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“Both are good, they’ll keep you on your toes. Hi kids, welcome to your new home!” Martha said as the three children tumbled out of the car. She embraced them with as much enthusiasm as she had Raina.
“I like it,” was Jeremiah’s remark as he eyed the brick building up and down.
“That’s good, you’ll be very happy here, I promise.” Martha said.
“I’ll let you settle in today and then tomorrow morning, you can meet everyone formally and I’ll take you through the day.”
“Thank you so much. I know you didn’t have to do that,” Raina said to Martha.
“Oh, you’re welcome. I remember my first days as being a complete nightmare. It would have been much easier if the previous owner had taken the time to show me the ropes, but as it was, I had to grope my way through everything. I would never do that to anyone.”
Raina and the kids went upstairs; the kids were excited at the thought of seeing Raina at work every day when she would be just down stairs from them. The apartment was just as she remembered it and now with her own furniture in the rooms, it took on a homely feeling. That evening, Martha kindly sent up a hot meal for the three of them, which they ate at the dining area.
It was a little crowded with the large dining table taking up most of the space, but Raina shrugged it off, figuring that she would do something about it later in the year when they had settled in.
“Are you kids nervous about tomorrow?” Raina asked. Crystal shrugged and Jeremiah and Chanta
l smiled.
“I’m all right. I figure it being a private school, it’s bound to be a little different from our other schools. We’ll get used to it,” Chantal offered.
“I’m excited about the soccer team at Crampton House. Do you know, Aunty, that they won the cup for the district last year?” Jeremiah said, his eyes lit up.
“I didn’t know that, how impressive,” Raina lied smoothly. It was one of the reasons that she had liked the school. It was a small school in terms of the student population and that too was another attraction.
“They have a great drama club too,” she told Crystal.
“That’s good,” Crystal said in a flat voice.
“What is it honey?” Raina said, leaning forward towards Crystal.
“I liked my old school.”
“I know you did, but you agreed to give Crampton House a chance, you know, go tomorrow with an open mind.” Raina felt bad that they had not had the time to take the kids to the school for a tour before they began their time there. There just had been no time, and now she wondered whether it was throwing them in the deep end. She also worried about how they would do in a school that didn’t have many other black children—that would be a change for her kids. She bit her lip, resolving to keep that worry to herself. No sense in borrowing trouble.
“I’ll drop you to school tomorrow and after that, you do the school bus,” she said trying to cheer Crystal up.
“No, Aunty, I’d rather the school bus. It’ll be fun and besides we’re not babies,” Crystal said.
They took a vote and all three kids opted for the school bus. Raina agreed though she was not happy. She would have preferred to see each one of them settled in their classes.
After Raina had settled the kids for the night, she lay in her room and stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling, counting the cracks, and wondering if she’d made a huge mistake.
Raina strained her ears to check if she could hear any noises from downstairs but thankfully all was quiet. Her mind was too restless to relax enough for her to sleep. She thought of the day ahead when she would finally get first-hand experience in how the B&B worked. She knew all about running a massive resort hotel, but something this size—with such little staff—would be a challenge.
Hours later, she finally felt herself drifting off to sleep and she welcomed it, knowing that the next day would be a long one. Her last thought was of Christopher. What was he doing at that moment? Did he miss her? Did he ever think of her and the kids at all? Or had he moved on and was now in another woman’s arms?
The following morning at six thirty, Raina went down to the foyer in the elevator. She felt well rested and eager to start the day. At the reception desk, Raina met a young woman, with streaks of red and blue in her hair, typing into the computer.
“Hi,” the girl said cheerfully, looking up with a smile on her face. “You must be our new owner. I’m Rita—short for Margarita, can you believe my parents?” She told Raina “I’m the receptionist here and I do all sorts of odd jobs as well. Isn’t it a ghastly hour to be awake?”
Raina laughed in agreement. “Hi Rita. Glad to meet you. Do you know where can I find Martha?”
“She’s probably in the dining room, setting the tables for breakfast.”
“Thanks,” Raina said and went through the door to the dining room.
Sure enough, Martha was replacing the soiled table clothes with clean ones.
