Chapter 8

College was a lot of work for all of us. It was a challenge for me, but I excelled. Most of my electives in art were, of course, photography. The Pregnancy series got me a lot of recognition in the art circles.

Beth struggled with being pregnant and studying. She experienced a lot of morning sickness, which Annette didn’t seem to have yet. We would see how long that lasted. We made it through the first semester without a significant problem. The second was tough, but only because of the pregnancies. Thank God the babies were not due until summer vacation.

That happened to coincide with the copyright infringement lawsuit against the paper. It was an open-and-shut case. No matter how the defense defamed the two of us, the suit was not about whether I deserved anything. It was about publishing a paper and making money without paying the artist for his work.

That cost them a lot, but the blatant printing of material I did not authorize for release was the natural killer. The paper pointed the finger at the FBI, and strangely, it found itself under so many federal indictments that it made their heads spin. For my part, I was awarded one week of the paper’s total gross sales. Beth only got one day.

Now, that might not sound like a lot. But remember, I said gross sales, not net profit. The paper’s insurance only covered the first million; the rest, nineteen million, came out of the paper. They should have gotten me a signed release before they printed them.

Mom, well, she sold the house and moved in with her girlfriend. Grandpa had a heart attack over it, but not a real one, thank God. He changed the will, leaving me as the only one who could inherit anything. Not that mom had anything to worry about. I was a good son and always ensured she lacked for nothing. It was strange that he had such a double standard, though. I mean I had two girls in my life and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they were more than overly friendly. Then again, I was a guy. Grandpa thought it was great I got two women, but my mother? Well, she was a bad example to me. I tell you, it was nothing but a stupid double standard.

The girls were born two days apart. We named them after my first two daughters, Amy and Debbie. I thought it was so sweet of the girls to do that. Even Annette’s dad softened to me when he held the little bundle of joy in his arms. He had to admit that I was taking care of his daughter. It’s a good thing he’d never seen the pregnancy photos I did in college. Well, two pregnant women engaged in sex would have given him a heart attack for sure.

Beth’s mother traded off with Annette’s mother to help us care for the kids for the first month. After that, we were on our own. Of course, the neighbors complained about crying babies at all hours of the night. I guess the wild parties they had at all night hours didn’t count as a problem.

Jack, the property manager for our four-plex, told us to keep the kids quiet or move out. How does one stop a baby from crying when it needs to cry? Just what did he think we could do to stop it? You got me! Maybe the owner should put in soundproofed walls. That comment got us an eviction notice.

Okay, I was miffed and did the one thing that has worked the best for us so far —you guessed it! We called a lawyer. There was little he could do if the owner wanted us out, so he advised us to look for a new apartment. That was easier said than done. Apartments would be plentiful in two more months at the end of the semester, but right now, they were in short supply.

Annette suggested, “Why not just buy a house? We will be in the area for at least another seven years.” Beth seconded her, and telling the truth was a good idea. If we could find an empty house, we could close quickly because this would be a cash deal. Only ten million was locked in long-term stocks, and we could soon lay our hands on about three and a half million. Not that we would need that much. I don’t think there were even many million-dollar properties in the area.

We descended on the campus real estate office that Saturday morning. We ended up with a lovely young college-aged agent named Sue. Sue was fascinated that we were a triad. She wanted to know which one I was married to. That was different. Usually, we just got weird looks. When I said neither legally, Sue said we could have joint ownership problems. She suggested we form a partnership and have that company purchase a property when we found one. Great, I thought, back to the lawyer’s office for more paperwork.

She took us out and showed us three properties that morning. By then, we had established it was a cash deal, and the price didn’t matter. They were the three most expensive places currently on the market. The problem was we liked them all. The first was $500,000 and had an indoor pool that screamed buy me. The second was only $400,000 but didn’t have the pool. Besides that, this one was already furnished and had been tastefully done. The third place was $380,000; it had an outdoor pool and was well-equipped. We couldn’t decide which one we liked better.

Of course, during the tour, Sue learned more about our apartment plight. We were shocked when she said our four-plex was also up for sale. And the price was only $120,000. Since the apartments were rented for one thousand dollars per month, each was technically four grand monthly. Even if you had a mortgage on the place, you could still clear three grand every month.

That’s how we found ourselves in the real estate business. Sue thought the whole idea was hilarious. She backed us on the plan we came up with. She impressed us so much that we hired her as our personal property manager. But first, we needed to pull off the coup. We offered the asking price for the 4-plex under an undisclosed corporate name. Sue had suggested that she say that the incorporation was pending and that we couldn’t give the name until we were sure what it would be.

On Monday, we walked into an attorney’s office. Yes, we didn’t even call for an appointment. Sue had recommended him as a bright new attorney just striking out alone. The place looked like he was just getting started and folding chairs in his office waiting area. Come on, that was tacky in and of itself. The secretary was an old lady. I think she was his mom.

She said, “Sweetie, you have some potential clients out here.”

Lance stuck his head out the door and looked us over. He then smiled when he saw the two children. He came out, introduced himself, and took us back into his office. It only took us a few moments to explain what we wanted. Yes, that’s right ... what we thought we wanted. Then he started asking very pointed and personal questions about our relationship. He explained that he needed to know this because we could split up and how he should structure the corporation. Didn’t we ask for a partnership?

“Excuse me?” I asked, “I thought we were talking about a partnership?”

He smiled at me. “Yes, we are doing just that. The difference between a partnership and a corporation is the size, for the most part.”

I looked at him with that questioning look in my eyes.

He smiled back, “If all you ever buy is the one place, a partnership will be fine. However, if you do more than that, the tax structure of a corporation would work better for you.”

I looked at the girls, and they were as confused as I was.

Lance continued, “Also, since you would own equal shares ... well, let’s just say if you broke up in the future, the corporation would still be there, and everyone could continue to benefit from it. If one of you wanted to sell out, the others would have the first right of purchase before the person could offer the stock to the public, so to speak.”

I could see where he was going with this. It occurred to me that each child could be given shares when they were born, and inheritance taxes could be avoided. Then I had another idea and almost fell over backward at my brilliance. “Lance, could the corporation be set up to function like a marriage?”

The word marriage had always worried the girls because ... let’s face it, they both worried I would choose one over the other for the official marriage.

“Tim, what are you talking about?” Annette asked first.

“Well, if I understand correctly, a corporation acts like an individual.”

“That is correct. It is considered a legal entity in the eyes of the government,” Lance said.

“Then, it seems that if we all own equal shares in a corporation, the corporation could act the same way a marriage does regarding legal matters.”

“Interesting! I see what you are thinking, and you know what? I think it would work,” Lance said. Then he looked at the girls and added, “As long as everyone is willing to accept it as their legal marriage, it would.”

“Tim? Are you saying you just figured out a way for all of us to be married, legally like?”

Lance said, “It would be as close as current laws allow. You see, the law views marriage as nothing more than a partnership. A corporation under this idea would be viewed the same way.”

I was glad he had worded it that way.

“Yes!” the two girls said in unison. I laughed, and soon, we all laughed.

I asked, “How long will it take to set it up, and what will it cost?”

“Hum, well, to tell the truth, it will take me a few days to review the corporate laws and then a day to write up the letters of incorporation. Then there is the name search, and we’ll have to create a business plan as a statement of operations for the Federal Trade Commission.”

Ok, he was losing me with everything that needed to be done. I held up my hand and stopped him.

“That sounds like a lot of work. How much of it can you do, and how much do we need to do?”

“Except for a meeting or two to explain how it works, I can do everything but pick out the name.”

I smiled. At least it would not interfere with our class time. “Well, that’s good so the bottom line will be...”

“Let me think ... Oh, heck. I can have it done in two weeks. It’s not like I have any other clients at the moment. Say $5000.00 and $120 per corporate meeting you need me to attend.”

“Need you?”

“You need to have a ‘Corporate Attorney of Record.’ That means I must be on a retainer. The law requires at least one meeting a year. So, I am giving you a bargain. Of course, if you need more advice or representation during the year, I will bill that at $120 an hour.”

My prior experience with lawyers told me this figure was more than fair. I looked at the girls. They nodded their agreement, so I pulled out the checkbook and started writing a check for $10,000.

When I handed it to him, I said, “I have included a retainer of $5,000.00 that you should bill your extra time against. Just send me a statement, and when we need to give you another 5K, I will do so.”

Talk about ‘making Lance’s Day’! He was almost falling all over himself now. Then, I dropped the eviction problem on him.