Monday Morning

Dan exited his building at five am. He needed to meet the lawyer and sign the power of attorney paperwork before the homeroom bell rang at St. Mary’s.

But as he exited his building he spotted Bling and Ian walking toward him. Dan smirked as the brutes greeted him.

“Good morning, Killer-Dan. Where are you off to so early, brotha?” Ian asked.

Dan eyed them as they blocked his path. “Heh, just some errands before school. Now, if you two will excuse me.”

He walked around them, but the brutes turned and grabbed his arm, “Whoa, slow down Dan. Why don’t you take a ride with us fir-”

“♪ Well you two are up early,” sang a woman's voice.

Bling and Ian turned, and slowly took one step back when Reyna Rai strutted down the building steps.

“R-Reyna?” said Bling. The two brutes gaped at her. “So, you’re with Dan?”

Reyna didn't answer, then walked straight toward them. As she advanced Bling and Ian lowered their eyes and cleared out of her way. She passed them and stopped in front of Dan, turning to face them again. The brutes kept their heads down.

Dan stared dumbfounded at the scene before him. What is going on here? Are Bling and Ian afraid of Reyna?

“You two, Heckle and Jeckle!” Reyna barked at Bling and Ian, “Tell Tara and Kitty that Dan will see them tomorrow. Not today.”

Bling and Ian looked at each other before Bling spoke, “But Reyna-” As he spoke she widened her stance, and sneered at him through narrow-eyed slits.

“Why do you keep saying my name as if I wasn’t clear?” she asked. 

Both brutes dropped their eyes back to the ground. “It’s all good, Reyna. Tomorrow is fine. We’ll tell Boss Tara,” said Ian.

“Of course you will. Now good day gentlemen!” she whispered.

Without another word, Bling and Ian hustled back to their truck, while Dan stared at Reyna awestruck.

“Reyna? Did you just send Bling and Ian running with their tails between their legs? How’d you do that?”

“Hmm?” Reyna turned to Dan with an innocent smile, “Well, let’s just say, ‘Once bitten, twice shy,’ is the proper phrase for those two, hee hee! Now come on, we don’t want you to be late,” she giggled as they held hands, walking to her vehicle.

“Twice shy? Hi, what does that mean? Are you saying you’ve physically crossed paths with Bling and Ian before?” Dan thought about it and shook his head, “Nah, no way. Those guys are like total badasses!”

“Haha!” Reyna laughed, “Yeah, I suppose. Who knows~”

But Dan wasn’t satisfied, “No no, don’t be vague! I mean, Jesus Reyna. I’ve seen your daughter’s close combat technique-”

Reyna snapped her pointer finger across his lips, “Dan, no! You didn’t see Rica do anything and no person on earth will ever vouch for your story, so drop it.”

Dan kept silent as she let go of his hand to unlock the car. But he stubbornly asked.

“Reyna?”

“Yes, lover?”

“Who are you?”

Reyna smiled, “The passenger door is unlocked, Dan.” He opened the door and sat down as she started the vehicle, “Now, let’s get you to that lawyer then school before you’re late, yeah?”

Dan nodded, “Right. No problem.”

Subject dropped.

Confession

Later that day Dan sat in his empty classroom for fifth-period lunch. His mind raced a mile a minute since he met Frank’s lawyer that morning. The shady attorney happily passed all of Frank’s questionable accounts to Dan, to include usernames and passwords.

Even though I figured this might happen with those accounts, this is all still pretty heavy. Be careful Dan.

“Mr. Capra?”

“Eh?” Dan faced the doorway and smiled at his troublesome student. “Hi Rica, come in.”

Rica walked toward him with her head down, blushing. “Mr. Capra, I’m sorry I didn’t speak to you after second-period math earlier. But I heard you were with my mom this morning and met the lawyer. How’d that go?”

“Pretty good. Seems that lawyer was anxious to free himself of Frank’s accounts.”

“Heh, yeah I’ll bet he was. So you know this makes you the owner of club Zero now?”

Dan could tell Rica wanted to talk. He kept an easy demeanor for her.

“Yup, I'm a club owner now and I can’t wait to put that on my resume, heh heh!”

"The title suits you!" she teased, “So, how’s your shoulder?”

He raised his left arm, “It’s stiff and hurts a lot. But I’ll live.”

“That’s good. And I...I’m sorry about what I did to you,” she turned away, “In your apart-”

“It’s ok Rica. Don’t ever mention it again."

Her faced flushed with shame, “Mr. Capr-”

“No, Rica, let me speak, please.”

She nodded with her eyes down, “Ok.”

Dan took a deep breath. “Rica, you already know that you’re an extremely bright and exceptionally pretty young lady.”

Rica’s eyes widened, “Yeah? You think so?”

Dan’s finger snapped up, “Yes, I do, however, I’m your teacher and I’m sorry if I come off as a hypocrite for saying this after what I’ve done this week. But Rica, there’s just some areas of right and wrong that I simply will not cross. Not for you, and not for anyone. And more importantly, I don’t feel that way toward you. Do you understand?”

The room grew silent as Rica stared at the floor. Her eyes watered, but she fought and didn’t cry when she looked up, “Are you saying you have no feelings for me at all?” she asked.

“What? Of course, I have feelings for you. I care a lot about you. Just, not the way I think you want."

She nodded her head, “I understand. But may I ask you? If you don’t have feelings like that for me,” she looked away, “Then why’d you help me?”

Dan sighed and closed his eyes, “Because Rica, you said you needed my help.”

Rica’s head snapped forward at his answer, “What?” she yelped.

Dan frowned, nodding up and down with his eyes squinted shut. His face red as a lobster as he attempted to explain himself. “Yeah, Rica, it’s not that simple but, you know your mom asked me this question just yesterday and I told her I’d keep my reasons-”

“Oh hell no! I am not my mother and I want to know your reasons!” She smiled, “Now tell me why you followed me into the teeth of hell the other night?”

He raised his eyebrow, “I followed you where?”

“You heard me!”

Dan smirked, “Heh heh, fine. But please don’t judge my answer too harshly, ok?”

She frowned. “Mr. Capra, need I remind you that you never once questioned my motives for everything we’ve done thus far. So why would I judge yours at all? No worries. I’m just curious, that’s all~”

“I hear you, and I kinda wanted to say this out loud anyway,” Dan took a moment to compose his thoughts, “You see Rica I wanted to come to this city and hit the ground running when it came to teaching, and eventually get the charity started up. Because these activities focus my energies in positive ways that help people and make me happy. And it’s been a long time since I found something I loved that allows me to go full throttle!”

"Full throttle?" Rica grinned, “Wait? Mr. Capra, you're an old school juvenile delinquent, huh?"

He evaded her question, “I think through studying and teaching I discovered the most positive outlet-”

“Mr. Capra?” she stared in his eyes.

He averted her gaze. “Yes?”

She smiled pure evil, and Dan knew she'd figured him out. “Hm hm hm, sweet Mr. Capra, it seems you like getting into adventure with me!"

He gulped, “Well, honestly the money you keep throwing at me is a big draw. But uh, I've never met anyone like you before.”

“Of course you haven’t,” she patted his chest, “What teenage girl you know does gangster shit like me, hee!"

"Rica, no!" He grit his teeth, “I’m an honest man, I walk the straight and narrow!”

“Mhm, yet you killed two men to protect me with your big gun, didn’t you?”

He turned away, and Rica smiled, “You’re not a fool Mr. Capra. Nope, your history says it all and I was right about you the whole time."

"You were right? About wha-"

"Hm hm hm," her cruel cackle cut him off. "Mr. Capra, it seems that you’re an old school bad boy and former killer riding a high you haven’t had since the Taliban tried to blow your ass up in-country, yeah?”

He shook his head, "I don't kno-"

"And I am the drug you're missing, aren't I?"

He didn’t look at her, “Rica, you said you weren’t going to judge me-”

“I’m not judging you!" she stared at him.

He kept his eyes down, “Well, as your teacher I should have never stepped into your world-”

“Yet here we are!” she reached out and grabbed his belt buckle, “Just birds of a feather, aren't we? Now tell me, do you regret any of your actions, Mr. Capra?”

He couldn’t lie, “No, I don’t.”

“Or regret meeting me?” she smiled, pulling him closer.

This little girl is truly her mother's child. He gently pushed her away and patted her head. “No, I don’t regret meeting you, Rica.”

She blushed. “Nya~ but you say that now. But what will you say tomorrow?”

Dan grew serious, “Yes, about that. I know we’re in a lot of danger right now because you weren’t supposed to let Frank die that early, were you?”

“No,” she answered, “Nikolai forced my hand so I had to ice both of them. Bad business all around.”

Dan nodded, “Well, it seems the people on the other end of those shell accounts will be pretty upset now that Frank and Nikolai are dead.”

“Yes, they will be. And they’re not nice people,” she confirmed.

“I know, that’s why you asked your mother for help, isn’t it?”

“What?” Rica’s eyes popped open, “I didn’t ask that woman for help. She…she offered, hmph!”

Dan chuckled, heh heh proud teenager. “Take her help, we need it,” he replied.

“You're right,” she agreed, “Because those guys at the end of those accounts are really bad news. But Mr. Capra, you’re saying we need help. Does that mean you have a mathematical plan to stop them?”

Dan smirked, “I’m not sure I'd call it mathematical, but uh. I do have a plan~”

….