Chapter 2

Ed sat at his normal place at the conference table and looked around the room at the other occupants. Jim sat at the head of the table with a huge stack of papers in front of him. Seated next to Jim was Jack Anderson, the family accountant. Ed didn’t know the man that well, and realized that it had been years since he had last talked to him.

Kelly, Leroy, Ling, and Linda shifted nervously waiting for the family meeting to begin. They were watching Ed, making him feel self-conscious. Ed looked over at the door waiting for Cathy to arrive with John’s personal papers. As soon as she came, they could start the meeting.

Cathy entered the room and took her place at the far end of the table. Getting out her notebook and pen, she was ready to take notes. Pained by the need to hold the meeting, Ed said, “Unless there are any objections, I call the family meeting to order.”

When no one said anything, Ed said, “Okay. The first item on the agenda is the reading of the will. Jim, if you’ll take over the meeting.”

Clearing his throat, Jim said, “John left a copy of his will with me that was dated four months ago and duly witnessed by three observers. It’s a very simple will, far simpler than most wills.”

Ed listened with increasing numbness as Jim proceeded to read the will. John had divided his shares in the family to the other shareholders equally, with the provision that any odd shares go to Ed. Ninety-five percent of future revenues from his patents were to go to the Fusion Foundation and five percent was to go to the family. He had placed all responsibility for administering the money to Ed.

John had left five million for each staff member, including Shuana. Cathy dropped her pen in shock when she heard that the staff was included in the will. It tore at her heart that John would leave them with that much wealth. She burst out in tears, and had to leave the room. Jim waited for her to return before continuing with the terms of the will.

The remainder of his assets was divided amongst all family members in equal shares. The moneys for the children were to be provided in three increments. An even million was to be dispersed when they graduated high school. Another million was to be dispersed when they reached eighteen. The remainder was to be made available when they turned twenty-one. Jim was responsible for administering those funds.

When Jim finished reading the will, he asked, “Are there any questions about the terms of the will?”

No one answered. They just sat quietly thinking about what John had done for them. Jim looked around at every and then said, “Jack was kind enough to work up the figures for me.”

Jack looked up and said, “The amount per family member works out to a hundred and thirty three million. Since most of that money is in investments, it will be difficult to distribute it without liquefying the assets. The family income from the patents is currently at a hundred and twenty million per year.”

Ed looked around the room to see how the others were reacting to the news. Kelly raised a hand and said, “Do we have to liquefy the assets? Can’t we distribute the assets in the same way that Ed divides rocks?”

That seemed like a reasonable solution. Ed said, “That seems fair to me.”

Linda and Leroy both nodded their heads in agreement. Ling asked, “How does Ed divide rocks?”

Ed explained how he would take all of the samples involved and place them in a single pile. At that point, each person would select a sample in a single round, with each person taking turns going first in successive rounds. Ling was impressed and said, “Sounds fair to me.”

Jack shrugged and said, “If everyone agrees, then I don’t see a problem with that approach. If Jim would be willing to select a proxy to stand in for the children, I can break the assets into individual units of a million each.”

Listening to the discussion, Jim was trying to figure out the legal implications of dividing the assets in that manner. He couldn’t see a problem and said, “I’ll have to check and make sure that is legal.”

Jack said, “There are tax issues that limit how much you can inherit without being taxed. You guys are way over that amount.”

The discussion concerning taxes continued for another thirty minutes. At the end of that time, Ed said, “I suggest that we take a lunch break. Marguerite has set up a nice buffet for us and I would hate for it to go to waste.”

As everyone went to get a bite to eat, Cathy slipped out of the room to cry. Ed noticed and followed her out of the room, catching up to her as she burst out in tears. Concerned, he pulled her into a hug providing a shoulder for her to cry upon. As her body shook, Ed pulled out his ever-present handkerchief to dry her tears. Amidst her sobs, she said, “I really loved John.”

“I know, I know. He loved you, too,” replied Ed rubbing her back as she slowly relaxed and her sobs died down. He knew that the whole staff was in shock over the death of John. It would only get worse when they found about the provisions of the will.

Cathy straightened up and accepted the handkerchief from Ed. “Let me clean up and I’ll be back.”

“Okay,” replied Ed. He returned to the room to get his lunch. Kelly and Ling had noticed his absence and gave him a thumbs-up sign to let him know that he had done the right thing. He turned his attention to the food in the buffet and filled his plate. It was all finger food that could be eaten at ease, a bite at a time.

Returning to his chair, he thought about the responsibilities that John had placed upon him. The family was looking to him to for leadership and he doubted that he was up to the task. Distracted by his concerns about his new responsibilities, he barely paid attention to what he was eating, going through the motions without thought.

Kelly noticed that Ed was distracted and frowned as she thought about how he was taking the death of John. She asked, “Ed, are you feeling okay?”

“Just a little tired,” replied Ed. It was the truth, but not all of the truth and it hurt him to say it.

“If you say so,” commented Kelly. Ling, Linda, and Kelly exchanged glances that communicated exactly what they were thinking. They each knew that his state of mind couldn’t be eased with a little sex. This was going to require two weeks in the desert with an appropriate companion. He wouldn’t be getting it anytime soon.

Ed munched on a mini-taco barely tasting it. The tax issues that he faced were horrendous and he was going to have to work hard to get John’s affairs in order to meet the necessary tax-filing deadlines. Those tax deadlines were looming large on the horizon. He wanted to curse the IRS, finding it hard to believe at this moment that he actually worked for them.

Leroy sat down next to him and said, “Ed, you’ve done so much for all of us already. Anything that I or any one of us can do to help, let us know.”

Pleased at the offer of support, Ed replied, “Thanks, Leroy.”

“You’re welcome.”

Smiling for the first time that day, Ed said, “Just don’t turn off your cell phone.”

Leroy laughed at the joke, satisfied that Ed was recovering a little of his positive outlook on life. He replied, “I’ll double check that it’s on ... in a month or two.”

Ed laughed and shook his head. Some of the tension drained from his back, and he took a sip of iced tea appreciating the cool liquid flowing down his dry throat. Looking around the room, he saw that everyone had returned and it appeared that everyone was ready to resume. He asked, “Are we ready to resume?”

As everyone nodded, Ed requested, “Jack, would you please give us an update on the financial health of the family?”

The report was shocking in terms of the amount of money that was controlled by the family. Ed had not realized that John had been pouring millions of dollars into the family coffers on a monthly basis. Ed was personally worth close to three hundred million dollars from his business interests, he had just inherited another hundred and twenty million dollars from John, and his shares in the family were worth seven hundred million. Stunned, he realized that he was a billionaire.

“Ed, you remain the majority stockholder in the family.” Jack had to repeat himself before he was able to get Ed’s attention. Once he was sure that he had Ed’s attention, he said, “Ed, you are the majority stockholder in the family. You have been in the past, and your responsibilities do not change. In effect, you’re the chief executive officer of the family. John was the chief financial officer. You need to name a new CFO.”

Ed had not thought about which member of the family would manage the family assets now that John had died. He looked around the room and asked, “I’m accepting nominations for the job.”

No one said a word as they looked at each other. It was a thankless job and one that no one really wanted. Long after the silence had become uncomfortable, Kelly said, “I think it should be Ling.”

Ling sat up with a surprised look on her face and asked, “Why me?”

Leaning on the table to give his words more emphasis, Leroy answered, “You’re the most disciplined of us all.”

The assessment concerning her discipline didn’t surprise Ling, but she didn’t think that it qualified her to take charge of the financial health of the family. She was going to argue against it, but looked at Linda and Leroy realizing that no one else was any better qualified than she was. Sighing, a frown tugged on the corner of her lip as she said, “Okay.”

Ed asked, “Anyone object to Ling being the CFO?”

No one objected. Jack and Jim exchanged a glance at how quickly and easily the family had put someone in charge of their financial health. Jim said, “I’ll set up the paperwork for her to take over that position.”

“Cathy, you need to arrange a time for Ling and Jack to get together to go over the books. When the paperwork is done, we’ll have another family meeting to sign it.”

From her end of the table, Cathy nodded as she jotted down the assignments. It seemed to her that these family meetings always meant more work for her. She didn’t mind, it was much better than the months of boredom that she had experienced since the college had opened. She looked up and said, “Got it.”

Jack examined the books and said, “Tax time is coming up. I’ll be here for a month working with the IRS on your returns. I’ll need to talk to each of you. Ed, I’ll have to talk to Lynn about your corporate taxes.”

Cathy didn’t bother to wait for someone to suggest that she arrange times for Jack to meet with the family members. She said, “Okay, I’ll arrange times for you to meet.”

Ed looked down at the agenda and said, “That ends the reading of the will and the family corporate business. I’m going to propose that we all update our wills in light of the new economic conditions.”

As every nodded their agreement, Ed turned to Cathy and said, “Please schedule time for all of us to meet with Jim for discussing our wills.”

Cathy took down a note to that effect knowing assigning her with that job was the easy part. The hard part was to find times for them to get together with Jim. She nodded and said, “Okay.”

Looking down at the agenda, the next item was the one that was going to take the most time. Taking a deep breath, Ed said, “Three of our children have effectively finished high school. We’ve been holding them back because they are still very young. It’s time for them to move on to college.”

Linda said, “William is only five!”

Hoping to squash any argument right from the beginning, Kelly said, “We have to protect the weak from the strong.”

Supporting Kelly, Ling said, “They are still children emotionally.”

This was what Ed had been afraid would happen. The three mothers would try to keep the children close to them. Leaning back in his chair he listened to the arguments as to why the children should remain at home. After the discussion died down, Ed, in a tone of voice reminiscent of John, said, “If it harm none, then do it.”

Kelly asked, “What does that mean?”

Rubbing his temple with his forefinger, Ed answered, “If we hold them back too long, they will never complete college. That would harm them more than anything that I can imagine short of a direct physical attack.”

Surprised by his assessment, Linda asked, “Why do you say that?”

“How would you take it if I required you to attend high school every day for the next four years?” asked Ed.

Remembering how boring high school had been the first time through, Linda answered, “I’d be bored out of my mind.”

Kelly nodded her agreement. She added, “With our life experience, we’d be miserable.”

Crossing her arms, Ling sat there frowning at the direction that the discussion had taken. Little John was only seven and for him to compete against adults was grossly unfair. He didn’t have the emotional maturity to deal with them. She said, “They have the emotions of kids.”

“They’ve been dealing with the students and the faculty at the Druid College almost their entire lives. Don’t give me arguments about their emotional maturity, they are as mature as the other students there,” replied Ed.

Not wanting to back down, Ling challenged, “So what are you saying we do?”

“Send them for a year to the reservation, to give them additional life skills, and then allow them to apply to the Druid College. Both environments are safe, yet it allows them to grow,” replied Ed.

His proposal was met with silence from the wives as they each considered it. They had known that he was going to argue for the reservation next year, no matter what. From his comments, he was more concerned that the kids enter college immediately afterwards.

As the silence dragged on, everyone became more uncomfortable. Finally, Leroy said, “I say that is a good plan.”

Kelly said, “As much as I hate to say this, but I have to agree with you.”

Thinking about William and how young he was, Linda said, “I have to think about it.”

“I don’t like it, but I get your point. I don’t have a ready answer for your assertion that if they don’t go to college now, they never will, but I suspect you’re right,” replied Ling feeling that admitting it was the most difficult thing that she could do. She asked, “Are you sure they’ll go to the Druid College?”

“I’m sure that Little John and Beth will go there,” replied Ed. Pausing for effect, he said, “William may choose the Native American College or the Druid College. I don’t know which one he’ll pick.”

The idea that William would go to the Native American College was one that no one had expressed previously. William had two heritages and Linda wasn’t going to deny him the chance to experience her heritage. With hope in her voice, she asked, “Do you really think so?”

“Every medicine man that I’ve talked with has asked when he was going to come to the Native American College. My answer has always been that he is his own person and will decide for himself,” answered Ed.

Linda was quiet for a moment and then said, “I still need to think about it.”

Looking around the room, Ed hoped that someone would say something that would allow them to resolve this issue once and for all. At the moment, he really missed the calming presence of John and how he could put things into their proper context with a single statement.