Chapter 21

Ms. Chen took me to task. Seems I wasn’t paying as much attention to my businesses as I should.

“I’ve got good people, Mom. I’m just a bit preoccupied right now.”

“News flash honey. Women have babies every day and the world doesn’t stop revolving because of it. You have an even bigger duty now, besides Mickey, you’ll now have a little one. You need to look to their futures.”

“I understand your logic, and while women have children every day, they don’t have mine. I’d like to savor every step, if you don’t mind.”

She smiled. “You don’t think I’m looking forward to another grandchild? I get a bonus with this one because it’s a girl and I’ll be there for every step of her childhood. Gregory (her husband) is obsessing already, looking into childproofing the house. We have her bedroom picked out and are decorating it. It will be done before she’s even born. Still doesn’t stop me from running my firm. Tuesday, one, sharp.”

I appeared at the appointed time and spent three hours going over figures. I was amazed at the wealth I had already accumulated, and with the addition of two more stores my profit, after taxes and salaries, would be a surplus of about a million three, a year.

“What are we going to do with all that money?”

Mom and the accountant laughed. “You’re going to keep expanding. You haven’t gone unnoticed and many are copying your business model, but there are plenty of opportunities out there. With your proven track record, cities will be more inclined to work with you than your competitors. Our suggestion is you keep expanding in the Southeast until you reach saturation, then go West.”

“How many stores are we talking here?”

The CPA pulled up a chart on her computer. “I think you should concentrate on two a year for the next five years. After that, if my model is accurate, you should up it to five. In twenty years you have the capability of being one of the top three chains in the country.”

I threw them for a loop. “What if I don’t want to be that big?”

“Then you’ve missed a golden opportunity. Think of how many could benefit, how many people you could get off the streets, keep kids away from crime and turn them into successful businessmen, role models for their communities. You didn’t really consider the impact of your actions when you started, but look at the good it’s done. Look to your grandmothers, destined to live out their lives in dangerous apartments, scraping by on Social Security. Think they don’t appreciate what you’ve done for them?”

She had me there. Apparently she was on a roll, giving me facts she had obviously holding back while Mom grinned. “Speaking of helping people, you need to start a charitable arm. It’s a great tax shelter and you could really do some good. I suggest you start off simple, say with a scholarship program for aspiring lawyers. Just two will be sufficient for right now. I have the paperwork ready, if you’re interested.”

I left it hanging until she got nervous. “All right. $500,000 to start. That should handle the scholarships with plenty left over. And make the scholarships all inclusive, tuition, room and board, and a monthly allowance for incidentals like gas, clothes, that sort of thing. I’m putting you in charge for right now, but I expect I’ll be pretty active as time passes. I think that sometime soon I’ll want to add programs for food service scholarships, at least at the associate level. And I’d like to do some kind of program for disadvantaged youth but we’ll talk about it later. We done here?”

I grinned as I left, their mouths hanging open. I had thought about a charity before, but never had time to pursue it. Now that it was handed to me on a platter, I had no excuse.