Part 10: Keep A Lid On Things

New York, 20: 43 pm, July 6th, 1999

Raph

Man, looks like Lady Luck is being the big grinch as always. Here Mike comes home hurt, can't even stand on his own two feet, and finds that his living room wall is smeared with blood that is probably his girlfriend's!
I shudder, even if it's the middle of summer. What if something like that's happened to Kylie?

I start to run as my head fills with images I refuse to believe, but still they are there, taunting me at the back of my mind.
What if the Foot's gotten to her? Her and her little baby daughter?

Man, am I gonna kill them if they've even so much as touched a tiny little hair on either of their heads!
Sure, Kylie isn't completely helpless like many women I've seen. She packs a wicked punch, but there's no way she could stand up to a pack of ninja soldiers, even only one man if he was strong enough-- they could slice her, dice her, heck, they could do anything they wanted to her--

Shut up! You have a real talent for paranoia, you know that?

Now I'm getting nauseous. All those nasty scenarios...
It's just that I've seen so many disgusting things in my life-- guess it makes my imagination for gore pretty big.

There's a sudden loud sound, and a car smashes into me. I roll off it and run on, rubbing my side, before the driver gets to notice what really hit his car, and not just some ordinary pedestrian.
Is everybody tryin' to kill me today, or am I just a bit on the absent-minded side? I dunno what to believe anymore.

On the other side of the road, I can spot her apartment building. I hurry over, hoping no more cars will hit me.
But of course they do. A red one almost runs me over, but I make it to the sidewalk, and the car only scratches my trenchcoat quite thoroughly with it's side mirror. Damn, I know the traffic here is bad, but still...!

Heart pounding, I open the street door and hurry inside, make my way up the stairs, find the right door, 6B, knock on it, and when nobody answers, I just open the door and step inside.

"Kylie! Kylie--"

My calls are stopped short as I discover Kylie squirming on the floor with a man I've never seen before in my life, on top of her.

New York, 20: 50 pm, July 6th, 1999

Kylie

"Will, stop it!"

He continues to kiss me, and I feel my head getting warmer with exhaustion from pushing him away and from the things I'm fighting to hold back. If only he wasn't so damn good at this, the bastard...

"Kylie... Kylie...you feel so good..."

"You thinking of throwing a 'Jacki' in there too?" I grunt hoarsely, with effort.

"Never," he kisses my neck, "ever," he kisses my cheek, "ever," he finds my mouth, and I can't close it before he's stuck his tongue inside.
I pinch his arm as hard as I can while the salty sweet taste of his tongue fills my mouth. He widens his eyes and abruptly jerks his head up. "Ow!"

I try to roll away from him, but he catches me gently, holds on to me firmly, looks into my eyes, "What was that for?"

"That was an attempt at escaping, stupid!" I hiss, regaining myself.

He smiles. "I like it when you play hard to get." And with that, he lowers himself over me again. He's pushing himself onto my thigh, I can feel he's gettting hard.

I shudder. The thought of him raping me-- "You're misunderstanding me, Will-- I'm not playing!" I yell.

"Kylie! Kylie--"

I freeze. Raph. Raph's here.

I tilt my head back and I spot Raph in an up-side down perspective from where I'm lying on the floor. I'm about to let out a sigh of relief, but Will interrupts me with a shocked outburst.

"Hooo-ley shit! What the hell is that?!" His whole face is one big shock. He yanks me swiftly off the floor and holds on to me, backing away from the astounded and visibly angry turtle.

I'm not about to let Raph get the wrong impression. I plant my elbow in Will's stomach. "Let go!" I hurry over to Raph and lightly grab his arm. "I'm glad you're here, Raph," I glance at him, then scowl at Will.

"I think you have to start locking your doors, Kylie," he mutters, "all sorts of weird things can just waltz in here,"

Will looks up, letting go of his stomach. "Yeah, like you. Kylie, who is this? Some sick alien that's controlling your mind?"

"Ain't no alien. Just Raph." He grins, looking like he's enjoying the fact that Will is scared out of his skull.

Will quietly mouthes the word "Raph" while frowning to himself, then suddenly his eyes widens as he seems to remember. "No," he shakes his head, "no, Kylie, no, this is not the Raph who...this can't be...?"

I nod quietly, holding his surprised gaze. "Kylie, you've gone crazy, haven't you? Oh my God, you're not thinking of raising Sheila with this monster, are you?"

"Aww, now you just got personal," Raph says sarcastically, takes a few threatening steps towards Will, but suddenly stops.
I frown-- what's going on?

"Not...any...further!" Will hisses slowly. I see a glint of a polished metal object in his hand. Does he have a gun?
He didn't have one before? I didn't know he carried a gun?!

"Kylie...get over here. Now!"

I see he's got the gun pointed at Raph, and a wild look in his eyes. "Get the baby."

I glance at Raph. He gives me a slight nod. I sure hope he's got a back-up plan. I hurry into the nursery to get Sheila.
"And Kylie...don't try anything funny, huh?" Will says.

I'm inwardly cursing Will and myself as I lift Sheila from her crib and carry her into the livingroom. Raph and Will are having a malicious staring competition, but Will breaks it and he grabs me the instant I enter the room, digging the gun into my temple. He kisses my hair. "Sorry it has to be this way..." he mumbles, leading me towards the door, "...but now we're going away for a while, so you can rest and...," he pauses, "...and get cured of whatever it is that's wrong with you..."

"Move," he tells Raph.

"You're just gonna hafta get past me, pal,"

Will sizes Raph up, "You know, I have no trouble coloring the walls of this room with your brain,"

A demonic smile tugs Raph's mouth.

"Go ahead,"

New York, 21:10 pm, July 6th, 1999

Raph

"So, this is the famous Will..."

This guy's gonna be a piece a' cake. He's completely freaked out by me. Only thing that's worrying me is that friggin' gun...I believe him when he says he's gonna blow my brains out...he damn well looks nervous enough to pull the trigger...better keep 'im talkin' and then--

"Kylie's told me a lot 'bout ya,"

He draws a short breath through his nostrils. If this was a cartoon, he'd be having large sweatdrops all around his head...

"Yeah? I bet she has," he mutters."Now move!"

Okay...gonna take a lot more than that...

"Like this one time we were in bed-- remember that, Kylie?" I glance at her. God, please don't think I'm a perv or sumthin'...help me out here, babe!

"Ah, I-- yeah! I recollect that-- how could I not? You were a lot better than this wimp here," Kylie presses out.

Will's eye twitches as he turns his head for Kylie and stares at her. Bullseye, Jack! Whatta pushover...
I reach into my pocket and fling out a shuriken I knew came with the coat I grabbed at Mike's. It hits the hand that holds the gun, senter of the palm, and he screams like nothing. But--

The gun went off. I hear the clank as it hits the floor.

But it went off.

Right into...my goddamn arm! There's a fountain of blood comin' outta my arm, the bullet-- did it hit bone? And Will, what--

"Raph!"

God, that motherfucker's got the baby! Just chickening out with that sweet lil'-- leaving a trail of of blood after him. He's not gonna get to use that hand again, not for a long time, anyway...
He's going out the balchony door, what the fuck does he think he's doing? There's nothing but a ledge out there!
Man, he's desperate...
I touch my wound, growl and lunge for that crazy exit. My head's a mess with Kylie's frantic screams, Will's cursing and yelps of pain, Sheila's cries, and my own angry breath...

I gotta get ahold of that baby...

The guy's crawling over the balchony fence, and he's inching his way across the ledge. I leap out on the fence, and settle there, crouched down, body weight on my toes and fingers, like a toad or whatever...gotta intimidate him...
I wish he didn't have Sheila in his arms, or I'd just go over and rip 'em both off! Guys like him make me sick! Once I get that baby back, I'm gonna beat the crap outta him! The way he treated Kylie--

He glares at me, I can see the fright in his eyes. Here it comes.

"You get the fuck outta here, or I drop her!"

As usual...
Now Kylie's comin' timidly out on the balchony behind me. Her eyes are wide with panic.

"Big words," I smirk, "yer not gonna do it!"

"That's what you think!"

The baby cries, the sobs comin' like a hiccup.

"Come on, she's your daughter-- no way yer gonna drop her!"

Suddenly he turns her up-side down and extends his arm, the one with the good hand, so she's dangling from six stories up.

"Will!" Kylie shrieks. "You come back here with her or I swear I'm gonna kill you myself!"

Will grins-- yep, the bastard's got it made now-- king of the situation. What he don't know is that with me here-- no way.
He's a psycho. He's a dead psycho.
He plucks out the shuriken from his hand with his teeth, all the while holdin' the baby over certain death. He lets the shuriken go, and there's a full seven seconds before it makes an eerie "Plunk!" against the pavement down there.

"Get moving!" he barks.

There's no other alternative-- I'm gonna hafta chance it. He's bluffing...I jump onto the ledge, landing perfectly,and he inches further away.

"Are you deaf? I said I'm dropping her!" Now his voice's gettin' shaky. Just hope he's not gonna jump or something!

"You," I say in a low voice, "are bluffing," I move towards him with an air of decision, lookin' him straight in the eye.

"Don't come any closer!"

"Be careful, Raph!" Kylie's voice is driving me nuts. I can tell she's not gonna forgive a mistake very easily. The pressure's weighing me down like a ton of bricks.
Leo should be doin' this-- heck, he could prolly talk the shitbag outta this whole thing...

I latch onto his arm, he yells, and--

He's dropped the baby. He's dropped Sheila. I can't believe he actually did it!

Kylie screams. She screams and screams. It's all a blur in my head. I feel numb, staring at his empty hand.

I failed. I've failed.

No! No, it's not my fault, goddammit! It was all because of this jerk here!

"You sonuvabitch!"

How a fight can take place on a ledge that narrow is beyond me-- but it's happening. I burn inside. He has no chance whatsoever. His guts are gonna get ripped out, his skull will be smashed--
A mere fall is too good for him. He's gonna die right here on this bloody ledge. When I'm done with him, there's not gonna be more left than a splotch of blood and a couple of teeth!
I pick him up by his feet and throw his body onto the ledge. His ribs crack against the stone and cement. He protests, but I just keep going. I yank his shirt, and smash him into the wall, again and again, until I've knocked the wind outta him. He wheezes heavily, and I punch his mouth and nose-- blood gushes out violently, and he sputters, looking about ready to throw up. Not that this is stopping me.

Once again, I pick him up.

Kylie has been watching silently, tears running down her cheeks, her make-up's all smeared, but now she whispers something. I'm not gonna listen. I know what she's saying, and I'm not gonna listen. He deserves it so bad!

Holding him so he can see what he's done to his daughter, I lean over and whisper into his ear.

"You like that? You like lookin' down six stories, you like dangling in thin air knowing that you're about to die?"

He coughs, "Kylie, I'm sorry...didn't mean to lose her...I just didn't...want," now he finally vomits, blood spills all over him, "Kylie...didn't want...you to raise her with this...this abomination!"
Now that really fuels my fire. Abomi-fuckin'-nation! I can feel that my grip is tightening around his neck. He chokes.

Kylie holds a hand in front of her mouth, shaking all over.

I pull him in again, look around me and see a brick lying on the legde. I can't get my eyes away from it. It grows bigger and bigger in my mind, I narrow my eyes, and that well known hate fills me completely. I can't calm down. Here's where I lose it.
Ramming, ramming, the brick cracks his nose, his eyes become puddles, the blood, the screams-- nothing stops me. His chest is caving in under the brick. I bare my teeth in a snarl.

A child is crying. Suddenly everything, except the buzzing of the cars and people on the street, is quiet.
Kylie has stopped screaming. Will's crumpled body is limp underneath me. He's dead. No wondering about that.
I get off of him, glancing at his massacred face.

"Do you hear...?"

Kylie doesn't answer. She's shaking continously. I feel like throwing up myself. Why did I have to lose it so thoroughly?
I peek over the edge, and what I see really blows me away.
She's lying on the ledge one story down, covered in Will's blood, totally unharmed, but crying her eyes out. Looking at the corpse behind me, and then down at the baby again, I close my eyes and put my head in my hands. This is bizarre.
"Oh God..."
I start to climb down there, finally realizing how much my arm hurts, scoop her gently up in my arms and climb back up.
The police'll prolly be here soon...

Kylie lets me go past her, and she seems really out of it. Her eyes are glued to the remains of her ex-husband.

"Kylie, I-- whe-- Kylie--"

She doesn't say a word.

"I, God, I thou--"

"Raph," she whispers, her voice trembling like never before, "hand me Sheila,"

I look at her, pause. "Okay," I put the infant in her arms.

New York, 22:00 pm, July 6th, 1999

Kylie

I've never...holy fuck, he's...

"Raph," I don't like the way my voice sounds. So weak... "Raph, we-- I...I should really go away for a while, Raph,"

"Kylie, I know you must think I'm some kind of a nutcase now,"

A nutcase? No, but my God...he really-- didn't he have any control?

"I, ah, no...but so much's happened...I need some time, you, err, understand that, right?"

He moves to me, and I realize I'm backing away, clutching Sheila so hard I'm making her sob. He stops, a sudden sadness and then frustration flashing across his face. He puts his hand down, slowly.
I can see that he's shaking too, though he's trying to hide it. I feel like crying again, just looking at him. He looks so dreadfully lost, detached...

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that-- it seemed like the right thing-- no, I...I thought he'd killed Sheila, dammit! I hated him so much!" his dark eyes penetrate mine. "I needed him dead. I hated myself for not being able to-- when she fell, I--"

"I don't," I swallow, "think that it's such a good idea for me to-- Raph, I'm going to stay at my parent's house for a while,"

"Can't I...isn't there anything I can do?" he says desperately, moving out for me again. I stumble backwards.

"Raph, please..." I beg him.

He runs a hand over his face, lets out a breath. Suddenly he kicks a nearby chair, it crashes over on the floor, denting it. "Damn!" he yells. I jump in fright.

"Raph!" I shriek, losing my voice.

"You're...you're afraid of me, huh?" he sits down on the arm of the couch, hiding his face.

All I can do is stare wide-eyed at him.

"You should know..." he says, his voice thick, "that I would never do anything at all to...to hurt you." he doesn't look at me. "You know?"

I can barely hear myself. "I don't know..."

An eternity passes; not a move is made. A dead silence engulfes my apartment, astranges it. Even Sheila doesn't make much noise. Raph's arm is still bleeding, but I wonder if he notices at all.

"Raph," I whisper, oddly afraid to speak normally, "you should-- your arm..."

"Listen...you just go, and I'll take care of...ah," he stops just long enough to remind me of Will lying out there, and the tears are pushing to come back out. "I'll take care of everything," he finishes.

I nod, and hardly even bother to snatch my coat from the coat hanger, as I stop to glance at his shellback before rushing out of my home.

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