Chapter 22 - Michael
I'd learned another secret in life. When you see that 50-foot wave coming toward you, and you don't want to drown or be called a coward, you help someone else get out of the water. I left Callie behind that day, knowing that's just exactly what I'd done. I had two opposing forces in my life. The first was my love for the little silver-haired jockey, and the second was the 50-foot wave that was my dad. In the same way that a wave is unable to redirect itself, Dad couldn't avoid interfering. He'd set his mind that he was being disrespected, and he would go to any length for revenge. I thanked God that I'd not inherited that tendency, but God had given me a challenge when it came to mediating those opposing forces. In short, I was going to lay low until I graduated and then deal with it. In retrospect, that may have been the most cowardly thing possible. I never said I was perfect. I was pretty sure I'd come away from my talk with Callie with the assurance that she'd be there when I got back. At the same time, she'd made it very clear that if she was going to trust me, I had to be consistent. When you say you're going to have somebody's back, it has to be continual. You can't pick and choose when to be a hero.
The school year began while it was still 98 degrees in the shade. I took a break from my books a couple of times and walked down to the football field, choosing a shaded corner of the grandstand from which to watch. I felt the worst for the new guys, the ones who hadn't yet realized this was the big time. Their heads spun around as they took direction from head coaches and assistant coaches and even the assistant's assistant coaches, which meant they generally wound up puking at the edge of the field in the excruciating heat. What many people don't realize is that the surface of a football field is much hotter than the general weather in the area. Add to that fifty-five or more thousand fans in aluminum stands screaming, and you can see why sometimes it got to be too much. Yet I still preferred that hell to the one going on in my personal life right now.
There were moments when I felt I wanted to quit school and just drive over and pick up Callie and her baby and find a quiet place to live. There was absolutely nothing stopping me, except myself. That's not entirely true. There was a side of me that truly was like my dad. I wanted to look after Callie, to be needed and to feel like I knew what was best for her. I had no right to do that. I gave that up the night I left for college, if I even had it before that. Callie was a survivor. Not only a survivor, but she took care of those around her, in many ways making her stronger than I could ever be. Maybe what I really missed was having her look after me? It was an ever-changing balance of psychology. I guess that all relationships are like that, though. When one person is weak, the other steps in with twice the strength.
Like most people, I had saved the classes I dreaded for the senior year. They were topics in which I had absolutely no interest and therefore tended to touch onto lightly. I'd dedicated my last year to these, but at least it was easier without the football commitment.
I kept tabs on Callie from afar, which in short meant in ways that my dad wouldn't hear about. I wasn't afraid of my dad's threat to get me expelled - not in the least. It was Callie and her baby I was worried about. Dad was a very well-connected man in the area, and if he took it upon himself to ruin someone's life, particularly when they worked in the equine industry - well, let's just say he did it on a regular basis. I wasn't proud of the fact, and all my life I'd overlooked that side of him because there was nothing I could do about it. That was about to change.
As ironic as it may sound, I hired a law firm from Cincinnati to look into my interests. Although my inheritance was only a matter of days away, I had a suspicion that my dad's team of ambulance chasers, as he called them, were busily hiding my assets and trying to transfer them into his control. I needed my own team of ambulance chasers. Robinson and Robinson had a stellar reputation in many legal fields, but the one I was interested in most had to do with asset management.
Tom Robinson was the partner I chose to deal with personally. The junior Robinson, Tom was only a few years older than me, and since he'd grown up with money I was confident that he understood the inner workings. We met for lunch in a tower-topping restaurant in Cincinnati, but we didn't waste time with the social niceties.
"I've been looking forward to meeting you and hearing what you found out," I told him as the waiter brought his rum and cola. I was still drinking plain cola myself.
"Well, you were right in your suspicions. Your grandfather left you a portfolio of stocks, bonds, real estate and a substantial amount of cash. These have all seen a recent flurry of activity, which suggests that someone is attempting to manipulate them. While I couldn't trace it down to a single fingerprint, so to speak, I would say it's someone who knows you very well. Essentially there was an effort made to tie up your liquid cash by investing it in long-term securities. This would have the effect of making you the richest man on the planet who couldn't touch his own money."
"Damn! I had an idea he'd try something like this."
"He hasn't done anything illegal, yet. Most of it's been as your guardian and was completely legal, albeit immoral and ill-guided. Luckily, you brought this to our attention far enough in advance that we were able to interrupt the activity. Consequently, although some of your liquid assets did go into long-term investments such as real estate developments that won't realize profits for at least a decade, we were able to secure the majority of your cash, I brought some papers for you to sign. These will let us move your assets around unpredictably between now and your birthday, thereby making them more difficult to find and manipulate. Only you will know where they are. I've also asked a close friend of mine, who happens to be a judge, to put a freeze on those assets pending your twenty-first birthday. He had to come up with some rather lame reason, such as possible tax fraud, but it's all just a matter of paperwork and would be very difficult to uncover. In short, I think we've got you in good shape, but the day you turn twenty-one, all of these protections go away. You'll have to be prepared. Naturally, we can continue to help you with this, but my guess is that someone, i.e. the person who's been trying to manipulate your funds, will realize that they've been exposed and the day of reckoning will come. That's probably the greater thing to anticipate."
"I can't say as any of this comes as a surprise to me. I appreciate the work you've done to protect things, and of course, I will continue to use your firm. I may or may not have mentioned to you that I intend to pursue a law degree, and I can see that just managing my own assets may be all I can handle."
"Not necessarily," Tom responded, taking a sip from his drink. "A lot of these can be put on autopilot and won't need any attention unless you want to make changes for some reason. We can act as your watchdogs and let you know if any of that changes. That could free you up to practice the kind of law that makes you happy. From what little we've spoken, I'm guessing that it lies in another direction."
"You're right, it does. While this is embarrassing for me to admit, my father is not particularly in favor of my pursuing a legal degree. He believes I should be his assistant in the farm business, which obviously makes up only a very small percentage of the total holdings. In short, he's trying to put me on the shelf where I won't be any trouble. Just so I make myself clear, what I've asked your firm to do is to look out for my assets in such a way that he won't know I'm directing things. I don't wish to cause trouble within the family. Dad is a strong man and generally gets his way. It would not be out of character for him to try and harm people I care about, simply out of revenge."
"I'm sorry to hear that. You know what they say, power is corrupting. He won't be the first man to walk that road, nor will he be the last."
"He'll be the last in my family, that much I can guarantee. Okay, if you'll give me those papers, let me look them over quickly and sign them and be on my way."
"I have to tell you, Michael," Tom said as he handed a folder of documents to me, "I'm very impressed with your maturity. There are few men who've grown up with a silver spoon in their mouth who have developed not only a moral compass as well-grounded as yours, but the savvy to understand the big picture. In fact, I think I might be the only other one. You will go a long way in your life, take it from me."
"I appreciate your saying that, Tom. Actually, it means a lot to me. Sometimes that road to doing the right thing gets confusing."
Tom nodded when I handed him back the folder of papers, now signed. He downed his drink and stood "I need to run now. I've got a courthouse to get to."
I saluted him as he left, quickly finished my lunch and headed back to Louisville. I felt a mixture of emotions. It didn't come as a surprise to me that Dad had been playing in my personal affairs, but it did come as a surprise that he didn't think I would find out. My opinion of him had sunk to a new all-time low.
Interstate 71 between Cincinnati and Louisville is a smooth and beautiful drive, with very little traffic. I switched the car into cruise control and tapped Callie's name in my contacts.
"Hello?" Her voice sounded different, perhaps a little more businesslike.
"It's Michael."
"Now, how did I know that? Hmm... Could it have been the caller ID?"
"Okay, okay, I keep forgetting that you're all technology-minded now. How are things going?"
"Great, actually. I'm not sure if you knew that Dad is home now. It took a little bit of doing, and by the way, thank you for that wheelchair ramp. It was a lifesaver. This house doesn't have a very deep foundation, but even four inches can be a big step when maneuvering one of those chairs. Anyway, he's been settled in, and the physical therapy did wonders. He can walk around if he stays within one room and uses his cane. Of course, he manages to hold Josiah, and I think that's done him more good than anything else. He does have a soft spot for that boy."
"That's wonderful, Callie. Things are a whole lot brighter now than they were when he first had a stroke, aren't they?"
"You're right. A few months can make a really big difference. Speaking of which, how are you doing in your self-imposed isolation?"
"Missing you."
"Me, too. I have to be honest, Michael. I still don't understand why we can't at least meet for lunch or a quick dinner once in a while. There's so much I want to talk to you about, and it's hard to do it over the phone."
"Anything... bad?"
"If you mean have I met someone else, no, and I'm not looking. I gave you my word and I'll keep it. It just seems silly to be so far apart when we are literally only forty miles from one another. For some reason you decided this is what you need, and I'll respect that. But I still miss you."
"Not as much as I miss you. Anyway, the good news is that it may not be as long as I thought."
"Really? Why is that?"
"Between you and I, I've hired a law firm to look into my affairs. You might remember that I am to come into my inheritance in a few days. I wanted an external perspective on where I stood."
"Well, I don't mean to be sarcastic, but don't you have enough money to buy anything you might ever want?"
"Want and need are two different things, lassie. I can't buy you."
"That's true. So, where's the problem?"
"Well, you know my dad. He likes to run things, to be in control, and the closer I get to graduation, not to mention my inheritance, the more he realizes that he won't be able to do that anymore. That bugs the crap out of him. Evidently, he's been trying to move my assets around in the background without my knowing about it. That pisses me off, quite honestly."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm making my moves, with the help of the firm I hired. Anyway, the short side of that is that once I pass my birthday, my dad pretty much loses control of anything in my life. Not totally, but pretty much."
"What's left for him to control?"
"Well, this I won't go into quite yet, but I'll let you know eventually. Anyway, I'm reorganizing my last semester classes and might finish them up online, which means I'll no longer have to be here in Louisville."
"Where will you go? Back to the farm?"
"No, that's the last place I'll go. I'll let you know when I find out for sure, but I promise you, you'll be the first to know."
"I'm always here for you, Michael."
"I know. How's the riding going?"
"Excellent, if I say so myself. I get the tiniest little bit nauseous when I try, but I'm hoping that goes away with time. Now that Dad is home, he's gone back to training. Not the horses, but me. He thinks he can make a jockey out of me."
"You will be careful, won't you?"
"That's why I'm learning from one of the best trainers in the world."
"That's very true. I'm going to let you go now, Callie. I'll be in touch very soon, and you know where to reach me if you need me in the meantime."
"Bye, Michael."