by David Kersey
Joshua and the Mehras spent the rest of the evening chopping up more fennel, the item in drawer six that was nearly depleted. During the process of rebuilding the inventory, a series of events evolved that began to tarnish an otherwise perfect day.
Soon after Jackie had left, Joshua called Adele to tell her the wonderful news. Their first big sale, and the CDC involvement, and the NSA abandoning the search for the Mehras. At first, Adele returned the enthusiasm, but then she lowered the boom.
“Jack and I watched the PBS show last night. Joshua, when the show ended, Jack got up out his chair and was extremely hot under the collar. He stormed out of the room, and said, ‘I’m out, dammit, we’re giving away everything we’ve saved’. It’s true, honey, we’ve spent over a quarter of a million dollars on the place, and the obligation doesn’t stop. When there was no NIL price mentioned during the show, Jack, well, he’s pissed. I’ve got to call you back. There’s a call coming in that I’ve been expecting.”
A second blow occurred when Sheryl Smalley called. “Joshua, we’ve got to do something. Eva is as mad as a wet hen and so are the people that are calling and emailing us. It’s awful, what’s being said. I mean some of it is good, but, wow, listen to some of these emails:
‘So the guy is from a reservation, huh, so that explains why he is an Indian giver. First free, now twenty bucks. Just another typical PBS scam’.
‘I have a notion to go burn the damn place down. Who does he think he is anyway?’
‘Anyone walking around trying to look like Jesus, and then sock it to you with a phony product for a whopping price, ought to be shot’.
‘I was so hopeful of getting some NIL for my grandson. When you, much after the fact, quoted me twenty dollars, I was shocked. That is false advertising. You should be ashamed.’
‘As a practicing pharmacist, you have taken upon yourself a discrediting position and a terrible disservice to my profession. There is no ‘magic bullet’ as your show purports. Hogwash.’
Joshua, this one concerns me a little;
‘For sure, that dope-head peddling snake oil is better off dead, just like the original fake’.
Joshua had heard enough. “Sheryl, I saw it coming, only it was way too late. I didn’t watch the show until almost two hours after it aired. When I caught that there was no price mentioned, I realized the blatant omission would cause a problem. I called you immediately when I realized the error. The bottom line is that what is done is done. There is no undoing it.”
“Well, Eva is really taking the heat from the Lexington crowd. They are demanding that she prepare an apologetic video and for her to shoulder the blame. And of course, the idea of a sequel is now out of the question. Lexington is making demands that all the angry callers and vicious emails be compensated with free NIL. Will you do that to help us out of this jam?”
“Hang on a second.” Joshua closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead, thinking, pacing back and forth on the granite pathway. He estimated that there were still one hundred jars left after what Jackie had taken. He had a little money saved. Not much, but in light of what Adele had said earlier, he asked, “Sheryl, how many jars are we talking about giving away?”
“Between all the stations that aired it, we’re talking exactly sixty complaints.”
Twelve hundred dollars. He saw no other way out. Considering that Jack had reached the end of his rope, he’d pay it out of his own pocket, but he’d have to borrow two hundred. “Okay, Sheryl, offer no more than fifty jars for free. That’s all I can afford to lose. Your station will have to pay the twenty dollars per jar for anyone still insistent beyond the fifty. Plus you will have to pay any and all applicable shipping costs. After all, it wasn’t totally my fault that the price was not mentioned.”
“I’ll take it to Eva. I’m so sorry, Joshua. I know this won’t help, but Jermaine and I are going to pay you twenty bucks apiece for what you gave us. I feel so badly about all this.”
Namanda saw that Joshua was deeply concerned when he walked straight through the work area and through the back door. She peeked around the corner of the door jamb and saw him take a seat in one of the chairs. She contemplated sitting next to him, but thought better of it.
The announcement from Adele about how much she and Jack had spent threw him for a loop. A quarter million dollars is not chump change, especially when coming out of the pockets of his best friends who were not high rollers financially. He had been too lavish with all the free NIL he had given out over time. They had never complained before this, so he was unprepared for the warning shot fired over his bow. As a last resort, although the idea pained him, he could sell off some of the Indian artifacts in an attempt to, ironically, offer a peace pipe to the Meadors. He’d be breaking the law. He felt his stomach turn. His cell phone rang.
“Joshua, its Adele. Jack’s sitting here and I’ve got you on speaker phone, and Patricia is patched in on a three-way. Do you have some energy left on your phone……this could take a while.”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
“Hi Joshua, its Pat. Adele has asked me to do most of the talking, so here goes. Joshua, there is a letter of intent to purchase the little business you and the Meadors have established. It’s not funded very well, just ten thousand dollars non-refundable. The interested party would then have thirty days to conduct their due diligence. If after thirty days, the prospective buyer walks away, the ten grand will be available to split up in however you and the Meadors decide. But after the investigation period expires, and if the party intends to proceed, it would offer you a purchase price to be determined, but in no case to exceed two million dollars. Now Adele will say something, and I’m still staying on the call.”
“Jack and I are going to take the deal, Joshua. We never did set up our legal relationship, so we want to offer this in fairness to all parties. Since we put in nearly one hundred percent of the monies spent, and you have contributed by building the business part of it by creating the NIL, we think any proceeds should be divided two-thirds to Jack and I, and one-third to you. Let’s say the contract does go through all the way to closing, and the price is 1.5 million dollars. You would receive a half-million dollars at closing under that assumed sales price. We think that is more than fair. Whatever the final price turns out to be, you would receive one-third of the net proceeds.”
“Pat again. Before you make your comments, there are some preliminary conditions. If there were to be a final close-out, you would be required to stay on for thirty days after closing in order to facilitate the transition. After that, you would be on your own. Also, you would only be able to take your personal possessions with you. Any equipment that is used in the production of the NIL would have to remain with the property. Joshua, if you want my legal opinion, I think you ought to take the deal and run with it, and I think the Meadors are being fair with you. So do you have questions or comments?”
“Wait.” Adele interrupted. “Listen, it’s not a bad deal, honey. If the price offered to us is too low, we can always turn it down and keep on going the way we are now. We just cannot keep giving the product away. Now ask your questions.”
“Okay. Two things: How strong is the buying entity, and second, is the Arizona facility involved in the purchase?”
Pat replied. “To answer the second question……no…..Arizona is not something the Meadors have a legal right to negotiate. In fact, I don’t think the potential buyer, who is quite substantial, even knows there is an Arizona facility. About the potential buyer, it is not something I have the liberty of divulging until there comes the time for binding paperwork, but you all would not be wasting your time with a fly-by-night suitor.”
“Adele knows this already, but today I was able to sell 132 jars of NIL to the CDC in Atlanta. I have the strong feeling that it will not be their last purchase. During the due diligence period, will we still be able to sell the product to them or to anyone else?”
“Yes, you could conduct your business as normal. We’d for sure include that in the contra
ctual language.”
“Say the buyer decides to enter into a binding contract at the end of the due diligence. How much escrow would be deposited, and would it be hard?”
“That would be a negotiating point, but I’ve already recommended to the Meadors that it be ten percent of the sale price, and that it be hard, that is, yours to keep if the deal fell through.”
“Any idea as to how long between contract signing and……………………….
He felt it before he heard it. Instinctively, he grabbed his neck. The pain seared him as if being scalded with a hot poker thrust through his neck. A fire erupted in his chest. The burning was intense. He pitched forward, collapsed to his knees, grasping, gasping, unable to breathe. Voices coming from his cell phone. Namanda at his side, screaming. Wailing. Shouts of 911. Ben running full speed toward the eastern slope. Namanda’s hands cupping his cheeks. He tried, but he couldn’t speak. The taste of blood. “Don’t leave me, Joshua. I love you.” Gurgling. He tried to tell her he loved her. No words came. Going dark. Darker. Then nothing at all.