Chapter 5 - The Man Monique Paid
Ellis Academic Consulting operated from a renovated townhouse fifteen minutes from the Hall home.
Derrick learned that from the business website.
The site showed smiling students.
College pennants.
Testimonials about improved confidence.
Mr. Cameron Ellis stood in the center of one photograph, wearing the same silver watch visible beside Ms. Cooper’s answer key.
Derrick stared at the screen.
Monique sat beside him at the kitchen table.
Renee stood behind them.
“How would he have Ms. Cooper’s answer key?” Derrick asked.
Monique shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“He works at the school?”
“No.”
“Used to?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You paid this man sixty-six hundred dollars and you don’t know where he works?”
“He tutors students from several schools.”
Derrick looked at her.
“How did you find him?”
“Tonya Lewis recommended him.”
“Who?”
“Malik Lewis’s mother.”
Renee frowned.
“The boy Jaylen calls Carter?”
“No. Malik Carter is another student.”
Derrick scrolled through the website.
There were no teacher credentials listed.
No school affiliations.
Only phrases like academic coaching, performance optimization, and student success strategy.
“Did you ever meet him?”
“Twice.”
“Where?”
“Here.”
Derrick looked around the house.
“He came inside my home?”
Monique stiffened.
“Our home.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes. He came here to tutor Jaylen.”
“And after you realized he was writing papers?”
“I told him that had to stop.”
“But you kept paying him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Monique’s voice cracked.
“Because Jaylen begged me.”
Derrick leaned back.
There it was again.
Not strategy.
Not logic.
Discomfort.
Jaylen became upset, and Monique changed direction.
Renee pulled out a chair.
“Why does seeing him upset scare you so much?”
Monique looked at her.
“What?”
“Not annoy you. Not frustrate you. Scare you.”
Monique’s eyes narrowed.
“This isn’t therapy.”
“No. It’s a question.”
Monique stood.
“I am not doing this.”
Renee remained seated.
“You keep protecting him from every consequence like something terrible will happen if he feels pain for five minutes.”
“Leave me alone, Renee.”
“Why?”
“I said leave me alone.”
Derrick watched his wife walk toward the sink.
He had been married to Monique for eighteen years.
He knew her habits.
When angry, she cleaned.
When worried, she reorganized.
When afraid, she wiped counters that were already clean.
She reached for a cloth.
Derrick said quietly:
“Terrence.”
Monique froze.
Renee looked at Derrick.
He had not spoken Monique’s younger brother’s name in years.
Terrence had been the storm cloud over Monique’s childhood.
Funny.
Charming.
Always in trouble.
Suspensions.
Fights.
A juvenile theft charge at seventeen.
Their mother had protected him repeatedly.
At twenty-three he went to prison for armed robbery.
Monique had visited twice.
Then stopped.
Terrence blamed everybody except himself.
Derrick understood suddenly.
“You think if Jaylen gets punished, he’ll become Terrence.”
Monique turned around.
“No.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“That’s why every consequence feels dangerous to you.”
Tears appeared instantly.
“Don’t use my brother against me.”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t know what that was like.”
“I know you spent years watching your mother scream at him.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know you promised yourself your child would never feel unwanted.”
Monique wiped at her eyes.
“And what is wrong with that?”
“Nothing.”
Derrick’s voice softened.
“Until protecting him from feeling unwanted turns into protecting him from reality.”
Nobody spoke.
Upstairs, a floorboard creaked.
Jaylen was listening.
Renee glanced toward the ceiling.
Then Derrick’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Hall?”
“Yes.”
“This is Cameron Ellis.”
Everyone looked at him.
Derrick stood.
“How did you get my number?”
“Your wife provided both parents’ information when she registered Jaylen.”
Monique shook her head.
“I never gave him permission to call you.”
Ellis continued.
“I understand there may be some confusion regarding services I provided your son.”
Derrick looked at Monique.
“Confusion.”
“Yes. I think it would be best if we spoke before assumptions are made.”
“Did you give my son a photograph of his teacher’s test answers?”
A pause.
“That is not an accurate description of what occurred.”
Derrick’s grip tightened.
“What occurred?”
“I sometimes provide practice materials.”
“Stolen from his teacher’s desk?”
“I did not steal anything.”
“Then how did you get it?”
Another pause.
Longer.
Ellis lowered his voice.
“Mr. Hall, your son is not the only student involved.”
Derrick glanced at Renee.
“What does that mean?”
“It means there are parents in your community who value academic results.”
Derrick’s stomach tightened.
“And?”
“And some of them pay for more than tutoring.”
Monique whispered:
“What?”
Ellis heard her.
“Mrs. Hall, I told you months ago that certain families use premium services.”
Monique shook her head.
“You told me premium meant extra tutoring.”
“I explained the program.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Derrick said, “What program?”
Ellis sighed.
Then said:
“Grade protection.”
The words sounded absurd.
“What the hell is grade protection?”
Ellis hesitated.
“Parents pay to make sure their children don’t fall behind.”
“That’s called tutoring.”
“Not always.”
Derrick understood before Ellis explained.
Practice papers.
Advance materials.
Completed essays.
Connections with student aides.
Old exams.
Sometimes current exams.
A business built not on education but on anxious parents desperate to preserve perfect transcripts.
Derrick’s voice turned cold.
“Did my wife pay for that?”
“No.”
Monique exhaled.
“Not intentionally,” Ellis added.
Derrick froze.
“What does that mean?”
Ellis spoke carefully.
“Mrs. Hall made one payment from a premium invoice in September.”
Monique stared at the phone.
“I paid what you sent me.”
“I know.”
“How much?”
“Four thousand eight hundred.”
Monique grabbed the counter.
Derrick stood absolutely still.
“What did that payment buy?”
Ellis did not answer.
Derrick repeated the question.
Finally Ellis said:
“It bought your son access.”
“To what?”
A pause.
“Anything he asked for.”
Upstairs, something crashed.
They all looked toward the ceiling.
Jaylen had heard everything.
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And for the first time, Derrick wondered whether his son had manipulated more than his parents.
Perhaps Jaylen had discovered an entire system built on adults willing to bend rules for children they claimed to love.
