Call It Fiction 3

Chapter Three

April 12, 1986

Years after reading The Idiot, which is still after reading dozens of books, my one true favorite, I read that Dostoyevski said that child abuse is evil because it destroys a child’s faith in the goodness of God.

September 1986
I had several conversations with Ruth regarding the trust. During one she offered to buy me John's daughter's old car. I said no.

She accused me of stealing money. I explained what the trust was as my attorney had explained it to me. I told her that my father had agreed to it because of her relationship with Joe Mendoza and the poor medical care my father was getting. I told her to talk to an attorney if she didn't believe what I said about the trust.

She said that she trusted Joe (Mendoza) with all of her money and asked me if I trusted him with all of my money. I said no and asked why I should. Her only answer was that she trusted him and that I should, too.

September 8, 1986
approximately 8:00 am

Ruth calls. She says, “Do you want a 1979 Toyota Celica.” I say, “Oh, you mean Jessica’s old car. No, John told me what’s wrong with it.” She says, “There’s nothing wrong . . ..” I interrupt, “The top, it has a soft top, gets broken into easily. I don’t want it.” She asks, “Are you going to Santa Monica today?” “Yes,” I say, “I work there.” “Would you pick up my bible for me . . .?” “Wait,” I say, “where in Santa Monica?” She says, “Well, not really Santa Monica. It’s at church in Culver City.” “No, I can’t.” I say. “It’s out of my way completely, and I have to see John today after work.”

She says, “Oh, good, then you’re going to get it straightened out.” I say, “Yes. Is Daddy all right? Are you leaving him alone?”

“Yes, he’s asleep,” she says. I disbelieve her because he is almost never asleep at this time of the morning. And if he is then something is wrong. “Why are you doing this,” she asks. “I’m not doing anything except carrying out George’s orders. He wanted to do this; he knew what he was doing. He called me Friday and told me that you were ‘pestering’ him and wouldn’t give him ‘a moment’s peace.’ He asked me then to tell you that he wanted to do this and that it was his idea. I didn’t force him. I explained everything very carefully to him and made absolutely certain that he understood everything.”

She says, “I thought you’d tricked him into something. He told me he never even read any of it.” I say, “He signs papers for you all the time without reading them because he trusted you. It’s not unbelievable that he would trust me. And I told him the complete truth about what he was signing. I told him that all of his assets including his half of all of your joint accounts went into the trust, that the trust was in his name, that I was the trustee, which meant that I execute and protect the trust, and that I was signing the trust, too, because in it I promise to make sure that the funds are used to benefit and take care of him for the rest of his life. I told him that I won’t get anything until after he dies and that the trust is the best way of avoiding inheritance taxes. You know John has done that for Jessica and he thinks it’s a good idea.”

“When did he tell you that,” she says.

“Yesterday. I called him yesterday to set up an appointment for today to talk about the details. I explained basically everything and today he's going to look at all the paperwork involved, as you asked him to do.”

“Yes,” she says. “What are you going to do when you've won half of this house and that house over there. I think that we should make a trade so you get one whole one and I get one whole.” “That’s something I didn’t tell you about,” I say. “Daddy already gave me half of this one and half of that one and his interest in Willowcrest.”

“Oh,” she says angrily. “Well, you know that the property taxes will go up, how will you pay for them. They’ll be about $1,500, you know.”

I say, “I think that I can use the income from Willowcrest to cover that.”

She says, “Well, yes, I guess that it’ll be about that. But then you won’t have any left for your doctor and dental bills.”

“I’m not worried about it,” I say.

She says, “I can’t imagine why Daddy would give you the property now.”

“Oh, can’t you? He wanted to give me all of the property, but then there would have been a lot of gift taxes. So he gave me everything he could up to the limit. That was when we were going to his lawyer.”

“Oh yes,” she says. “There were two involved. The name on the trust was Stewart Cary. Daddy said he never heard of him. He went to Jacoby and Meyers.”

“Yes,” I say. “The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer was his. I went to my own to have everything checked and he suggested the possibility of a trust. The Jacoby and Meyers lawyer never even thought of a trust, and Daddy didn’t know anything about trusts, then, and I only knew very little. But after my attorney explained it to me, I explained it all to Daddy. He may not have wanted to read the turst, but he understood what it was.”

"But why would he tell me he didn’t know anything about your going into our checking account?” she says.

I say, “He knew that I was looking for the accounts for the trust; he signed bank drafts, and I told him what they were. That money is in an account for the trust, and I can’t use any of it for my own benefit, only for his benefit."

“I still can’t understand why he would want to do this,” she says.

I say, “To make sure that I was provided for and that he would be taken care of. No one looking at it objectively would think that strange at all.”

She says, “But you are provided for, honey. My will is clear on that.”

“But you can change your will at any time,” I say.

She says, “But I wouldn’t do that.”

“Daddy was convinced by you that you might. He called me up and told me that you might be moving him out of there so Joe could move in.”

She says, “I’d never do that. I’m already married.”

“Well he thought that you were planning to do that.”

Ruth: I don’t know where he got that idea from.
Me: He said that he got it from you. Then you remember about a month ago I went to see you at church and you admitted the same thing to me.
Ruth: I never planned to do it until after Daddy dies.
Me: And what if Joe leaves you, and you become sick or die? How will Daddy manage, he can’t get to the bank, and you haven’t made it possible for me to have access to his money if something happened to you.
Ruth: Joe won’t leave me. He loves me. I trust him with everything. I trust him with my money. Won’t you trust him with yours. You trust him don’t you?
Me: Why shoud I trust him; I don’t even know him.
Ruth: You know why I need that rent from Paul?
Me: No, why?
Ruth: Because I have to pay the liability insurance on the house in case something happens and he sues me.
Me: Nothing’s going to happen and he wouldn’t sue you. I love him, and he loves me, and we trust each other.
Ruth: Can’t he help you out with some money?
Me: Does Joe help you out?
Ruth: Yes, he does things for me, but he doesn’t have much money. He has to pay alimony, and he went bankrupt a few years ago and has to pay income tax.
Me: Well, Paul does things for me and helps me.


September 22, 1986
7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

I spoke with Sam Chean about the trust and taxes.