Welcome To Join Us

The fifth-period bell rang at St. Mary’s signaling the end of the school day on this particular Friday. Dan packed his bag as his fourth-period senior class exited the room.

“Have a nice weekend, Mr. Capra!” the class cheered.

“You to ladies, don’t dawdle and get home safe!”

St. Mary’s had a half-day since the city of New York needed to install voter booths in the school building for an upcoming election. But Dan didn’t leave right away, for he knew a certain raven-haired student of his would rush to the cla-

“Mr. Capra!” Rica shouted as she magically appeared in the classroom doorway, panting.

“Hello, Rica.” Dan smiled, “Did you just find out we have a half-day of school?”

“Eh?” Rica blushed. “Well, I’ve been away.”

“Um-hm!” He teased.

But Rica recovered, “Quit bringing up the past. Let’s look to the future.”

“The future?” Dan asked with light-hearted shock.

“Yes sir,” said Rica, “The future means we got time to go to Estrelitas Mexican restaurant and get us some Tortas, yum!” she rubbed her belly.

“Hmm,” Dan pondered, “I like Tortas, but, I’m gonna have to take a rain check. I have other plans today.”

“What?” Rica’s face dropped in disbelief, “Whaddya mean other plans?”

“Exactly what I said.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and exited the room. Rica chased him.

“But, Mr. Capra. I umm, I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“That was your choice, right?”

“Well,” she glanced around while pacing him down the hall, “I mean, yeah, but, it couldn’t be helped and-”

“In that case, you’re welcome to join us, if you like.” He offered.

“Us?” Rica squinted her eyes as they exited the school building, “Who’s us?”

“Oi?” said a voice, “Is that how you think of me?”

Rica spun and gaped wide-eyed at the beautiful, “Big sister Kitty! What are you doing here?”

“Maybe I’m here to thwart your evil plans, hee!”

“Whaa!” Rica cried, glaring at Dan.

But Dan ignored Rica while staring at the eye-catching Kitty, who whipped her hair back with princess arrogance.

“What are you looking at?” Kitty asked Dan.

“Probably trouble,” he replied.

"You got that right!" she snapped with a smile.

Kitty, a petite girl standing a mere five foot three inches, wore skinny dark jeans and a thin leather jacket. Dan held no illusions about Kitty in comparison to her peers. To him, each bad girl was super adorable, and each had their own thing:

Tara- Ponytailed Tomboy cutie. Type of girl you can go to a game and eat wings with. Could Dan date her? Absolutely, Tara’s totally my type!

Rica- The most dangerous little sister one could ever hope for. Could Dan date her? Rica is one of a kind and I truly adore her. But no. I only see her in a ‘proud’ parental way.

Reyna- Hands down the sexiest of all four of the bad girls. Hell, even beyond that. Reyna was super smart, cosmopolitan, and exuded confidence and evil with every step she took, every word.... Could Dan date her? ...Reyna?

Kitty- To Dan, Kitty was the cutest girl he’d ever met in his life. So delightful...Could Dan ever date her? I don’t know...Kitty is so-damn-pretty she’s intimidating. I’m also aware she’s bad-tempered as fuck, heh heh!

“Yo, math teacher! You gonna feed me before you teach me?” said Kitty, interrupting his daydream.

“Of course, let’s head over to that good Ramen spot, Hiroko’s!” He replied with a smile, then turned to Rica, “And you’re invited too, my treat.”

Rica cast her eyes at both Kitty and Dan, “Why are you two together? How suspicious! But ok, Hiroko’s Ramen tastes good!”

Rica turned and tried to hold Dan’s arm, but Kitty blocked her with love, “Not so fast little miss. I’m his bodyguard today,” said Kitty.

“Eh!” cried Rica running to catch up as Kitty and Dan walked away. Kitty held his arm.

Hiroko’s Ramen

On Manhattan’s eastside lay the salaryman district. Most of the big Japanese companies operating in the U.S. ran offices in this section of the city. The Japanese bento shops and restaurants reflected their clientele. One of the more famous and busier shops was Hiroko’s Ramen.

“Irasshaimase!” cried the middle-aged hostess as Dan and his dates entered the shop.

“Table for three, please!” Rica answered in flawless Japanese.

From the time they walked in, until the time they sat down, Dan and Kitty talked accounting. The reason she met him today was to clarify some issues on the books he transferred.

“Sorry to bother you, Dan. It’s just me and Tara and we didn’t want to get taken for a ride being that Artie made those books so complicated,” said Kitty, examining a spreadsheet on her phone.

“Don’t worry about it. Heck, It took me a few days to parse through all of it, so I understand,” said Dan.

The three sat in a booth. Dan on the inside with Kitty next to him, and Rica across from them.

“Mm, boring topic,” Rica mumbled while eating appetizers.

Kitty smirked at Rica, “Oi, I can entertain you with a little scolding.”

“What?” Rica sat back in fear of Kitty.

“That’s right. And you know you have it coming. Cause I heard about that little horse tranquilizer cocktail you let Dr. Ola stick Dan with.” Kitty spoke calmly, but she didn’t smile.

Rica lowered her eyes, “But big sis Kitty, I wasn’t gonna hurt Dan.”

“Rica!" Kitty said with a frown.

“Yes?”

Dan watched amazed at the respect Rica showed to Kitty at the table. Rica responded the way a little sister would when caught and shamed by a beloved big sister. He had no idea how close they were up until now.

“You harassing Dan the way you do. You’re going to cut that out, ok?”

“Ah~” Rica glanced away, “But Kitty, I like him.”

Kitty smirked, “Of course you do. All bad girls love Dan, honey. But he’s an adult. And I know Reyna told you this but now I’m telling you,” Kitty stroked Rica’s hair, “You’re a fourteen-year-old girl, and the way you’re behaving around him is not cute at all. So knock it off, ok?”

With shame in her red face, Rica nodded, “Ok,” she looked up at Dan, “I’m sorry I molested you, Mr. Capra.”

Eeep! “Um, fine, let’s move forward. Shall we?”

In moments their food arrived and the three kept up a jovial conversation. Kitty ordered a beer and told Dan more about Rica and Reyna.

“Reyna?” said Kitty, “Me and Tara knew her since we were teens. She and Tara are the same age. Reyna used to whack people for my father when he was alive.”

Dan understood, “I see. So you and Tara inherited your father’s..ahem.. business?”

“You can say that,” she answered, loudly slurping her ramen.

“Heh heh,” Dan chuckled. He could now tell that Kitty had a tomboy tough-guy attitude like her sister. Just in a more girly package. He looked at Rica, “And what about my awesome math student here? What’s her story?”

“Rica-chan?” said Kitty, pinching Rica’s cheek.

“Nya~” Rica blushed.

“Rica is my adopted little sister and student. Tara’s too!” She stared at Dan with a smile.

“You mean in Kung Fu?”

“I mean everything.” Kitty turned to Dan, “Rica’s gonna be the boss of all bosses one day.”

“Oh!” said Dan.

"One day," said Rica, winking at him.

Kitty continued, “Knowing who we are, what we do. You don’t judge us, do you, Dan?”

Dan smirked, “That would be hypocritical of me. Don’t you think?”

“Mr. Capra’s too fascinated to judge us, big sis!” said Rica.

Kitty turned to Dan, “Oh? So we fascinate you, hunh? Like clowns in a circus fascinating or what?”

“Heh heh,” Dan laughed, “I’m not falling for your trap. I choose ‘or what’ as an answer!”

The trio chuckled at the fun conversation until Dan spotted someone approaching the table, “Oh!” he tapped Kitty’s shoulder and pointed, “This is not unexpected,” he said.

Before anyone could blink, the beautiful Reyna Rai walked up and stood in front of the three in the booth. With her arms crossed Reyna glared at Kitty through narrow steel slit eyelids.

“Well, well, well...aren’t we all having a good time,” Reyna said to Kitty, she then glanced at Dan, “Hullo Daniel.”

“Hi Reyna, have a seat?” he offered.

Reyna smiled evil, “Oh no sweetie, I don’t think so.” She glared at Kitty again. “You see Daniel, three's a crowd, but four is a harem, and I don’t play that game.”

Kitty smirked at her, “Well ain’t you a drama queen coming here, uninvited, to ruin everyone’s good time!”

“Yours especially!” Reyna snapped at her.

“And how’d you know we were here?” Kitty asked, glancing at Rica.

Rica blushed and turned away.

“Hm-hm, don’t try to embarrass Rica,” said Reyna, “My kid doesn’t lie to me.”

“Why would anyone need to lie to you, Reyna? No one’s doing anything wrong here. We’re just having lunch, and then you show up, and we haven’t seen you in a week. So, you know, we want you to have a seat,” said Dan.

When Dan spoke Reyna’s evil face vanished. Replaced with a more anxious look. A cute look.

“Umm, well,” Reyna looked away, “I don’t care for Ramen right now.”

“You can order a salad,” Kitty deadpanned.

“Hi, I’m talking to Dan," Reyna snarked.

“She’s right, the salads are good!” said Dan.

Reyna stopped short. “Oh, right. Well, listen you all seem like you’re finished and uh...come on Rica, let’s go.”

Rica double took at Reyna, “Why do I have to go?”

“You look like you’re done. Are you done?” Reyna asked.

“Uh, yeah." Rica sighed, "No problem, I’m done.”

Rica smiled at Dan and Kitty and pulled herself out of the booth. As the mother and daughter now stood in front of the table, Reyna made eye contact with Dan. “So Dan, I the read the note you left in the safe apartment...seems you moved.”

Dan smiled, “Yeah, I’m in midtown. I tried to call you but both of your phones were disconnected,” he said to Rica and Reyna.

“Couldn’t be helped,” said Rica.

“Oh ok. Well I wanted to tell you both that I’ll be resigning my teaching position from St. Mary’s at the end of the semester,” said Dan.

“What?” Rica’s eyes popped out. “Why? I thought you were happy teaching there?”

“I am,” said Dan, “But now Math For Life Tutoring is growing outside the realm of me working on it nights and weekends. And If I want to grow it properly I need to work on it full time.”

“Oh, I understand,” said Rica, sad-faced.

“Will you still be in the city?” Reyna asked, locked in Dan’s eyes.

“Can’t say for sure. I’ll see where the journey takes me,” he said smiling.

A sorrow shot across Reyna’s face. “Oh? How sudden... Seems you’ve had a productive week, Daniel.”

“Yes, I have. Are you sure you can’t stay, Reyna?”

She blushed, but during the whole conversation, Dan sat blocked in the booth. Kitty sat still on his side and kept Reyna separated from him. After a moment Reyna took a breath.

“No, I can’t stay. I have other matters to tend to.”

“What other matters?” Rica asked.

Reyna scowled at her and turned to leave. “Let’s go, Rica.”

Rica sighed, “Yes, yes!”

“One yes is enough, young lady!” Reyna quipped.

Rica shook her head and turned to Dan, “Have a nice weekend, Mr. Capra. I’m sorry if my mother and I pushed you away.”

“What? No-” Before Dan could assure Rica, Kitty pinched his leg. Dan stopped short, and instead switched his words to, “Have a safe weekend, Rica.”

Reyna glanced back at Dan, “Good luck in your endeavors, Daniel.”

He grinned, “Thank you, Reyna.”

Reyna paused as if expecting him to say more. But he didn’t. And she left with a final, “I’ll call you later, Kitty~”

“I’m sure you will, Reyna,” said Kitty.

Reyna and Rica walked to the front and, without a second look, exited Hiroko’s Ramen spot.

Dan looked down at the table. Kitty faced him.

“This is what you wanted, right?” she asked him.

He inhaled and exhaled before answering, “Not exactly.”
....