Chapter 6: The Next Day
I woke at around nine in the morning still in Mike's bedroom I couldn't tell it
was morning. No light came through any windows. There were no windows to begin
with. I checked my watch. 9:05,
assuming it was AM and not PM. I sat up in the bed and looked around. There
were posters of super models on the wall, one almost posing nude above my head. A
small TV stuck in the corner on top
of a desk. There were papers every where, some in piles, some placed in folders. A
tin cup held number 2 pencils with tiny erasers next to it. Books littered the floor
around a pathetic-looking bookshelf
that seemed it was fit for the garbage. Books rested on the shelves as well, but
those that were too big made their place next to the stand in small stacks. I cocked
my head to one side to read some of
the titles. "The Polar Express" by Chris Van Allsburg, a collection set of
C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia, a thesaurus that looked ancient, Webster's New
Dictionary, L. Frank Baum's original 14 books
on the land of Oz were placed on the top shelf as if he tried to stack the books
alphabetically. On the bottom shelf laid a stack of magazines with more super models
on the covers. There was also Entertainment Weekly, People, and Good Housekeeping
with the inserts of cooking recipes placed on top. A Playboy magazine stuck out near
the bottom of the stack. Uh, huh. I stepped out of the bed
and viewed the floor in fear of stepping on something. He too, had ninja gear
hanging up around his walls. Some Chinese throwing stars held up the posters.
I found a calendar with Scooby-Doo as the feature. I smiled as I stared at the
picture of Scooby and Shaggy running away from the Witch Doctor. Mike's got some
crazy interests.
I left the room and looked over at Leo's. I didn't want to greet the Turtles and
Splinter half dressed. I cautiously walked over to the bedroom and peaked my head
in. The bed was made and the light
was off. Everything except the bed looked the same since the night before. I
checked the corner where the smoke was. Nothing. An incense burner was resting
on the floor. In the other far corner!
If it was burning, how could the smoke blow all the way to the other side of the
room? Maybe Leo moved it while I was gone. I grabbed my clothing off the
chair, took my boots, and quickly left the
room. I got dressed in the bathroom as fast as I could before going out to the train
car.
Four groggily-looking turtles and a rat sat at a small square table as a radio droned
out oldies in the background. Leo looked as if he were praying over his coffee, Mike
slowly chewed on his cereal,
Raph sat back in his chair munching a piece of burnt toast, staring out into oblivion,
while Don sat with a plate of toast and worked on a crossword puzzle. It was a
rather humorous sight, but I was too
tired to laugh at them. Leo looked up as I entered.
"Good Morning, Jewel. I take it you slept well?"
"Yeah, the little sleep that I got last night. But, yes, thank you for
asking." I sat down at a chair between Don and Splinter. I glanced over
at Don as he tapped his pencil lightly on the paper.
The New York Times Crossword Puzzle. I always had better luck with the ones from TV
Guide. Hmm, 2 Down, 5 letter word for Archangel of the Apocrypha. These were
tough. At least the
TV Guide one is geared toward celebrities and names of shows.
"Are you hungry, Jewel?" Leo said as he stood up.
I looked over at Mike's cereal. It looked good. "Can I have some cereal?"
"Sure. Hang on a sec." Leo got out a plastic bowl and the
container of cereal. He poured a bit into the bowl and got out the milk, adding it
to the cereal. He then pulled out a drawer and grabbed a
plastic spoon from within a box of other plastic utensils. It was kind of funny
watching a man-size turtle doing roundabouts in a kitchen to prepare a simple bowl of
cereal. He brought over the bowl
carefully and sat it down in front of me.
"Thanks." I smiled at him and began to eat. Leo poured more coffee for himself and returned to his seat, glancing at the other sections of the newspaper which was spread around the table.
Mike finished his cereal and got up to place it in the sink. He started to head towards the couch.
Without even looking, Splinter gave him a quick order. "Michaelangelo. Please wash that out."
Mike stopped in his tracks and did what he was told.
"Hey, Mike, while you're at it, wash this off for me, huh?" Raph tossed him his plate, crumbs flying everywhere. Mike caught it at a quick reflex.
"Oh, and Mike-" Don said, pretending to throw his plate which Mike reacted to.
Mike placed both hands on his hips, obviously not amused. "Alright you guys!"
There was much laughter from the three brothers. Like Splinter, I remained quiet and kept eating. Only difference was I had a small smile!
"May I go now master?" Mike stood there, almost pleading.
Splinter still didn't look up. "Yes, Michaelangelo. Just keep the volume down."
Mike left and Raph soon joined him. Don stood up to wash off his plate and pour himself a cup of orange juice. I got up as well, washing my bowl out in the sink. He observed me.
"Don't drink the milk, huh?"
"Not when it turns purple. This was too sugary."
He held up the juice container. "Want some O.J.?" He looked so funny, like he was promoting the product for a commercial.
"Okay. Just a little."
Don got out a second cup and poured it to the top. He realized his error and grinned at me. "Um, just what exactly is 'a little'?"
I smiled and took it anyway. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure this will get rid of the sugar taste in my mouth." I sat down in Mike's chair across from Don now and held my cup, drinking it slowly.
Don sat back in his chair, continuing with the puzzle. Dull for the moment. The oldies went on. The Vogues was playing and I started to sing with it.
"Up every morning just to keep our job, I've got a five mile way to the hustle
and mob. Sounds of the city poundin' in my brain, while another day goes down the
drain. Yeah, yeah!
Well, there's a five o'clock world when the whistle blows, no one owns a piece of my time.
And there's a five o'clock being inside my soul, thinking that the world looks
fine, yeah!
Oh da lay deeeeheeeee, eeeeeee, yeah!"
I was so into the music, I didn't even notice Leo, Don AND Splinter were all watching
me. Mike and Raph were even standing in the doorway, utterly fascinated. I
stopped and saw all eyes were
on me and as the second verse started, I turned a bright red and smiled with
embarrassment.
Mike and Raph began clapping and the others just grinned. I felt like a seven year old after performing in a school play. All they needed was a video camera and a room full of proud parents.
"I like that song!" I spoke up finally.
"So we noticed!" Mike grinned at me. "You've got a nice voice. Even though you sung the verse in a deep tone."
"Well, I was following the lead singer. Usually, when I sing along with someone else, I sound, or at least try to sound like them."
"I think it's great!" Mike went on. "I wish I could sing like that! Hey, Master, do you think I could take the life of a singer than a crime-fighter?"
"The life of a singer is similar to the life of a crime-fighter."
Splinter began. "They both practice hard, have excess amount of training,
learn to breathe properly, control their muscles, and in the final stages,
perform with grace and strength. Singing works with the mind and body. Just
like crime-fighting. If you can do all that through the skills of a fighter, then
you have what it takes to become a singer."
"Yeah, it just won't be as bloody and fist-pounding." Don added.
"Unless a competing singer gets jealous and has a slight temper." Raph said.
I was shocked. "Hardly, Raph! We're all good friends and compliment each other on our voices."
Mike sat back down. "So, what are you going to sing next?"
Raph left and went back to the couch. I got the notion he wasn't musically inclined.
I smiled at Mike. "Nothing. I'm going to finish my drink and then call Hannah."
"Oh." Mike looked eager to hear me sing some more but found a new subject. "So, um, about last night?"
Oh, yes. How could I forget. "Oh, right! Leo, did you find anything in your room, last night?" Splinter looked up at Leo.
Leo looked at me then at Splinter. "No, there was nothing. I came back out and Mike told me you were asleep in his bed. We both went in and made you more comfortable and left you there."
Splinter kept staring at Leo with concern. "What is wrong, my son? What happened in your room last night?"
Leo let out a sigh. "Ah, let me start at the beginning, sensei. I
offered Jewel my room and she claims someone knocked on the door, minutes before Don came
in. Don said it wasn't him so we decided
to check out the area around and outside the lair. Jewel remained in my room with
the door locked until we knew it was safe."
"The knocking wasn't as bad as what happened to me in there."
Splinter's eyebrows raised as I took over. "I sat on the bed and the room
dropped several degrees and got freezingly cold. The light by
the bed started to flicker and I saw something in the corner of the room. Something
smoky white. Before I knew it, the light blew out and I went for the door, running
out into the hall where I met up
with Leo."
"You slammed into me, Jewel. You looked as though something was chasing you. I didn't know what to think the way you were acting."
I looked down, remembering what I saw. "I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going. I was so scared. It was just so.... strange."
Splinter shook his head. "It's most strange, indeed. It's nothing I've ever heard before."
Mike looked over. "Hey, did anything bizarro happen in my room?"
"No, Mike. I slept just fine. I hope you found a place to sleep."
"Oh, sure! I slept on the couch. I end up out there a lot from watching TV late at night."
Splinter sighed at Mike's reply. "And that's why you're always so tired to practice in the dojo."
"Uhhh, what I meant was, I get so tired from practicing, I end up on the couch. I can't even make it to my own bed!" Mike grinned then frowned as Splinter shook his head.
I looked at Splinter. "Dojo? You guys have a work-out room around here?"
Mike nodded. "Yeah. It's where we go to practice and fight and just let it all out. S' good to relieve stress."
"I'd like to see this room before I leave. Can you show me sometime?"
"Well, we just did our work-out at 7 this morning." Leo said. "We usually go in at least twice a day, unless we're really pushing hard for a big battle. We'll work over time."
I thought back to high school and how we used to majorly exercise. "My high
school was very devoted to sports and P.E. activities. We had to do basics like
jumping jacks, arm stretches, push-ups, etc.
And once that was done, everyone walked over to the track to run what was known as Cross
Country. This is how the course went: you jog or run once around the track, out to
the parking lot, pass the
basketball, racquet ball and the tennis courts, pass the classrooms, through a trail near
the baseball field, down to another trail onto gravel, all the way around on the opposite
side passing again the tennis,
racquet ball and basketball courts, going pass the soccer field behind the bleachers,
going through another baseball field, back on the running track and finally doing one more
lap around that. And you
have to get in before 10 minutes or get a penalty. Then after that, we either play a
sport or run up and down the wide, cement staircase to get our calves into shape.
It's a routine, but I was used to it."
They just stared at me. I looked at them with a shrug. "Well, I was in good shape by the end of the year."
Mike shook his head. "Whoa, that's incredible."
"So, you had to do this everyday?" Leo looked at me with pity.
"No, not everyday. P.E. was fifth period and only happened on Mondays,
Tuesdays, and Thursdays. The schedule was broken up separately. Mondays were
all classes 1-6, Tuesdays and Thursdays
were classes 1, 3, and 5 and Wednesdays and Fridays was 2, 4, and 6. After high
school ended, I haven't done much of exercising and I've gotten pretty lazy. It was
just easier to follow a schedule with
a class. When I got married, my husband and I wanted to do some traveling and well,
we were making plans to go to England to visit Dad. That was a month ago, before the
explosion." I looked down
and made a sad laugh. "It's funny how things change when your life takes a huge
plunge and there's no one to turn to."
Leo patted my arm. "Don't worry, Jewel. We're here for you no matter what."
Mike and Don nodded in assurance.
I gave a small grin and started to get up. "I appreciate that. I really do. Now, I need to call Hannah and see if she's still around."
I swigged down the last of my juice and went to wash it out in the sink. I left
the kitchen and over to the couch where Raph sat and watched music videos. Was there
more to life than just videos, I
thought to myself but didn't ask out loud. Raph looked up as if he heard me.
"Music videos rule."
"I didn't say anything."
"But you were thinking it."
This guy was starting to scare me. I decided to change the subject. "Uh, where's the phone? I need to make a phone call."
"There's one in the train car. At the far side end."
"Thanks, Raph. Enjoy your videos." I quickly left the room and headed back to the train car.
I walked through to the end of the train and came to a small room with beautiful
burgundy red patterned wallpaper. This must have been used for the first class
passengers. A small table near a window
had a fancy old-fashion lamp with a decorative shade and a pull chain to turn it on.
It was pretty dark in here. I pulled the chain, and the room was quickly
illuminated, throwing bizarre shadows on the
walls. A black phone sat against the lamp with a pencil and notepad next to
it. Across the room from the table lay an old, dusty chair, worn with age but
comfortably worth sitting in. I took the whole
phone, pencil and pad, and sat down in the chair.I closed my eyes, trying to remember
Hannah's phone number, hoping she hadn't changed it if she found out about what happened
to me.
The memory came back and I began dialing, crossing my fingers at the same time.