Una Nuova Famiglia Ch. 02

Shane simply smirked, but Raegan's frown deepened.

"I'm serious Shane, I don't need you to take care of me like that," she insisted.

When Shane remained silent, Raegan hesitated for another moment but then opted to press herself into Shane's arms instead of remaining annoyed. She needed to fill herself with the feel of this woman too desperately to remain angry. Their lips met hungrily as Shane began to undress her. They never made it to the bedroom.

It was after 9pm when Shane phoned Damien and asked him to pick up something for them to eat. They sat on the living room floor, Raegan wearing only a throw from the sofa, Shane wearing a wife-beater and boxers, eating Chinese food out of cardboard cartons, when Raegan brought up the subject of her job again. She had to admit she was feeling better knowing she didn't have to worry about her bills for a little while. Although she was still annoyed that Shane paid them without consulting her first. She refused to consider how Shane had done that.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm pretty sure the FBI is going to create a problem wherever I apply…I'm just not sure what to do."

Shane put down a carton of Singapore noodles and located her jeans to fish a card from the back pocket. She handed the card to Raegan who raised a brow as she read it.

"This is the principal of the Madame C. J. Walker School."

Shane had gone back to eating her noodles.

Raegan continued to stare at the card, "what am I supposed to do with this?"

"She's expecting you in her office on Monday."

Raegan was still staring at the card. "Shane, I don't have the credentials to teach at this school."

Shane shrugged, "Joan's a friend of mine."

"The principal is a friend of yours." Raegan repeated. She could not believe that she might have a chance to work at an exclusive private middle school for blacks with unlimited resources. She knew very wealthy blacks sent their children to the Walker school. But she also knew the school had a scholarship program for talented disadvantaged students. And she knew they encouraged input from the faculty regarding the curriculum. This was too much to believe. But the joy was short lived as reality crept in on her.

"Shane, I don't even have a car. How would I get out to Long Island everyday?"

"If you want the job it's yours. We'll work out the details." Shane assured her.

Raegan shook her head, she could not believe it. "Are you serious?"

Shane simply continued to eat her noodles. Raegan was trying to repress the smile that was about to overtake her. Then a thought occurred to her. It was one she knew Shane would not have thought of.

"What about Reese?"

Shane's chopsticks stopped in mid air. She raised a brow at Raegan. "You're kidding, right? That faggot hates me."

Raegan simply smiled, "it's only a matter of time before they start harassing him," she insisted.

Shane shook her head. "Fine."

"Really?!"

She didn't care that the Singapore noodles wound up all over the carpet as she threw herself into Shane's arms.

*****

It took the entire weekend to convince Reese to visit the elite school with her on Monday morning. Reese was as reluctant to take the job as Shane had been to offer it. Still, she wanted Reese with her. The final selling points for Reese? A school shuttle for teachers living over 30 minutes away and a hefty clothing stipend for new faculty members.

Joan Ward, the principal of the Walker School, was delighted to meet them both. She said they came highly recommended from someone who had given generously to the school. Their meeting only lasted 15 minutes and then Principal Ward walked them to their classroom. If they were interested, they would co-teach 7^th grade math for the rest of the semester. The following semester, Reese would inherit 8^th grade math classes of his own. Since they'd both earned Master's degrees already, Joan assured them that although most of the teachers had PhDs, their credentials were not a problem.

The classroom was state of the art. A large room with plenty of windows, oversized desks, and laptop computers for each student. The Principal then asked one of the other teachers to show them around the school before classes began. The school was housed in a six story building with a science lab on each floor, three libraries, two gymnasiums, two auditoriums and three cafeterias. There were teachers' lounges with Cappuccino machines, photocopiers and plenty of comfy sofas. Raegan swore she'd died and gone to heaven.

She and Reese reviewed the lesson plans for the week. The principal had encouraged them to revise them in any way they saw fit, as long as they shared the changes with her. Shane had arranged for Raegan's favorite student, Kathy, to attend the school on a full scholarship. All of the students were neatly dressed, well mannered and quite hungry for knowledge. When the day was over, and they were riding back to Manhattan on the plush seats of the faculty shuttle, Raegan could do nothing but smile. Reese shook his head.

"I can't even find one disparaging remark to make about her right now. Shane is amazing for giving us this opportunity."

"I should write that down and force you to sign it." Raegan teased.

Reese smiled, "I mean it Reg. Thanks. This is great."

Raegan nodded, "yea, I'll have to thank Shane."

"Thank her enough for two."

"Oh, I will," Raegan grinned.

*******

Raegan groaned, struggling to force herself from bed. She grabbed a terry cloth robe from a nearby chair and dragged her slippered feet as she made her way to the front door. She supposed she should be concerned, worried or annoyed that someone was knocking on her door at 2:30am, but after only a month with Shane it almost felt normal.

"Yea?" She called out sharply.

Shane told her to never put her eye to the peephole and never call out as if she was nervous or scared.

"It's Karin."

Shane also told her that if she didn't recognize the voice she should step away from the door and grab one of the guns in the apartment. Much to her dismay there were three, one taped to the back of a kitchen cabinet, one taped behind the toilet in the bathroom and one taped to the underside of the bed. And, of course, Shane slept with the Glock under her pillow. At first Raegan had balked at the idea of having guns in the apartment. But Shane had insisted. Then she'd dragged Raegan to a friend's shooting range. She realized it was pointless to argue with Shane once her mind was made up.

But this voice she did recognize. She quickly opened the door and refused to be annoyed as Karin swept past her without even a nod in her direction.

Karin disappeared into the small bedroom and closed the door behind her. Raegan sighed. That was generally the sign that she was not welcome to hear whatever they were discussing. She decided to make a cup of tea for herself.

The door remained closed for 25 minutes and she was putting her empty cup into the sink when Karin finally emerged. Shane was behind her, already fully dressed.

"Wait." Shane threw the command over her shoulder as Karin opened the front door. She made her way to the cramped kitchen and kissed Raegan tenderly on the lips. "You okay?"

Raegan glanced in Karin's direction, "she hates me" she whispered.

"She doesn't know you."

Raegan nodded, "be careful."

"Want to spend the weekend at my place?"

Raegan smiled. It was the first time Shane had offered to bring her out to her Long Island home.

"Sure."

Shane nodded, "Friday."

The front door closed behind them. It was Monday. Raegan hadn't realized the weekend was compensation for another of Shane's disappearing acts. She knew she would hardly sleep all week, worrying herself to death about Shane. Then she wondered what she had gotten herself into yet again.

*

Raegan surveyed the shades of brown faces before her, smiling as Reese held up his hands and began to conduct the Christmas carol. This honors math class would sing one of her favorites, Silent Night, for the holiday show. They would also sing three others during their ten minutes on stage. The students sounded great and she was quite pleased with their quick progress. Reese seemed pleased as well.

"Okay, very nice. Let's have free time for the rest of class—"

The bell rang at that instant and Raegan shook her head as Reese laughed.

"Oh well! Have a great weekend!" Reese called.

The students were laughing as they filed out of the room. When the room was empty and they were gathering their belongings to leave, someone opened the classroom door. When Raegan looked up to see who it was, she was surprised.

"Karin? Is everything okay?" Raegan could hear her own voice catch in her throat.

Karin held up a hand, "take it easy, nothing's wrong. Shane's under the impression you and I need to spend some quality time together." She offered sarcastically.

Raegan swallowed, glancing at Reese. Reese raised a brow. "So you're giving us a ride?"

"I'm giving her a ride."

Reese looked at Raegan who calmed him with a nod. "Reese, it's okay. I'll call you later."

Reese gave her one last look before leaving the room with a scowl on his face. Raegan turned to Karin. "I don't have anything packed. I thought—"

"You can get something to wear later. Let's go."

Raegan frowned but followed Karin anyway. They made their way to the waiting silver limousine. Damien held the door for Raegan as she slid into the lavish interior. They rode in silence. Raegan had no idea where they were going after they went through the Midtown Tunnel. It was quite some time before the limousine stopped. Raegan glanced out at a seemingly abandoned building.

"What are we doing here?"

Karin ignored her, exiting the vehicle. Damien was holding her door open moments later. She silently followed Karin inside the building and into an old fashioned elevator, assuming Karin was taking her to meet Shane. She watched as Karin slammed the gate to the elevator shut and worked the lever. They stopped on the third floor. Again Raegan simply followed without a word as Karin made her way through a series of rooms. When they entered the final room, Raegan stopped short. Shane was no where to be found and as she stared at the only other person in the room, her surprise transformed into shock…and then horror.