After the first initiation of the second semester, I start going through the paperwork for the group. There is nothing saying when we can stop paying for the renovations. The guy that paid for them is... Steven Hill. Here's his number. I should call him. Dialing the phone, I wait for him to pick up, "Hello, is this Steven Hill?"
He answers, "Yes, how did you get this number? Only my family is allowed to use this number." I'm your brother dumbass.
"This is Poseidon. I am the accounts manager for a fraternity from Mary Washington University. Our records show that your family paid for renovations for the house. We need the paperwork in order to complete the forms." I'm trying to sound professional with a stupid name.
"What kind of paperwork? I only have the payment plan not the floorplan or anything." He sounds stressed.
"That will be fine. We have a fax machine. Can you scan the work and send it to 555-555-5556? That would be much appreciated. Thank you." It's been twelve years since the renovations. And the agreement originally stated that each person had to pay seventy-five dollars a month till it's payed off. How much would we have left to go?
"Sending it right now. Have a good day." He hangs up the phone in a rush. I should have asked if it was a bad time to talk. I grab the paper as it prints. This is a rather low number. Doing the math, I look back and forth between my math and the paper Mr. Hill sent. The numbers don't add up. My math says that it was paid off two years ago. The money was being sent to... an account named "Frat House Renovations." But who owns the account? They should have told us that the renovations were paid off. They've been taking our money. The right thing to do is to give the money back to the rightful owners. I'm gonna need a lawyer.
At Sunday dinner, I stand up and clap my hands, "I've got big news. But first I need to know if anyone has a parent who is a lawyer?" People seem surprised.
Jinsoo, Minsu, and Soomin raise their hands, "Our mom is a lawyer. Why are you asking?" Oh. They think I'm in trouble.
"So the big news is that I think someone is scamming us. The renovations were paid off two years ago. The person who owns the account that we send the money to has been taking our money. We need a lawyer to get the money back. Jinsoo, do you think your mom can help us? If so the way we would pay her your share of the money from last semester, last year, and the year before." Jaiden is smiling. Why is he smiling?
"We can convince her, but what are we gonna do with the money?" I literally just implied that.
"We will give each person who paid the extra money to the account will get back what they paid." Jaiden is still smiling.
He raises his hand, "How about we scam our parents? We don't tell them that we will get the money or that the renovations are paid off so they will keep sending us an extra seventy-five bucks every month..." People are staring at him in confusion.
Lenny talks with his mouth full, "I'm down. We could always use the extra money..." Greedy bastards.
X-ray raises his hand, "How about we save the money that our parents give us to get bigger water heaters for the bathrooms so everyone can have hot water?" Smart.
Steven nods while shoving food into his mouth, "I like that idea. For the good of the fraternity." Jaiden doesn't agree. He's gonna keep his money.
Ken stands up to reach for more food, "We might not even win the case so don't become dependent on it. Let's just say that if you want to put your share of the money into a group account, you can do that. Or if you want to be a greedy bastard like Jaiden..." Burned.
Jinsoo, Minsu, and Soomin's mom came to visit with Seunggyo to talk about the case. She took the materials home and created a lawsuit towards the owner of the renovations account who happens to be Mr. Hill. We get to the courtroom and Mr. Hill's lawyer starts his case with, "I will give back the excess money if they make it a requirement to graduate in three years in order to be in the fraternity." He can't do that.
Our lawyer pulls out the evidence against Mr. Hill, "You are in no position to make demands. You directly stole money from this fraternity. The most basic punishment is to give back the money. You can't make demands from the victim." He's obviously an asshole. You can't reason with people like that. "Judge Jacobson, I would like to..."
The Judge bangs the gavel, "I have decided. Steve, you will pay back the money you swindled plus another hundred thousand for being an asshole and for emotional damages. Court dismissed." Banging the gavel one more time, he leaves the court room. That was easy. They must know each other... and the judge must have a grudge against Mr. Hill.
Mr. Hill slams his hands on the table and yells behind Judge Jacobson, "What the hell Stewart? Is this because of your wife leaving you for me? This was supposed to be an impartial, unbiased court case! I want a different judge!" Oh my god! There was no way that Mr. Hill was gonna win if that's what actually happened.
"Fuck off Steve. I banged the gavel making my decision clear. You must pay the ninety thousand eight hundred twenty-five that you owe plus another hundred thousand dollars. Tell the bitch that her alimony check is due by the end of the month." He leaves the room in an uncomfortable feeling. That was intense. Well, we just got a hundred thousand dollars.
"Damn it!" I rush out of the room to Jaiden and Lenny who are waiting in the car. This is gonna be fucking awesome.
I jump on Jaiden, "Best news!" He catches me in his arms and puts his hands on my hips. I see why people keep asking if we are dating.
Lenny flicks my head, "Well what happened? I want my money." He's obviously uncomfortable with how Jaiden is holding me close to his body.
"He's gonna pay back the money plus a hundred thousand dollars. Apparently, Mr. Hill got the judge's wife to divorce the judge and marry him, so they had a feud going and we got a lot of money out of it. I'm getting more tattoos!" Jaiden rests his chin on my shoulder. What's up with him.
"That's great. Can you guys wait here while I use the bathroom? Great. Thanks." He runs into the building leaving me and Jaiden alone. Jaiden doesn't look to good. I should hug him but... I don't give hugs. My arms wrap around him gently. I don't know what I am doing.
"Is everything okay? I would think that you would be more excited about getting more money..." I'm starting to get really worried.
Jaiden hugs me tight, "Your mom called me. She said some awful things to me, so I don't feel safe right now. I was on speaker, so Lenny knows. I got to thinking... Once you fulfill your mom's requirement to stay in college for seven years I will take you as far away as I can, and we will never see your parents again. I promise I will save you from them." My mom called him?
"As long as you're my friend I will be fine. We will be okay even without moving far away. I know you want to stay near your mom." I do like his promise though.
"Okay." He looks past me, "Lenny is coming back, let's go tell the others." We drive back home.
The guys stare at me the minute I say that we got some money, "Wait, what are we gonna do with the extra money?" I'm taking it.
Daren looks up from his book, "We should split up the hundred thousand dollars between everyone involved. That way we'd all get our original investment back plus a fraction of the hundred thousand dollars." People are gonna want more than what there little fraction will be.
"Okay then, Poseidon, how much do we each get?" This is simple math made complicated.
I pull up the books with my math in it, "Aiden, Devan, Henry, Lenny, Kenny, Wren, Jimmy, Daren, and Carl are getting two thousand six hundred seventy-six dollars. Jaiden, John, Minsu, Raj, Soomin, Steven, and Zane are getting three thousand five hundred seventy-six dollars. Jamal, Jinsoo, Ken, Sean, Tiff, Tommy, Topher, and Xander are getting four thousand four hundred seventy-six dollars. The rest of it is split up to the other twenty-nine people involved." They all look happy with that. I now need to contact the twenty-nine people to give them their share. That's a lot of work.
