Page 75 of Besties
“Hey, Josh. Thanks for coming.”
“It’s go time, so no way would I miss it. This is going to be epic.” He glanced around. “Where’s Richie?”
“He got a room not far from here. When this is over, he and I are going to take you and Dixon out to dinner as promised.” I turned my attention to Dixon. “Is seafood okay? Or are you more a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy?”
“I’ll have whatever Doc is having” came the cool reply.
Okay, then. “Well, they should be starting soon. My seat is over there,” I said, pointing to a chair in the back.
“We’re up in the front,” Josh replied. “I want to watch this all unfold.” He tittered. “I can’t wait.”
We went to the buffet, and even though I had no appetite, I did take a Sprite, hoping it would calm the flutters in my belly. Richie was putting so much faith in me, and we weren’t even certain their product was a rip-off of ours, so we had to know the truth. Was this company stealing from us? Either way, someone was screwing us big-time, and it had to stop.
“Excuse me,” I said, walking toward my seat. Once seated, I pulled out my phone and called Richie.
“How’s it going?” he asked, his voice shaky.
“There are alotof people here.”
“Of course. Education options are huge right now, because so many places are cutting costs by slicing into the budget. It confuses me, because schools are supposed to educate, but even they’re moving money around to fund things such as sports and the like.”
“Do you think privatizing education is the way to go?”
“No, absolutely not! That puts the power to choose what people learn into the hands of groups with an agenda. There are private schools that work great for those who want that type of education, but it’s not for everyone. Teaching Time and others that offer options are an add-on, not a replacement. We would never presume to try and take over schools like that.”
Which made sense to me. I was about to say something when the lights flashed.
“Well, looks like it’s showtime.” Then I had an idea. “Hey, why don’t you hang on and listen in to what’s being said?”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
I slipped the phone into the breast pocket of the suit Richie had bought me and settled back in my seat. Three people got up on the makeshift stage, which was set up with six computers and monitors on three eight-foot tables. Behind them was a screen that showed what was on the monitors.
“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for being here today as Midland Program Solutions, the leader in cutting-edge education software, unveils its revolutionary new version, codename Black Box.”
Even from my shirt pocket I heard Richie’s derisive snort.
“Now, here to talk to you about Black Box is our founder, Dr. Elias James.”
There was a smattering of applause as an older man took the stage. He was in his fifties, maybe early sixties with salt and pepper hair. Sitting back as far as I was, his features were indistinct, but I knew I didn’t like him at all.
“Thank you all for coming!” he shouted, even though there was a microphone on the table beside him. “Now as you know, schools and governments are desperate for new tools to help our children learn. Last year, software was a multibillion-dollar industry, and we were a small part of it. In order to capture a bigger slice of the pie, we pulled together an unparalleled team of programmers, doctors, psychologists, teachers, and more.”
Richie’s angry squawk was loud enough the woman next to me shot me a scowl. I shrugged and gave her a grin, which earned me ahumph. Screw it. I wasn’t here to make her happy. I listened as James droned on about the software, but then decided we needed to move this along. I raised my hand.
“Yes? You in the back. Did you have a question?”
I stood and sought out Josh, who nodded at me. “I did. I’m curious, how much did you spend on this software?”
“Oh, we spent hundreds of millions in development. This is the most ambitious program of its kind anywhere in the world.”
No, that was ours. Richie said be patient, because it was possible they were legit, but the more this man spoke, the more I knew he was a liar. He was practically reading from the Teaching Time website’s “About Us” mission statement. When he finally finished, I pressed.
“So if one of my students wanted to learn, say, algebra, can your software help with that?”
“Of course! Why don’t you come down and we’ll demonstrate it?”
I made my way to the front and climbed up on the stage to a few people applauding. James directed me to take a seat on one of those ugly plastic orange chairs that hurt your ass after just a few minutes. Still, I dutifully sat, and James pressed a few buttons. A moment later, very familiar colorful shapes cavorted across the screen. I clenched my fists at my side. As much as I wanted to jump up and beat this man in front of these investors, to show how they were being lied to, I needed to follow the plan. Instead of doing what my anger insisted, I drew in a calming breath.
