No Sense of Humor

Ralph was sitting at his desk when he noticed the pile of mail left by Mary Ann. He had been working on another promotional tour for my second book. Ralph took a sip of his Dr. Pepper and decided to take a break. When he scanned through the mail, he noticed a letter with a familiar return address on it. His curiosity got the better of him as he read the letter with anticipation. Ralph stood from his chair, shocked as to the news that he had just read. The letter disclosed the anonymous buyer that had bought into his business. It also stated that the buyer was taking Ralph to court to gain control of his business and that there would be a court date set to determine if the buyer had sufficient grounds to gain control. Ralph quickly called me to break the news. I asked Ralph what he was going to do. He said “Fight it, of course.” He called Mary Ann and asked her to have their lawyer come to the house to see what they could do to prevent this takeover. When he arrived, Ralph quickly handed the attorney the letter and said “What can you do to prevent this?” His lawyer said that there is not much he could do at this point except wait until the court hearing and see what evidence they have that they can use against them. Ralph grabbed the letter, sat in his chair, and said to himself “I can’t believe this is happening.” For the next several weeks, Ralph constantly worried about what could possibly happen to his company. He and Mary Ann had worked very hard at establishing future clients and above all, ensuring that I have the best to promote my books. Mary Ann could see the concern in her husband’s eyes as he paced the floor, wondering if he would have to resort to getting his meaningless job back as a busboy. His only concern was for the welfare of Mary Ann and his fine litter. Nervousness seemed to be Ralph’s plight on the morning of the court date. He had asked me to accompany him to the court house. Ralph said that he needed all the support he could get. When I picked up Ralph, he looked desperate and hollow. Ralph had hoped that by wearing his favorite pin-striped suit would impress the judge and boost his confidence. We were the first to arrive at the court house. Ralph’s lawyer joined us shortly. He assured Ralph that everything would be fine. His faint smile turned to despair when Ralph finally saw the anonymous buyer walk into the courtroom with his lawyer. It was Tom, the former cat Mafia Leader, dressed in a similar outfit worn by Ralph. As Tom approached the table, he glanced over to Ralph, smiled, and said “I told you it was not over.” Ralph gave Tom an evil glare and before he could respond to Tom’s comment, the Bailiff called the court to order. Tom’s lawyer presented the evidence to start the trial. He gave the Judge documents that had showed his client, Tom, had paid the back taxes on Ralph’s business for the past year. In the petition, Tom’s lawyer asked that his client be awarded the additional 2 percent of the company as a return payment. Ralph’s lawyer obviously objected and asked the Judge for a quick recess so that he could discuss the situation with his client. The Judge gave him five minutes to refute the evidence or that the ruling would go in favor of Tom. We quickly huddled to discuss the financial problem that was facing Ralph. I asked Ralph “What did you do with the money I gave you to pay your taxes?” He told me he needed the money for repairs on his dog-mobile and that he hoped to gain more clients to pay off the taxes. Up until now, no one knew that the taxes were paid since the payment receipts had obviously been sent to Tom’s lawyer. Ralph’s lawyer said that he had an idea but it would only buy them a little time to figure out how to repay the money. The Judge said that time was up and asked Ralph’s lawyer if he had the evidence to refute the claim. He said that Ralph could acquire the money but needed one week to produce the funds. Even though Tom’s lawyer objected, the Judge granted Ralph the one week he desperately needed. The Judge further said that if Ralph could not come up with the payment in one week, then the 2 percent would be granted to Tom. That would also mean the name of the business could change.