Ch 4
On Saturday at seven in the evening, Leo made his way to Central Park and sat on a bench next to the entrance to the walking tour. As he waited, he pulled out his phone and checked the email with his 'date's' information on it. "Hmmm", Leo rubbed his chin, "Enjoys moonlit walks on the beach, dancing, going to the theater and a variety of music and loves exotic foods," Leo chuckled, "Well he does sound rather feminine so who knows, maybe there is more to him...and I suppose me...possibly" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Than meets the eye." He placed his phone into his evening dress jacket and adjusted his tie. He looked up as a large dark green turtle dressed in blue jeans and red buttoned shirt came toward him.
Leo's eyes narrowed as he stood and smoothed his hands down along his matching dress pants and smiled nervously as the tough looking turtle approached, "Leonardo?" The turtle brought his hand forward.
"Hi, you must be Raphael?" Leo shook his hand as he curiously looked at Raphael's choice of clothing, "It's nice to meet you."
"You too," Raphael responded, "So how bout we go to my favorite hangout and get to know each other over beer and steak?" He turned and started walking back out of the park, "I'll buy."
Leo watched, slightly confused, as the red turtle abruptly turned away from him, "Um, well I was hoping maybe we could…."
"I know the owner of da restaurant and he always gives me a great deal on ma meals," He told him, "Plus it's raffle day."
Leo quickened his steps, "Raffle day?" He queried, "What does that mean?"
"Don't cha know what a raffle is?" The turtle looked at him with wide eyes.
"Of course I know what a raffle is," Leo said as the two turtles walked up to a large red and black motorcycle, "I just want to know what it's all about, that's all Raphael."
"You'll see," Raphael grinned at him, "And you can call me Raph," He picked up a helmet from the motorcycle and handed it to him.
Leo took the helmet and looked at Raph in confusion, "Are, uh, we riding that thing, um Raph?" He asked nervously while looking down at his suit and tie.
"How else are we going to get there from here?"
Leo stepped back as Raph swung his right leg over the bike then strapped on his own helmet, "Well?" Raph looked at him expectantly.
Leo took a breath and placed the helmet on his head; he adjusted his pants then climbed on the back of the bike and placed his hands on the sides of the seat beneath him, "So what kind of restaurant is this we're going to?" Leo asked as Raph revved up the bike.
"You'll see," Raphael yelled back as the bike kicked into gear; before Leo could say anything further, the bike took off and he found his head being thrown back and his arms wrapping around Raph's middle as the bike took off at top speed.
"Going a little fast there aren't you Raph?" Leo called out as the turtle in red swerved around car after car.
"Hah, this is nothing," The red clad turtle called back, "I could go faster but I wouldn't want to cause an accident," Raph let out a chuckle, "Ya know what I mean?"
"Sure," Leo said as he held on tightly.
He closed his eyes as Raph left the streets of Downtown New York and headed toward the highway and right away, Leo knew Raph had not been kidding when he opened the throttle and made the bike go faster than Leo had realized it could. The red clad turtle continued to swerve through the traffic as though they were on an obstacle course and racing some unseen foe. It wasn't till Raph finally took a ramp off the highway several minutes later that Leo found himself breathing easier and relaxing enough to pull himself slightly away from Raph's shell.
Ten minutes later, Raph maneuvered the bike into a dirt covered parking lot, he put the kickstand down and the two hopped off. Taking a steadying breath, Leo removed the helmet and looked around.
"So where are we?" He asked upon realizing he had never been in this part of New York City.
"We are at the best steak house restaurant in the state!" Raph replied as he smacked his lips hungrily.
Leo followed the larger turtle through the parking lot toward a large gray wooden building. The building itself looked run down with a farmer's porch leading up to the doorway. On the porch Leo saw several decorations that reminded him of the old west and on the top of the roof a large red sign with the words 'The Great Steak Roadhouse Restaurant,' in big black letters. As they made their way to the entrance, the sound of loud country music mingling with hearty laughter reached Leo's ears. They stepped inside and Leo looked around the building curiously.
To him, the outside itself needed work but the inside was nothing what he was expecting. Inside was a large room with several round tables throughout and booths with red seats lined the walls, to the far right was a flight of stairs going up to…. Leo could only guess what the upstairs could be and he was not inclined to find out. Over in the back was a bar and a few feet from the bar was a mechanical riding bull and a large jukebox playing the loud country music sat further in the back. Along the walls Leo could see large stuffed animal heads and flashing neon lights showing this was a country/western establishment. Leo watched as both men and women, some human, some mutant, walked around in jeans and black t-shirts with the restaurant's name in large red bold lettering on the back serving large platters of steak, fries, beer and breadsticks. At the bar, customers clinked large mugs of beer and talked loudly as the bartender continued to serve one drink after another.
"Raphael!"
Leo turned to see a short heavy set man with a brown cowboy hat pulled tightly over his graying hair walk over to them, "Long time no see! Where have you been hiding yourself?"
"Howdy sir," Raph reached his hand out and the two shook hands, "It hasn't been that long, I was here last week!" The two laughed as the owner slapped his back.
"That's a long time in restaurant years," The cowboy laughingly told him then nodded toward Leo, "Who's your friend?"
"This is Leo," Raph told him, "Thought I'd bring him here for a meal and the raffle."
"Just in time," The owner led them toward a table in the corner, "Set yourselves down here and I'll have Slim bring you your usual and some tickets."
"So who's Boss Hogg?" Leo asked after they were seated.
"Oh, sorry," Raph said as he bobbed his head up and down in time to the music, "That was Mr. Arboost," He nodded over to the rotund cowboy as he welcomed some new customers into his restaurant, "He owns the place."
"Howdy Raph!" A new voice called out.
"Hi ya Slim," Raph stood and shook hands with a tall thin man wearing a gray cowboy hat, jeans and white t-shirt, "How's business?"
"Can't complain too much," The tall cowboy responded, "Mr. Arboost said you want to purchase a couple of raffles?"
"Ya heard right Slim," Raph told him then waved to Leo who watched the two with uncertain eyes, "My friend here is getting one."
"Does he know what the prize is?" Slim asked with a chuckle.
Raph looked down at Leo with a wink, "Thought I let it be a surprise," He laughed, "If he wins, I'm sure he'll love it."
Slim handed Raph two tickets then walked over toward the bar. A moment later, Slim came back carrying two large mugs of beer. He set them down in front of the two turtles then nodded toward a swinging door in the far corner, "You're order will be right up."
"Sounds good Slim," Raph responded, "And if Sid is here, have him come see me."
Again, Leo looked around the restaurant feeling very confused, "But we didn't order anything yet," he stated nervously.
"I get the same thing every time," Raph told him, "It cuts down on the waiting."
Once again Leo began to get that strange feeling that told him he was out of his league; but he pushed his fear down and told himself to just wait and see what would happen. 'After all, there are a lot of people here and I'm sure I could get to the door very quickly if I need to,' He told himself, looking from Raph to where the entrance/exit was.
"Alright all you yahoos!" Mr. Arboost's voice was suddenly booming over a microphone causing most of the people in the restaurant to stop and turn their attention to him, "In about five minutes we're going to announce the winner of the raffle, so get your tickets while we still have 'em!"
"Here's yours," Raph said, sliding one of the tickets over to Leo.
"Are you going to tell me what the prize is?" Leo asked him again as he watched some customers shake their heads and hands vigorously at Slim as he continued to walk among them in an attempt to get them to purchase tickets.
"Just wait okay," Raph told him, "You'll find out."
Leo looked down at the number on his ticket and once again looked up at the patrons of the restaurant. He watched as some laughed at others as they held a ticket tauntingly while others seemed rather nervous to the young turtle as they held their tickets in uncertainty.
"Okay, let's see who the winner is!" Mr. Arboost once again took to the microphone and held up a ticket, "And the number is: 58165927!"
Leo gasped upon seeing the number was his, "Oh no," He moaned.
Raph grabbed the ticket out of Leo's hand, "Awesome!" He yelled then waved the ticket in the air, "Here's the winner!" Raph stood and pointed toward Leo.
"No, don't tell them!" Leo pleaded.
But Raph ignored him and grabbed his hand, waving it in the air so all could see. "Here's your winner!" Raph yelled out, "Over here!"
"Ah, it's our newcomer!" Mr. Arboost yelled out, "Come on up here son!"
"What am I supposed to be doing?" Leo asked Raph as the larger turtle pushed Leo out of his seat and toward Arboost.
"You are so going to love this!" Raph said with a large smile on his face, "And when you get back our food will be waiting for you and trust me, you are going to build up an appetite!"
"Here we are," Mr. Arboost motioned for Leo to come up alongside him, "Tell the folks here what your name is son."
"Uh, it's Leonardo," Leo told the crowd hesitantly.
"And where are you from?"
"New York City," Again, Leo found himself looking around nervously at everyone as they sat and watched him eagerly.
"Alright, well you are today's big winner so hop on up on old Bessie here and let's see how you do."
Leo turned and watched Mr. Arboost pat the back of the mechanical bull, "Say what?" Leo asked as everyone in the restaurant began chanting his name.
"Get on right up here son!"
"But I don't…"
"Boys," Mr. Arboost nodded over at two large cowboys dressed in gray hats, "Let's give our friend a hand here." Nodding, the two large cowboys grabbed Leo by the arms and hauled him up and onto the riding bull.
"But I don't know how to ride this thing!" Leo yelled as everyone in the restaurant suddenly stood up and cheered.
"It's easy," Mr. Arboost told him, "As soon as the bull gets up to speed, you try to hold on tight for dear life for eight seconds!" The large man started laughing hard, "Let 'er rip boys!"
"But I…." Before Leo could get another word out, the bull began to rock back and forth, slowly at first before picking up speed.
'Okay, I can do this,' Leo told himself as his right hand clung tightly onto the rope that was around the bull's neck, 'I've seen it done in almost every cowboy movie ever made.' He brought his left hand up and attempted to sway his hips in time to the bull's motion while bringing his inner thighs up against the bull's sides.
"Hey Raph," A tall scruffy looking man walked over to Raphael, "Slim said you wanted to see me," he stuck his hand out and the two shook hands, "You looking to make a bet?"
"Hey Sid," Raph nodded toward Leo, "Put ten on him for 5."
"That city slicker?" Sid laughed, "You got it."
Leo clung tightly to the bull as his head and body was thrown back and forth for what felt to him like an eternity. But the bull finally won out and eventually, Leo's hand gave way and he found himself flying off the back of the bull and onto the hay covered ground that surrounded the bull's ring. The customers in the restaurant let out loud whoops and cheers as Leo slowly and painfully picked himself up. He dusted himself off as Mr. Arboost walked over to him.
"Well for an amateur you did a great job there son!" He held up a time clock, "6.2 seconds! Everyone give this Yahoo a round of applause!"
Leo smiled then grunted as Mr. Arboost slapped his hand hard on Leo's shell. With an exhausted sigh he made his way back to his table, nodding and smiling at the patrons who patted his shell and offered hearty congratulations as he walked past.
"Ah ha ha!" Raph laughed loudly as Leo sat down and wiped his face of the sweat that still poured down from his forehead, "Didn't I say you were going to love it or what!" He waved his hands at the table, "And what a spread, huh?"
Leo looked down at a plate with a large steak and fried onion rings covered in thick gravy. Almost immediately his stomach began to turn and before Raph knew what was happening, Leo stood and walked quickly out of the restaurant.
"Hey Leo," Raph got up and followed him out, "What's the matter?" He caught up to him and grabbed his arm, "Aren't ya having fun?"
"Fun!?" Leo looked at Raph in shock, "You call being humiliated and thrown by a mechanical bull then being forced to look at a large steak that looks like it hasn't been cooked yet FUN?!"
Raph looked back at Leo in shock, "I don't understand?" He told him, "I thought you would enjoy something like this," He pulled out his phone, "At least from what I read on your profile I thought you would."
"Where in my profile does it say I would enjoy something like this?" Leo demanded.
Raph pushed a few buttons then turned the screen toward Leo. The hazel eyed turtle took the phone and looked at it in bewilderment. "Leonardo Hamato enjoys brawling, wild times and any place that has a bar," Stunned, Leo looked at Raph then back at his so called profile, "That's my name but that is not my profile," He told him as he handed the phone back to him. He then pulled out his phone and showed Raph the profile that had been sent to him.
Raph took the phone and read the profile, after a moment, he threw his head back and laughed loudly, "I don't know who this geek is but he sure as hell ain't me!"
"Obviously!" Leo said as he took his phone back, he took a deep breath and started walking toward Raph's motorcycle. "I think I would like to go home now please," He told him adamantly.
"Aw come on Leo," Raph said as he hurried after him, "We don't need to end the date, we can still enjoy ourselves."
"I have had enough of this evening," Leo stated turning back to him, "I want to go home and if you don't want to take me," He pulled his phone out, "I'll call a cab."