Chapter 95: Homecomings

Wednesday, March 7, 1984

School went about as well as expected. Some kids were making plans to go to Austin for the basketball tournament, but the first games would be played on Thursday and almost no one else was going up there that early except the team. We’d already given Calvin and company our best wishes, He, in turn, had told us he hardly expected us there under the circumstances.

Because of the trip to Austin, which Megan had managed to figure out a way to attend, the juniors, sophomores, and freshmen filed for Student Council today. Megan and Jaya were planning to stay on, as expected. They’d gotten Sam Myers to run for vice president (she’d win easily, I was pretty sure) and Natasha Grimm was running for parliamentarian (also likely an easy win).

Beyond that, I knew some of the names and didn’t know others. That was just fine with me. I’d support anyone Megan and Jaya (and Sam and Natasha) supported, and I hoped the rest of their group won. They’d do a great job next year.

A smattering of other kids ran, too. None of them seemed like serious contenders for the ‘Big Five’ offices, but some of the grade-level reps might win. Who knew? I certainly didn’t, and I had no voice in any of it.

We made baked potatoes for dinner, garnished them with sour cream, crumbled bacon, butter, and shredded cheese, and happily enjoyed them. Diet food they were not, but they were tasty and sometimes that’s more than enough. Moderation in all things, including moderation — not that baked potatoes are all that overboard.

Dad called around six. They were releasing Professor Berman tomorrow. His doctor wanted him to use a walker for at least a week or two, and he had various therapy sessions to attend, but he was tough and doing well. Grandmother was much relieved. I’m sure she knew just as well as the rest of us that this was only a temporary victory, but she’d lost her first husband to a heart attack out of the blue, and at least this time she hadn’t lost her second husband to something so sudden.

With the improvement in Professor Berman’s health and the generally lighter mood, we decided spending some more personal time together was in order. Without even really discussing it, we also decided to head to Jasmine’s. Nothing had changed in Mom’s ‘not under my roof!’ policy, after all, and asking was unthinkable.

The odds of another phone call were low, and Dad and Mom knew we’d be driving Jasmine and Paige home anyway. If we happened to stop for dessert along the way, well, they’d understand that, even if they might not quite know what we meant.

Thursday, March 8, 1984

I received a note in Mr. Hannity’s class telling me to head to the auditorium. That was quite unusual. Several other kids also got notes, which led me to guess at what might be going on.

When I got there, I spotted everyone from Study Group as well as plenty of other friends milling about in the lobby, including Jess. I could tell Jess had figured it out — her onion layers were increasingly failing, at least with respect to me — but others hadn’t.

Angie grinned when I came over to her.

“I already spoiled it,” she said, giggling.

“I hope you’re right!” Paige said.

Principal Riggs came in and said, “Everyone, please head into the auditorium!”

We did, finding seats in clumps with friends.

Principal Riggs entered after a few minutes, along with a man that I didn’t recognize. The man was wearing a suit and was smiling, looking at the assembled crowd. A second later, Cam Michaels came in, following the two of them. I doubted that most people would’ve recognized Cam, but most of my little group did, and quickly put two and two together.

Mel, who was a row back and a few seats over, whispered, “I think I know!”

“Don’t spoil it!” Connie whispered back.

That got several people laughing, either because they too guessed or because they agreed with Connie.

Principal Riggs settled the issue, saying, “Hello, and welcome! This is a big day. I have with me Daniel Blanchard from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.”

That got some gasps, followed by an excited round of applause.

Principal Riggs waved his hands, urging everyone to quiet down. “I’d say to give our guest a warm welcome, but you’ve done that. So, please lend him your ears instead.”

Mr. Blanchard cleared his throat, then said, “Hello, Memorial students!”

“Hello!” everyone called back.

“I’m pleased to announce that all of you are National Merit Finalists!”

Another round of applause, plus a bunch of high-fives, interrupted him.

Once the crowd had quieted, he said, “You’ll be receiving notification by mail, but the reason that I’m here is that I’m also pleased to announce that Memorial High School had the most National Merit Scholars of any high school in Texas, and the highest percentage of National Merit Scholars of any public high school in Texas this year.”

Of course, that got an even louder round of applause.

Mr. Blanchard smiled and said, “This is the beginning of your journey, not the end. Some of you will be receiving direct scholarships from the National Merit Corporation, but being a finalist is also the gateway to a vast array of other scholarships. Some of the material we’re sending will help you find them, and your counselors also have documentation for all of them and will help you determine which you’re eligible for. Many require essays and other documentation. We wish you the best on your college journey and celebrate your accomplishments!”

The applause was a bit shorter, probably because many people likely hadn’t realized there was another hurdle to be crossed along the way. We’d been lucky enough to get direct scholarships from our universities, but not everyone would be so fortunate.

Cam Michaels took the microphone next. “Greetings! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Cam Michaels and I’m the chair of the Spring Branch ISD School Board. On behalf of the Board, I want to second what Mister Blanchard said. We are as proud as can be of your accomplishments and wish you every success in college and in life. The district is ready and eager to help you make the most of this opportunity. Whatever you’re doing, it’s working! Keep it up!”

Of course, that got another round of applause. Cam was a politician, of course, but he also meant what he said. He was one of the good guys, at least in my experience.

Principal Riggs took the microphone back and said, “If you’d all assemble in the lobby, we’d like to get a group photograph. We’ll also want your names once you’re in position, so that we can list them on the photograph, so please stay put once the photographer has taken a few photos.”

People started to move, and he waved his hand. “Before you go, one more thing. We’ve made sure that we’re ready for this to be public, so you’re free to share the good news with your friends. We had just a couple of semifinalists who did not become finalists, and they’ve been notified, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

With that, we all headed to the lobby. They’d set out a row of risers, but even with that, we needed a front row of crouching people to get everyone into the shot. Another row of risers would’ve helped. There were at least forty of us! Considering that should put us in the top half of a percent or so of American high school students, that was hugely disproportionate. Nearly a tenth of our graduating class would be National Merit Finalists!

There were at least five people that I believed had not been National Merit Finalists in my first go-round and for whom I could credibly believe that Angie and I might have changed their trajectory. There were also a set of unknowns (Jas and Paige included) who might have been but might not have been. None of that counted Darla. Dave had been a finalist; presumably, Darla would have been, too. Nor did I count Cammie; Cammie was far more complicated.

The photographer took about four pictures, and then she and two of the secretaries went down each of the rows collecting names. After they’d gotten all of the names, and counted noses to make sure no one had been missed, they released us to go back to class.

Of course, everyone was buzzing about it for the rest of the day. It was a pretty big deal, after all!

I kept an eye on Jas, of course, both because I always would and because I wanted to see how she was doing. This was one of those moments that could be a celebration or could be an invitation for Impostor Syndrome to sink in its claws and whisper ‘You’re not worthy, and they’ll all know it soon enough!’

As far as I could tell, nothing of the sort was happening. If it was, she’d manage it. Two lifetimes of fighting it off and on gave me plenty of understanding as to what the whispers sounded like. They never completely stop, but you can learn to chase them away.

We stopped by Paige’s and Jasmine’s houses so they could quickly tell their parents, but then headed to our house. Our letters were waiting when we got home.

I had had a bit of a brainstorm during school and called Martin Connelly to discuss it. The issue was this: currently, I (indirectly, via another LLC) was the sole owner of MNM Investments, which — in turn — owned the house. My original plan, which I’d realized today was naive, was to simply add Angie, Jas, and Paige as partners.

The first problem was: partners in what? It would have to be the New Mexico parent LLC. That was perfectly fine to do, and it had substantial privacy benefits. I wasn’t sure it was ‘right’, though.

The second problem was that it also had tax implications. Wait too long to ‘share,’ and it would be an enormous gift. The IRS would want a cut. If I could have added them before the house and the Dell investment, there wouldn’t have been a gift issue, but I couldn’t.

Back on the issue of ‘control,’ Michael might want an investment from me, or from Angie and me, not the four of us or a somewhat faceless LLC with opaque members.

Martin proposed several alternatives. One was simply following my original naive plan. As it stood now, the taxes would be minimal. A second was vesting Paige and Jasmine’s interest in the LLC(s) over time, which was easily done.

A third, which was more intriguing, was granting ‘profits interests’ in the LLC. Angie, Jasmine, and Paige could each have a one-quarter interest in the profit of the LLC (whether that was from the house, Dell, or anything else).

I retained control (and could delegate it) and ownership, but the profit would be shared, legally and properly. The girls wouldn’t have control, but they didn’t need to have control to be able to help.

My goal had always been to use this to bootstrap the four of us, not just me. That, of course, assumed there would be a four of us. Perhaps I should’ve been the skeptical one, but I really believed that we were very likely to stay together (in our two couples, and also that nothing would come between Angie and me).

If we didn’t, it would be a multi-million dollar ‘lesson,’ but (in a way) that was cheap. I could pick up where I left off and do great, if need be. So could they. Unless we were actively fighting each other (which seemed distinctly unlikely), we should manage.

Martin could make any of this work (along with many other potential variations), but we needed to decide what we really wanted. Most likely, what we wanted could be done legally — we just needed to make a plan.

The first step in my plan was going over this with Angie, explaining the options.

After I’d gone over it, she nodded, then said, “I was assuming the same thing you were. You’re right, though — Michael probably will want you to be the point person and the one in control. I think you need to make that happen.”

I nodded. “Yeah. We’ll all have input, of course. It doesn’t even affect titles or anything else — just ownership of the LLC. But ownership doesn’t let me take away the already granted profit allocations. It would let me decide how much of a sale is allowed to profit and how much to reinvestment, though.”

“It’s like one of those brain teasers where anything you get, everyone else gets.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding.

“Look...” she said, then bit her bottom lip, thinking for a second. “Let me talk to Jas and Paige first. Jas will do whatever she thinks you most want if you talk to her. She’ll stand up for herself, of course, but this about you literally giving her tens of thousands of dollars, and millions down the road. That has to come from you, but the terms will matter. Paige will be the same way, plus there’s my money to consider. I mean, I’ll invest a fair share in this once I can get to my money without there being any chance of Dad spotting it, but they can’t.”

“Instead of you investing a fair share, we may be better off with me investing a share in your investment portfolio.”

“Fair enough! And sharing the profits, of course.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“Okay. Anyway — let me talk to them, get everyone on the same page as much as possible, and then let’s have a big discussion in College Station.”

“That works for me. ‘Profits Interests’ we can go at any point. It’s only if we go with actually making people members that we need to move quickly.”

“I think we won’t do that. There’s no advantage,” she said.

“That’s where I am on it.”

“Thanks!”

“Thanks, you too. I agree – you make more sense talking to Jas and Paige than I do,” I said.

“Your heart is completely in the right place, and I agree. It’s just ... it’s a lot of money. You’re not concerned because it’s ‘free,’ and because we know how to get more over time. For Jas or Paige, though, this is potentially what they thought their lifetime earning potential was not all that long ago. They know you don’t want anything for it, but ... still.”