Page 20 of Inherited Light
“I added business classes to my degree for a reason, you know. I didn’t do it on a whim the way Dad has always believed I did. My train of thought was if I decided to run my own business, I’d have the skills to do it.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve already decided,” she said. “You’ve been training for a long time, but do you have the experience to go it alone and stay afloat?”
I shook my head in frustration. “I’m leaning toward working for myself, but I don’t have to go it alone. I would be the owner of the business, but I would be able to hire anyone I want. There are a lot of guys who have been in the trades a long time and are at the age they want to go from full-time to part-time work. If I hire some of them, they’ll continue to teach me the skills I need to improve. There’s no law saying the young kid can’t back the business and still learn from his fellow tradesmen, is there?”
She patted my shoulder. “No law that I know of. It makes sense to me, especially if you know you’ll have people willing to work for you. What’s making you hesitate? Dad?”
“Yeah,” I said on an exhale. “He’s hellbent on me getting a job with benefits. I already have health insurance and if I own a business, I won’t have a choice but to offer some form of insurance and emergency care anyway. We do dangerous work all day long, and there has to be coverage there for the laborers. I have a whole business plan produced and ready to go if I decide to move forward with it.”
“Won’t you need some start-up cash?” she asked.
“I will, but not as much as you’d think simply because other than our tools, which we all have our own, I don’t need the overhead of an office or warehouse. I’ll need a locking trailer to take the bigger saws, ladders and scaffolding to jobs, but not much more. I don’t need an actual office space right now. Eventually I may need a construction trailer, but it would be down the road.”
“How are you going to come up with the money? Have you been saving? You have school loans too, right?”
I gave her the so-so hand. “I have been saving, but no, I don’t have school loans. I’ve worked hard the last two years to pay the rest of them off by working with low income groups to provide homes to those in need. Every forty hours of time I donate, they knock another chunk off the loans. I’m down to one small loan from the government, and what Dad paid in. I think it was about three grand for the one semester. I can always pay him back if he gets hung up on it.”
“It sounds to me like you’re serious about this if you’ve already written a business plan.”
I aimed to give her a nonchalant shrug, but I didn’t pull it off. She could tell how much I wanted this. “It’s all I think about. I know I’m young, but I like to think I have my life together. I know what I want to do, and can be successful, if people will give me a chance.”
“You mean if Dad will give you a chance. I have no problem with you being in business for yourself, and I think if you explained this all toMamáand Dad they wouldn’t have a problem with it either. Communication is key, little brother.”
“Says the girl who refused to tell anyone she was sick,” I said. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.”
She leaned back on the couch again. “I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve needlessly worried my husband and my family all because I was scared he would run the same way Josh did.”
I nodded. “Your fear was easy to see and feel, at least for me. I can’t blame you after what you went through, but you can trust Foster, Sis. He loves you and only wants the best for you.”
She ignored my comment and jumped ahead. “You have to do what makes Lorenzo happy, not what makes Dad happy. Dad will catch up. Have you spoken to a banker about getting some start-up cash?”
“I haven’t, because I already have it.” Her expression told me she was surprised to hear this and waited for me to explain. “When the time comes and the shelter job is finished, I’m going to sell the BMW. What I get for the car will be more than enough to get me started.”
She put her hand to her chest. “You’re going to sell Mabel’s car?”
“It’s been almost two years. I think we can call it my car now, just like you call this your house.”
“Of course, you’re right,” she apologized. “You’ve taken me by surprise.”
“What’s so surprising about it? It’s a car, not a child or dog. It meant nothing to Mabel, and while it has been fun to drive, it sits most of the time. The insurance I have to keep on it is ridiculous and I don’t drive it enough to make it worth it. I’ve put some feelers out, since I know it’s not going to be easy or fast to sell. Once it goes down the road, I’ll put the money into a fund until I need it. If nothing else, it will be enough to pay for my trailer, which I can then use for collateral on a loan.”
“How much do you think you’ll get for it?” she asked studying me.
“I’m asking thirty-five thousand. It’s high, but it gives me room to go down to thirty grand and get it.”
She smiled. “You’re a shrewd businessman, Lorenzo.”
I snorted. “Right, like I have a clue what I’m doing.”
She nodded her head, the smile still on her face. “Sure you do. You’re following your heart and doing what’s going to make you happy, which is more important than a car. It’s also more important than what Dad thinks about your choices. I know if I hadn’t gone on tour with those bands as a kid, I would always wonder what I missed. You gotta grab the opportunities as they come to you. I don’t think Mabel intended for you to keep the car. She wanted you to play with it for a little while and then use it for bigger and better things. It sounds to me like you’ve done exactly what she hoped you would do.”
“Always the wise one you are,” I teased, taking her hand in mine. “I’m trying to show the family I’m not five anymore. Everyone still refers to me asthe baby, but I’m all grown up now and know what I want out of life.”
She grimaced a little and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m just as guilty as anyone else is. The difference is I know you’ve grown up and I’m awfully proud of who you’ve become. When I call youthe babyit’s more a term of endearment because I know you aren’t one, not by a long shot. The job you’ve done at the shelter is stellar, Lorenzo. You’ve managed all the other trades who had jobs to do while doing your own work at the same time. I have no doubt you’ll go far if you venture into business for yourself.”
I grinned, relieved to hear her words. “Going into business isn’t the only thing I want to do. I want to teach, Cinn. I want to learn everything I can about the trade of building homes and offices, but more so, I want to learn about the intricacies of woodwork. Carpentry is more than just buildings. It’s a skill and with the right eye it can be a work of art.”
She appeared surprised. “Really? You want to teach? Like high school?”
