1998-09 – Letters from Raphael

Yo!

Hey, how ya been? I’ve been doin’ good. Casey and me are back to hangin’… he’s been around the wearhouse where I’m trainin’ the Clan Sai guys alot. He’s startin’ to see that these are good people who were given tough breaks… they made some real bad decisions in the past, but they wanna set things straight now. Casey has actually been a real help too… he’s been where the guys have been and he knows what it’s like. I can’t especially relate, bein’ my mutated condition an’ all. Case can really get into their heads when things get a little overheated (which happens alot). I’m kinda old school in that I believe that might makes right… but Casey’s approach has had a real positive effect… I have the kids’ respect via fear of painful repercussion… and Casey has their respect as someone who’s come thru the fire and is stronger because of it. I guess it’s the classic “good cop bad cop” thing… and I’m real comfortable in the bad cop role for now. Until these jokers prove to me 1000 times over that they deserve trust, they will not receive it. They are on trial and I am the judge. I’m not gonna be easy on them just because they’ve got it rough. Ya ain’t gonna get alotta sympathy from a hunted mutant who lives in a sewer.

So far the Clan has been very good. Outta 20 guys, only two have quit. And I’m NOT goin’ easy on ’em. They know the rules. No slips or they’re gone. They just started the journey of 1000 steps to redemption, and I’m not about to remove any hurdles for them. We made sure one is spending some time in the cage because he refused to give up his evil ways. Same deal with all the guys… if you’re in, you’re in for good as long as ya stay on the path… but if you leave to pursue any kind of Foot activity or any other type of crap, you’re goin’ out… hard.

The other guy quit because he just doesn’t have the mental toughness to be a ninja. He was pretty new to the Foot when they disbanded, so he wasn’t in too deep and didn’t really know how much effort it takes. It ain’t easy. It’s not a “hobby” like he wanted to treat it… it’s a way of life. I let him walk with the warning that we’ll be watching, and so far he’s been cool. Got himself a job with Casey and he seems to be on the up and up. We’ll keep tabs on him for a few more months. He was a good enough kid… I think his problem is that he didn’t want a mutant tellin’ him what to do. That’s fine by me as long as he doesn’t cause us any trouble.

One thing that the guys have been good with is cleanin’ up the trouble around us. The reason Mikey can goof off with Mondo is because Clan Sai has the run of our block now. Took us about 6 weeks to clear out the problems, but so far we’ve done it. The guys are ex-Foot, so they know their stuff to some degree. I’m actually likin’ how things are goin’. If things keep workin’ out, we’ll start expanding and bringing order to all of the streets in time for the new millennium.

So that’s about it. I gotta get over to the wearhouse now and start tonight’s excercises and patrols.

Be cool.

Later,
Raph

Master Splinter

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