Fancy Dancer Read Free Page A

for you. All the accounts have been set up. Everything balances out to the penny. The brokerage accounts are extremely robust. Extremely. We took the liberty of compiling a balance sheet for you, just to make it easier for you to understand. I do have a question for you, Jacob. Other than your college tuition, you never took a penny from the personal trust. Why is that?”
    Why indeed? “I had done nothing to earn it. I frankly thought that I didn’t deserve it. It didn’t feel right. So I made my own way.”
    “What about your mother’s ancestral home, the plantation outside of town?”
    “I haven’t been there in years. What do you mean? It’s a working cotton plantation. Do I need to do something?”
    “Only if you want to. There’s over a thousand acres that are not being utilized. You might want to give some thought to that. Think in terms of a thousand acres you are paying taxes on with no revenue coming in from it.”
    Jake nodded. “Did my mother ever indicate what she’d like done with the plantation?”
    Elroy nodded, or maybe it was Estes. “She said you’d know what to do with it when the time came. Do you?”
    Oh, Mom, where did that blind faith you had in me come from? “Right this moment, I have to say I don’t have a clue.”
    “Well, I’m sure something will come to you. Just remember all those taxes.”
    “I do have a question for you,” Jake said. “Did my father ever repay my mother for all that money she doled out to him to start him up in the oil business?”
    “He did, Jacob, but it took him quite a few years. We had to hound him, and we did. We charged him interest, too. He had some fancy lawyers try to come after us, but Judge Broussard settled them down in a hurry. Henry Broussard was your mama’s sixth or seventh cousin twice removed, if I remember correctly. He’s gone now, God rest his soul, at the age of ninety-four,” Elroy said, or maybe it was Estes.
    “If everything is in order, sign all those papers, and you can leave. We’ll leave you alone for a few minutes so you can... adjust to all of this,” one of the brothers said, motioning to the stacks of papers on the old table. The lawyers left the room.
    Jake longed for a cigarette but remembered he’d quit smoking years ago. He looked down at the lone sheet of paper that summed up his net worth. He was glad he was sitting down, because he would have fallen over at seeing the bottom line. And he’d thought the oil business was profitable. The words money to burn ricocheted around and around inside his head. He was starting to get dizzy at what he was seeing and the responsibility that was suddenly on his shoulders.
    Soon after Jake had finished signing the papers, the door opened, and the two brothers walked in and sat down again. “My brother, Estes, and I were talking outside. Years ago, we never could decide between the two of us if we should tell you this or not. At the time, we felt you were too young, and you were grieving for your mother, so we thought it best if we just left things alone.”
    “And now you think I’m old enough to know, is that it?” Jake asked.
    “Well, today is your birthday. Thirty-five years of age almost guarantees some sort of wisdom on your part. During the last months of your mother’s life, your father tried his best to get your mother to give him power of attorney. We simply could not allow that to happen. Your mother agreed. Your father threatened all manner of dire things, but he had no wish to go up against Henry Broussard again. Henry was still alive and sitting on the bench at that point. We just thought you should know.”
    “Did my father need money?”
    “We checked, and the answer is no. Some people don’t know when enough is enough. It’s no secret, young man, that my brother and I do not hold your father in high regard. I’m sorry to tell you that.”
    Jake laughed. “Well, gentlemen, join the club. Thanks for all the hard work on my behalf and thank you for