The Cambridge Way

Chapter 9

Ruby exhaled slowly as she simultaneously signed the documents before sliding them over to Osiris. "It's official," She smiled small. Ruby had just sealed the deal of taking on Osiris as a silent partner with plans of expanding her youth center.

The moment was bittersweet.

Although this was ultimately going to take the center to new heights, Ruby felt a little guilty for sharing this dream with someone else. It almost felt like she was betraying Demetrius. It took two weeks of battling with herself, prayers, and conversations with the people closest to her for Ruby to accept Osiris's offer.

Placing his hand over hers, Osiris shot Ruby a reassuring smile, "You won't regret this. I got you." Osiris promised, and he meant that. It almost felt as if he owed this to Ruby.

"We'll see." Ruby replied skeptically. Life had taught her long ago about expectations. These days she trusted her gut and went with the flow.

"I don't like the sound of that." Osiris pouted playfully. "We can't start off a partnership with doubt. What can I do as of now, to show you how serious I am?"

Ruby shrugged. She didn't want to seem ungrateful, but she didn't want to get her hopes up too high either. The plan was to simply let things flow as they would with the hopes of everything working out for the greater good.

"It's not that you have to prove anything to me Osiris, and I apologize if I'm giving that impression. Just show up. Do what you say you're going to do, and remember that this is about the betterment of our children and our community. Of course I would love for them to take field trips and explore different aspects of the world, but more importantly, I would love for them to learn basic life skills. Etiquette, respect, integrity. That starts with our foundation. As long as you can provide in those areas, anything extra is a bonus." Ruby spoke as honestly as she could.

At the end of the day it was about reaching the children on a level beyond having fun. She wanted them to be upstanding, productive citizens that knew how to open bank accounts, balance checkbooks, monitor credit, the things she was never aware of and had to pick up along the way.

"Respectfully, I understand all of what you're saying, but that's not what I asked." Osiris looked Ruby in her eyes. "I get what the mission is here, trust me. My word is law Ruby. I want to know what it is that I can change in this moment to prove my worth to you?"

Ruby sighed lightly. "Trust is earned Osiris, but you already know that. As far as proving your worth, your willingness to help out proves more than enough. How about letting me hear some of your ideas and we can go from there?"

"You sure? Cause I have plenty. I don't want to overstep, but first thing first, I would like to change the paint on the walls. It's dark and dreary, brightening the paint will make it feel more alive. Also, you have plenty of land here, why not add on a few additions that keeps you from needing to leave?" Osiris asked, before continuing. "I would lay down some cement in the back and make a half court for the kids who love basketball. Implement some sports programs where they can compete against other teams, not just one another. That'll be my first order of business. No disrespect, you have endless resources, but where is the fun? That's just as important."

Although her face wasn't showing it, Ruby was impressed by Osiris's will to breathe life into the center. She wasn't offended by anything he was saying because as Ruby knew, it takes a village. She did the best she could and provided what was necessary for the children at the center, but as a single mom with her own bills, there was only so much she could do.

"Not too much on my paint job, I picked that color personally." Ruby joked.

"It shows," Osiris laughed. "You decorated like you would your home. It gives more group home than community center. It'll probably be better to find a building. We could maybe implement a computer center, throw in some business and finance classes. Art classes as well. You'd be surprised how many troubled students you can reach through art."