I replied. “The Royal Court is all looking pretty good. All except one.”
D.J. reached over and snagged the very first file on the top of a pile to her left. She flashed it at me, and I could see Cherri’s name in bold on the tab. “Your queen isn’t looking so hot.”
“She’s had a tough year,” I said. “That’s why I’m here. I’m hoping you can help.”
“Will it be blackmail or bribery?” she asked plainly. “I heard you tried to get Hix with his affair with Jessica. I was shocked to hear that he didn’t go for it.”
“You and me both,” I said. “But no, I won’t be using blackmail. I don’t want to use bribery either.” I sat down in one of the chairs that faced her desk. “It’s fucking April. I’m out of here in a little over a month, and I’m just trying to get everyone to the finish line. Almost everyone has done what I needed them to. It’s just this one little hiccup.”
“So bribery, then?” she said.
I nodded. “There’s gotta be something.”
D.J. flipped open the file and looked down at it. “It’s not an easy thing, Nathan. I’ll be putting my whole career on the line. She hasn’t gone to a single class or done a single homework assignment, nothing since last semester. There will be squirrels suspicious of me if she walks in June.”
“So she won’t walk,” I said. “Just change the grade and mail her the degree. Trust me when I say she’s not showing up for graduation anyway.”
“What happened?” she asked. “I tried to do my job the right way and get her in here to talk, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day. I tried cornering her, and she looked like she was going to kick my ass.”
“She probably would have,” I said. “I can’t really go into it, though. It involves all that shit that happened with Jessica and Deon. Believe me when I say that hearing the details would not be a good use of your time. Just know that she’s been through the wringer, and I’ve put in a lot of work this past couple of months just trying to keep her in good standing. I’ve sacrificed a lot, and I don’t want it to all be for nothing. Come on. You know Cherri’s a good person, and she worked her ass off up until all this shit happened. You honestly want someone like her to fail?”
D.J. leaned back in her seat. “No, I suppose that would be unfortunate.” She ran a hand through her brown hair.
“Be honest. If I wanted to buy her graduation, what would it cost me?”
“First of all, you’d have to pay off all the other teachers to go along with it. Hix is gonna have to sign that diploma, and if he sees hers come across his desk, he’s gonna come straight to me.”
“I can do that,” I said.
“Paid,” D.J. said. “No threatening people’s kids or jobs or anything.”
“It’s like I said. I’m over that. I’m just trying to get out of here.”
“As for me,” she looked up to the ceiling as she thought, then her eyes came back to me. “I’m in the process of buying a house. It’d be nice to use the money I currently have earmarked for the down payment for my renovations.”
“So you want me to pay the down payment for your new house?” I asked.
“Is it too much?”
“How much is it?”
“About fifty grand.”
It was like a punch to the gut. Fifty grand was no small amount of money to take out, especially not without raising some questions, but it was my family’s money at the end of the day, and it was for Cherri. If that was what I’d have to do, then that’s what I’d do.
“Done.”
Her eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“Really. I’ll get her teachers all paid off, and I’ll need the name of your loan company so that I can send the money over,” I said. “Can you get it to me by the end of the day?”
A smile rose to her face. “I’ll have it for you by the end of the hour.”
After that, I went home. I was sure to send a group text to all the members of The Royal Court so that no one panicked or thought I’d disappeared, and then I went straight home to sleep. I probably would have slept through the night if my alarm hadn’t gone off to remind me of my therapy session that evening.