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would have been easier than his next request.

Two
    Howard Academy was founded in 1928 by Joshua A. Howard, an enterprising gentleman of the early twentieth century who made a fortune in shipping, munitions and, it was rumored, bootlegging. Joshua, however, discovered rather too late in life that he might have been happier had he devoted half as much time to his wife and his children as he had to making money. Neither of his two sons had the brains to manage the empire he’d built; and his four daughters, all of whom had received the traditional education afforded to young females of the time, were vastly disinterested. Having accrued more money than he could ever hope to spend, and arriving at the unfortunate realization that his descendants could not be counted on to manage the fortune wisely, Joshua turned to philanthropy.
    Aided by his spinster sister, Honoria Howard, he had founded Howard Academy, whose lofty aim was “to form the ideals and educate the minds of the young ladies and gentlemen who will shape America’s future.” Joshua chose as his setting what was then twenty acres of prime farmland, and was now a multimillion dollar enclave just north of downtown Greenwich. Howard Academy had taught the sons and daughters of senators, ambassadors, titans of industry, and at least two presidential candidates. Its alumnae and alumni had marched forth bravely into a world of power and privilege that was waiting to receive them.
    With the passage of time, however, Howard Academy, which had once blithely assumed it would have its pick of Fairfield County’s best and brightest students, began to feel the heat of competition. The academy was now one of several private schools in Greenwich, all offering a superior education and all vying for the same children and the same limited endowment dollars. Not only that, but the administration had slowly come to realize that the rarefied atmosphere of white, upper class entitlement they’d prided themselves on was neither as desirable nor as politically correct as it once had been. Accordingly, some changes were in order.
    Seeking a more culturally and economically diverse student body, Howard Academy hadn’t needed to look far to find a pool of qualified candidates. What they had needed to do for the first time in the school’s history, was hold a scholarship drive. As the twentieth century drew to a close, minority enrollment at Howard was nearly twenty percent. Student aid was also at an all-time high.
    The school’s administration would have denied it, of course, but with an eye firmly fixed on the bottom line, Howard Academy now found itself with a strong incentive to admit students who might not reach the school’s high academic standards but whose parents were capable of paying full tuition. And if those parents were the generous sort, the kind likely to have checkbooks open and pens at the ready when the annual fund raising drive came around, it was said that admission could be virtually guaranteed.
    Course material too rigorous for Junior? Curriculum too varied? That’s where I came in.
    For the last half dozen years, I’d been happily employed as a special education teacher for the Stamford public school system. I liked the job and I loved the kids. Still, it was hard to be a working mother and a single parent. I needed more time to spend with my son, and more money wouldn’t have been all bad, either.
    When I’d heard over the summer that Howard Academy was interviewing for the position of on-campus tutor, I spruced up my resume and sent it in. The idea was a lark, and nothing more. Aware of the school’s hallowed reputation and penchant for maintaining its ideals, I hadn’t thought I’d stand a chance. And then, with nothing to lose, I’d walked in and aced the interview.
    Now, as of early September when the fall semester began, I was Howard Academy’s newest teacher. Ms. Travis. My first minor