Chapter 17
Money, Money
“Ian, I talked to
“OK.
“I’ll be dropping
you and Brad off at school in about twenty minutes.” I just nodded at this since
I knew that Brad normally had a morning class as well as his normal one a
couple of times a week.
“
“They didn’t say.
I’m going to assume that you’ll be borrowing some of the equipment the school
has.” I just nodded at this while I served myself a lighter portion of food
than I normally would.
“What do you think
you’re doing here Miller?” Yoshi asked when he saw me sitting in the bleachers
waiting from Brad to get dressed back into his school clothes.
“Waiting for
someone.” I replied while sizing him up a bit in case he was stupid enough to
try anything.
“Well, wait for them
somewhere else. You don’t belong here.”
“And I should care
what you think why?” I asked.
“Because, one should
always do what their superior tells them to.” As much as I tried to stop
myself, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at this statement. For some
reason though, my laughing seemed to set Yoshi off. I guess Yoshi thought he
was moving fast enough with the sword he had to catch me by surprise but I
proved him wrong by grabbing hold of it before it even came close to me.
“Are you really sure
you want to do this?” I asked as Yoshi struggled to pull the stick out of my
hand.
“Let go.” I heard
him mumble under his breath.
“OK.” I replied as I
let go of the stick as Yoshi was pulling on it. Causing him to go stumbling
back and land on his ass.
“Anything else?” I
asked as I got up to go over and join Brad who had just walked into the gym
after having gotten dressed. Since I had my back turned, a mistake on my part,
I didn’t see Yoshi motion to a group of the older students that had just showed
up for their class.
“Watch out!” Brad
called when he saw Yoshi coming at me from behind. I know I surprised everyone
watching when I managed to grab the sword Yoshi was swinging at me, yank it
from is grasp, and as Yoshi stumbled past me I turned a round in a full circle
and planted the kendo stick outside the back of his head. I decided not to pull
the swing since Yoshi was wearing full gear. The next thing I know, I was
surrounded by five other people I think the whole fight lasted about twenty
minutes. I will admit that I was going to have some good sized bruises the next
day, but I couldn’t remember when I had such a good work out.
\“ENOUGH!!”/ I heard
a voice yell behind me as I started to square off against the last of the five
people still standing. On hearing the yell, I immediately lowered the Kendo
stick I had “borrowed” from Yoshi and bowed to my opponent. After doing this, I
turned and bowed to the gentleman standing behind me. I will say that I was
surprised to see about two dozen people in Kendo gear sitting in the bleachers
behind me. I was even more shocked to see both my mom and
\“My apologizes sir.”/ I said while bowing and
offering the stick to the gentleman I assumed was Yoshi’s grandfather.
“Go grab a shower
and meet me in my office in thirty minutes.”
“Yes ma’am.” I murmured before heading off to
the shower room as Mr. Morita took control of the class that I interrupted with
my little display.
“So how long had
everyone been watching ?” I asked Brad as I got dressed in my gym clothes
fifteen minutes later.
“They started coming
in about five minutes after the demonstration started. Though Mr. Morita,
“What demonstration?
That was a fight pure and simple. I just hope mom and dad don’t get to pissed
by all this.” “They won’t be or at least not at you. Like I said, this was just
a demonstration.” Brad explained as we walked back out into the gym. We both
got a major surprise when the entire class stopped what they were doing and
bowed to me. I was lucky enough to have the presence of mind to return the bow.
“OK that was totally
weird.” Brad said once we were out of ear shot.
“Tell me about it.
But at least that proves they aren’t going to hold a grudge against me.”
“OK Mr. Morita would
you like to explain what happened this morning? I though we agreed that the
utmost caution was going to be used. If that was your idea of utmost caution,
Then I’m not impressed.”
“Nor am I I don’t
know what stunt my grandson was trying to pull but I can guarantee you that
isn’t what I had planned. The boys involved weren’t even the ones I had chosen
for the demonstration. I will admit though that from what I had seen of the
tape Ian does show great skill.
“That would have
been my maternal grandfather , Hirosito Katsumoto.” I said coming into the
office with Brad behind me.
“You were trained by
Hiro Katsumoto?”
“From the time I was
Four till I was Nine.”
“And what Rank do you hold?”
“I was presented
with my Black Belt shortly before I came back to the states to live with my
father and his family.”
“That’s not
possible. You would need to be at least Fourteen before you could test for your
Black Belt.”
“Normally that would be true but my
Grandfather had called in some favors and they agreed to let me test early.
Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the paperwork with me that proves this.”
“Here you go Ian. I noticed these by the front
door when I got home earlier.” My mom said while pulling a large envelope from
her purse. I nodded my thanks as I took the envelope and then handed it over to
Mr. Morita.
“Ok now that’s been
taken care of whet do you plan on doing with the boys involved with the misunderstanding
this morning?” my mom asked calmly. Though seeing the look on Brad’s face I
could tell this was an act.
“All of them with
receive a one week suspension. Since Ian was unaware of what was going on he
will not be included in this. I would however suggest he take the rest of the
day off to rest up and if I may suggest you might want to have him checked out
with his doctor to make sure everything is normal.” My mom just nodded at this
knowing this was going to be she could get. On looking at Mr. Morita, I could
tell that this matter was far from closed and the people involved where going
to have hell to pay.
“I’m really sorry about all this mom.” I said
trying to accept the blame for what had happened.
“You don’t have
anything to be sorry for. It’s us adults that should be apologizing to you for
not being more careful” my mom told me as she helped me into my booster seat.
Even with my high tolerance for pain I winced at this.
“The first thing
we’re going to be doing is stopping by your dad’s office to see if either he or
“Hey honey, what’s
up?” my dad asked as we walked into the office.
“Just needing to get
Ian checked out real quick. There was a serious misunderstanding with the
demonstration this morning.”
“What kind of
“misunderstanding”?” we were asked as my dad led us back to an exam room.
“Some other students
decided to handle the demonstration themselves and from what I saw of the tape
they weren’t holding anything back. The major problem was they started this
before Ian was in any kind of protective gear.” My mom explain. It was about
this time I had hopped up on the exam table and had removed my shirt. Both of
my parents looked at me in shock as they saw the mass of bruises that were
starting to form.
“
“Aren’t we going
home?” I asked my mom one afternoon a couple of weeks after the problem with my
Kendo demonstration.
“Not yet. Nana
called earlier and said that she needed to talk to you about your trust funds
and get your signature on some papers.”
“But I thought she
was handling everything?” I asked.
“She is for the most
part but the courts still need to get your name on some stuff not to mention
that the judge handling your father’s estate needed to talk to about some
things as well.” I was told. On hearing my father being mentioned made me want
to suddenly punch a hole in something. I guess I scared Jason a bit with the
look on my face since it seemed like he was ready to wet his pants.
“Aunt Mary, if this
is concerning Ian, why did you need me to come as well?”
“Because Ian
insisted that a trust fund be started with part of the money from his Maternal
Grandfather’s estate. So we need to get your signature as well. I already
talked to your Aunt and Uncle about this and your aunt will be meeting us
there.”
“
“I don’t know. It’ll
be up to you, your aunt and uncle to say something.” The rest of the trip
downtown was pretty quiet.
“Ian, if you’ll
follow the gentleman here He’ll take you to the judge that’s handling you
father’s case. Mary you’ll want to be there as well.” Nana told us once we had
the greetings out of the way.
“Jason I’ll need you
to stay here once your aunt gets here I’ll need you both to sign some papers.”
About this time his aunt was escorted into the room.
“Well now that is
timing.” Nana said with a smile as she waved to a seat next to the one Jason
was sitting in. I just smiled at this knowing the shock Jason was in for. I
just wish I could have been in the room when the bomb was dropped.
“Your honor, the
Miller’s are here.” I heard his secretary say into the intercom when my mom
told her who we were.
“Thanks, Jean send
them on in.” I heard the voice reply.
I almost crapped my
pants when we entered the room and the judge stood up to greet us. I don’t
remember ever having seen such a large man in my life to that point.
“I’m going to assume
that you both have been informed of the reason for this meeting?” my mom and I
were asked once we had all taken a seat.
“Yes, sir.” I
replied.
“Now I have to say
that I haven’t had a more complicated case in quite some time. Now According to
your father’s will he was leaving everything to his surviving family member. In
this case, you and your half-brother. Now this is were it becomes complicated since
the will makes no mention of you at all not to mention all the problems
surrounding where the money came from. The FBI and IRS have finally gotten that
part cleared up and after all the penalties and such have been taken out and
such it still leaves a very sizeable sum to be divided. The problem I’m having
is that the FBI has insisted that all the money go to you because of pending
criminal case against your brother. Needless to say that I’m getting quite a
bit of static from his guardians concerning this Now I’ve already talked to
them and they of course are demanding that all the money be turned over to them
and let them handle it. Now what I’d like to know from you is if I were to rule
in your favor how would you handle this new found wealth?”
I looked at my mom
for a moment to try and gauge her reaction to this and just got a small nod. I
took a deep breath before answering.
“I don’t want
anything to do with the money. As far as I’m concerned, that money is tainted
and the less I see of it the more I’d like it. However, if you were to decided
to rule in my favor and turn the money over to me I’d set up a foundation or
something and have it all given away in some fashion that would have some good
come from it.”
“I see. That’s just
about what your lawyer had told me when I told her what I was thinking of. But
you do realize that I’m talking about a rather sizeable sum. It would take some
time to give it all away.”
“Just out of
curiosity how much are we talking about?” my mom asked. In reply, the judge
wrote down a figure then handed it to my mom.
“I think he’s right
Ian. You could keep some of it and still have plenty left over to start a
trust.” She said while handing me the paper the amount was written on.
“It could be a
hundred times this and I still wouldn’t want a dime of it. He could give it to
my half-brother and his family and let them choke on it for all I care.” My mom
nodded at this since she knew my feelings on this matter. The judge though
seemed rather shocked that I was willing to walk away from an estate worth
almost Ten Billion dollars.
“I see. Well, I’ll
let your lawyer know in a few days what my decision will be. Thank you very
much for your time.” We were told as he rose to escort us from his office.
“I’m Proud of you
Ian. I know that a lot of people would have changed their minds in a heart beat
and done all they could to get a ruling in their favor.”
“I know. I just
figured that with what I’m getting from my grandfather what would I need any
more money for. To be honest, With all the rich people I’ve met over the years,
I’ve never got the feeling that many of them have been all that happy with
having it. I just hope I’m not making a mistake with giving Jason as much as I
am.”
“I’m sure he’ll be
fine. I doubt his aunt and uncle will let it go to his head and I’m sure that
if you see it starting to change him you’ll slap him down a few notches before
it goes too far.” my mom told me with a smile. I couldn’t help but smile as
well since I knew she was right.
“Is there a
problem?” I asked with a slight smile when I saw that Jason and his aunt
staring into space outside of the office Nana was using.
“They’re just a bit
shell shocked is all. I mean it’s not every day that you learn that you just
became the recipient of a Five Billion dollar trust fund.” Nana said from the
doorway with a smile.
“They should see it
from my end I’m sure you remember what I was like when found out how much I was
worth after adding up what your father, and my maternal grandfather left me not
to mention what I was going to adding from the rewards from the government.”
“Good point. Anyway,
I’ll need to get you to sign some papers to make everything official. By the
way, how did things go with Judge Tyler?” My mom and I were asked as we sat
down
“He said he would
get back to you in a few days concerning his decision.” my mom said handling
the answer.
“And what did you
tell him about your feelings on that matter?” Nana asked as she spread some
papers out.
“I told him exactly
what I told you when you first told me about it. I told him that I didn’t
really care one way or another. But if he decided to turn the funds over to me
then I was going to set up a charity trust with the money.”
“What did you say
when he asked you’d do if he were to give it to your half-brother?”
“I told him that I
would go along with that, but I hoped they choke on it.”
“Please tell me you
didn’t use those exact words. He didn’t, did he?” A glance at both my mom’s and
my face told Nana what she wanted to know.
“I guess I shouldn’t
be to surprised. Well, let’s get those papers signed.”
“Hey Jen, why don’t
you guys come over for dinner tonight?” my mom asked as we all left the
courthouse.
“Yes, thank you. Is
there anything you’d like us to bring with us?”
“Not that I can
think of.”
“OK, what time would
you like us to be over?”
“We normally eat
about
“That would be fine.
It’d give me some time to break the news to
“We’ll see you then.
Also you might want the kids to bring their swim trunks with them.” Jason’s
aunt just waved in acknowledgement at this suggestion. I guess she was still a
bit overwhelmed by everything that had taken place.
Given what time it
was by the time my mom and I got home it made me glad that I didn’t have any
homework for the night. Of course I was a bit distracted from what the judge
had told my mom and I. I didn’t really feel that I was going to have to worry
about it since I doubted that I would see one dime of my father’s estate. This,
of course, suited me just fine. After a quick diaper change and jumping into
some workout clothes, I headed out back where Brad was waiting for me. Seeing
that he was already practicing some of the basic moves I had already shown him,
I decided to just watch him for a few minutes I had to admit that he was coming
along quite well since I had taken over helping him train. Seeing a chance to
have a little fun, I put on my gloves and walked up behind my brother and moved
to strike him on the shoulder. I was more than a little please to have the move
blocked and have Brad turn and make two quick moves against me. That I was able
to block them didn’t matter to me.
“You’re getting
better. You would have scored some points with those in a match against someone
on you’re level. Speaking of which, I talked to Mr. Morita earlier this week
and we both feel that you’re ready to screen for your next belt.”
“Really, that would
be great. Thanks.” I was told excitedly.
“
“Well, let’s go up
and get changed Jason and his family are going to be joining us for dinner.”
“OK, By the way, how
did they react to the little surprise of yours?”
“About how we
figured they would.” I laughed.
The rest of the evening went by quickly. To
this day, I’ve always been surprised by how different Jason’s aunt and uncle
are in their personalities compared to his parents. They didn’t have any
problems with seeing Jason wearing any of my Speedos on the few times that
we’ve decided to go swimming on a moments notice. Another thing that had caught
me by surprise was the first time I had spent the night at their place Jason
and his cousins spent most of the night lounging around in either their
underwear, or, in Jason’s and one of his cousin’s case, their diapers. This of
course is another story.