Chapter 9

Soon all the dishes were in the dishwasher, and dad surprised me when he poured each of us a glass of whiskey. And after putting a new log in the stove we settled in the living room. “Just so you know off the top, this was your brother’s idea. He proposed it a year ago actually, and we voted him down.”

“But I thought he was the majority owner and CEO?” I said, looking at each of them.

“Oh, he is. But he and Mandy combined only own 45% of the company, so the rest of us can outvote him. Oh, he is the majority owner of all his personal businesses, like what is left of Hainji Net and Orbit Computer Concepts. But for the family corporation as a whole, he holds 45%. Now this rarely happens, but back in October he brought it up again, and this time one of us changed their decision so his motion finally carried. In short, you own 5% of the company. And on January First you come into your voting shares. Your money will not come until you turn 22, but Pete said you deserve to at least have a say in the direction the company goes from now on.”

“OK, so what exactly does that mean?”

Mom took my hand in hers and smiled. “In short, you have a say in your allowance each month, and have an official vote in our meetings. And more rights in managing your share of the assets.”

I looked at them closely, and dad filled me in. Indeed, Aunt Linda was right! The house in Van Nuys was mine, as was the house they lived in up here. It was all tied up in trust, but I would have a say in future rentals of the property. And when I said I owned two houses, dad shook his head.

“No, you own three actually. You see, last year we bought the house behind the one we lived in.”

“Where Aunt Holly’s parents live?”

“Where they used to live, yes. They moved to an apartment in Long Beach last year. After Ben had that heart attack he retired, and decided it was time to let that place go. As soon as we heard we snatched it up, and right now it is in a year to year rental agreement. The contracts are rather complex, but every five years the contract will come up for review, and we can tell the tenants we are ending the agreement with one year notice with no cause. That way if you decide to stay down there you can move into that house. But for now, the rent goes into your trust, minus any costs for taxes, insurance, upkeep, and other expenses.”

Wow, that was a lot to get my head around. “And what about this house?”

“Oh, this is still ours. Your dad and I do own it, but all rent we pay goes to your trust also. This one is more complicated, if we sell we can only sell to you. Technically, we own the house and lease the land. You need to talk to George, he is the one that helped set up this complicated mess in the first place. But it lets us build up equity, and real value. But as the land is leased we can only sell it to family. But we can rent it if we choose, and use it as income property. Say if in another thirty years when we are both gone, and you if you decided to set up in Los Angeles. You can only sell it to the company, but you are free to rent it out to whoever you want. And collect the rent as your own income, not company income.”

“The same with the houses in LA. Those are company assets, but entirely in your name. If you decide to sell any of them, the company has first right of purchase. They can’t refuse your right to sell, but have the option to claim that you can only sell it to them, at fair market value. That is actually in the charter your brother set up early on. He hated that we sold the land his mom’s family had worked so long to build up, and swore that would never happen again. This is tied up even tighter, but as that is not within five miles of the ranch here, it can be sold off. The original charter only prohibits the selling of property that is technically part of the ranch here. But if the Board decides they want to keep it, we all buy it from you and the company takes over as the owners.”

Mom reached out and rested her hand on my arm. “Now if you someday decide to sell the house behind the one your dad owned, they would probably shrug and let that go. But I have a feeling that so long as Peter is alive, he would vote against selling our old house there. After all, he grew up there also, and started Orbit Communications in that house. He would probably exercise the clause letting him buy it instead of the company. One of the clauses is that if a member decides to sell their own property, with approval another member can buy it as their own personal property, but still following the rules of the company.”

I was actually seeing how this complex arrangement might work. “OK, so the runway, let me see if I got that right. Gem Charters is part of the company, but mostly owned by Pete. If he decided to sell, Dave could insist that he sell it to him, and then Pete has no choice.”

Dad smiled and nodded. “Exactly. And if nobody on the board wants it, as it is over five miles from here he can sell it to anybody he wants if all refuse the right of first purchase.”

I had to admit, it was complex, but also rather smart. “And Pete wants me to sit in board meetings? Why would he do that?”

“Well, in a few more years you will come of legal age for full rights. And when we decided to purchase the Frank house, Pete is the one that insisted that it fall under your assets and not as company assets. You actually are paying the mortgage on it, from the rent of the other house.”

“And what if I decide I want to live in our old house?”

Dad then sighed. “That, will be a tad complicated. Sue was one of your brother’s first employees, and she and her family live there now. If you insist we could probably come up with something, but I would hope you know enough not to try and push that. In that, I agree with your brother. You gotta show loyalty to those you do business with. But I bet if we all sat down and talked it over, we could come up with an arrangement. Say we agree to pay moving expenses, and they take over the Frank house. That would free up our old house for you to move into. Oh, and one of the decisions we are talking over tomorrow night is an expense you are going to be expected to pay for. We already have it all worked out, and are cutting a gate in the stone wall between those two yards. It will be two gates, but that way if both sides open them, it will allow free passage between the houses. That was a dream I had with Mrs. Frank from decades ago, but Mr. Frank was against it because it would make selling the house harder. That was why we had that stile built. Now no more need for that.”

I nodded, having some memories of the stairs between the yards at parties as a kid. The last time I was finally able to use it on my own, when Aunt Holly was still renting our house. “So, can I ask who was the one that changed their mind to let me in on all of this?”

“Oh, that’s simple, dear. I did.” I looked at mom sharply, and she nodded. “I talked it over with Pete, and agreed with him. You are 18 now, and have a right to at least be involved in the meetings even if only for the property in your name. He is the one that pushed for you to get all company voting shares. But on the agreement that you turn over proxy rights to somebody else if you are not here. And in that I agree, sometimes we need to make a fast decision, and do not have time to get you on the phone and fill you in if you are down there in school.”

“And let me guess, he wants me to turn them over to him?”

At that, dad laughed. “Oh goodness no! Trust me George, Pete don’t want them. He likes that he can be outvoted, and he would never want to see the gridlock if we were split 50-50. No, you can assign the proxy to anybody else on the board you want, you can even split them between two of us. That means your mom and me, Kim and Jeff, and Dave and Darla. You can assign them to anybody but Pete and Mandy. I can promise they will refuse to accept your proxy.”

“So mom, dad, exactly how much am I worth?”

Mom smiled, and looked at my dad and nodded. “Honey, we are still doing the taxes now, and you are going to have to sign some papers now that you are 18. But roughly? Around $8 million. But most of that is in hard assets, not cash. You can decide once you reach 22 to sell your shares of the company, but once again only to a family member.”

“So, say if I wanted out of this I could sell them to Grace?”

Mom smiled, and nodded. “She is not a voting member yet, but she also holds 5% of the company. So you could sell it to her, that is perfectly allowable.”

“And now would all of this work? Seems like there are more percentages than there are us.”

Dad laughed and nodded his head. “Very shrewd, George. Yes, there are. The pool of shares is even more complex, and will be revised as each of you reaches your majority. In short, I think around 40% are held in trust, and spread among the voters under proxy until you all reach majority. As you and each of Kim’s kids reach majority, our shares will decrease in voting power. Essentially handing over the power to the younger generation a piece at a time.”

“When we reach 22.”

Mom then spoke up again. “No, not necessarily. There was a clause your dad, Dave, and Pete insisted on at the start. The reason full majority was at 22 was that one of you could go to college, and not have to worry about the company. And this year the change was made that you could take your voting shares, so long as you assigned a local proxy if you are away. The other clause from the start though was in case one of you joins the military. They get the same rights, majority at 18 so long as a proxy is assigned.”

“Dad, is that why you were pushing so hard for me to join?” I asked, looking at my dad.

“No, son. I do think it is a good thing, but that had nothing to do with that. If you had joined like your brother or I had, odds are it would be just like now. You would get more money, so not have to live off of what the military pays you alone. But as you would not be close to here you would be signing a proxy. Your brother insisted that college was just as valuable as the military, and when your mom agreed we all did. One thing about our strange company, we rarely have split decisions.”

I thought back to history class, and said “The Privy Council of Japan.” Dad smiled, and mom looked a little puzzled. And when she asked what that meant, I smiled as for one of the few times I knew more than she did.

“Oh, it’s rather simple, mom. During World War II, in Japan there were six people on the council. Seven including Emperor Hirohito, but he could not vote unless there was a tie. Kinda like the Vice President in the Senate. After the bombs, they were split three to three, and for the first time ever the Emperor finally got a chance to vote, and he decided to end the war. But here is the thing, the moment the Emperor made the decision to surrender, all three dissenters changed their vote to agree and it was unanimous.”

Dad patted my shoulder and smiled. “Exactly. We are much the same way, very rarely do we end in a split that is approved. When your mom threw in with your brother, we all changed our votes in agreement. I expect that will be changing in the next decade or so, as we older folks step out and it becomes you kids making all the decisions. We so far have been four couples making all the calls, but soon you all will be joining in. Oh, and your shares are your own. We hold them in family blocks, and each of us family members made the choice to include our spouses. And no, your mom and I are still very much in love. But if we were to get divorced, I would have to pay her for her half of the increase in value of those shares and she walks away from them forever. And if I die, half of my shares remain with her and the other half go to you. It is nothing about her, just the insistence your brother had from the start that all power reside only in the family and not non-family spouses.”

Mom nodded, and said she agreed. “In reality, Mandy holds no shares. She refused when Pete offered half of his voting to her. Darla is the only one of us wives that has shares in her own name, Jeff and I have them under that arrangement. But in all the years of our complex arrangement, I am the only one that voted against my spouse in a meeting on a motion that carried. And if you get married, that will up to you. You can share them with your wife, or hold them all yourself. Entirely your call, but in the event of your death all your shares will be split among your natural born children or return to the family.”

I raised my eyebrow. “So, no adoptions then?”

Mom raised her eyebrow, and looked at dad. “You know, that never came up before. Nice one, George. I expect if any of you kids ever adopted, we would have to hold a board meeting and hash that out. But so long as it is a full legal adoption where they take the family name that would be acceptable.”

“Family name? So, what if Grace marries somebody else and changes her last name?”

“Oh, that’s covered. They have to be a descendent of the Culver or Littlebuck families, not that it has to be their actual last name. Jeff took it upon himself to make that choice, Pete did not even know for years that Jeff had changed his name from Settler to Littlebuck. He said he hated the thought that the Littlebuck line would die, and he was told to not allow that to happen. And with all her brothers now, I do not see that happening easily.” I nodded, as indeed the name would be making a comeback in future decades.

We talked a bit longer about other things, then after hugs we each headed off to bed.

The next morning over breakfast, I brought up something that Aunt Linda had told me. And they admitted, I was indeed paying for my own college. And my own car, and they keyboard. “Those were simple, you have a couple of hundred thousand in trust, your dad and I hold control over that. That is only our decision, and if he and I both agree we let you spend the money in it. But understand this, George. We both have to agree. You keep pretending you are an almost broke college student, we are not going to increase your allowance to let you go crazy with. But yes, we both thought you needed a practical car so let you get that one. I am the one that thought the keyboard would be a good purchase, and your dad agreed with me. But if you want to buy everything needed to start your own band, expect me to fight you on that.”

I nodded, and said that was fair. We were sitting in the living room when a rapid knocking came on the door, and it was flung open and Grace came running in. I had barely stood up when she flung herself into my arms, as mom and dad laughed. “Georgie!” she yelled, and pulled my head down to kiss my cheeks. I kissed hers in return, and finally held her out at arm’s length.

She had grown even more since I had last seen her. And she now unquestionably had actual curves on her body. We hugged again, and mom said we should head on down to the Big House, they would join us shortly. Grace grabbed my hand and dragged me outside. She tried to lead me down the hill, but I shook my head and said I needed to drive down.

We drove the Scout to the bottom of the hill, and Jeff and Kim both gave me hugs before we started to haul all of the presents inside. And there was the usual eight foot tall pine set up in the family room, all decorated and a ton of presents under it. We added the ones I had brought, and Darla smiled and went to make a pot of coffee as I greeted all of Grace’s brothers and sister. I said my parents would be down shortly, and Aunt Darla had just handed me a cup of coffee when the front door opened, and I went to greet Mandy and my niece and nephew. Rosie and Paul were good kids, and I loved that out of all the kids I really was an uncle to them. I hugged Pete when he came in, and we all sat around talking.

Once again, filling them in on what the first three months had been like, and finding out what all I had missed. Francis was teasing his sister on her new boyfriend, and what he would say if he caught her holding my hand as tightly as she was. “Well, he will just have to deal with it. George is my brother, he’s not competition.” I raised my eyebrow at her, and she blushed and nodded. “I started dating Ross last month, and yes we’re going steady.” I smiled, and said I was happy for her, even though for some reason I felt, jealous?

And at just after noon the ladies all headed into the kitchen to get lunch ready, I noticed for the first time that Grace joined them, as the rest of the kids were all clustered around a large TV with a video game playing. I looked around, and it was just the five of us guys there. “Hey, is there any reason why the women are all in the kitchen getting food, as we are all out here?”

But it was my dad that laughed the loudest of all of them. “Sure, George. That is how they want it. Your mom and Darla are both like that, Grace and Mandy took after them. This lets them talk away from us, and they all like preparing food. It’s nothing sexist, that was actually their decision. And I guarantee that if you tried to join them right now they would either go quiet, or likely just chase you out.”

Pete nodded and agreed. “After my mom died, dad and I pretty well split up the cooking. But after he and Dee got married, she chased me out of the kitchen and claimed it as her own. And before you all moved up here when Becky and I shared the house with them, it was the same. Dee and Becky in the kitchen, dad and I in the living room. But like dad said, that is entirely their decision, not sexism. They all honestly enjoy cooking, and as he said, it also gives them some time to chat among themselves without us around. On occasion we reverse it, and chase them out as we guys cook, especially if we are grilling steaks. But that was entirely their decision, we had nothing to do with that.”

Jeff and Dave both agreed, saying it was the same when they got married. “Darla was the exact same, and Kim takes after her mom in that way.” Jeff nodded, and said it was a good thing as she was a much better cook than he was.

“And expect my daughters to be the same way. It seems that Grace is now one of them, and in another year or so I expect Nancy to join them. Then Rosie when she reaches around 14. And the boys when they reach about that age to stop playing games and join us guys.”

“George, consider it self-segregation” my brother said. “At one time, you used to join them, but I think you were around 10 when they banished you out here. This is just their way to get time alone, and they all like cooking and preparing food.”