My Mafia Host Family

First class.

Well, first mathematics class on the schedule. Pazhar wasn't quite sure whether he liked the idea of staying in the college any more than he liked staying at the Ferraras, but perhaps he was just jumping to conclusions by expecting racists to come out of the walls. In either case, he sat down rather far back in the auditorium; his eyesight was plenty to follow proceedings on the blackboard anyway.

As planned the day before, he was wearing his silver basketball uniform with black printing, even using his blue basket shoes. Hopefully that gave him an identity easy to spot - he'd much rather be 'the basket guy' than 'the foreign guy'. Time would tell whether that worked. At least it was obvious that his choice of attire drew attention, but nobody were giving him trouble yet.

Pazhar had brought a notebook, not having money for the mathematics book yet. A few hours at Eliseo's shop should solve that, though, even if he didn't like the idea of working in someone else's shop all too much. But for just a few hours, he'd be fine.

When the lecture started, the Fendarian quickly realised he was quite a bit out of his depth. They obviously had no intention of starting anywhere near what he had been taught in Sollas. So he took down notes as well as he could, deciding to ask Eliseo about getting a few hours of work in that day. Shouldn't get further behind than necessary.

The professor asked everyone to open their books on a specific page, and the guy who sat next to him opened his. A rather short guy, actually, with a buzz cut. He looked foreign too, which made Pazhar more relaxed. "Mind if I share with you?"

The guy smiled. "No problem." He said quietly, then offered his hand under the book holder. "I'm Jae Sun." He whispered.

"Pazhar." The Fendarian shook the offered hand, then returned the smile. It was good to meet someone friendly right off the bat. However, the immediate scowl he received from the professor told him not to push it any further.

They followed the lecture in silence, taking notes with the book between them. When it finished, most of the students got to their feet, starting mumbled conversations as they became a crowd. Jae Sun rested a hand lightly on Pazhar's shoulder, smiling at him. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

With a surprised raise of an eyebrow, the Fendarian smirked. "Sure! What about?"

"Well, I couldn't help notice your basket outfit..." Jae Sun said, nodding at it. "Do you play basket too? I and my mates play all the time, maybe you'd like to play with us sometime?"

Pazhar's face lightened up. "That sounds great!" He said, not quite believing his luck. Well, good starts were there to be appreciated, so he gave Jae Sun a light pat on the back. "I'm free tomorrow after class..." He said hopefully.

"Okay, you can come with us then." The other youngster returned his smirk, then started packing his books down into his bag. His first college friend already?

~~~~~

The cigarette dropped to the sidewalk and was immediately crushed under the boot. Scott Levine blew out a last breath of smoke through his mouth and nose as he made his way across the street. He glanced around one last time, and rolled his shoulders before he entered the small music shop. That damn chime on the door was annoying as hell!

Scott had been watching the shop for awhile. It belonged to a Ferrara, and that damn family had been a major obstacle to his own for years. There had to be a weak spot somewhere, and he figured he'd find it with the Ferrara rebel. Boy, did he luck out with that guess!

From what he had witnessed during his months of watching, Eliseo always came to work alone. Always. It had been a surprise to see him that day, arriving with some foreign kid, and then Scott remembered. There had been rumours that the notorious family were going to host an exchange student. A perfect opportunity to strike at the Ferraras, but first Scott had to figure out if this kid would be a sufficient target.

He wandered through the rows of CDs and pretended to browse. Some techno shit was playing on the speakers spread throughout the store. It seemed Eliseo was busy in the back, arranging some toys, but from what Scott had heard, he bet that freak was just trying to decide which ones to bring home with him. Oh well, it was better he stayed back there. It was doubtful he'd recognise Scott, because they had never met face-to-face, but why take the risk?

Once he located the foreigner behind the cash register, Scott picked up a few CDs out of the Death metal section at random, and went straight to the counter. He flashed a friendly smile at the kid, and dug in his pocket for his wallet. "Hey, how's it going? I don't remember seeing you here before!"

"You probably haven't. I'm just making a guest appearance." The guy flashed him a cocky smirk, getting the CDs registered. "Death metal, eh?"

"Yep. I love the stuff, and I'm not just saying that because it drives my flatmates nuts," Scott winked. He leaned against the counter and glanced over his shoulder at the cybergoth playing with the toys in the back. "You a friend of Eliseo's?

The foreigner nodded. "Sort of." He put the CDs in a neat pile, then shrugged. "Bag?"

Sort of was about all that Ferrara seemed to have for friends. 'Sort of' friends and tweaked out crystal queens. Scott knew a guy like that wouldn't last a day in the military, and sure as hell wouldn't last a minute in a real war. Then again, he had doubts any of the Ferraras would be caught dead fighting for their country. "Yeah, thanks. I'm Scott, by the way."

"I'm Pazhar." The guy smirked, putting the CDs into a bag. "That'll be $79.92, Scott."

An odd name. Definitely not something he heard around there often. He took a 100 dollar bill out of his wallet, out of hopes it would take longer to get change for. "You must be the exchange student. How are ya liking the city so far? Have they taken you out sight-seeing yet?"

Accepting the bill, Pazhar opened the cash register, starting to take out the change. "City's nice. Anything in particular you think I should see?" He held out the remaining $20.08 to Scott.

After taking it, Scott cast another glance back to find he had somehow attracted Eliseo's attention. Suspicious blue eyes were narrowed at him, but there was no recognition there. That freak was just being nosy, or maybe even possessive? Nah, couldn't be. "Yeah there's tons of great places. The haunted lighthouse and conservatory are popular with tourists. There's a theme park about an hour's drive out of the city too."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Pazhar leaned against the counter, not appearing to have noticed that Eliseo were watching them. "Have a nice evening."

"Yeah, thanks. You too." Scott took the bag and headed out the door. This was indeed the perfect target. He fucking hated foreigners.

~~~~~

Such an expensive book! Pazhar had thought working all afternoon would have given him some spare cash, but he could only just barely afford it. There went his plan to get himself a pair of sunglasses, but if he should miss a pair too much, he could probably survive another session at Eliseo's shop. Thankfully, he wasn't bossed around much.

When he got back into Eliseo's room, he pulled the book and his notes out, getting ready to study, but a small piece of paper caught his interest. Unfolding it, he read it with interest.

"Put this code into one of the Ferraras' computers. If you succeed, you will be rewarded."

What the fuck? As if he'd be willing to do that! Pazhar was offended someone even thought he would. He dug around in his bag, unsurprisingly finding a floppy disk. Taking it and the paper with him, he went to try and find Manuel.

So where to look? He headed down to the kitchen area instinctively, since that was where he usually saw him. However that was ridiculous; there was no meal in progress. With a sigh, he turned around, wondering where to go, but then he heard the entrance door open, and soon the man he sought appeared in the doorway.

"Hello, Mr. Ferrara," Pazhar said with a fair amount of urgency in his voice, "can I speak to you for a minute?"

"Certainly, Pazhar!" Manuel frowned with concern and studied Pazhar's face carefully. "Is something wrong?"

"Well..." The Fendarian sighed. "Yeah." He offered the note and the disk to the older man with a frown. "I found this in my bag this evening. It doesn't sound like good news."

Manuel took the items and read over the note. A second later, he was chuckling to himself and shaking his head with amusement. "Honestly, what do these people think they'll find in my home computers? If I kept credit card information or any such thing here to be hacked into at any given time, I would have condemned myself to the poor house years ago!" He patted Pazhar on the shoulder. "Thank you for bringing this to me. I'll have to look into this and figure out who's trying to rob me blind this time."

That man didn't seem very worried. Maybe it was just some kind of joke, and the man was used to that kind of thing. He wouldn't know. "Alright..." He quirked his brow. "Anything you want to know, or would you rather I left you alone?"

"Oh no, It wouldn't be fair of me to involve you. It's childish enough of them to bring you into it. I think Anita is watching a game in the next room, so why don't you go join her for a beer? I'm sure she'll appreciate a little company." Manuel didn't wait for an answer before he headed for another door.

Beer? No, Pazhar didn't drink. Besides, he had mathematics to learn. With a sigh and a glance after the older man, he turned around and headed back to Eliseo's room to study.

~~~~~

Lisa: Vestige has had some unpleasant experiences with jocks in the past, but mostly he just likes joking around about it. The local jocks don't give much respect to the short gay guy with long, purple hair, unfortunately for him. :)