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This isn’t an ordinary college.
I knew it all along; of course I did. Now, though, I know for sure. What the hell is this place? Is it really safer than going to prison? Did we make the right choice by coming here?
The door swings open, and Camile walks in. She smiles at me, and I stare at her. Do I even know her? Is she in on this … whatever this is?
“Babe?” Her smile drips from her face like melted wax. “What’s wrong?”
“Camile, answer me honestly. What is this place?”
She frowns. “Zee, you know what it is. Your mother is marrying the dean. It’s the most secretive and exclusive college in America.”
“Do movie stars send their kids here?” I ask, knowing what the answer is. Of course, they don’t.
“No, babe.” Her face is serious, and she glances at the door. “You really don’t know?”
“No. Camile, please, will you tell me what is going on?”
When she checks each stall, my fear only grows. She comes back to me and takes one of my hands.
“Mackenzie, this is a…specialist college. The families here are all from very old money, and none of them got it legally. Some of the biggest organized crime families in the world have sent their children here. It provides an education, and it’s also a charity.”
My eyebrows lift. “A charity?”
“Yes. It, erm, the money…” She drops her voice to a whisper. “They clean it. I can’t really say more.”
Oh, my God. The reality hits me and the room spins. I yank my hand out of her grip.
They launder money here. They send their kids, these crime families, and the boys get taught to fight and the girls are taught history and literature and how to cook and behave like proper little ladies. And all the while, their dirty money gets cleaned.
I push the heel of my hand into my mouth to stop myself screaming. I breathe through my nostrils, and when I get some control, I let myself speak.
“This is a fucking mafia college?”
To my surprise, Camile laughs. “No one would call it that. Take Louis and Mattheo, their father is the head of a whole government department in France. That’s like being a state governor here.”
I blink at her. “He’s a governor?”
“Similar. His brother is the mayor of Marseille.”
“So, they’re not organized crime?”
“They were, maybe still are, but they now also have local political power. There’s a girl, you’ve not met her properly, Marina, whose uncle is the finance minister of the Greek government. His family also owns half of Crete, and her father grows and ships marijuana. Do you see now?”
I nod, numb. “I think so.”
“We are our own Camelot. Our own royalty.”
“So, why am I here?” I ask, my voice small.
That’s not really what I’m asking. I know the reason I’m here. I just don’t know the reason my mother even knows of this place, or what ties her to Nataniele.
What secrets is she hiding?
Camile shakes her head. “Babe, I really don’t know.”
I appreciate her being honest with me. It feels like she’s the only one who has been. Something else dawns on me. “So, your family…?”
“Yeah, they’re an important family back home, too.”
