Chapter 1 Don Can't Study Quiet would be nice. For five minutes quiet would be nice. Don was trying to read Dickens and was not getting very far at all. “I hate Korn—and now I am talking to myself.” Last year, through a lot of help from April, Don had managed to enroll himself in On-line Classes through a local university. It was expensive, but that is where Don had decided to use his share of the money. This was his second “semester” of it and he was actually quite proud of his accomplishment. Although Don excelled at many things, even he was having trouble understanding Tale of Two Cities because of the out dated English….and Freak on a Leash wasn’t helping much. Throwing down the book, Don got up to confront Raphael about the situation. It was at that time that Mike strolled in the door. “Good Morning” “It’s noon.” “Oh, Yep, Guess you’re right… Good Afternoon.” With that said, Mike walked into the kitchen and started to rummage in the cabinets. “All Right! Wonton! I am living large.” Leonardo emerged out of his room and stumbled into the kitchen. He looked as though he had been taking a nap. That’s not really like Leo. Don was amazed that Leo could even attempt to sleep through Raph’s music. Leo yawned, then stopped and listened. He threw a dirty look in the direction of the music. “How long has that been going on?” “Dunno… Since about chapter 3 in my book.” “Oh.” Leonardo seemed to decide that he didn’t want to bother to stop the disturbance, and turned his attention to Mike. “Where were you this morning?” “Stayed over at April and O’s” “Oh….Mike what are you doing?” Mike turned his eyes off the water he was boiling looked at Leo, and lowered them back to the pot. “Ummm…boiling water for wonton.” “No…I mean with Oyu….oh never mind. I’ve got my own problems without having to know about yours.” With that Leo went back to his room. “Ooookay. He’s acting normal.” Don took a sniff of the coffee he was making. "I’m worried about him. He’s starting to act…I don’t know…weird.” “Leo…weird…no way!!” “I’m serious Mike!” “Sorry, sorry….I haven’t noticed anything major different in Leo.” “You haven’t been here!” It sounded a little harsher than Don had wished, and Mike stopped, mouth open and spoon about 2 inches away from it. “I’ve been busy!!” “Yeah…out doing whatever you please. You’re making Raph look like Mr. Perfect Attendance during practice.” Mike wrinkled his nose and directed his attention back to the soup. “Whatever.” “Yeah, whatever, that’s the opinion you take on everything nowadays.” “What?” “You heard me.” Don nonchalantly stirred in the last of the milk into his coffee. “Shut up! You don’t know what you are talking about!” “I know what I see. You don’t seem to care about anybody else other than yourself anymore.” “Where are you pulling this out of! What’s up with this? All I want is to eat my Wonton in peace, but no I have to listen to some lecture.” “Exactly…You have to listen to some lecture…messes up with you getting to eat your wonton. You have become completely self absorbed.” “Well thank you Mr. Self Help Manual. Hey if I admit that I am a little self absorbed, which everybody needs to be, does that make me less self absorbed?” Mike gave a little fake smirk, threw his bowl in the sink, and left the room. “Where are you going?” "Bed. I don’t have to listen to this.” Don shook his head. He was going to have to read in the living room now. He didn’t want to have to go into round two of that…discussion. It’s not fair, Raph and Leo get their own rooms…Ugh. Now I’m whining to myself… 6:00 Raph had walked in to watch TV at about 3:00 and at that point Don gave up on Dickens. He watched Jenny Jones with Raph. “Man, all those kids need is someone to set them straight!” Don hid a smile at the thought of Raph as Dr. Spock. But half way into “I can’t control my troubled teen!” Don got up. He was bored. He hated bored. That’s why he always found something to work on. He walked into his room quietly because Mike was still asleep. “Fruit Cakes” by Jimmy Buffett was playing on repeat softly on the CD player on Mike’s bed. The blanket had fallen almost completely off the bed, but Mike was oblivious, arms wrapped around the pillow and snoring softly. Don picked up the blanket and draped it over Mike, before sneaking back out. Don hated arguing. It was something he rarely did. Live and let live. It took a lot to get him really up and off about something. But lately… lately, there had been something that had been gnawing at Don, even if he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. All he knew is that it somehow was effecting his family, and he didn’t like that at all. “Knock, Knock…” “Come in.” “Ha..Leo you are supposed to say ‘who’s there’.” “Well it wasn’t that hard to figure out, Don. Mike still out?” “Like a light.” “Oh, he must have gotten no sleep at all last night.” “Yeah, probably.” Leo decided to change the subject. “So what should I listen to as I try to clean my room?” Don had to scoff at that. Leo’s room was emaculant compared to his and Mike’s. “Let’s see…” Leo peered down into a crate. “I got Simon and Garfunkel, umm Skynard, the Byrds, Anthology…: Leo dug deeper into the crate. “You do realize this is the 90’s?’ “Yeah, but music’s been around for like ever and I just choose to listen to the choice best.” Leo looked up with a sly smile. At least he looked “up and chipper” and not tired. Deciding on the Byrds, Mr. Tambourine Man began to play. Leo began straightening up little things, those were the only things that were even close to cluttered as far as Don could tell. “Umm…Leo?” “Are you…like…OK?” Leo looked up, a little confused. “Um, yeah why?” “You just seem, I don’t know out of it for you. Tired and stuff.” “Oh.” Leo went back to the task of nit-picking at things in his room.” “Leo?” Leo looked up for a second and then averted eye contact, moving his jaw around nervously. “Ok….Donny. I have a secret. Not a big one just a little one. No big deal actually at all.” Don didn’t say anything, he just watched Leo and waited for an answer. “Well…I kinda went and got a job.” “What!!??” “No, no, I’m just helping Chu out in the mornings before the restaurant opens. Nothing Major. I’m not the new Calvin Klein Underwear Model or anything.” “Oh. So why all the secrecy?” “I wasn’t sure if Splinter would approve. And I didn’t want to even begin to hear the stuff I would get from Raph and Mike about ‘Leo chopping Celery at 5 am for a living’. I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to start something.” “So why do it?” “Because I am tired of having to rely on other people for stuff. This helps a lot.” “So, where’s the cash?” Leo sighed. “I feel like I am on ’20 questions’”. He picked up his Doors CD case and opened it up. “Here.” A small wad of cash was on top of the CD. “Wow. Leo you are rich, bro” “Heh, no. But it will buy groceries.” “So that’s where you go in the mornings?” “Yep.” “So is that why you were taking a nap today?” “Don!” “Sorry, no more questions, promise. I just feel like something isn’t right.” Leo looked up and set down the pile of things he was cleaning. “Yeah, I thought that for a while, too. But then I realized something, Don. We’re Growing up. Things are changing. And sometimes change doesn’t feel right just because it’s different, not because there’s something wrong with it. That make any sense?” “Yeah, I guess.” “I don’t think anything’s wrong. Not with Mike. Not with me having a job. It’s all going to be OK.” “Yeah. I think I will try to go back to my book now.” “OK.” Leo grinned. “Don’t let Raph’s music bother your studying. Don returned the grin. “That bother me, never.”
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Ch2
