Page 14 of One Good Reason

“I’m not counting that out. I understand your plight. I’m college educated as well but going back to another thing that you said. Giving them societal experiences at this age could open the door for the unimaginable. The goal is for them to earn some sort of certificate, hell, if we decide to offer certain programs they could even finish with an associate.”

“Programs like what?”

“We can discuss it in detail when we sit down for our meeting.”

“I would really love that.” She smiled. “I’m headed back to my office. I forgot my creamer.” Talitha held out her mug. “I’m logged into the company chat; you can message me when you’re ready.”

“Will do,” I let her know before turning and going back to my office.

Now that I had put my thought process on her radar, all that was left was to sit down with Poppa and see what I needed to do on my end to make these things happen.

“And you are sure this ain’t another Dahlia situation?” Poppa quizzed, as he took a seat across from me at the conference room table.

“Not by a long shot. She’s only been here a few months. This was her idea and after thinking about it, the shit made sense.”

When Poppa texted me to let me know he was walking in the building, I left my office to meet him in the front. On the way to the conference room, I gave him a brief run-down of why I had requested this meeting with him. The nigga went from it being a good idea to him asking about Dahlia.

In the past, anything she asked, I made happen so I could understand why he asked that question. Outside of what I had read on Talitha’s resume, I knew nothing about her. I genuinely loved her idea and wanted to make it happen. Maybe a part of me felt guilty because the demise of my relationship had caused Dahlia to skip out on the center. I wouldn’t share that thought with anyone. But other than that, the idea was a good one.

“I know you Dutch. Something is up,” Poppa retorted after staring at me for a few seconds.

“You gotta hear her out. She came to me with an idea, and I took off with it. What she wants is similar to what I’ve come up with. My shit just on a grander scale,” I chuckled.

“Yeah cause we all know Dutch don’t half step with shit.”

“Aye.” Tossing my hands up in the air I conceded, “I’m with ya’ when ya’ right.”

“Where is the lady with the master plan?”

“She will be here any second. She was finishing up a call. And when she gets in here, kill all that Dutch shit. They don’t know nothing ‘bout that.”

“I’on need no sermon,Law,” he retorted smugly before laughing.

“Mr. Harvey,” Talitha announced her presence from the entry way garnering mine and Poppa’s attention.

The other day when I saw her, she wore a skirt. Today she was dressed down in a pair of dark denim jeans, a plain white t-shirt, and a navy blazer with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, showcasing her slender face.

One look at her had Poppa slanting his eyes at me. “Just like I thought,” he mumbled low enough for only he and I to hear.

Laughing him off, I invited Talitha into the room. After introductions were made, we got right down to business. Poppa and Talitha had basically spear headed the conversation. I only chimed in when it was necessary.

“I gotta agree with Law on this one Ms. Howard. I think what the center needs to do is build out. And not in the sense of construction… I’m talking about becoming a technical college. You can still run a youth center and do the trade programs, but if you’re wanting to offer programs on a grander scale of things, you’re going to have to seek accreditation. Why stop at just offering trades? You can do that and offer associate level programs as well.”

Slamming her back in the chair, Talitha pushed out a dejected sigh. “Accreditation? Shit. I’m having a hard enough time getting anyone to fund a trade program.”

“That’s where the accreditation comes into play,” I shared. “When it’s legit on paper, we can offer federal loans, Pell grants, and all of those things.”

“Precisely,” Poppa agreed. “I have a friend at the Southern Association of Collegesthat owes me a favor. I can link y’all to him directly and he can let you know what the first step is to make it happen.”

“This is more than what I envisioned.”

“I’m sure it is. If you gon’ do it, you might as well take it to the next level.”

“I’m with Poppa. I loved your idea, but I think it can be more. I have limitless funds, Talitha. I can make just about anything happen.”

“He ain’t lying,” Poppa chuckled. “I do think the first order of business should be finding a location. If you’re going to open a technical college, you need a building. You operate the trade classes out of here… as far as everything else, you gotta go bigger. I’m talking labs, clinical sites, whatever it takes to offer those programs, you gotta have that space for your students to operate out of.”

“Is it too late to back out?” Talitha murmured.

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