Chapter 14 - Derrick’s Donation
Derrick did not sleep.
Again.
At seven the next morning he placed a folder on the kitchen table before Monique came downstairs.
Inside was a receipt.
Hall Construction Services.
Donation to East Ridge Athletic Booster Association.
$5,000.
Monique read it.
Then looked at Derrick.
“What is this?”
“A donation.”
“When?”
“Last August.”
“Why?”
“For the basketball program.”
“Why is Lawson calling it a bribe?”
“Because he’s lying.”
Monique stared at him.
Derrick sighed.
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“He came to my office.”
“When?”
“Before tryouts.”
“And?”
“He said the booster club was raising money for travel costs and training equipment.”
“So you donated.”
“Yes.”
“Did Jaylen make varsity?”
“Yes.”
Monique’s face changed.
Derrick saw it.
“No.”
“You don’t think—”
“No.”
“Did Lawson discuss Jaylen when he asked for the money?”
Derrick hesitated.
Too long.
Monique stepped back.
“Derrick.”
“He said Jaylen was talented.”
“Oh my God.”
“That does not make it a bribe.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Derrick rubbed his forehead.
“He said the program invested in families who invested in the program.”
Monique stared at him.
“And you wrote five thousand dollars.”
“I thought he meant community support.”
“Did that sentence not bother you?”
“It did.”
“And?”
“I wanted Jaylen to have opportunities.”
Monique laughed bitterly.
Now it was her turn to hear the familiar defense.
“I was doing it for our son.”
Derrick’s face tightened.
“I did not pay him to play Jaylen.”
“Did you ask what the money would buy?”
“It went to the booster club.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
Monique sat.
“You didn’t want to know.”
Renee entered through the unlocked kitchen door midway through the confession.
She listened.
Then said:
“There it is again.”
Derrick looked irritated.
“Please don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Turn every mistake into some family philosophy.”
Renee removed her coat.
“I wouldn’t have to if y’all would stop repeating the same mistake with different receipts.”
Monique almost smiled.
Derrick did not.
Renee picked up the donation receipt.
“This was legitimate?”
“Yes.”
“Tax deductible?”
“Yes.”
“Made to the booster organization, not Lawson personally?”
“Yes.”
“Then legally this may be nothing.”
Derrick nodded.
“But emotionally,” she continued, “you knew he was hinting that supporting the program might help Jaylen.”
Derrick looked away.
“That’s the problem.”
He finally sat.
“I didn’t buy his spot.”
“No,” Renee said.
“But you liked believing your money couldn’t hurt.”
Derrick stared at the table.
Monique understood the irony before he did.
She said quietly:
“That’s what I told myself.”
He looked at her.
“About Ellis.”
Derrick closed his eyes.
The district meeting took place at ten.
Dr. Price attended with legal counsel.
So did the booster club treasurer.
Derrick provided the receipt.
The treasurer confirmed the donation had entered the club’s general account.
No money went directly to Lawson.
“That resolves the allegation of direct payment,” Dr. Price said.
Derrick exhaled.
“However,” she continued, “we are reviewing whether Coach Lawson improperly solicited donations from athlete families using implied promises of preferential treatment.”
Derrick nodded.
“I’ll cooperate.”
Monique watched him.
He meant it.
Even if it embarrassed him.
That was new.
As they left, Dr. Price stopped them.
“Mrs. Hall.”
Monique turned.
“We reviewed Mr. Ellis’s invoice.”
“Yes.”
“Our preliminary view is that it was intentionally vague.”
Monique swallowed.
“Meaning?”
“It may have been designed so parents could claim they misunderstood services while Mr. Ellis could claim he disclosed them.”
Derrick frowned.
“So everyone gets plausible deniability.”
“Exactly.”
Monique looked sick.
“Can he be charged?”
“I can’t advise you on that. The district has referred the evidence involving unauthorized academic materials to law enforcement.”
Monique went still.
Derrick asked:
“Are we in trouble?”
Dr. Price chose her words carefully.
“At this time the district’s concern is the adults who obtained and distributed restricted materials. I cannot predict what another agency may do.”
They thanked her.
Outside, Monique sat in the parked SUV without starting it.
“I signed that invoice.”
Derrick looked at her.
“You didn’t know what it meant.”
“I stopped asking questions.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
For the first time there was no competition over whose secrecy was worse.
Only recognition.
Monique started the engine.
When they arrived home, Jaylen was at the dining table completing the digital citizenship course.
No one had told him to start.
Derrick noticed.
He said nothing.
Jaylen looked up.
“How bad?”
“Lawson lied about the donation,” Derrick said.
Jaylen nodded.
“Told you.”
Derrick held up a hand.
“But I gave money after he implied supporting the program mattered.”
Jaylen’s expression changed.
“So you kinda did what everybody does.”
“No.”
Derrick sat opposite him.
“I did what I did.”
Jaylen waited.
“I’m not going to hide behind everybody else.”
The boy looked at him for several seconds.
Then nodded.
A small nod.
Respect, Derrick realized, could not be demanded into existence.
It had to survive exposure.
Jaylen returned to his course.
Then the front doorbell rang.
Renee opened it.
A courier stood outside.
Envelope.
Certified delivery.
Addressed to Monique.
She signed.
Opened it.
Inside was a letter from an attorney representing Cameron Ellis.
Demand to Cease Defamatory Statements and Preserve Records.
Monique frowned.
Derrick took the pages.
At the bottom was a paragraph that made his stomach tighten.
Ellis claimed Monique had knowingly instructed him to complete Jaylen’s assignments and was now falsely portraying herself as deceived.
Attached were screenshots.
Messages from Monique.
One read:
I don’t care how you do it. He cannot fail this class. Fix it.
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Monique stared at the words she had written months ago.
And for the first time, she could not tell herself she had been completely innocent.
