," she said.
"Mom, this is Yoshi Hamato or Mr. Yoshi and Mr. Murakami," I introduced. Ms. Adams came over and shook hands with both of them.
"It's so good to finally meet you face-to-face for once gentlemen. You're all Donnie talks about," Ms. Adams said.
"Mom, you're embarrassing me," I said.
"Mom? But Ms. Adams isn't your mfffff," Stella said and I put my hand over her mouth quickly.
"Of course, she is, Stella. Don't be silly," I said. She gave me a weird look and I whispered in her ear. "Just go with it and I'll sneak you in some extra dessert later." Her eyes lit up and kept her mouth shut.
"No fair!" Sophie whined.
"What's not fair?" Ms. Adams asked, and I saw all three of the adults were looking at me.
"Nothing. Just these two arguing again. Nothing new there. Oh! I better introduce everyone. This is Jake, Stella, Sophie, and Hannah," I said patting each kid on the head. "Guys, this is Mr. Yoshi and Mr. Murakami. Mr. Murakami's the man I've been helping open his new restaurant."
"Hello. It's nice to meet all of you," Mr. Yoshi said.
"Greetings friends," Mr. Murakami said.
"Hello Mr. Yoshi and Mr. Murakami," the kids said in a monotone voice.
"Why do you have that stick? Are you blind?" Hannah asked?
"Hannah! Don't be rude," I scolded.
"It is alright Donatello. Yes, I am blind. This cane or stick as you call it helps me maneuver or move around my surrounding without bumping into anyone or anything," he explained.
"I never knew a stick could do that!" Stella said.
"Oh boy," I mumbled to myself. All of us then sat down at the table and started our picnic. A lot of the kids were asking Mr. Yoshi the same questions that I had like where he was from and what his home was like. "I'm sorry Mr. Yoshi," I mouthed to him.
"What for? I am happy to share about my homeland," he said, and I smiled.
"Ms. Adams. If it is alright with you, I have brought dessert for everyone that I made," Mr. Murakami said.
"You made dessert?! How did you do that if you can't see?" Sophie asked.
"I may not have my sight, but that doesn't mean I can't cook for myself," he said and reached into his picnic basket to pull out a small yellow cake that looked kinda like cornbread.
"Is that cake?" Hannah asked.
"Yes. This is called a Castella cake; a popular dessert in my country," he explained. "You may all try some as long as Ms. Adams is fine with it."
"As long as everyone finished their sandwich and not just their goldfish then yes," she said glaring at Jake. Jake then tried to shove the whole half of his sandwich in his mouth. "Slower bites bud. Your Castella can wait." With that, I helped Mr. Murakami pass out the Castellas.
"Mmmmm! This is so good! It's so soft, it melts in your mouth," Hannah said.
"It's like yellow cake with just a bit of a honey taste to make it different," I said after sitting down and taking a bite of my own. "This is good. Murakami-san, you never cease to amaze me. Ms. Adams, can we go to his restaurant tomorrow for the grand opening?"
"Of course! We wouldn't miss it!" she said.
"Good! Wait till you try more of his dishes," I said.
"Donatello, don't get their expectations too high," Murakami said.
"Come on Murakami-san, you're stuff is amazing. Your restaurant is going to do great," I said.
"I agree as well," Mr. Yoshi said.
After lunch, the kids played for a few minutes at the playground before the parade started and we all sat on the edge of the street on a blanket and chairs for the adults. I gave my seat to Mr. Murakami, while Mr. Yoshi sat on the blanket with the other kids. At the same time, the kids and I took turns describing the parade in as much detail as possible for him. It took us a few tries without mentioning anything color related, but we got the hang of it. It was kinda fun.
Then after the parade, most of us played 'Heads Up' with Mr. Murakami and Mr. Yoshi. Mr. Murakami was very good at that game and had the highest score out of all of us.
"Fifteen minutes everyone. Make sure you take everything you brought with you," Ms. Adams said.
"Okay," the kids said.
"Mr. Yoshi?" Sophie asked.
"Yes?" he answered.
"Are you going to adopt Donnie?" she asked.
All of a sudden, everyone went quiet and I was horrified. My mouth went dry and I instantly felt nauseous. Mr. Yoshi looked at Sophie and then slowly turned to me. Even Mr. Murakami looked in my direction with his mouth slightly open in shock more than Mr. Yoshi. I felt tears in my eyes as I backed up and started to breathe heavily. All noise around me was faint except for my loud, breaking heartbeat. Mr. Yoshi was instantly concerned as he immediately started to slowly walk toward me with a hand stretched out. Just as the tears began to roll down my cheeks, I bolted from the group.
"DONATELLO, WAIT!" I heard Mr. Yoshi scream after me, but I just ran.
"Donnie! Come back!" I heard Ms. Adams yell as well, but I didn't stop. I sprinted across the street and didn't care who I ran into or pushed out of the way.
"Donatello, please wait!" Mr. Yoshi continued to yell after me.
Great, the ninja master was chasing after me. Without thinking I ran across the busy intersection. Cars honked at me and angry shouts were heard, but nothing mattered to me anymore. I ducked behind a food truck parked in the corner very close to a nearby skyscraper, but I was small enough to squeeze behind it and dive underneath it. I used all my concentration to hold in an oncoming sob just as Mr. Yoshi stopped right in front of the truck. All I saw were his black shoes and khaki pants.
"No! DONATELLO!" I heard him cry. I was shaking so hard that I thought I would scream out any second or he would see me. "Please. Don't let me lose him too," he whimpered. Then I saw his legs disappear as he ran further continuing to scream my name. If he stayed any longer, he would have heard me finally break down.
After a few moments, I got up and just ran. No destination in mind; I just ran.
Poor Donnie:(
Depressing on both sides, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless. The next chapter will be one that I've been waiting to write almost since the beginning but it's not Leo's yet. I know everyone's waiting for his chapter and I promise that it will be coming up soon. You'll know exactly when his chapter will be next if my current plan still works.
As always, stay safe and review!
LaurenHardy13