Chapter 11

I had just gotten off the phone with Karen. Since John's passing, we had passed each other in the house and elsewhere, without talking. She was heads down trying to run a business while leaving me to grieve. The market was still climbing, and it was up forty points from the time when we decided that she would start selling.

She said, "Britt do you still think the market will crash?"

"We still have some time to go, but I hope it crashes. Just stick to the plan."

"I am. I hate it that John passed away, but knowing how much you miss him, I didn't want to bother you, so I had to take this plan on as my own. Every day and night, I'm living and breathing this plan, and it's mine. I've been making the decisions, and calling the shots."

"You know the reasons why, but I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you, but please know that I'm proud of you. You may want to give your old boss Chuck a call, and let him know about your prediction, so he can take steps to protect his company."

"I don't know what he could change, but I'll give him a call to say hi, and mention it."

She hung up, and I took a quick shower.

Darcy came stomping into the room all pissed off. Johnny had gone home thirty minutes earlier to play some video games. She threw her purse into the chair, and said, "I forgot how shitty the underwear is for girls. It's all shit."

"What're you talking about?"

"I spent the last three hours trying to get bras that fit those girls properly. I think I ended up buying bras that were close enough for all of them. Now they all have new underwear and bras that won't fall apart as they play. We got them all matching khaki shorts, and both red and white shirts. We bought some for you and Johnny as well."

"Why don't you do something about it?"

"About what?"

"When I saw a problem with the trucking industry, I fixed it, became a billionaire, and got the prettiest girl in the world to marry me. If I could fix the lousy bra selection business, I wonder what I'd get."

"Are you going to trade in trucks and investments for bras?"

"I said that you should. Bras, underwear, swim suits, all things that cost less than a dollar in materials, and sell for twenty bucks."

"Are you serious?"

"Darcy, if you want to do it, I know that you could. You obviously don't need the money, but I bet you'd enjoy the extreme satisfaction of putting those mean bad bra makers out of business. I also bet you wouldn't mind helping all of those young ladies fit into their new set of clothes. You could create the sports bra for women and sports underwear for men and women. From there everything is natural."

"I like the idea, but what can I do differently from what they're already doing in the market?"

"Different designs and different materials. It isn't rocket science. I'll give you some ideas."

Just then, Beth and Mary came over. Mary had on her new outfit.

Darcy said, "Beth I'm thinking about starting a new company, do you and Mary want in on the action?"

Mary said, "YES!"

Beth asked, "What'll your company do? I have some experience in trucking, but I don't have enough to fund a trucking company to compete with Freedom Trucking."

"I was complaining about the meager selection of underwear and bras for the girls that play sports. Britt said that the last time he saw an industry that under-performed he took it over. I was thinking about going into the sports underwear business."

"I don't think that's a bad idea if you know how to fix the problems. Do you know how to fix the problems, and how much will it cost?"

"I don't know, and I don't know."

Mary said, "I'm in. These things keep growing, and I need to make sure they're protected."

We looked over to see Mary holding her little bumps in her hands. I think we all laughed, and Beth told her to leave them alone. Then she looked at me, "What do you think, Mr. Midas?"

"I think it's an untapped gold mine. I'd do it myself, but when I went to protect Mary's fine young breasts, I'd be slapped by her mom, and thrown in jail by anyone else."

Mary said, "We can wait until she isn't around."

Beth said, "Hush girl. Britt you have always had good ideas even if they don't all make billions. What do you think we should do?"

"Go over to UNLV, and find someone who is studying fashion. Pay her $20,000 a year as a designer after you have her sign a non-disclosure, a non-compete, and anything else you need to protect your ideas. Then buy a bunch of different materials, and start sewing. I have some ideas, but when you're happy with what you have then set up a shop, and go to town. I'd like for you to do me one favor though."

"I'm afraid to ask; what's that?" Darcy replied.

"Make everything here in the US instead of farming it out to the third world countries. Your profit will be less, but if you're the only one making it, you can just charge a little more, and cut your profit margin percentage."

"Sounds like another business I know," came from Beth.

Darcy said, "I think that I want to try to make this work. Do you want to become a part of it?"

She was looking at Beth, but Mary said, "YES, please, please."

Beth asked, "Since Mary is in, do you want me too, or is there only room for one?"

"We can split it three ways. We can have her trust or the trustee run Mary's share."

"What should we name the company?" Darcy asked.

I offered, "Under Armour."

Mary said, "That's a dumb name. How about the Rockets?"

Darcy said, "Ta Tas For Now"

Beth said, "We don't have to think of a name right now. Darcy you know people at the college, and graduation just happened, so maybe you can find a designer."

I said, "If one of you three don't trademark sports bra in the next week, I'll do it myself, and you'll be paying me royalties for the rest of your lives, and I get to hire all the models."

Beth said, "I'll have that done, now what else?"

"Something that's going to give you easy recognition, sports bra, compression shorts, cold gear, heat gear, and padded gear. These all represent unique lines of clothing. Once they're out there, and people recognize the feature, then you already have a trademark on it. How many people call facial tissues, 'Kleenex'?"

I know that I was pushing Darcy to become the new owner of 'Under Armour' before they had the chance to start it themselves.

Beth had grabbed an envelope and pen from the counter, and was writing this down. She looked up, and said, "I like it."

I said, "I guess I won't be the only one that falls asleep these days thinking about boobies."

Darcy said, "You aren't that unique. I think about them too."

Mary said, "I think a lot about mine, and why they aren't growing faster."

That was the end of the meeting, so Mary showed me the shorts and shirt combo for before, and after the game.

I asked her, "I know that most of those girls don't come from a very wealthy home, and they're struggling. You, however, come from an upper class home. Has that come up, and if it has, tell me how you handled it?"

"It did come up. My clothes are all new or nearly new. Theirs, well, they're not so new. Rose asked where I lived, and I told her the truth. I'm not moving out or denouncing my trust so I can join a basketball team. I told them that we lived out-of-town a bit on a small ridge. That we have a small pool, but you have a big pool with a slide, and that they should come over for a pool party. I treat them the way I want them to treat me, and the rest is up to them."

"I guess that's the best way."

Beth said, "Britt that is the best way. Do you remember when you were starting out, when you were dealing with very rich people and lowly poor truck drivers? If you recall, you treated them all with dignity and got the same in return."

"I guess you're right. I just feel bad sometimes."

"You used the sponsor as a front to buy all those girls clothes, but they probably wouldn't have been allowed to keep them if it came out of your pocket."

"I hate to say it, but you're right again as always."

Beth smirked at me, and then smiled. She hadn't done that much in the last few weeks. I walked over, pulled her into a hug, and kissed her cheek. She pulled into me, and let me hold her for a bit. We eventually broke, and she walked into the den following Darcy, so they could come up with a game plan.

Mary said, "Thanks for loving us. My mom is truly sad about Dad dying. I am too, but we know that no matter how much we're going to miss him that we're going to end up being OK. Mom knows that you're here for us. It really means a lot. I gotta go run my business." She pulled up her shirt, and flashed me her bra. She was out the door and running to the den before I could swat her butt.

I was going to chase after her, but a diversion for both of them would give them something to focus on besides their loss. I went over to Beth's and played video games with Johnny.

Basketball took up most of our days. Although we didn't have scheduled practices, we just planned to practice all day every day, for whoever could make it. We drew up some set plays, some inbound plays, we worked on the pick and roll, screens, give and go, and boxing out underneath. We used the boys and older girls as competition, and they all got better and better each day. I taught the girls how to trap, and how to beat a zone defense. It took time and practice. It was all fun until the end when they'd have to shoot their free throws. I also added push-ups and wind sprints. They were going to end-up in the best shape of any of the teams in the league.

Our next game came around, and I was so happy to see most of the moms with their jerseys on in the stands cheering on their girls. The team arrived in matching clothes carrying matching bags. They changed into matching uniforms, and matching shoes. They did everything as a team. On the court, they played as a team, and I even had to yell at them to shoot because they kept passing to the open person even though they were open to shoot when they caught the pass. It was another blow out. After the game, they showered and changed into their matching street clothes, and we all went out to dinner. All the moms came, and I made them order and eat.

Darcy and Beth made a point to get to know them. Johnny and some of the kid's brothers and sisters came with us, and sat with the girls. The team was uniting the kids. Emilia and Grace Soto's mom, Donna, had lost her job at the hotel because they were closing and demolishing it. The family had received the news earlier in the day. Beth gave her a job cleaning her house. Donna was to bring her girls with her when they were out of school, and not at basketball. The girls were cute, but the mom was a looker. She spoke with a heavy accent, but understood English well enough.

We skipped practice the next day, and Donna arrived with the twins. They were all very surprised at the size of the house. Beth took Donna through the house, and showed her where everything was, and what her responsibilities would be. Mary liked having friends around, and Johnny hadn't complained about anything since we started coaching. The plan was for Donna to start the next day.

Over the next three weeks, the girls went undefeated, and Johnny had crushes on all of them depending on the day of the week. They all had crushes on him except Mary. We were going to the Regional Tournament at our home YMCA. The Sun Devils were also in the tournament, and we beat them in the Finals. We next had to attend the State tournament played over a weekend. We intimidated the other teams by our reputation, and the way our girls dressed and acted as a team. The competition was tougher, but we still won every game. The last tournament was in Los Angeles for the Southwestern region.

Moms were freaking out about their girls going away, and the associated cost of everything. It was the end of the summer, we'd get back on Sunday night, and they'd start school on Monday. There were only seven of them, so we got four rooms for all of us. The girls would go four to a room, and share beds. Johnny and I'd share a room, and Beth and Darcy would share a room. Darcy and Johnny could have switched, but Darcy was so good for Beth since John had passed. I also wanted to make sure that Johnny stayed in the room.

We picked them up on Friday, and I drove the fifteen-person van we rented. I thought about the jet, but then we'd still have to get a van, and add in the distance to and from the airports. This would be easier. It took just over four hours. We could have stayed at the Ritz, and walked five blocks to the Y, but we stayed at the Omni instead, and walked a block and a half. I thought about giving the entire speech from the movie the Hoosiers, but instead told them to work hard and play hard.

We won the first three games. They were all hard games, but by the last one, the other team was dragging, and our girls were in shape. We found a laundry at the hotel, and washed all the uniforms. Well Darcy or Beth did. We took the girls out to dinner, and then out to a movie. I wanted them to have fun, but also to rest and relax. We played the final game on Sunday morning. It was a blow out. Our girls ran their plays, and executed. They all were great sports and humble winners until they were in the van, and then they went crazy. Given their state, I tried to get out-of-town before stopping for lunch. When we finally stopped for lunch, I made them eat a lot so they'd want to nap on the way home, but that didn't work. After the long, loud ride, I finally dropped them all off at home, and the moms came out to congratulate everyone.

I forgot that Monday was a holiday, but Tuesday they all went back to school, and went to play for the middle school. Johnny started high school. I went into the office to see what was going on. I met with Karen. The S&P was up to three hundred and thirty. On the second, it opened ten points down, but there was still support at these levels. For the next six weeks it bounced up and down from three thirty, and then down to three fifteen. The highs stopped getting as high, and then lows started to drop a point or two lower each time. When the market opened on October 19, 1987, there was a trade imbalance. There were too many sell orders, but not enough buy orders. The Market lost over five hundred billion dollars in one day. The next day, and for some of the following, there was a mad dash to close all the positions while the market was down.

When the dust settled, Karen had captured almost four hundred of the five hundred billion dollars for our customers. It was two in the afternoon, and they'd closed the markets for the day. I walked in to find Karen on the phones giving orders. She looked at me and waved, but kept making order after order. When she finally hung up the phone two hours later, I was still sitting and watching her.

She looked at me and smiled.

"What did you do?"

"I remembered that you told me that we had too much money, and that there weren't enough stocks. So I thought to myself that if our market crashed that it would send shock waves around the world so why not sell the other world markets. In for a penny in for a pound or so the saying goes."

"You sneaky little bitch."

"I only made another hundred and fifty billion. I guess I'll be on the cover of the Wall Street Journal."

"If anyone should be there, you are the one that deserves that honor. I've been out of office for the last month or four. This is all you. Now buy as fast as you can, and we'll make some more money for our customers."

"Get everything settled, and then have the account managers give exact balances to our customers. Many people have just lost their shirts we want our clients to sleep at night. Maybe you can now too."

"I'm still too keyed up. Maybe this weekend I can find some time to sleep."

"Why don't you Call Chuck, and see if he needs some help."

She looked at me. She said, "I called your grandfather, and he said quote, never doubt him when he tells you to do something around investing, unquote. I guess he was right."

She picked up the phone and called Chuck. "They say that he's busy, and they want to take a message."

I took the phone from her. I spoke to his secretary, "This is William Britton, but he may just remember Britt. Please tell Chuck that I sent him a hundred million dollars because I trusted him. I need two minutes, and I hope that he'll trust me enough to talk to me."

It was a minute, but he answered the phone, "Britt, this is Chuck, what can I do for you?"

I hit speaker, and said, "I'm here with Karen, and we wanted to make sure that you're OK, and offer any help. I'm sure that the market crash left you in a tight spot."

"We're working through a few things."

"I told Karen to call about tightening your margin account, but she said that you couldn't make changes in mid-stream. I want to help if you need it."

"We might need some cash."

"Karen just netted us a few hundred billion. We can get you what you need."

"There was a royal from an un-named country that won't cover his margin calls, and it looks like it will hurt us pretty bad."

"Go put all the top lawyers on retainer in his country, and go after him. Do you want to do this over the phone or should we hop on a jet?"

"How do you want to do this?"

"Chuck I want to buy in from company shares. Your stock is trading at three dollars a share today. I'll pay you a flat rate of four. How many shares do you want to sell? I'll also loan it to you, but would rather invest in your fine company."