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“Then darling, we’ve gotta do something about that.” She smiled.
“I bet,” I tittered. Deciding to end the conversation right there, I replied, “I’ll see you in the morning Mrs. Jessie.”
As if she knew what I was doing, she tipped her head. “Bright and early,” she confirmed before walking out the front door.
Peeping in on Gema, I let her know that I was going upstairs to get out of my clothes and would be back to start our marathon.
As challenging and tiring as my job was, I was happy my meeting with Mr. Harvey didn’t end with me turning in my letter of resignation. Getting him on board with the vocational programs had me feeling like my hard work was starting to pay off. As impossible as it was, I wouldn’t get so happy, after all, we still had our work cut out for us. Hopefully with him involved,I would be able to finally implement the changes I had so desperately been wanting.
CHAPTER 3
Lawton
After my conversation with Miss Howard the other day, my mind had been reeling. Hearing her detail the things she wanted to implement at the youth center toppled with the way she was frantically trying to stop that kid from retaliating against his brothers killer had me feeling like I needed to do better.
Because the center was something Dah dealt with, I didn’t interfere with anything they had going on. I trusted her and her team therefore I didn’t see a need to intervene. Thinking back on the conversation with Talitha let me know that we did have room for improvements.
For the past few days, I had been held up in my office doing research. Trying to see exactly what I would need to do to bring what would essentially be like job corps to the center. Talitha wanted us to partner with the schools around town that already offered those programs but in the grand scheme of things, I knew having those programs in-house would be for the best.
With everything being held at the youth center, we could design the program around the needs of the kids who were interested in them. I had the money to make it happen, what I didn’t have was the knowledge of how these things worked which was why I had reached out to a colleague of mine and hadset it up for him to meet me at the youth center so we could sit down with Talitha.
Patton St. Marie, or Poppa as we called him, was born and raised in Atlanta and much like me had his hands in a lot of different things. Poppa owned his own sports agency here in Atlanta. He also owned a youth football camp which is why Dahlia ended up opening the sports annex at the center. Poppa’s football program catered to boys from the ages of seven to thirteen, and once they aged out of his program, they were referred directly to the one at the center.
We had retired football players on staff that worked with the few who showed interest in taking their career further. Like Talitha explained, playing sports was good, you just had to survive the hood long enough to make it out. If she felt strongly about offering them professional trades, then I was all for it.
Stepping out of the truck, I tipped my head at my driver, adjusted my jacket, and headed inside of the building. I had purposely showed up before the center open so I could get a few things done before I sprung this meeting on Talitha. Since I wasn’t planning on going into my main office today, I would conduct all of my business from the center today.
After powering on my iMac, I shot my assistant an email letting her know I needed all of my calls forward to this location and for her to let the rest of the staff know I would be out of the office for the remainder of the week. I had a few business acquisitions that I needed to go over before hopping on my scheduled conference calls for the day.
After graduating from Howard University with my bachelor’s degree in computer engineering, I ended up going back to school to further my education and finished with my PhD in Computer Science. After completing my collegiate studies, I used the money that I had stacked from my illegal business ventures andopened up what was now one of the largest tech firms Atlanta had ever seen.
My company, Tech Law,employed well over one hundred people. With the age of social media being on the rise, the majority of our clients were those who desired to create social apps. The tech field was growing and becoming one of the most lucrative fields to dive into. My businesses granted me the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the more affluent people in the city.
On top being the CEO of my own firm, I owned a few buildings located around the city that served as startup office spaces. Those spaces were rented on weekly or monthly basis to individuals who worked remote or freelanced and didn’t have an office of their own.
My eyes were fixated on my computer screen as I read over the contracts that I needed to sign and return back to my assistant when I heard heels clacking across the marble floors. Peering down at the computer, I noticed we still had a few minutes before the staff was scheduled to arrive so when I tipped my head to the side, I observed Ms. Howard sauntering down the hallway with a coffee mug in her hand.
Being that I rarely came to this site, I was ok with Dahlia putting my office in the back of the building close to the breakroom. The mug Ms. Howard carried let me know she was on her way there. She was so busy strutting down the hallway, she hadn’t noticed me sitting behind the desk.
Pushing my chair back I stood, fixed my tie, and walked to the entrance of my office. Before I could step out in the hall, Talitha was walking toward me.
“Mr. Harvey.” She smiled. “Pleasure seeing you here this morning.”
“Good Morning Ms. Howard. Is there anything on your agenda first thing this morning?”
“No.” Her head shook. “I don’t believe there is.”
“Great.” I accepted and slid my hands into the pocket of my slacks. “Since we spoke the other day, I’ve been putting a few things together. I have a friend that’s a little more versed in the things you spoke about that’s going to stop by this morning. “
“Really?” she beamed.
“Yes ma’am.” I confirmed with a quick bow of my head. “I heard everything you said, and I want to make those things happenin house. Using the local colleges could work however, I feel as if you and the rest of the staff know the kids who attend the center better than anyone. You guys work with them five days a week. Why put their education in the hands of someone else? Especially when you can be the ones motivating them to give it their all. Wasn’t it you that said something along the lines of ‘having faith in our kids’.”
“Yes sir I did. I just thought,” she paused like she was unsure to express her thoughts.
“You thought what?”
“I just thought by having them to enroll at a junior college would maybe push them toward seeking a degree.”