Tapping her fingers on her knees, she watched the scenery passing her by, wondering how tutoring him would be.
“I’m really grateful you’re doing this for me. I saw your name on the tutor list thingy, and I figured you’re my best bet. I know you tutored Frank last year, and he said you’re all about the focus and not about the bullshit.”
“Don’t you have your grades in the bag or something?” she asked.
“My uncle demands that I earn every single grade. He doesn’t want me flunking out of school or getting someone else to write my essays. Believe me, I’d do it, but my uncle knows this shit, and I got to impress him if I want to join the family business.”
She shrugged. “It’s fine. Do you have your grade sheets so I can take a look?” she asked.
He reached behind him, pulling out a list. “The classes I’m flunking, I got them to point out what I needed to work on.”
She opened it up, shocked the teachers would do that. Whenever she tutored before the teachers always told her the kids knew where they were going wrong or fucking up.
Scanning through the list of places that were his weaknesses, she knew where to get started. The easiest subject would be history, but seeing as he was also failing math, she figured it would be best to start at his weakest point and work up to his strongest.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at one of the largest houses she’d ever seen, especially when it came to security. Four men stood at the main gate, each wearing pristine suits without a mark on them. She was very aware of her surroundings, so she felt out of place. Her mother had a small fortune but nothing like this, and by the time Hope finished college, she wouldn’t have anything left. Her mother wanted her to be something, and she was determined to grant her wishes.
Dwayne climbed out, and she hated the way her stomach rolled. This was not a place for her. She wasn’t rich or important.
“Come on,” Dwayne said, leading the way into the house. She followed behind him, feeling like everyone was staring at her, knowing she wasn’t meant to be here. This wasn’t where she belonged.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she hiked her bag higher on her shoulder, releasing a breath as he made his way inside the house, which was far more beautiful on the inside than out. She spotted several men standing in various places, but Dwayne walked past them as if they were ghosts, completely invisible.
“I think here would be a good place to start,” he said, opening a large door, which led into a large library. She saw a couple of desks and computers set up.
Placing her very scruffy bag onto the table top, she tried to be careful not to leave a single mark. She missed the library in town where names were carved into the desks along with lewd comments.
As she took a seat, Dwayne dropped into another and pulled out his book. She hadn’t expected him to take this so seriously, and yet here he was, grabbing books, leaning forward, and waiting.
“I wasn’t joking around or anything. I need to pass high school.”
She smiled. “Why now? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t. I never took shit seriously, and let’s just say that someone I know made me very aware of the fact people don’t follow a fuck-up. They don’t like someone who can’t lead for shit. So I’m getting my head down and trying to make up for lost time.”
Nodding, she pulled out his book, finding where he was going wrong, and flipped to it. “Could you work out this algebra equation for me, please?”
He already had some paper in front of him, and she waited for him to complete it. Once he was done, she glanced over it, and saw the problem. For the next half an hour, she got him to complete the first equation, but he still didn’t seem to understand how it worked, and as she was about to go through the second one, his cell phone started to ring.
Each time she tried to show him, it would ring … and ring … and ring.
“Why don’t you pick it up?” she asked.
“It’s fine. Really. I want to learn.”
“Yeah, but it could be important, and it’s starting to drive me crazy.”
He grabbed his cell phone, turning it over. She didn’t see the name of the person flash across the screen, and he was gone, telling her he’d be back in a minute.
Standing up, she stretched out her tight muscles, raising her hands above her head, and walking toward one of the large walls.
Books were … heaven. No matter how many she read, she always found comfort in their scent, and how they were able to transport her away from her reality. The moment she entered a book, she wasn’t Hope, the daughter of a murderer. No, she wasn’t anyone.