Chapter 5

Tim Duncan’s turn:

We walked into the IHOP shortly before seven AM

“I didn’t think there was a lawyer in the world that got out of bed before noon,” I said as we stepped back to the party room, and found Beck, Jack, and a pretty young lady waiting for us. They rose, smiling, and Jack said, “Good morning, folks, and allow me to introduce my assistant, Heather Jacobs. Heather, this is Miss Vicki Duncan, Kim, and Tim.”

We shook hands and got seated, while the waitress set out water, poured coffee, and took our orders. Jack said, “We’re in luck with Heather, here. She recently passed her bar exam, and has joined our firm. I’m embarrassed to admit she’s from Georgia, but she’s a REALLY fine lawyer for us already, and her specialty is family law. As you know, my specialty is more on the corporate side of things, so she’ll be our lead counsel, here.”

We congratulated Heather.

She took over, said, “Thank you, folks. Now, Miss Vicki, before we accept a retainer from you, I want you to tell me what you think is under discussion here, and tell me why you want to do it.”

Vicki is in ‘scary Vicki’ mode, concentrating on a problem. “Ma’am, what’s under discussion is my emancipation. The principal reasons are to protect my trust account, and to avoid me being taken away from my company and my family. In some ways, I’m reluctant to do it. It’s an unpleasant task involving the woman who gave birth to me, my mother, but it’s something I need to do, for the benefit of both myself and her.”

She’s on a roll. Stopping her might be dangerous. “I’ve recently figured out that there’s a large difference between the words “mother” and “Mom”. They’re NOT the same. My mother isn’t as concerned about MY well-being as she is about her own. Briefly, she needs to grow up and become independent.”

“By contrast, my MOM,” she touched Kim’s arm, “has done everything she could to help me become educated and independent. Let me show you a picture here, and tell me what you see.”

She pulled her iPhone, punched up a picture, and showed it to Jack and Heather. Jack said, “Looks like a picture of Tim and Kim, when they were married. It’s taken from behind them, and I suppose that’s you in the middle, isn’t it?”

Vicki said, “Yes sir -- I had Aunt Laci send it to me, last night. I didn’t understand it at the time, and didn’t actually figure it out until yesterday, but when Kim married Dad, she was marrying ME, too. She took up ‘Mom’ responsibilities and didn’t bat an eye when she did it.”

Three sets of tears -- Kim, Heather, and Beck. Jack just had a little choking spell, and had to wipe his eyes a little. He managed to say, “Heather, that kinda answers any questions I had. You have any more?”

She said, “Absolutely not. However, Vicki, I need to warn you that your mother won’t like this at all. Are you prepared for that?”

Vicki said, “Yes, ma’am. I expect her to throw a fit, about like a two-year old who doesn’t get her way. Same reasons, and about the same emotional level. She may take a long time to get over it, maybe years. I’ve already forgiven her, but I’m not going to talk to her again until she apologizes.”

We signed some papers, Beck notarized them, we finished our breakfast, and Jack said, “Folks, we have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, at Judge Hoffman’s office. Beck, I suspect you know him?”

Beck smiled and nodded, and Jack continued, “Now today, Heather has to get the documents ready for the Judge’s signature. Then, we need to convene at his office, at four PM tomorrow. Tim, get ready for our exceptionally large invoice -- it’s either going to be $1 or $11, and I won’t know which until late this afternoon.”

I raised an eyebrow, but before I could ask, he said, “The thing is, when I ask him for a hearing on short notice, he makes me play golf with him, and I haven’t been able to beat him yet. We have a standing bet for ten bucks and I’m pretty sure he cheats. I asked him about it, and he told me “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’.” Vicki, so you’ll know, he’s a fraternity brother, and he’s not supposed to treat me like that.”

We all got a laugh out of it, and even Jack grinned. We exchanged some pleasantries, finished our breakfast, and as we stood to leave, Heather stepped around the table and said, “One last thing -- Vicki, I need a hug.”

Vicki smiled, Heather hugged her tightly and said, “Darlin’, you’re amazing. I hope you know that.”

Vicki was still smiling when Heather turned to Kim, hugged her tightly, and said, “Kim, that picture... “ and more tears. She said, “Kim, I want you to send it to me. I’m going to have it printed and framed, for inspiration.”

Vicki said, “Mizz Jacobs, I’ll send it to you now. Here, punch your number into my phone.” Vicki’s fingers flew over her phone, then she handed it to Heather, who punched the numbers. Vicki’s fingers again, and she said, “There. Done.” And about two seconds later, Heather’s phone buzzed. She looked at it and smiled. Jack said, “Heather, when you have that printed, make an extra for me, please.”

We walked out of the IHOP, and Jack said, “Tim, that letter from Karen. If I ever needed a final document for a slam-dunk, that’s it. And I’m never going to get into a fishing competition against you -- I could NEVER bait a hook like you did.” We shook hands, and he walked away, grinning and shaking his head.

And now, Tuesday morning. As promised, I closed my office door, and sent a text to Karen, with Jack Haggarty’s phone number. Then I called her. When she answered, I said, “Good morning, Karen, and the news isn’t what you’d desired. The trustees have declined your request, so I suppose you’ll want to contact an attorney.”

She said, “DAMMIT, Tim, I REALLY didn’t want to go thru all this trouble.”

“Karen, I understand, but I didn’t have a voice in their decision,” I said, “and to simplify things, I just sent you a text with our attorney’s phone number. You’ll remember him -- he’s Jack Haggarty, and he drafted the documents you signed when you were here, last time.”

“I advised him that it might work out this way, so when you find the lawyer that you want to use, have him contact Jack. Jack can send him whatever he needs, and it might save you some trouble and expense, if you do it that way.”

Karen said, “Thanks, Tim, I suppose. I’ll get moving on this, and call you if I need help. By the way, what’s going on with Vicki? She’s blocking my calls, and not responding to my text messages.”

I said, “Karen, I suppose I’ll have to ask, and let you know what she says.”

She said, “OK. Tim, I have to run -- I have an early breakfast scheduled with a friend. Maybe she knows a good lawyer.”

“Enjoy your day, Karen,” I said. I knew she wouldn’t, not in a bit.

It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon that Karen called me. I answered to, “TIM, YOU SON OF A BITCH. HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?”

I said, “Karen... “ interrupted by, “GODDAMMIT! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING? NOW WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?”

I said, “Karen, frankly, I don’t know what you’re going to do. But I suppose you’re going to do what you should have done years ago, which is to stand up on your hind legs and solve your own problems, just as other humans have been doing for thousands of years.”

A bit less loudly, she said, “Tim, I have all these debts, and I don’t have the money. And now, my lawyer says Vicki is legally an adult, and I have no control at all. Tim, he says I have no legal recourse. Is he right?”

I said, “Karen, you might, somewhere, find a lawyer who will take the case -- I don’t know. But to keep your expenses down, you’d probably want to examine what the phrase “hold harmless” means. It might change your views.”

“Now, Karen, to more important topics, I asked Vicki what she would require to answer your phone calls or text messages. Her answer was, “I want an apology from her, before I’ll talk to her.” And Karen, the same is true for me. And now, this conversation is over.”

Having said that, I clicked off, blocked her number, leaned back in my chair, and in my mind I sang, “Ding-dong, the wicked witch is dead.” And now that I think of it, I do believe I owe Jack, Heather, Beck, and their spouses a VERY nice dinner!

I stepped down the hall, knocked on Beck’s open door. She looked up and smiled. I said, “Lady Beck, has anyone told you today just how lovely you are? If not, let me be the first! And now, could you somehow organize a lavish dinner for yourself and Sim, Jack, Heather, maybe Abe Hoffman, their spouses? Me and my bunch, too, of course. You pick the restaurant and the limousine service, the menu, ALL of it, and I’m paying!”

She said, “Tim, thank you for the compliment, but I have a better idea: Why don’t we just invite Jack and his bunch, and Abe and his wife to a big Pavilion feast? The food is better, and the entire community needs another reason to celebrate, don’t you think?”