Page 25 of One Good Reason

“Damn. So, we gotta get a move on it.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “We kind of do. More importantly we have to figure out which programs we plan on offering. That’s the only way we will know how we need to set the facility up.”

“You got anything in mind?”

“I mean… I have a few programs I want us to offer. That’s not the issue. It’s a matter of funding Lawton.”

“Unlimited funds… Remember?” He shrugged like I knew his financial portfolio.

I mean, after learning what Law used this business space for, I was thoroughly impressed. I had crunched the numbers in my head and what I came up with was he had plenty of money. That’s why his ass was insistent on being able to pay for whatever. That still didn’t give me the right to automatically assume he was going to be funding everything.

“I’m talking about a lot of money,” I expressed, trying to get him to understand what I meant without necessarily coming out and saying it.

“How much?” he asked after realizing where I was going with this.

“A lot,” I exaggerated. “Meaning we need investors.”

“In other words, my money ain’t long enough,” he teased.

“I never said that.” I giggled. “I’m not trying to bankrupt you.”

The speaker for the course had finally dialed into the live. When Law realized it, he nodded and said we could talk about it later. Thank God for a reprieve cause talking about money was never fun to do, especially when it was somebody else’s.

Slipping my AirPods into my ear, I focused my attention on the screen, ready to get today’s lesson over with. Law did the same and leaned back in his chair with his arms folded across his chest. From his laxed position, I knew I would be the only one giving the speaker my undivided attention. That was fine byme; as long as one of us knew what the hell was going on, I was satisfied.

“Shit. This does require a lot of money.”

Tossing my arms in the air, I bleated, “I tried to tell you that. You over there all‘I got money.’And I’m trying to let you know this shit is expensive.”

Law and I had successfully sat through eightlonghours of the seminar. A few times I noticed that he had indeed nodded off, prompting me to tap him awake. Now that we were done, we were still seated at the table going over the ideas I had come up with.

“So, eight programs are what you’re wanting to start out with?”

“I mean, yeah. I feel like eight gives us enough variety for them to choose from right now.”

“Dental hygiene, LPN, computer support specialist, paralegal studies, automotive technology, health information management coding, transit electric power and equipment, early childhood care… I don’t even know what know what the fuck half of these are.”

“They’re trades,” I laughed. “Upon completion of these specific ones, students will get their associate degree. I tried to pick the more diverse ones in each industry.”

“Diverse my ass,” Law groused.

“During my research, I stumbled across an old tech school that lost its accreditation and had to shut down. The city owns it and I’m almost certain it can be bought. That right there will help with the cost.”

“I hear ya’. I’m still looking at the numbers.”

“Excuse my language but I told yo’ ass that we can just partner with the schools around town. It was you and Poppa that came up with this grand ass idea to open up a school.”

“You don’t even sound right talking like that,” Law laughed. “And to be honest, the shit sounded good when we came up with the idea. My ass didn’t know it was going to be this pricey. And I’m not saying I can’t afford it because I can.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“We need investors,” he finally surmised.

“How painful was that?” I teased. “Admit it. I was right and you and your alpha male tail was wrong.”

“Yeah aight.” He waved me off.

“No, admit it.”

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