The Art of the Hustle 2 (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-One

With Trevor's help, Deon enrolled in a program that would allow him to receive his high school diploma from home. The program was designed to help kids like Deon complete the course load without having to physically go to class or interact with kids. All the homework and even the tests could be submitted online.

Since Trevor had nothing but time, Deon would come over to his suite at the Fairmont and do his work without distraction.

"I'll get out of your hair," Trevor said. "If you get hungry, you can order room service and charge it to the room."

While money wasn't an issue, Trevor kept giving Deon tests such as these to see if he would take advantage of him or not. Little did Deon know, Trevor had made an arrangement with the hotel to notify him if Deon ordered more than $50 worth of food.

Leaving Deon at the hotel, Trevor stepped out to visit Dr. Chang. Her office was only a five-minute walk away, but since Trevor walked fast, he arrived early.

"So what's been happening this week?" Dr. Chang asked.

"Remember what we talked about during one of our previous sessions, about helping others as a means of helping myself?"

"Yes."

"Well, I found this street kid I'm working with," Trevor said.

"That's great. In what way are you working together?"

"He comes from a troubled past and has made some poor choices in life, so I'm trying to keep him on the straight and narrow."

"How's that going for you?"

"So far so good. He re-enrolled in high school, and I hired several private tutors. When he's done with his school work, I'm going to mentor him — teach him valuable lessons about life and business. I was kind of hoping you could start seeing him as well. Of course, I will pay for your time, but he may not be your typical kind of client. It would be a personal favour to me if you took him on."

"Sure, I'd be happy to see him. It doesn't need to be a favour though. This is why I got into this line of work, to help people."

"Thank you. I will set up an appointment with the receptionist before I leave today."

"How old is he?"

"Seventeen," Trevor said.

"What's his name?"

"Deon. I think you can have a positive impact on his life and help him sort out some of his issues that he may not feel comfortable telling me. And even if he did tell me, I'm not a trained psychologist like you."

"I look forward to working with him. So why did you decide to help Deon?"

"Well, like I mentioned, it was actually something you brought up in our last session. You said that helping others may be a way I could help myself, and I always had a passion to help the impoverished and misguided youth who may not have the same opportunities to succeed as everyone else."

"That's very noble of you, Trevor. How did this come about?"

"I didn't go out seeking him, he just sort of showed up on my doorstep. It was almost like a sign from the universe."

"I know how much you believe in signs."

"Right."

"So you said he showed up at your doorstep. What was that first encounter like?"

"It's a long story, but basically he and his friend mugged me one night, but that wasn't our first encounter. I had actually met him many months earlier when he sold Ashley a stolen necklace."

"Did I hear that right?" Dr. Chang asked.

"Yes, true story."

"So how does a kid go from mugging you to being your protégé?"

"Serendipity I suppose."

"How so?"

"Over and over he just kept popping up in my life. I tried to ignore him at first, but he lingered. He showed a lot of drive and hustle, which resonated with me. He asked me to mentor him and after some convincing, I said yes."

"So what do you hope to get out of it?"

"I hope he becomes a proof-of-concept. In other words, if I can help him, then I know that people from bad positions in life are capable of changing through my guidance. Helping him also takes my mind off things, gives me a purpose, allows me to feel like I'm making a difference in someone's life in a direct and tangible way."

"I think that's wonderful."

"Like I said, this is an experiment. A trial and error if you will. So we'll see how this all plays out."

"What would success in this endeavour look like for you?" she asked.

"First, Deon completes all the necessary courses to graduate high school. Second, he avoids hanging around with knuckleheads. Third, he finds his passion in life, hopefully something that isn't illegal, and becomes a productive member of society."

"So you're not grooming him to follow in your footsteps?"

"I can't decide for another man what footsteps he takes. What I'm grooming him for is success, but that looks different depending on a person's definition of success."

"How do you define success?"

"Success is having an abundance of the thing you value most."