Chapter 4 - I Offered Help—Just Not the Help Frank Wanted
My accountant, Nina Patel, reviewed what Frank reluctantly provided.
Not a forensic audit.
Enough.
Her conclusion was simple:
Do not lend $175,000 without independent restructuring.
Franklin Home Supply had:
negative working capital,
aging receivables,
tax liabilities,
thin gross margins,
personal expenses mixed through company accounts,
a bank line likely to be reduced rather than expanded.
Nina suggested:
hire restructuring counsel,
negotiate payment plans,
sell unused equipment,
reduce inventory,
possibly close the cabinetry division.
Frank hated every recommendation.
“They don’t understand the business.”
Nina had worked with:
construction suppliers
for eighteen years.
I said:
“She understands cash.”
Frank responded:
“You’re thirty years old.”
There it was.
The move from:
niece who knows finance
to:
little girl who owes adults respect.
I offered:
$15,000
for restructuring/accounting fees.
Not a loan.
A gift.
Frank stared at me.
“You think I need charity?”
“You asked me for one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars.”
“That would be an investment.”
“No.”
“It would be a loan.”
“With no collateral behind the bank.”
“You’d get paid.”
“How?”
He slammed his hand on the table.
“Because I said so.”
I stood.
Conversation over.
That night Carol came to my room.
Not angry.
Soft.
That was harder.
“Your uncle is scared.”
“I know.”
“He thinks you see him as a failure.”
“I don’t.”
“He raised you.”
“I know.”
“He paid for your books.”
“I know.”
“When you needed a place—”
“Carol.”
She stopped.
I had never called her Aunt Carol when serious.
Just:
Carol.
“I am grateful.”
“That is not the same thing as giving Frank my maternity savings.”
She looked wounded.
“You have plenty.”
I stared.
There it was.
Not:
Can you afford?
Plenty.
Meaning:
the amount matters less to you than:
to us.
This is how other people’s money becomes morally available.
I answered:
“I am having a baby alone.”
“You are not alone.”
“Then stop asking me to risk the money that makes me feel less afraid.”
Carol left without saying:
good night.
Three days later, I discovered she had opened:
May you like
my bank statement.
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