Chapter 38

Tim’s turn:

My ex – Vicki’s mom – is in town, and in the interests of keeping things as civil between her and me for Vicki’s benefit, she’s staying with us.

That little act in itself is a little poke in her eye. Our house is meticulously clean and organized, partly due to the efforts of me and Kim and Vicki, also due to a couple of ladies whom we’ve hired to provide domestic support for a community of busy people. Karen was a lackadaisical housekeeper at best. Seeing this – well, SHE was the one who left.

This is going to be awkward, at best. I checked with Beck, and with Jack Haggarty, on how to handle this. I’m going to have to give the bitch some money, and they’re getting the documents organized for signature. If we keep the numbers below a certain level, she won’t have to pay the taxes, and we’re going to “persuade” her to sign a couple of documents that might be important at a later date. One is called a “non-disclosure agreement”, the other is called a “hold harmless” agreement. Lawyer stuff. I shake my head, but Jack’s the expert.

Arriving home, I step in the house to the smell of fresh coffee, and Kim and Vicki! That’s good. And, as expected, Karen. Less good.

I said, “Good afternoon ladies, and we’re happy that you could join us, Karen.” Wonder if she realizes that I didn’t include her as a “lady”? Probably not. (Kim hides a grin -- she caught the distinction.)

Kim said, “Good afternoon to YOU, sir!” And gave me a kiss, then pinched her nose, and pointed down the hall.

Vicki had a big grin -- she knows what’s coming in a few minutes.

Karen said, “Thank you for having me, Tim, and Kim is right -- I can smell you from here!”

I said, “Back in a few minutes, ladies. The shower awaits.” And stepped down the hall. Well, I certainly need the shower, and a shave. And Karen is going to be shocked by what comes next.

Kim’s turn:

I turned to Karen and said, “Karen, I think the coffee’s ready if you’d like some.”

Karen poured a cup, looked at Vicki and said, “I’m still having trouble realizing that you’re actually a college graduate. Girl, you’re only thirteen!”

Vicki said, “Mom, it’s no big deal. Nearly everyone I know is an engineer of some sort, except for Mizz Beck, and she’s REALLY smart!”

The doorbell rang, and Vicki stepped to answer it. She opened it to Bill Hardesty, carrying a small duffel. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the room, saying, “Bill, this is my Mom, Karen. Mom, this is my student, Bill Hardesty!”

Bill shook her hand and said, “Pleased to meet you, Mizz Karen. I apologize for the sweat and grime, but I just got off work, and drove straight over here.”

And then Tim strolled down the hall, wearing fresh khakis and a polo shirt. He shook Bill’s hand, and said, “Good to see you, Bill. Shower’s just down the hall. Vicki, could you show him, and make sure he has a fresh towel?”

Vicki said, “Got it, Dad.” She grabbed Bill’s hand and pulled him down the hall, and returned in a couple of minutes.

Karen said, “Kim, Tim, that kid stinks! But he’s a HUNK! I wonder if he’d fit in my luggage?”

Tim said, “Karen, Bill is an oddity here. He’s an athlete whose career got shortened by a knee injury. But he’s a good kid, and a smart guy. Vicki tutors him in math and engineering, and he’s learning rapidly. We think he has serious potential.”

Karen said, “But why’s he working, and stinky and sweaty?”

“Mom,” Vicki said, “Bill says it’s not right to mooch off his parents, so he has a part-time job. He doesn’t make excuses, and he’s a hard worker. We kinda like that attitude around here.”

“I never understood that, Tim,” Karen said, “A guy with a college education should never have to get dirty like that.”

Tim said, “Karen, some don’t, but you need to watch engineers at work to understand. In any case, Bill will be ready in a few minutes, and we can enjoy dinner, for a while.”

Karen said, “OK, Tim. Now, about the money...”

“Let’s get to that conversation after dinner, Karen,” Tim interrupted and said, “Honestly, I’m starving, and it’s a safe bet that Bill is, too. He still has an athlete’s metabolism, so he tends to eat like your average horse.”

Karen, somewhat distracted, looked again at the diplomas. She shook her head and said, “Kim, this isn’t some kind of joke, is it? I always thought Vicki was smart, but this...”

Vicki said, “Real stuff, Mom. I can give you Dr. Hoskins’ phone number, if you want to check it out. We had to WORK for those. Not the math so much, but those engineering courses were pretty tough.”

Just then, Bill came back down the hall, carrying his duffel bag. He said, “Thanks for the shower, Mister Tim. I still need a shave, but that can wait.”

“Bill, you clean up nicely,” Karen said. “Want to escort me to dinner?”

Vicki’s eyes narrowed, and she did NOT smile. Tim has told me that the lady can be rather forward. I think that’s the angle that got them together in the first place. I just can’t see him initiating contact with that. I guess he thought she was being flighty. And interested.

Bill said, “Thanks, ma’am, but I’d better stick pretty close to my favorite tutor, here. She’s REALLY smart, and a cutie, if you’ll notice.”

Vicki’s eyes turned a couple of shades bluer.

Tim’s turn:

Odd dinner at the Pavilion, trivial conversation in most ways, but things have changed some, including Karen’s odd looks at Mandy, and her (too obvious) vamping at Bill, which clearly wasn’t funny to Vicki. Jesus, Karen has neither brains nor subtlety, and I wonder why I didn’t catch it years ago.

Anyway, with dinner concluded, we returned to the house, while Vicki snagged Bill, saying, “Hummingbird needs a belt change -- shouldn’t take long. We’ll be back in a while.”

Back at the house, I said, “OK, Karen, break out the credit account statements, and let’s see what we can do, here. And Kim, could you get a couple of manila folders? We’ll try to introduce some order to the chaos.”

Karen didn’t like it, but went to retrieve the statements, and returning, she said, “Tim, I don’t know what can be done here, but any help would be appreciated.”

I said, “Let’s look at the details, and then maybe deal with the small stuff first.”

Scanning the statements, I started sorting them into “small vs. large”, and decided this was workable. Making a few notes, I said, “Karen, I think this is actually going to work. We can’t pay all of these, but we can handle several of them, and you’ll be able to knock the rest out easily. Kim, go into our office and scan all these -- Karen can keep the originals. And while you’re in there, pay these four small ones directly, email them all to Beck, along with these instructions, and we’ll deal with the others tomorrow.”

Kim nodded and stepped back to our office. I turned to Karen and said, “Karen, we don’t keep enough money in our checking account to pay more than the four smallest ones, so we’ll have to move some money out of an investment account for the remainder. That gets a little tricky, because Beck will be the one doing it, and we have to avoid double taxation. The taxes have already been paid on the money, so we need to make sure you don’t have to pay them again, right?”

She nodded, so I continued: “Now, I made a list of the remaining account balances and their minimum payments. From our investment account, we’ll pay off the next three small ones, and make 20% payments on the others -- that’ll put those accounts back in good standing. But there’s a neat trick you can play, which is to take the old payments from the seven accounts we’re retiring, and apply those amounts to this small one here -- you’ll have it paid off in a few weeks. Then, go to work on the next one -- see how that works?”

Kim returned with the documents and handed them to Karen. She said, “If you’ll take a look at the small ones, you’ll note that I marked them “paid”, with today’s date.”

Karen said, “Thanks, Kim and Tim. You have no idea how this helps. But I’m thinking that if I had access to Vicki’s accounts, this would have easily been fixed.”

“Karen,” I said, “I don’t have direct access to her accounts, either, and it would violate the terms of her trust if I did. We’re not fixing this with her money, nor should we.”

Kim added, “Karen, consider two things. First, your ex-boyfriend was the one who caused this mess -- he had access to your accounts. If you’d had access to Vicki’s, he’d have had the same access, and he’d be spending HER money right now!”

“Second, think about the moral issue: Bill Hardesty doesn’t mooch from his parents, and similarly, we shouldn’t mooch from Vicki.”

I said, “Karen, it’s not over, of course, but now it’ll be manageable for you. We’ll still need to have you sign some documents for Beck tomorrow after breakfast, and the wire transfers can’t be done until Monday, but at least the procedure will be in motion.”

Karen said, “Thanks, Tim. What’s all this costing you?”

I said, “Karen, eyeballing this stuff, the rough total is right around $18K, and while we wouldn’t do this for most people, you’re still Vicki’s mom, so we think it’s worth the effort.”