Love And Inheritance

Hank laughed and said, "Yep. She sure takes after her momma that way. I aint seen any Chinese woman that wasn't like that. They're all hard working people and know how to make a buck."

Hank tilted his head back and drained the last of the coffee from his mug. He started to get up and head back to the kitchen for more when he saw Wendi coming toward them carrying the pot. After she filled Hanks and Jason's cups Hank said, "Well, woman, I've looked the house over and it suits me just fine. Now suppose you look it over and see if you wanta live here or find someplace else."

Wendi set the pot down and smiled at Jason. She said, "I see. House look good outside. If inside as good, will be fine."

Wendi made her way inside the house leaving the men sitting and drinking coffee. From time to time they heard her as she opened or closed a door or moved from room to room. Finally she came back outside and said, "House ok. We clean and move in just fine. You and Toby clean today. Rest of us have other work to do."

Wendi scurried back to the kitchen carrying the now empty coffee pot. Hank watched her a moment and then said, "Well, I guess I've got my marching orders. Can you spare me from the shop for a day or two? And I guess we'll take you up on your offer."

"No problem. You need a hand on heavy stuff, give me a call. You can use my truck, too, if you need to haul anything."

A week after Hank decided to stay and work with Jason they were interrupted in the shop almost at closing time by Jason's father. He came storming into the shop and grabbed Jason's shoulder. He pulled and turned him around away from the workbench. He was breathing heavily and his jaw was clenched in anger. He screamed, "You ungrateful son of a bitch. I hope you're happy now you asshole. You're no son of mine. The damn government's taken the bank from us and is trying to either sell it or close it down because you took all that money out."

"Look, dad, I'm sorry you've got into trouble but I had nothing to do with it. You're the one that let your non-performing loans get you in this shape. I strongly suspect that piddling little check wouldn't be enough to have kept you solvent. At least, not for long. What are you and mom going to do, now? They haven't taken your savings have they?"

"They got most of them, but, no, we still have four or five hundred thou in the brokerage account I don't think they can get to. All the rest I had put into the bank to help keep it going."

"Look, I don't know what to say. I just took what was owed me and I spent it for what it was meant to be spent for. I really don't have much of it left. I'm sure I don't have enough to make a difference and what I have is tied up in long-term investments I can't redeem easily. I'm sorry, dad, but I just can't help you."

The next morning the large headline glared from the front page of the daily paper, "FDIC CLOSES LOCAL BANK. A local institution has sadly been taken over by the FDIC. A spokesman from the Federal Deposit Insurance Company said yesterday that the Shoal Creek State Bank no longer met the required asset to liability ratio and has been seized by the FDIC. He stated that all depositors were protected up to the maximum allowed by law. There were only three depositors who might lose any of their funds. They will keep the bank open for the foreseeable future while they try to find a buyer for the three bank chain. The Lowery family has owned and operated this bank since it first opened in 1887. Frederic Lowery was founder of the bank and his direct descendants have owned and operated the bank continuously since then. It proudly weathered the financial storm of the great depression and several other banking disasters since then, however, what everyone is calling the 'housing bubble' has proven too much for the bank and it was unable to maintain reserves required by the FDIC."

After Jason read the article he put the paper down, took his coffee cup and walked silently out of the house. He headed down the path toward his favorite spot on the lakeshore, not speaking a word to anyone else in the kitchen. His family watched him until he was out of sight then Sue handed her mother the spatula, wiped her hands on a towel and followed him. As she left she said, "You all go ahead and eat. We'll be back sometime and I'll make us something."

When Sue got to the shoreline she saw Jason sitting on his favorite stump looking out over the lake. He had his forearms resting on his knees, his head slightly lowered and an expression of infinite sadness on his face. Sue walked up beside him and rested her hand on his shoulder then leaned slightly down to give him a hug.

Jason sighed and said, "Dad never could say no to one of his buds. All my life I heard him complain about someone who was a big wig here in town having trouble making his payments. I never heard of him doing anything to force the big name guys to pay but boy would he go after someone he considered a nobody. I hate that this has happened but I'm not surprised. He only has himself to blame so why do I feel so damn guilty? I'm sure that piddling amount we got for this place wasn't enough to keep them solvent but what if it was? What if I could have kept this from happening?"

"I can't answer that honey. In the full scheme of things, does it even matter? If it hadn't been you taking that money out, it could have been someone else, or one more loan could have gone sour and then the asset to liability ratio would have failed. If it really bothers you, why don't you see if you can talk to the FDIC? If it did matter and you want to, maybe you could infuse some of our cash into the bank and save it. I don't care honey. We can live just fine on what we make here. We don't need the couple hundred thousand we have in the investment accounts. Now come on. Let's get breakfast and get to work. We can't let mom and dad do it all."

"Yeah, you're right. I think I'll go to town and see if they'll talk to me."

After breakfast Sue went to the dock and began working. On her way, she detoured past the shop and told her dad that Jason was going into town for a while.

Jason went straight to the bank when he got to town. He asked the manager's secretary, a woman he had known all his life, if he could see the man in charge. She looked around and said, "I'm sorry Jason but he won't see anyone about their accounts. Those of us who worked here before have been told to close accounts if the customer wants and to transact business as normal while the FDIC does what it can to minimize their losses."

"Look Mable, I just want to see if I can help here. Dad says the money the attorney pulled from the trust account caused all this and most of that money was paid to me. He wanted it back to prevent this takeover and I told him he couldn't have it. I did spend a lot of it but I have a couple hundred thou if it would help."

While Jason was talking to Mable a man came out of what used to be his father's office and listened to part of the conversation. He looked Jason over for a moment then said, "Did I hear you correctly? You want to return some money you got from the bank that you think caused us to take it over?"

"Yes, if it would make a difference."

"Would you come into my office for a moment please sir?"

After Jason was seated the man introduced himself and said, "Now, what did you mean you took some of the money out of the banks reserves and you might want to return it?"

"Well, I really didn't take any of the bank's money. I just cashed some large checks that were paid to me from a trust account held here in the bank. In all, I received around $250,000 from that account. Dad came to me wanting it back before you took over and I refused to give it to him. In fact, I spent some of the funds but I have a couple hundred thou I can put into the bank if it would help."

The man relaxed after Jason told him the whole story. He leaned back in his chair and said, "Thank you for your offer Jason but you need to forget about it. We have reviewed that account and all the others. We couldn't find any problems with the depositor accounts and they are insured through our organization. The problems are all the non-performing loans this bank holds. Your father would have been better off to sell the loans to another institution that would bundle them and resell them to investors. He did sell some of the smaller loans but he held several loans from prominent people in the area. Many of those loans are non-performing and caused the bank to fail. Even if you returned the quarter mil the assets would not be affected enough to forestall seizure. The bottom line is, your father made some bad loans and they bit him on the ass. Thankfully, it appears as if the only ones who will be hurt by this failure are the shareholders of the banking corporation. That isn't always the case."

Jason sighed and stood. He leaned forward and offered his hand to shake as he said, "Thank you for taking the time to clear this up for me. Dad laid a huge guilt trip on me when this came up and I've been afraid I caused all this by keeping the money."

The man laughed once, then looked guilty. He said, "Forgive me. I know it's not funny and your family has lost a lot. Don't let him lay the guilt trip on you though. The paltry amount you received didn't even cause a ripple in the pond compared to the loans that really caused this failure. If he wants to lay a guilt trip on anyone, he should lay it on the loan officer that made those loans and on himself for not only approving them but for not foreclosing and trying to recoup some of his losses. Now we have to step in and clean up the mess. You have a good day now, Mr. Lowery."

Jason left the bank feeling somewhat better but he was still sad the family lost the banks. He made a couple purchases for the business while he was in town then returned to the marina. When he pulled up beside the shop he saw Sue leaning over the rail of the dock throwing up into the lake feeding the fishies.

Jason rushed up to Sue and put his hand on her shoulder. He asked, "Are you ok honey? If you're sick why don't you go to the house and lay down? We can handle things without you."

"No, I'm ok. For some reason I've been nauseas off and on the last few days. I throw up a time or two and then I'm fine again. Must be allergies or something."

Sue continued to throw up occasionally and Jason finally made her go to the doctor. When she got back from her appointment she walked into the shop to see Jason. When he saw her, he smiled and wiped his hands off before he walked over to her. He said, "Well, what did the Doctor say? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. He said my nausea will get better along and eventually go away." Sue looked up at Jason and smiled before she continued, "Honey, I'm pregnant. I've been having morning sickness. That's all."

Sue looked at Jason worriedly as she watched his face. He looked shocked then he grinned and grabbed her in a tight hug. He lifted her up and gave her a kiss before putting her down on the ground again.

As Jason set Sue down he staggered forward from the hard hand slamming into his back. He turned to see his father-in-law standing there with a big smile on his face. Hank said, "Congratulations, you two. That's great. How far along are you, honey? Do they know if it's a boy or a girl, yet?"

Sue laughed and said, "No, daddy, they don't know if it's a boy or a girl. I'm only about 8 weeks right now. And I'm fine. Now I have to get back to work."

Jason grabbed her hand and held onto it for a moment. He said, "Are you sure you can go back to work? Do we need to hire someone to help you now?"

"Jason, I'm fine. Now let me go. I have to help get ready for the lunch bunch. We'll talk about hiring someone to fill in for me later. I will need someone in the store and the snack bar later and after I have the baby but I'm fine now."

Three weeks later Jason's youngest sister came to the shop to see him. When he saw her he was scared she was going to throw a fit or something. She stood looking at him for a moment then took a deep breath and said, "Jason, I know you don't have any reason to want to help me, but I'm here asking anyway. You know I was using the stock dividends on the bank stock I inherited and my wages from the part time work I did at the bank for spending money at college. Now, I'm in trouble all around. Dad can't afford to pay my tuition any longer and I don't have the dividends or my job to live on or pay tuition. Do you have any job I can do? I really need a job. I'm afraid I'll have to drop out of school anyway but I know I will have to if I can't find a job."

Jason cleaned his hands off and walked up to his sister Meagan. He placed his hand in the small of her back and guided her to the chairs in what he still considered his break area. They sat down and Jason said, "I can give you a job, Meagan, but it won't pay much. We haven't told anyone yet other than Sue's parent's, but she's pregnant and we'll need someone to fill in for her in the store and snack bar. I don't know how long the job will last after she has the baby, but it will be for a while. I pay minimum wage to start and I'll give a raise after you learn the job but it still won't be a lot."

Meagan smiled and said, "Thank you, Jason. I really appreciate it. When can I start?"

"Monday works for me if it works for you. We almost need some part time help now so I'll just bring you on now to help with the summer rush and you'll be up to speed when the baby comes this fall."

Meagan jumped up and hugged Jason. She kissed his cheek and said through her smile, "Thanks again. I really appreciate it. And, Jason, I'm sorry about what Dad and sis said during the reading of the will and after. I know it isn't your fault gramps did things the way he did. At least, this way someone in the family still has some of our heritage. I really love the way you've made the place look since you got it."

November 23 of that year, Jason Edward Lowery V was born. By the time his sister Gwendolyn was born two years later he was toddling around the shop and dock making sure pawpaw, mawmaw, dad, and mom, and auntie M did their jobs correctly. The bank was sold to one of the larger national banking corporations and remained open but now gave impersonal cookie cutter service that none of the patrons liked as well as what they lost.

Jason's father died three years after Gwendolyn was born. He was an embittered middle-aged man that still blamed Jason for the bank failure. Meagan remained an employee of the company Jason and Sue founded for the rest of her working career. Her husband was also a lifelong employee of the company. Their older sister left town and they lost touch with her. Jason's mother never completely forgave Jason for the perceived wrongs he did and she had little to do with him and not much more to do with Meagan. Sue's parents worked for Jason and Sue until their death, reducing their hours and responsibilities as they aged. They lived on site the entire time and watched their grandchildren grow and take their place as the future owners and operators of the business. Toby became the best known fishing guide on the lake, operating from the family dock his entire career.