Chapter 9: The Other Side of Life
Outside, we walked around the parking lot up to a dark green mini van.
"Nice color." Raph commented.
Hannah grinned as she opened the side-door. "Oh, thanks! It was either this one or black and that gets too hot for the summer."
"Black's nice too."
Lizzy jumped in first. "I get the window seat!"
I glanced at Don. "Great minds think alike, huh?"
He nodded slightly. "Right." He hopped in, taking the seat behind Liz, window seat of course.
Leo jumped in next, taking the seat by Don. Mike sat by Liz whom smiled at him in her cute girlish way. Raph sat next to Mike and I took shotgun.
Lizzy picked up her storybook from the floor on Anastasia to Mike. "Have you read this one before?"
Mike took the book with fascination. "Nooooo, but I've seen the movie. It's very good. Did you see the movie?"
"Yeah, like 10 times!"
"Wow, you must have really like it."
"I have a lot of Disney books at home. I can show you them when we get there."
Raph nudged Mike. "Anastasia isn't from Disney."
"It isn't?"
"No, it's Fox Animation in Association with Don Bluth. Far from being a part of the money scheming company."
"And how would you know that? You're no animation buff."
"True, but I stick to the current events. Plus I read Variety where it just screams out entertainment news in it's own little language."
"I like the part where Anastasia is singing and the people come out of the paintings and dance." Lizzy was in her own little world.
Mike and Raph stopped talking and looked at her. She had the book opened to the page where that scene took place, grinning at the two.
"Oh, yeah! That's a great scene, Liz. One of my favorites too." Mike took the book and looked at it. Raph chuckled next to him.
Don pulled out a small paperback from his coat pocket.
Leo looked at him. "I didn't know you brought a book."
"Yeah, I'm not one for reading children's books unless if I'm reading it to a child."
Leo looked at the title. The Laws of Physics. "Interesting choice of literature, Don."
"You should be glad I didn't bring a book on calculus. I'd be dozing off right alongside Jewel."
Hannah drove at a leisurely pace on the city streets and I sat in the passengers seat, chatting.
"It's funny I haven't been to the Island in months and so much has changed. You still live in the same house right?"
Hannah laughed. "Yes, I do. They're just building up the area, putting in a new shopping center and it's a little depressing to see the smaller stores go out of business."
"Like when Wal-Mart came out?"
"Exactly. Reminds me of the movie You've Got Mail where two book
stores are competing. One being a small privately-owned store and the other a
popular-new Barnes and Nobel type trendy store
with a coffee station. I won't tell you how it ends if you haven't seen it."
"Oh, I've seen it. You just kind of had the feeling it would end that way."
"Yeah, movies like that tend to be real predictable. But it was still a cute movie."
"So, Michael's working late tonight?"
"Yup. Mike won't get off work till around 11."
"Did someone call my name?" Mike spoke up from the back.
Hannah looked in her rear view mirror. "Yes, I said Mike meaning Michael, my husband."
"Oh, I knew that!"
"Uh, huh."
Lizzy smiled. "That's my dad. He works late sometimes."
Mike looked skyward. "I know the feeling."
Hannah pulled into a driveway up to a tall two-story house with a porch. There
was a small garden near the entrance with plants and flowers blooming in the afternoon
breeze. The lawn was a lush green
with a small bird bath set in the center. A tree off to the side had a deep dirt
hill next to it with a tire swing attached to a thick rope. A white fence surrounded
the exterior of the house, circling toward a
large backyard with a pool and Jacuzzi. The house needed a somewhat new paint job
but looked pleasant all the same.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door. "You've always had a beautiful house, Hannah."
She removed her belt, getting out. "Thanks, I try to keep it looking that way."
I slid open the side door. Raph jumped out first followed by Mike. Mike turned and helped Lizzy to the ground. Leo jumped out next followed by Don.
Lizzy grabbed Mike's arm and ran off. "Come play on the tire swing!"
Leo placed his hands on his hips. "Well, it didn't take Mike long to have a playmate."
"I told you she'd like you guys. She was just a little put off by your appearances at first."
Raph came closer. "We haven't removed our disguises yet. And I'm not about to keep them on the whole time. You'll see her turn high-tail and run away from us."
Hannah came over, watching her daughter ride the tire swing. "Oh, goodness!
It's like a drill for her. Whenever one of her friends come over, she has to
show them her tire swing. Even when I bring her
home alone from school, she automatically runs out of the car to it. Usually, she's
supposed to do her homework before playing, but of course she promises me she'll get her
work done before the next day. As long as her work gets done, I don't have a problem
with that." Hannah started to move toward the house, holding Lizzy's book and
backpack. "Come on in and I'll show you around."
Once inside, I felt the air conditioning blast us through one of the vents. There
was a staircase that went straight up to the bedrooms. A door off to the side went
down to a basement. Off to the
right was where the kitchen was. The living room was off to the left that took three
steps to get to the center where an 'L' shaped couch sat with a wide-screen TV placed in a
huge wall unit. There was
also a comfy La-Z-Boy that was near the couch. A Scooby-Doo figure sat on the
chair's arm-rest with a pouch to hold a remote control. Cute. The couch was a
velvet dark blue with a small end table
on each end with two lamps and a stack of glass coasters on one of them. The wooden
coffee table had a cart on top holding TV Guide magazines and some Crossword
Puzzle books.
Hannah walked around like a tour guide pointing out each room. "That's the
kitchen of course, one I'm quite proud to say that I fixed up a little. We took out
that far wall to put in a refrigerator. It use to
be down in the basement but I hated having to go down there unless I was doing laundry so
we brought it up here instead." The group nodded as Hannah walked off toward
the living room. "This is the
living room or what we call the family room where we all sit around and watch TV.
This room is not meant to keep food in here because of the white carpeting but I
sometimes allow Lizzy to sit in here
to watch something while she eats as long as she tells me if she makes a mess. Tile
floor is much easier to clean up food stains than carpet." The Turtles nodded
again as Hannah moved toward the
basement door. I sat on the couch, watching the Turtle's reactions. "This
door goes to the basement. Uh, if you want we can go down if you like. There's
not much but old boxes and the washer and
dryer."
Leo waved a hand. "No, that's okay. We've seen underground housing many times."
At that point, Lizzy came through the front door pulling Mike along like a rag doll. "Hello. Showing them the house, Mom?"
Hannah grinned. "Of course! I'm proud of my house. I was just about to go upstairs to the bedrooms."
"No, wait!" Lizzy ran up the stairs, jumping a few steps up to her room. We heard a slam. She came back down with an embarrassed grin. "I didn't get to clean my room today."
"Oh, is your room temporarily under construction?" Don grinned.
She smiled at him. "Sorta. Looked like a wrecking ball went through it." Her tone made us laugh a little bit.
"Okay, Liz. We'll skip your room. Come up and see our room." Hannah climbed the stairs with us following.
We entered a room off to the right. A large waterbed sat in the center of the
room with the backing pushed up against the west wall. Near a mirror closet off to
the side was a marble-stone bathroom with
two sinks, one toilet and a bidet next to it. The tub looked like a miniature
Jacuzzi.
"Once again, another addition." Hannah said, standing in the bathroom
doorway. "I should say major fixer upper. Michael got his buddies to
change the interior into this marble-stone and upon my request,
installed a bidet for me."
Raph glanced at Don. "Very nice. I may not know carpentry but I know what I like."
Hannah walked into another room that made Don's eyes light up. "This is the
computer room. Michael keeps all his games and software in this room when he's up
late on either business
or pleasure of the internet."
Don stepped over to the computer, eyeing everything on the desk like a child beaming at
Christmas presents. It was a Pentium 2000 with an Epson 640 color printer, a
scanner, and a stereo
system hooked up next to it.
"This is wonderful." Don whispered.
Raph thumbed at him to Hannah. "He's the Brainiac of the group."
Hannah nodded slightly. "Ohhh. Well, if you don't mind waiting for my
husband to get home, he can fire it up for you if you'd like. I don't touch this
thing unless he's on it. He'll let me check up on soap
opera updates or let Elizabeth play an on-line game. But when he's not home, it's
off limits for her and I don't care to use it. I'm not one for that technology
stuff."
Don frowned at that. "That's too bad. The Internet is one of the greatest things that ever happened to modern society. It's a shame you won't give it a chance. Once you learn, it can be lots of fun."
"That's what Michael keeps telling me. He wants to give me one on one lessons but I feel like such a fool when he teaches me. He's so smart and I'm so....so computer illiterate."
Don gave her a look of pity. "Don't ever think of yourself as a fool.
The computer takes a lot of practice to master at it. Believe it or not, I
couldn't understand it when I first started out. Nobody's an
expert at such things. You just have to keep up with it."
Elizabeth shook Mike's arm. "Do you guys want to see the backyard?"
Hannah was glad the subject had changed. "Oh, right! Let me show you the backyard real quick." She stepped out of the room into the hallway.
Raph tapped Don's shoulder. "Nice try, Don. Maybe next time."
We followed Hannah down and behind the staircase toward a glass sliding door.
Lizzy ran to catch up, wanting to be an assistance to Hannah's touring. She
held the door open, allowing us to step onto
a concrete patio. A striped wooden cover stood over a picnic table with a barbecue
grill standing next to it. There was a large 9ft swimming pool in the center with a
Jacuzzi attached next to it; the
divider a multi-colored tile design. A diving board stood at the deep end of the
pool. Outside the concrete was more lush green grass and flower beds alongside a
white brick wall. Off to the
right of the pool stood a small two-bedroom guest house.
"You have a beautiful house, Hannah." Leo beamed at her.
"Oh, thank you. It took a lot of hard-earned work to get it the way it is
today. Now, how about I get us some drinks and we can talk in the living room.
Jewel said she had some things she wanted to
discuss with me. Does it concern you guys too?"
Leo looked at his brothers. "Well, in a way it does. She wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for us. Basically, what's going on in her life right now is very crucial. And we're here to protect her."
Hannah looked at one another. "Are you guys super-heroes or something?"
Mike enjoyed hearing that word. "We've been called that before. We've helped a lot of people through numerous difficulties."
"I see. Well, Jewel, let's venture into the living room and serve our guests, shall we?" Hannah pulled me toward the door. "How serious is this, dear?"
I looked at her straight in the face. "Very serious."
"Should I send Elizabeth to her room or can she hear this too?"
I looked over at Liz as she chatted with the Turtles. "Maybe not. I don't want to scare her." Hannah's eyes widened.
We got into the living room and the Turtles sat down on the couch. Lizzy jumped
up and grabbed a spot between Mike and Don, putting her shoes on the coffee table.
Leo glanced at her, feeling unsure
if she should listen to the conversation. Hannah brought out a pitcher of ice tea
and I carried a tray of glasses, setting it on the coffee table. Hannah eyed at
Lizzy.
"Shoes, please."
Lizzy removed her feet from the table and tucked them under legs.
I sat down on the La-Z-Boy while Hannah grabbed a chair from the kitchen, setting it down between me and the couch. Leo sat closest to Hannah followed by Raph, Mike, Liz and Don.
"Do you guys like ice tea? Or can I get you something else?"
They all said it was fine in unison and Hannah poured the glasses.
I stared at Elizabeth. "Hey, Lizzy. Don't you wanna show Mike your Playstation?"
Lizzy sat up with a gasp. "Oh, yeah! Mike, follow me so I can show you this one game. It's a two player!" She pulled his arm again and he nearly dropped his glass on the floor.
"Whoa! Okay, okay! Hold on a sec!"
Lizzy started up the stairs. "Come on!"
"Smooth one, Jewel!" Mike glared at me.
I waved a hand. "You know the situation. I don't want Liz to. Can you please keep her occupied?"
Mike looked skyward. "Ohhhhh, I see what you're up to. Okay. Catch y'all later. If I survive." Mike followed Liz up the stairs and the two disappeared into her room.
Hannah watched them go, then turned to me. "Alright, Jewel. You have my undivided attention."
I looked at Leo before I started to explain. He nodded for me to go on.
"Um, first off, I know it's customary to remove hats and coats when entering
someone's house. But you see, they really couldn't do that because we weren't sure
of how you or Lizzy would react to their
appearance."
"But Jewel, I already know what they look like."
Raph stood up. "Not entirely." At that, he removed his hat and
waited. Hannah just stared at him. He slowly started to unbutton his trench
coat. When he pulled it off, he stood facing her, in full battle
gear, waiting for her reaction. Hannah gasped a little bit then just glared.
"I see what you mean." She shook her head, looking down. "I
can tell how society would treat you. But as long as your in my house, you have
nothing to fear." She looked at Don and Leo. "You two
can remove your garb if you wish."
Without hesitation, they removed their hats and coats. Hannah got up to retrieve
them. Raph sat back down and Hannah went to place the clothing on the hat stand and
coat rack. She looked up at the
staircase. "What about your other brother?"
At that point, we heard a high-pierce shriek coming from upstairs.
Raph grinned. "I guess he already removed his disguise."
I jumped up and headed for Lizzy's room. "Wait here, Hannah." I flew into the room and saw the two of them at the television, Mike still wearing his clothing and Lizzy was screaming at the game.
"He beat me! I can't believe it! All I did was make a wrong turn and he pounded me."
Mike shrugged. "Guess I'm a natural at Street Fighter."
I looked away. "Oh, Lizzy! I thought something bad happened to you! Don't ever scream like that again!"
She looked at Mike. "Whaddya mean? Nothing bad happened, besides this guy beating me at my wits end!"
I sighed and glanced at Mike. I bent down to his level and spoke into his face. "Mike, your brothers have um, gotten a little more comfortable."
Mike looked at me, then Liz. "Ya mean they-" He mouthed the words: "Stripped?"
"Uh, yeah. Right. They did. And um, we thought you did the same when we heard Liz scream."
"Did what the same?" Lizzy was now into the conversation.
I looked at her. "Um, nothing! Um, Mike, can you go downstairs so I can talk to her a little bit?"
Mike stood up. "Okay. And is it alright if I-" Mouthed the word: "Strip?" again.
"Fine! Do it! But don't expect a big reaction!"
Mike took off down the stairs and I turned to Lizzy.
"Um, you see, Lizzy, it's like this-"
"Yeah, I know what's going on!"
"You do?"
"What kind of fool do you think I am?! Their talking about me and how much of a slob I am!"
"What??!!"
"That's why you made Mike leave. You wanted to tell me in private that my room looked like a cyclone hit it and I would have been upset if you said something while Mike was here, right?"
"Um, well-"
Lizzy stood up. "Well, I'm going to tell him exactly how I feel about that!" She ran out of the room toward the stairs.
I ran after her. "Liz, honey, wait!" As I descended the stairs I heard a smaller gasp. I stopped at the bottom to see all four turtles standing. Hats and coats removed.
The Turtles waited as Lizzy stared, her eyes widened and mouth gaped opened. "Oh, my....What have you done?!!"
The Turtles looked at one another, a little confused by her question. Mike, standing the closest, touched her shoulder. "What do you mean, Liz? It's still us."
She covered her eyes. "You're naked!"
Mike burst out laughing and looked up at Leo whom gave a huge smile. Don and Raph joined in roaring with laughter as Hannah and I chuckled hard. Lizzy looked around, not finding this amusing.
"What'd I say? You strip off your clothing and you find it funny?"
I came over, bending on one knee. "Sweetie. This is how they dress all the time. They're turtles! They don't need clothing. They were only wearing that stuff because they were out in public."
"So?"
"So, people wouldn't really accept them because of the way they look."
Lizzy looked again. "What's wrong with the way they look?"
Raph nudged to Don. "I like her, don't you?" Don nodded in response.
I shook my head. "Nothing's wrong with the way they look."
Leo stepped over. "We just have to be careful with whom we befriend or else we'll end up on the operating table of know-it-all scientists."
Lizzy ignored his response and caught his attire, reaching out to touch his wristbands and elbow pads. "What are these for?"
"Huh?" Leo lifted his arm and looked down at his garments, almost forgetting he wears them half the time. "Oh. Protection, I guess. They come in handy but have little use."
Lizzy circled around to his shell, looking up at his swords. His gaze followed her. "And your swords?"
"They're called katana blades. A very gifted and powerful weapon."
Mike grinned. "Very handy! They have much use!"
Lizzy stood on her tippy toes. "Lemme see!" Leo got down to her
level, unbuckling the leather straps and laying the sheathed swords across one knee.
She lightly touched the scabbards; her eyes
widened with curiosity. "Can I see one of them?"
Leo glanced at Hannah for approval. "Well, alright. Just be extra careful with her."
Leo unsheathed one of the blades, a 'cling' sound rang out from the steel. He held the sword flat over his knee, one hand under the blade, the other on the hilt, balancing it carefully. Lizzy placed her hand on the hilt near Leo's and her other gently rubbed across the flat surface of the blade. It was ice cold as she squeezed her hand gently around the pointed end.
"Be careful." Leo eyed her closely. "Don't grip the blade. It's very sharp."
"Wow." She whispered. She backed away with a smile. "Do you use them a lot?"
"Only when it's necessary." Leo stood back up, resheathing the blade and placing the straps across his plastron.
"So why do you guys wear face masks if you usually wear disguises?"
"Comes with the job." Raph shrugged.
"It's battle gear." Don suggested. "It was given to us to use for when we fight crime. There's no significant answer as to why we wear this stuff. We just do."
"Oh. Like I wear clothes for no real reason? Just because I feel like it?"
"Unless your from a nudist colony, then it's a whole different story." Don smacked Raph in the arm. "What? What'd I say?"
Hannah checked the clock. "Whoa! It's almost six o'clock! I said
I'd make dinner for you guys." The Turtles thanked her in unison as she headed
for the kitchen. "But it's gotten far too late to cook
anything that will take less than 20 minutes." She closed the fridge and
spotted a magnet with the number for Pizza Hut. "How 'bout I just order some
pizzas?"
There was dead silence. I nodded my head. "Sure, that sounds real g-"
"PIZZA??!!" The Turtles sang out. Again they spoke in unison saying how it was a wonderful, fabulous, and awesome idea.
I looked at their wide, happy grins. "Hannah, I think you said the magic word."
"What word?" Hannah came out to see all pearly whites flashed across her guest's mouths. "Oh, you guys like pizza?"
"Is like, 'Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious' hard to spell?" Mike grinned. His attention turned over to Lizzy as she sat quietly, starting to spell it out. She had a bit of trouble. He thumbed at her. "See?!!"
"Ooookay! Um, I got the number right here. So what do you guys like on you pizzas?"
Mike walked over. "Gotta pen and paper?"
I followed. "Wait, Mike. Let's not get anything too raunchy, okay? I don't think my stomach can handle it."
Mike groaned. "Ohhhhkaaaaay! But just this once!" He started to scribble down all the toppings. Hannah looked over his shoulder.
"Uh, how about I just get pizzas with the works? You don't have to write them all down."
"Yeah, but if you tell 'em the works, they put anchovies on them! And that's majorly gross."
"So, I'll just say 'everything with no anchovies' how's that?"
He looked up from his writing. "Oh! Didn't think about it that way!"
Lizzy came over, looking at the note. "I don't like all that stuff. I just like plain cheese."
"Ohhhhh, man! You mean you skip out on the monster piles of pepperoni, mushroom, sausage, bacon, green peppers, onions, ham, extra tomatoes, and olives?" He looked at me. "Did I miss any?"
I rolled my eyes. "Just the unusual stuff Mike."
Lizzy made a face. "Yuck. Can I get a personal pan pizza for myself, Mom?"
"Sure, hun. Let me just get a list out of how many pizzas I should get. Is two large pizzas enough? That's about 24 slices each."
Mike, thinking more of how much this will cost than his stomach found nothing wrong with that. "Yeah, two's fine. I usually eat about 5 slices if I'm really hungry."
"And are you really hungry?"
"Yeah, a little."
Hannah sat down, writing out her own note. "Okay, so I have two large pizzas with the works-"
"Wait!" I said. "Do you think you can get just one pizza with the works? I only like pepperoni, mushroom, and sausage."
Hannah stared at me with a look of pity. "Right. ONE large pizza with the works-
Mike interrupted. "Wait. Jewel! Why not just pick off the stuff you don't want instead? Hannah, get two pizzas both with the works."
Hannah sighed. "Fine. Two large pizzas with-
Again, I interrupted. "No, Mike! I don't wanna have to pick off the stuff. It still has an essence left on the pizza anyway. Hannah, one pizza with the works, okay?"
Mike persisted. "Yeah, but, whatever you don't eat, you can give to me!"
Hannah slammed her hand flat on the table, grinning angrily. "Guys! Please! Enough already. Mike, if she doesn't want all that stuff, there will be plenty for you in the other pizza. Okay?"
We both looked at her, agreeing in unison.
"Good. Now, where was I? Okay, I'm getting two large pizzas, one with
the works, the other with just pepperoni, mushroom and sausage. Right?"
She glared at us. We nodded slowly.
"Right. Then, one small personal pan pizza with plain cheese for you."
Hannah pointed with the pencil to Lizzy who nodded slowly as well. "As
for me, I'll have about maybe two slices so I'll get a
dinner salad, and-" Hannah went to the fridge. "I should get two
liter bottles of Coke since we don't have that many cans left. And your dad usually
uses them for work so I'll get some more soda."
Hannah then went over to the phone on the wall. "Okay, anything else? I'm
going to start dialing in the order." No one answered except for a few, 'no'
'nopes' and 'that'll do it.'
I tapped her shoulder as I left the kitchen. "Thank you, Hannah."
"Mm, hmm." Hannah had her ear pressed against the phone.
I sat down on the La-Z-Boy seeing the TV was on with Raph holding the remote control.
Don found one of the Crossword books and was working on it while Leo sat on the
couch, skimming Don's
paperback on The Laws of Physics. Lizzy found a deck of cards in one of the
drawers and sat down at the coffee table with her back against the couch. Mike sat
across from her and the two started to
play "Go Fish" to pass the time. She shuffled the deck like a professional
poker player, separating the cards then flipping them underhand.
"Hey, that's pretty good!" Mike commented.
"My dad taught me how to do it. Took a little practice but I mastered it."
I glanced at Raph. "Anything good on?"
"Just stuff." He continued to flip through channels.
Hannah came in the room, still holding the note. "Okay, I put the order in. Do want a report on all that we're getting or just be surprised?"
Leo looked up with a frown. "Huh?"
Hannah waved a hand. "Never mind."
I stood up. "Would it be alright if I took a shower before dinner? I want to get out of these clothes."
"Sure. You can shower up in my bathroom and I'll find you something to wear. Follow me."
"We'll just be a minute." I told them as I left up the stairs.
I decided to tell Hannah the whole story as I got ready to take my shower. I also
spoke out here and there through the bathroom door as Hannah gathered up my dirty clothes.
I indeed, had her
undivided attention. She listened closely and when she heard the water start
running, she announced she'd take my clothes down to the basement to the laundry basket.
Hannah walked past the living room, making her way to the basement. All that I
told her must have hit her hard. After she placed everything in the basket, she
could feel herself getting upset.
By the time she reached the top of the basement stairs, tears were slowly rolling down her
cheeks.
"Hannah?" Leo jumped up, placing the book on the table and coming to her side. She stood at the basement door, sniffling. He placed an arm around her. "What's wrong? What is it?"
Lizzy looked over. "Mom, are you okay?"
Raph hit the mute button and glanced over. Don looked up from his book and Mike stood up.
Hannah shook her head and sobbed quietly, trying to cover her face with her hands. Leo guided her to the La-Z-Boy and she sat down, wiping her eyes.
"Jewel told me what's bothering her. She told me everything." She looked up at Leo. "God, I'm so worried about her!"
Leo patted her back. "Hey, it's okay. Nothing's going to happen to her. I'll die before I let anyone get near her."
Lizzy crawled out from the coffee table and sat on the arm of the couch, taking her mom's arm. "Mom, what is going on? Can't you tell me?"
Hannah looked at Mike, Raph and Don. She tapped Lizzy's arm, trying to sound calm. "Sweetie, you're sister's in trouble. And I don't know how to explain it but, she really needs our help."
Lizzy pulled back, looking at the Turtles. Then turning back to her mom. "Is she going to die?"
Hannah frowned at her daughter's face. "I don't know, sweetie. I really don't know."
Lizzy frowned too, her eyes filling with tears. "Is she sick or something?"
"No, she's not sick. She's just in a lot of trouble."
"With whom Mom? Who is it?"
Hannah looked at Leo again whom nodded to her. "Remember when we saw the
explosion on the news and it was at your sister's apartment?" Lizzy nodded
slowly. "Well, whoever set off that bomb
was after Jewel and it was intended to kill her. Now that they know she's alive,
these people are looking for her. And they want her killed." The very
words made Hannah shiver.
Lizzy looked away, her vision starting to blur. "No..." She uttered softly.
Mike came up behind Lizzy, rubbing her back. "Don't worry, Lizzy. We're going to do everything we can to find these people and track them down."
Lizzy looked at Mike, tears streaming down her face. "Do you promise?"
Mike wrapped his arms around her, giving a quick squeeze. "I'll do whatever it takes. I can promise you that much." He pulled away, giving her a small grin of encouragement.
I came downstairs, wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants. I stopped at the bottom, feeling as though I walked into a funeral.
"Hannah? Oh, my God! What's the matter?" I ran to her side, crouching down at the chair.
Hannah put her arms around me. "Oh, it's just what you told me earlier. It really upset me. I just want you to know I'm here for you no matter what, okay?"
I looked over Hannah's shoulder at Leo. He smiled and shrugged. "I know, Hannah. I truly am thankful that you will help me out."
Lizzy came over. "What about me?"
"Oh, of course! Can't forget you." I hugged her tightly.
Don grinned at the scene. "I feel another Kodak moment coming on!"
Mike returned the grin. "The feeling is mutual, bro."
The evening went on. The pizzas arrived and Lizzy pressured us into watching Anastasia on video while we ate since some of us admitted to not seeing it before.
Raph leaned toward Mike. "Is this a cutesy movie?"
"Nah, not really. But it does have some singing here and there."
Raph leaned back. "Wonderful."
I got the La-Z-Boy again, holding my plate of pizza in my lap. Leo, Don, Raph, and Mike took the couch. Lizzy sat on the floor at the coffee table behind Mike, placing her plate on the table.
Hannah came in, tossing napkins to everyone. "Please be careful not to spill. If I find any stains, it's going to be very unpleasant around here." She sat down with her plate by Leo whom saluted her.
Lizzy turned around to Mike. "That's Mom for ya!"
"Oh, and here." Hannah grabbed the stack of glass coasters. "Use these for your glasses. I don't want any ring marks on my coffee table."
"Yes, 'Mom'." Raph grinned with his mouth full of pizza.
We all sat at the television. I looked around. "Who's got the VCR remote?"
Raph pulled it out from under him, grinning. "Shall I press 'play' now? Or do you want to watch Seinfeld?"
Lizzy turned to him. "Play the tape!"
Raph groaned and hit the button. We were all stuck in a world of animation for 90
minutes. I could tell the Turtles weren't too thrilled with it. Mike on the
other hand, was one for these kind of movies.
The movie played and we watched in silence, laughing here and there. Nothing else
mattered at that point. Just pure enjoyment.