Chapter six
April reached the door she had been looking for and pushed it open. “Hi guys! It’s me!” She said with a cheerful tone as she stepped in.
“They’re out.” Came a voice from the corner. April looked over to see Leonardo sitting in a beaten up old recliner, his face almost hidden by a book.
“Where?” April asked setting down her bags.
“Mikey’s out no doubt chasing girls. Don has gone to Staten Island dump to see what he can find and Raphael is with Casey causing trouble.” Leo replied, not even looking up from his book.
“And Splinter?”
“I don’t know.”
April sensed that Leo wasn’t in the best of moods. He had a temper like Raphael’s, but he had better control. Still, he could be quite curt and spiteful at times.
“Why didn’t you go with them?” She asked as she rummaged through the bags. Leo looked at her over the top of his book.
“I am grounded.” He informed her.
“Oh.” She felt a little embarrassed. “For how long?”
“One week.”
“That’s not so bad! When was the last time you were grounded?” She ventured.
“When I was six.” Snapped Leo as he returned to his book.
“What are you reading?” April decided on a change of subject.
“The Sixteenth Round by Rubin Carter.”
“I thought you could get that book any more.”
“You’d be surprised what people toss down the drain.” He sighed as he turned a page.
Just then a grey furry creature weaved in and out of April’s legs purring loudly. April bent down and picked Klunk up. She held him under his front legs and gently shook him from side to side. “Ooohh, you’re a pretty kitty. Yes you are, yes you are. Aunty April has a surprise for her big man. Yes she does, yes she does. A catnip mousey wousey!”
Leonardo lowered his book and stared at April. Yes, women are definitely confusing and strange! He could tell by Klunk’s ears that he was far from enjoying the experience. “You don’t speak to me like that!”
“Urm.” April coughed to regain her composure as she put Klunk down. “I have something for you as well.”
“I’m not into catnip mousey wouseys.”
“No!” April scowled. “Your wallet Mr Sunshine!” April threw the wallet at him. It shot over the top of the book and landed neatly in his lap. Leo placed a bookmark between the pages and put the book down on the table.
“Where did you find it?”
“Some woman called Kerry, Carrie or something brought it to my apartment.”
“What did she say?” Leo asked as he checked the inside.
“She said she found it in the road.”
Leo slipped the wallet behind his belt.
“So, do you want some company?” April asked
“Okay.” Leo smiled. “ What do you want to do?” He walked over to the bookshelf and replaced his book. “We could play Clue.”
“I don’t think we have enough players. How about snap?” April suggested as she flopped down on the couch. Leo pretended not to hear.
“Scrabble?”
“No way, you cheat!” April protested.
“I do not cheat!”
“I don’t remember seeing Manriki Gusari in the dictionary!”
Leo sighed.
“How about chess?” April offered.
“No, Don and Master Splinter are in the middle of a game. Playstation?”
“Okay.”
“Tekken 2 or Mortal Combat?”
“Can’t we play something that doesn’t involve beating someone to a pulp?”
Leo looked at the row of video games. What would appeal to an anti violence woman? “Bubble Bobble’s Busta Move?”
“Okay, you’re on!” April lent forward and switch the television on.
The scene she could see through a large crack in the door fascinated Carrie. It was real; it does exist! If you ignored the location of the room, it looked like any room you would expect to find in a house or apartment. April and Leo were sitting together on the couch playing video games. April was erratically moving her controller around as if it gave her an extra advantage. Leo on the other hand believed that leaning closer to the television was the answer. Aprils character’s eyes turn to X’s and a little angel escaped from it’s body. “You’re cheating!” She hissed.
“How am I cheating?”
“You’re getting the right bubbles every time!”
Just then Carrie heard the sound of someone coming towards her. She crawling into a large pipe, trying her best not to make a sound or get too wet. She silently prayed she wouldn’t be discovered. There’s more than one! Another of the creatures were coming, it was carrying a load of electrical junk in it’s arms. So much that it had to back through the door. Once Carrie thought it was safe, she took up spying again.
“Hi guys.” Donatello said as he carried his spoils inside.
“Not another toaster!” April remarked as she shot of a bubble and wiped out a line.
“Can you believe that people actually throw these things away?” Donatello mused as he held it up in one hand.
“I guess it is, ah, less bother to, oh, buy one, damn, than fix it yourself.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Donatello pondered as he looked to see what was grabbing most of April’s attention. “I thought Master Splinter said no video games!”
“Can’t you see I am entertaining?” Leo replied hitting the controller buttons repeatedly. Don lost himself in thought. It wasn’t like Leo to disobey Splinter, but he had been through at lot in the last twenty-four hours. Not only that, he had been a little depressed lately. Maybe that’s the answer.
“You never told me.” April looked at Leo.
“You never asked!”
Carrie heard another noise; she backed away from the door. A Third creature came into view, it seemed to be in a world of it’s own. It burst through the door.
“Toe tecter boots should be outlawed!” Michaelangelo announced.
“Why?” The other three asked without looking up from what they were doing. Michaelangelo limped further in to the room.
“She kicked me on the shin! She said I was a some kinda weirdo that went around bothering girls!”
“Aren’t you?” Donatello asked as he gathered up his stuff. At that Michaelangelo puffed up a visibly grew a few inches. His bottom lip wobbled for a moment before he turned and flounced off to his room. April set down the controller and stretched. “I’ve got to go I promised the girls I would come clubbing tonight.” Leo gave her a knowing look. “Do you guys have any laundry that needs doing?” Leo pointed to four small drawstring sacks by the door. April opened Donatello’s sack and pulled out a grey hooded sweater. “Don’t you guys have any clothes that aren’t covered in blood or grease or oil?”
“Not many!” Don’s voice drifted round the corner.
“Is he equipped with radar?” She asked Leo. April gathered up the sacks, shouted her goodbyes to Don and Mike and then gently hugged Leo.
Carrie decided it was time to leave; she could follow April back and check her map at the same time. She would then return another day and seek her answers.