And then, because he was Marcus Carter, and some habits take longer to break than others, he immediately started thinking about everything that still needed to happen. The Peach Tree Foundation call, the community center timeline, the legal structure for the nonprofit, the city permits, and the renovation estimate he and Darius had sketched on a legal pad three weeks ago. He got in the car, dropped Ava at school, drove home, and his phone rang at 8:47 with a number he didn't recognize. A 404 area code Atlanta someone who wasn't in his contacts. He answered Marcus Carter.
The voice was professional, direct, female. Speaking. My name is Sandra Holloway. I'm on the board of directors of the Peach Tree Community Foundation. I spoke with your colleague Darius about Ms. Bennett's community center proposal.
A pause. I wanted to call you directly because Darius mentioned that you helped restructure the funding model. Olivia Bennett built the model. Marcus said, I helped with the numbers. That's exactly what Darius said you'd say.
There was warmth in her voice. The warmth of someone who has heard something they recognize. Mr. Carter, I'm calling because our board has a secondary initiative, a capacity building program for community organizations. We're looking to partner with someone who can consult on financial modeling for new applicants. Your background logistics software, the licensing deal.
It's unusual, but it's exactly the kind of systems thinking that most nonprofits lack. A pause. Would you be willing to have a conversation about it? Marcus stood in his kitchen. He thought about Darius.
He thought about the word arrange, which was what Darius had been doing for the past 3 weeks without Marcus noticing because Darius had always believed that the most effective kind of help was the kind that didn't announce itself. He thought about what he had said to Olivia on her porch 3 weeks ago, not to rescue her, to remind her she was not alone. He thought about the fact that someone had apparently been doing the exact same thing for him without being asked. "Yeah," Marcus said. "I'm willing to have that conversation." He called Darius the moment he hung up.
Darius answered, sounding suspiciously unsurprised. Sandra called. Sandra called. She's good people. You'll like her.
Darius? Hm. What exactly have you been doing for the past 3 weeks? A pause that contained a significant quantity of deliberate innocence. Connecting people who should be connected.