ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW YORK

CHAPTER 2



Manhattan, New York, 1934


He felt himself losing his footing and in a swift motion pulled his Sais out and plunged them into the crumbling stone pillar before him. Putting his feet up on the pillar and getting a good grip on his Sais, he pushed against it and pulled his Sais out at the same time, flipping backwards and landing firmly behind the damnable object. With a furious growl he bent over and picked up the scruffy looking pigskin.
“Oh for the love of— Mike! How many times do I gotta tell ya, don’t leave your football outside my room!”

This was the fifth time he’d tripped over it this week. Holding the ball up in front of him he glared at it. He should have popped this thing ages ago. But then he’d just have to put up with Mike whining about it until he got a new one. And that definitely wasn’t worth the few seconds of satisfaction. He turned to his brother and frowned.

“If I find this thing in front of my door again I’m putting a Sai through it. Besides, you’re getting too old for these toys.”

Mike held his hand up in protest, sensibly making certain to stay a reasonable distance from him. “First of all Raph, that is not a toy. It’s a piece of sporting equipment. Second of all, old? If I’m old, what are you, like ancient?” Mike laughed and ducked just as the football came blazing towards his head. “You’re just mad you can’t join the league.”

Raphael waved his hand in dismissal. “I can’t believe they made a league out of that. It’ll never last,” he grumbled as he walked past Mike and gave his irritating younger brother a shove just for good measure. Mike wasn’t completely wrong. A sport where you got to tackle for fun? Who wouldn’t enjoy that? That was his kind of sport.

He sat down at the end of the sofa and began to make himself comfortable when Mike jumped over the back and dropped himself down beside him. The whole sofa jumped, including Raph.

Letting out a groan through gritted teeth he yanked the football out of Mike’s arm. “Mike, if you don’t quit bugging me so help me I’m gonna take this football and—“

“Raphael, Michelangelo, enough. Leonardo is trying to hear an important news announcement. You would be wise to listen as well.” Without a glance in their direction, Master Splinter continued to quietly pour his tea.

“Yes Master,” they replied in unison.

Carefully and quietly he leaned over to Mike and whispered, “Twit.” Then shoved the football into Mike’s ribs, grinning when he heard his brother’s sharp intake of breath.

“Ow! Way to go Genius!” Mikey whispered hoarsely, rubbing his now tender side.

That did it. Raph jumped to his feet and pulled back a fist. “You are so dead Mike!”

“Raphael! Silence!” Splinter gave him that look and reluctantly Raph sat down. He hoped Mike was enjoying this, because later he was going to get such a pounding. And that damned football was definitely getting a Sai through it. He crossed his arms over his chest and with a grunt turned his attention to the radio. It sounded like one of Hoover’s boys.

Raph sighed. What now. Every time one of those G-men came on it was about some new tough guy making a name for himself or some new evidence on some crime family, which of course would lead nowhere as usual. This city was going to hell in a hand basket. And it pissed him off.

At two p.m. this afternoon, Alphonse Gabriel Capone was relocated from the Atlanta Federal Prison to the newly appointed federal prison on Alcatraz Island. Here all privileges will be limited, and no single inmate, regardless of his public stature, will be given special rights or freedoms. We see this as a great victory in our fight against organised crime. There will be more tonight at eight. Thank you.

There was silence for a moment. The radio went to commercial and then was gently clicked off. Raph glanced over at Leo kneeling quietly on the carpet beside Splinter’s chair. He hated to admit it, but even to this day these moments made him a bit edgy.

It was amazing how much Leo had changed in the last ten years. It wouldn’t be too long now before he became Master. But there was a side to Leo that not even Splinter had seen. When Leo returned from Japan years ago everyone thought he was back to his old self. But after he’d been back for a few weeks, it was clear to Raph that something inside his brother had changed. There was a quiet stillness in Leo that even he found disquieting. He’d learned years ago not to push Leo too far. He ran his thumb over the corner of his chest and felt the edge of the deep groove where a piece of his plastron was missing. He’d never forget that day. They’d told Master Splinter it was an accident. But Raph hadn’t gone down without a fight, and Leo had his own little reminder in the shape of a circular scar just to the right of his left under arm. It took Leo months of conditioning to recover his left arm enough to wield a Katana. And even now, especially in the winter, it played up on him.

They never got into another fight like that again. If it looked like it was heading there, Raph walked away. It was the hardest thing he’d ever made himself do. He’d never walked away from a fight, but he knew what could happen if he didn’t. He’d never admit it, but his love for Leo was the only thing bigger than his pride. So he would walk away. Always. Mike’s voice snapped him away from his thoughts.  

“Do you think that’s the end of Capone?”

Leo stood and shook his head. “I don’t know Mike. But even if it is, there’s a dozen other guys right here in New York causing us enough grief. Come on, we need to pick Don up at Howard’s lab. They should have found a match to the tire tracks by now.”

Mike jumped up from the sofa and clutched at Leo’s arm. “Aw, come on Leo, Dick Tracy’s on in ten minutes! If I miss it I won’t know what happens! What if Flattop murders Tracy!” Mike exclaimed anxiously.

Leo put his hand on Mike’s shoulder and smiled tenderly. “Don’t worry Mike, I’m quite sure Tracy will come out on top.”

Mike’s shoulders slumped and he gave a small pout. “But Leo, how do you know?”

“He always does, doesn’t he? Now come on, get dressed. We’ll take the Buick and you can ride front seat.”

“Aces!” With that Mike jumped over the sofa and ran towards his room. Raph couldn’t help as the corners of his mouth turned slightly upwards. He wondered if Mike would ever grow up. He hoped not.

He turned back to Leo and quietly walked with him towards their rooms. Raph hated wearing a suit. He couldn’t think of anything more restricting for a ninja then a damned high collared suit and tie. But Master Splinter was right. They couldn’t take anything for granted these days. The way things were going they couldn’t always stick to the shadows because crime was happening in broad daylight, right under their noses. So they got togged to the bricks, with high collared suits, shoes, gloves, fedoras and long black trench coats. Although Raph had to admit that sometimes the tie came in handy. After all, anything could become a weapon to a ninja.

“See you upstairs.” With a quick nod Raph left Leo. He got into his room and started to get dressed. There was that twisted flutter in his gut again. The same one he always got when he knew they were going to be seeing some major action that night. They were going to find those goons and when they did, he was going to make sure no one ever went near April again. When those greaseballs walked into April’s shop and tried to shake her down for protection money, they sealed their fates.

Raph straightened his tie and grabbed his Sais. He tucked them into his belt towards the back of his shell. Finally he put on his coat and grabbed his fedora. He paused at the archway with his back to his room then flicked the lights off. Tonight was going to be a fun night, at least for him.