Jamie Mackintosh was sitting outside of the city bank at 5am on a cod November Monday. Though he knew he couldn’t go in because the bank didn’t open until 10. So why was Jamie Mackintosh sitting outside of the bank on this cold day? He was sitting there because Jamie Mackintosh was a very confused man.
Three weeks ago Jamie’s grandfather had passed away. His grandfather was a very rich and mean man. While his grandfather owned millions of dollars’ worth of cars and houses and boats, Jamie, his two younger brothers and his mother were struggling to pay rent in their two bedroom apartment every month. Jamie’s father had dies of leukemia three years ago, leaving his mother widowed with three children and a mountain of hospital bills. When Jamie’s mother had begged his grandfather to help them when she didn’t have any money to buy food or pay the rent, but his grandfather had told her that she had gotten herself into this mess and she could get herself out of it. Jamie’s mother had to take on an extra job to pay the bills, and Jamie had to go to school, work, and take care of his two younger brothers. This left Jamie furious with his grandfather, he did not understand how a man could watch his own family suffer and starve. Jamie’s mother explained to him that there was no point in complaining about his grandfather because he was never going to change. His grandfather had never lifted a finger to help anybody, not even when his mother and his uncle were children he wouldn’t help them with anything, and he wasted no time in kicking them out as soon as they graduated from high school.
The week after Jamie’s grandfather had passed away, his mother was hopeful for something left to them in his will, hoping that her father would be more generous in death than he was in life, but nothing ever came. It seemed that his grandfather had literally wanted to take his money with him when he died; he had planned out an elaborate expensive funeral, spent the rest of the money into bonuses for the senior partners in his businesses, and ordered that his houses and other possessions be sold in an estate sale. He gave nothing to Jamie and his family.
Three weeks after his grandfather had passed away; Jamie was making dinner his brothers when the house phone rang. Usually he didn’t answer the house phone because it was usually someone who needed to collect money so he ignored it. A few minutes later one of his brother’s walked up to him and gave him the phone stating that the man on the other end had asked for him. Jamie hesitantly picked up the phone.
“Hello?” Jamie asked into the phone.
“Is this Jamie Mackintosh?” The man on the other end of the phone asked.
“Yes it is.” Jamie answered, wondering what this man could possibly want.
“I’m James Grant, the lawyer in charge of administering your grandfathers will. Would you be able to come to my office tomorrow at 2? Your grandfather left you something in his will.” Now Jamie was very confused, he thought his grandfather had left them with nothing. He also didn’t know why this man would ask for him and not his mother. Since Jamie was so curious, he listened as the lawyer told him where his office was and told him that he would be there.
Jamie hadn’t told his mother about the phone call. So the next day he skipped last period, took a bus into the city, and in case he wasn’t back when is brothers got home from school, he had asked the neighbor to babysit them for a few more hours and told her that he would pay her extra for it.
He walked into the lawyer’s office and felt immediately out of place. He self-consciously shuffled up to the receptionist’s desk and told him that he had an appointment. She called up to James Grants office and then pointed to the elevator that he should go to and told him to go to the fourth floor and turn left to get to the office. Jamie did exactly what she said, and came to a halt in front of an office door that said J. Grant. Jamie considered turning around and going back home but decided against it, the lawyer already knew that he was coming, and Jamie was to curious about what his grandfather had left for them to turn back. So he knocked on the door.
James Grant opened the door smiling. Jamie looked around the man’s office, thinking that the furniture in this office alone, costs more than everything in his apartment combined.
“Jamie Mackintosh?” He asked. Jamie gave a small nod. “Come in.” He walked into his office and Jamie followed. James gestured for Jamie to sit in one of the two large leather chairs on one side of his desk. “Jamie, I’m going to get right to the point. Your grandfather left you something in his will. He asked me to tell this to you without your mother or your brothers here.”
“But isn’t this for all of us?” Jamie was very confused now.
“Well…”James chuckled. “No. You see, your grandfather left you a considerable amount of money. But there are a few conditions.”
“How much is considerable and what conditions.” Jamie asked.
“Your grandfather left you with five million dollars.” Jams told him. If Jamie hadn’t been sitting down he would have fallen down. He immediately thought of houses and boats and food and all of the things that he wanted but could never afford. He didn’t even think of what the conditions would be all he knew is that he would do whatever he had to do too get this money. “But as I said there are conditions to the money.”
“Okay.” Jamie nodded. Thinking about the first thing he would buy with the money.
“Jamie…” James said leaning back into his chair. He then leaned forwards and put his hands on the table. He looked very uncomfortable. “Your family is not allowed to have any access to your money.”
“What do you mean?” Jamie immediately snapped out of his fantasies of being rich and into reality. He could never buy all the things that he was thinking of and do all of the things he wanted to without his family, knowing that they were still struggling to buy basic things like food.
“Your grandfather made it very clear that he wanted to help you, but he wanted your mother to solve her own problems. In his will he states that your family can have no access to your money at all. So you’re not allowed to give any to them, you’re not allowed to buy anything for them. Since your seventeen, you can move out and be on your own which your grandfather would actually prefer. The money is going to be given to you in installments of one million dollars a year for five years. If you were to sever all contact with your family then those installments would increase to 1.5 million a year.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.” Jamie told him. Leaving his family was unimaginable.
“I understand how you feel. You’re young and you want to be close to your mother, but I do know how you live now. An opportunity like this comes once in a lifetime and you should take it. Take some time and think it out. Talk to your mother about it, she would want you to take it.”
“I’ll have to think about it.” Jamie said, standing up and heading towards the door.
“I understand. Here’s my card.” James said shoving a card into Jamie’s hands as Jamie walked out the door. “Call me, if you decide to take it or if you don’t decide to take it. You can also call me if you just want to talk about it.”
“Okay.” Jamie said, just wanting the man to stop talking.
Jamie stumbled into the elevator and then out the building to the bus stop. The meeting had been longer than he had expected it to be, but he still had about five minutes until the bus came. He sat on the bench in the bus shelter and started to think about what had just happened. Five million dollars was a lot of money. He wasn’t likely to make that much money in his life, but if he did this, he could make it in five years, but he couldn’t give any of it to his family. Jamie wanted nothing more than to help his mom and his brothers have enough money and food. This decision would be an easy one if he could give the money to whoever he wanted.
The bus pulled up and Jamie thought about what he would do for the whole bus ride. He thought about it as he walked the 7 kilometers from the bus stop to his apartment, when he left the apartment for work, when he was at work and when he came home. His mother had the night off, so she was there when he got home from work and noticed that something was wrong with him, but he lied to her and said that he didn’t do well on a math test. He knew that he couldn’t tell his mother about what happened. If she knew what was being offered, she would put all of the hate for her father aside and tell him to take the money.
The next day Jamie called James Grant.
“Jamie,” James answered the phone sounding happy “Have you made a decision on what you would like to do with the money?”
“I think I have.” Jamie said.
That’s how Jamie came to sit on the bench outside of the city bank waiting for it to open. James Grant had called the bank so that Jamie’s installments could start on Friday, so the money should be in Jamie’s account that day. Jamie still hadn’t told his mother about what had happened and didn’t know if he ever would. He told James Grant that he would take the money, but deep down him wasn’t sure whether he should take it or not. Jamie sighed and put his head in his hands. He sat like that for a few minutes, thinking, when he saw movement from inside the bank. A woman dressed in the bank uniform unlocked the door from the inside. She opened the door and peeked outside. “You can come in now, we just opened.” She said to Jamie.
“Thanks.” Jamie nodded, but he didn’t get up.
The woman smiled at him and then disappeared inside of the bank. Jamie got up to go into the bank, but then sat back down, and waited.