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Mikey sneaks dramatically through Master Splinter’s room as if on an important stealth mission– and it is an important stealth mission! The most important mission of their lives: getting back their skateboards. Sensei took them after they were out skating past their curfew two nights in a row, but their curfew is way too early! Besides, how are they supposed to know the time? Mikey thinks it’s stupid, and he’s the stealthiest of them all so it’s his job to get them back.
Of course his oldest brother just had to tag along. “Mikey, this isn’t a good idea.” He’d said before the littlest opened the shoji, then his eyes went all big and sparkly.
“Don’t worry, Leo! Raph said he’d forget he even took ‘em cause he’s old.” He responded in a hushed whisper, even though Sensei is out running errands and getting food. Now he’s made his way over to the closet on the opposite side of the room and opened it up.
Jackpot.
He reaches in to grab the four skateboards when he suddenly hears a crash from behind him. He looks and it seems like Leo made something fall off Sensei’s dresser. “Leo!”
The eldest brother has tears in his eyes as he leans down to start picking up the glass shards, “It was an accident, I didn’t mean to– ouch!” He pulls his hand away from the mess, now dripping red blood from a cut on his palm.
Mikey looks to Leo, then to the skateboards, then back to Leo. “Sewer apples!” He grumbles then closes the closet, running over to his brother without their prize.
“What do we do?”
“I don’t– I don’t know!”
“Oh, dude! I told you you shouldn’t have come in, I had this!”
“It was a bad idea in the first place!” He snaps back. “Oh, no, I’m getting blood all over father’s floor– Mikey, let’s go.”
Mikey looks back towards the closet longingly before leaving the dojo, their skateboards, and the mess they made behind. The small turtle heads right to his room and flops down on the floor with a frustrated, defeated groan.
A few hours later Mikey's begun reading a comic book when Master Splinter calls his name. He definitely found their mess based on his tone– he and Leo are about to be in so much trouble. Mikey gathers himself for the scolding of a lifetime before leaving his room and heading to the dojo, putting on his best ‘I have no idea what this could be about’ smile.
“Sensei, you’re home!” Exclaims Mikey.
“Yes, my son, it is good to see you.” Responds Master Splinter. If he wasn’t his father, Mikey would have been fooled into thinking he wasn’t mad. Leo, tears in his eyes, is on his knees beside him. “Leonardo tells me you went into my room and broke one of my vases. Is that true?”
“What?” Mikey exclaims. “I did not break anything, Leo did!”
“Leonardo?”
“He’s– he’s lying, Sensei! He always lies!”
Tears form in Mikey’s eyes at the absolute betrayal. He can’t believe Leo, of all turtles, would lie to Sensei’s face like that! “I am not and I do not! I went in your room, but I– I didn’t–”
“Boys.” Sensei says the word firmly. “One of you is lying to me. Were either of your brothers involved in this scheme?”
“No, Sensei.” Michelangelo and Leonardo speak in unison.
“Go to your rooms. I must meditate on this.”
What a conundrum. Two boys telling the same story two different ways. First they break curfew twice, then they sneak into his room– to get back their skateboards, no doubt– break something, and then one lies about it. They’re becoming rebellious teens, testing their boundaries and his patience. Splinter must remember that this is a part of their growth, and he must keep his cool.
One thing seems logically true– Michelangelo broke the vase, and is lying to save his own shell. Leonardo has always been one to speak the truth, while his youngest has been proven to prefer avoiding accountability.
Unfortunately his gut tells him this is not the case and, as their father, he cannot justify taking Leonardo’s word over Michelangelo’s either way. Besides, they are brothers, and they are his sons. He does not want them lying to him, and most importantly, he doesn’t want them blaming one another for their mistakes. It is important that they take accountability and have each other’s backs. He would prefer they work together to deceive him than to turn on each other!
Splinter takes a deep breath to keep himself calm and centered. He needs to figure out what to do about their behavior. He could extend the punishment, keeping all of their boards indefinitely until one of the two confesses. This would put great pressure on whichever son did it, but it would also put pressure on the son who did not. It could force a false confession, likely from Leonardo.
He could extend just Leonardo and Michelangelo’s punishment, but worries this could push them further away from one another. It, too, could cause a false confession, most likely from Michelangelo.
Perhaps this is one of those errors that requires a heart to heart, or a bonding exercise. The glass that was broken held little to no value, he’s not mad at all that it is broken. Of course he is very angry that his sons would dare enter his room in an attempt to steal back their confiscated items, but that’s still nothing compared to the disappointment he feels about being lied to.
The old rat sighs and glances at a photo beside his bed, “Oh, Tang Shen, what will I do with these two?”
After a few hours of meditation and contemplation, Splinter calls for the boys to return to the dojo. They sit beside each other and he analyzes their faces and body language to better gauge the situations– Mikey’s eyes are rubbed raw and still wet with tears, Leonardo avoids holding his father’s gaze. Briefly the older boy looks to his younger brother and tears form in his eyes, too.
Splinter now knows who is guilty without a doubt.
With a deep breath he begins to pace in front of them while speaking. “I am not angry about the broken glass, my sons, it meant nothing to me.” They both seem to perk up at that, but barely.
“What upsets me is that one of you is lying to me, and both of you are attempting to blame the other instead of taking accountability. You are brothers, you are supposed to work together, not against one another.” Both boys look quizzical, which means they understood exactly what he meant by that. “I don’t want to punish you boys for this, I want you to be honest with me.”
They look at one another, then back at Master Splinter.
“Whose idea was it to get your skateboards out of my room?” He knows for certain the answer to this.
There is silence. The question seems to choke up both boys for a long time, and Master Splinter allows it to do so. He knows his sons, they will not let this suffocate them.
“It was mine, Sensei.” The voice is small, and it belongs to Michelangelo as he suspected it would.
“And who broke the glass?”
This silence was shorter than the last, but the answer still was not instant.
“I did, Sensei.” Leonardo’s voice cracks.
“This is all truthful, yes?”
“Hai, Sensei.”
“Thank you, my sons. I was going to extend your grounding for a month, but I am proud of you both for being honest with me today. You may go skateboarding with your brothers tonight, and if you come back before curfew I will allow you to keep them and end your punishment early.”
“Really?” They both say in unison, looking up at Splinter with wide eyes and smiles.
“Really.”
“All right!” Leo pumps his fists, and Mikey raises his hand in the air.
“High three!”
“Yeah!” Leo slaps his hand back, then tackles his brother in a hug. “I’m sorry I tried to blame it on you.”
“It’s okay big bro, I’d have done the same thing to you.”
Splinter tries not to laugh on his way back into his room, and he allows the boys to wrestle it out while he retrieves their confiscated skateboards.