Sins of the Father
Posted on Fri Feb 23rd, 2024 @ 10:26am by Charles Xavier & Shinobi Shaw
2,243 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: X-Mansion | Parlor
Timeline: August 25th, 1990
A beige BMW pulled up to the mansion's gates. The driver's side window rolled down and addressed the callbox.
"Jeryn Hogarth esquire to see a Mister Jason Adams," said a flabby, middle-aged man with wire-framed glasses. "It is a legal matter of grave importance."
After a moment, Professor Xaveri's voice replied, "Good afternoon, Mr. Hogarth. Please proceed."
The iron gates opened, allowing the BMV entry.
Professor Xavier had greeted Hogarth at the door and invited him into the parlor where he had summoned Jace.
Getting called to the principal's office was one thing. Getting called to the Professor's office, or parlor, was a whole different ballgame. His mind race with things that he might've done wrong. Or something he didn't do that he was supposed to. Whatever it was, the parlor seemed intimidating today.
"Are you Jason Adams?" Hogarth asked immediately, clutching his briefcase to his chest like it contained the arming codes to the nation's nuclear arsenal.
Jace opened his mouth and was about to speak before the Professor spoke for him. He really was protective.
"Allow me to introduce Jace," the Professor said guardedly. "Jace, this is Mister Jeryn Hogarth. He purports to have legal business to conduct with you."
"That's correct," Hogarth said, "but you can call me Jeri since you are now my client."
That caught Xavier by surprise. "What?"
"Wait. What?" echoed Jace. Since when did he need a lawyer. Damn, whatever he did, it must've been big.
"I'm sorry, Mister Xavier, but that is privilege information. I am under a strict fiduciary obligation to share the preliminary information with Mister Adams and Mister Adams alone."
Xavier felt even more uncomfortable with each passing word. "Jace, I will be at hand if you need me."
~Do not agree to anything~ Xavier warned with a telepathic message to Jace's mind. ~Do not sign anything. My attorneys can review whatever it is he has brought and will advise you on your course of actions~
Jace gave a smile and nod toward the Professor as he left.
With that, the Professor gave the two of them the room.
"So," said Hogarth once Xavier was gone. "Jace, huh? How long have you been going by that name?"
"Uh, since I can remember," said Jace. "Jason always seemed too...preppy...for me. So I shortened to Jace. It's what everyone calls me. How long have you been going by Jeri?"
"Kindergarten," Jeri said plainly. "With that out of the way, I gotta' ask... do you really not know who your father was or are you just being a cocky little trust fund baby?"
Jace laughed. "Oh I know my dad, Troy Adams. He was a jackass. When my powers manifested, he and everybody else kicked me out. I walked, hitchhiked, and paid my way from Tacoma to Seattle, Washington. I grew up on the streets of downtown Seattle and squatted in whatever empty building I could find. I have no idea what you mean by trust fund baby. Though I have been accused of being cocky. A lot, actually."
"I see..." Jeri pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and began to unpack his briefcase. "Well, I suppose you might be relieved in more ways than one to learn that Troy Adams was not really your father. The family you knew was a foster family that adopted you. It's taken my office several years to track you down. Our skip tracers lost track of you in Seattle. Had you not run away from home, our Washington affiliates could have delivered this to you in Tacoma."
While he talked, Hogarth began laying out manila folders on the coffee table between them. The first one was thin, but others were full of papers with one so full it had to be bound by twine rather than a paperclip like the others.
"Here is a financial statement regarding your current net worth." Hogarth tapped the folder in the middle, one of five. "You may peruse it at your leisure, but the bottom line isn't much. Just a few hundred thousand dollars. It's all that was left after liquidation of your late father's estate and satisfying personal debts called due by his passing." He tapped two adjacent ones. "These are two directives. One forfeits your next-of-kin status as heir apparent. Signing it will authorize my firm to disburse the six figure balance of your net worth into your possession. However..." Hogarth grinned. "Option two will authorize my firm to execute clawbacks of your late father's assets which were seized from you in absentia, quite unlawfully I might add." That brought Hogarth to the big, fat folder with a spine that could barely contain the mountain of documents and deeds within. "That one is the final accounting of said assets before liquidation." After pausing for effect, Hogarth asked, "Do you understand matters as I have explained them to you?"
"Huh." Jace sat there in stunned silence for a minute. Or longer, he couldn't tell. Troy Adams was not his father and he lived in a foster home. He was adopted. That first shock, though, was quickly overshadowed by what followed. "Um, maybe, I think." He paused and looked at the five manila folders on the coffee table. "The fat one is before death. The thin one is after death. This one," he said pointing, "means I give it all up and get six figures. This one means you guys get back all the stuff from after death. And then I will inherit the fat one." He paused again just to make sure he'd gotten it all right. "Pretty much boils it all down simply." The cockiness and snark took a backseat as he tried to assimilate this information dump. "But...huh."
"That's about the sum of it," Hogarth said. "I'd understand if you need time to consider, but I must advise you that we're up against the end of the final continuation due to the statute of limitations on probate. You will need to decide on one or the other as soon as possible so we can get things rolling."
Jace nodded regarding the timetable. "I...I, honestly, I don't think I'll need time. This could change my life. I'm all for it. But...." He paused and turned towards the parlor doors through which Xavier had exited earlier. Then he looked Hogarth straight in the eyes. "He told me, telepathically, not to sign anything until his lawyers had a chance to look it over. You said it's for my eyes only. Trust is a hard thing to earn after growing up on the streets. Here, I've got food and a room that I have to share. Doesn't mean I fully trust them." He pointed to the fat folder. "That looks like I could have better food and all the rooms I could want that don't have to share. The only person I fully trust right now is myself. Not you, not the Prof. I'm a survivor. So give me a pen so I can survive." He held out his hand, ready to accept.
"I get it, kid." Hogarth slid the two folders forward but only opened the one. "Whole enchilada it is. Sign and initial where indicated and we'll get you what you're due."
Jace held the pen, ready to sign. "So just to make sure I'm signing the right one, this one will authorize your firm to execute clawbacks of my late father's assets which were unlawfully seized?" He used the attorney's own words this time for clarification. He also hoped beyond all hope that neither Xavier or any other telepaths were listening in. "I'll keep my next-of-kin status as heir apparent?" But to what, he didn't know.
"Correct," said Hogarth, "with all rights and privileges thereunto."
Jace grinned and put pen to paper. He signed 'Jason Troy Adams' and initialed in the indicated spaces. There was some relief mixed with uncertainty as he did so. That uncertainty is what made him ask his next question. "Will that work? My adopted name, I mean. Is it legal enough to work for this?"
"Your current name will become an alias as soon as you become legally recognized by your birth name," Hogarth said. Then he slid forward the first folder which had been so far untouched. "Your birth certificate, cerified copy. It clearly identifies your father and mother."
Jace put his hand on the manila folder. "Okay, thanks." He opened it and read the names. All of them. "Guess I'll be spending some time at the city library. I don't recognize either of those names. But if that's mine, that's a lot cooler than Jason." He looked at the other folders and then at Jeri. "If I wanted to go through any of these to help learn about them," he said, pointing to the birth certificate, "you gotta a place I could come to?"
"I keep a New York office in the Rand Building," Hogarth said. "Up near Harlem in Manhattan. If I'm not there, my secretary knows how to reach me." Nodding at the birth certificate, he added, "You can hold onto that. The petition I took the liberty of drafting already contains another true copy. I'd keep it somewhere safe and outta sight, though, if I were you."
"The Rand building up near Harlem," repeated Jace. "Okay, sure, maybe I can scrounge up some free time in a couple weeks or so." He removed the birth certificate and folded it before putting it in his pants pocket. He then slid the empty folder across the coffee table. "If keeping it outta sight and safe is so important, I don't want Xavier to see me walking out with a folder. Or anyone else for that matter. Too many prying eyes and minds around here."
"Uh, right," Hogarth said, unsure of how to process that piece of information. "Whatever you say... Sir." He began to pack up his briefcase. "Do you have any questions or concerns that I've not addressed?"
"Sir? Dang, not used to that," he said. "Usually I get 'Jace' or 'kid.' But no, don't think I have anything like that right now. If something comes up, I guess I'll make a trip to Harlem."
"Very good." After fishing his fingers through his shirt pocket, Hogarth extended his hand to Jace. "My card. I'll be in touch once the courts recognize your inheritor status."
Jace accepted the card and flipped it back and forth before putting it in his back pocket. "Thanks. I guess I hope it'll be soon. Are we supposed to shake hands or something now?" he asked. Social niceties were not in his wheelhouse. Business protocols, even less.
"If you want," Hogarth said. "Once we're done reinstating your inheritance, people will want to shake your hand all day long. As your attorney, I do advise caution in that regard." He clapped his briefcase closed and made ready to leave. "You're about to enter the stratus of society where you find there is no such thing as 'real friends,' only 'deal friends'."
He grinned and put his hands in his pockets. "No time like the present to start practicing, then." He was a little confused about the society part. He wondered what being the legal heir to a mountain of inheritance had to do with society and figured he'd get that answer as he researched stuff. "Never had too many 'real friends' over the years anyway. 'Deal friends' sounds interesting, though."
"Best kept at arm's length," Hogarth said in closing. "Have a good day, sir. My office will be in touch." Before he left, though, that raised another thought. "Do you intend to reside here for the time being? If so and you wish to remain discreet, then I suggest contacting my office through this." He reached into his alternate suit pocket and handed over a large brick with a thick antenna. "It's a cellular phone. My spare, actually, but the office number is preprogrammed into it. Just flip open the receiver and dial. You can make any other calls you want, too. I'll add the minutes to the hourlies for your estate."
He nodded. "Okay, this is cool," said Jace as he accepted the cellular phone. "Thanks. Discreet is a better way of putting it than secretive, I guess. And yeah, I plan to stay here for the time being. Got nowhere else to live at the moment."
"That should change once your replevin case is resolved." Hogarth was ready to go and made no bones about showing it. "Have a good day, sir."
Jace casually waved at his attorney. "You, too." His attorney...so much to get used to.
Upon Hogarth's departure, Xavier showed the unexpected attorney to the door and returned to Jace.
"That did not take long," observed the Professor. "Would you care to discuss what it was regarding?"
"Pretty quick and painless, for sure," said Jace. With a casual wave of his hand, he added, "Nah, chicken wings, Prof. Just chicken wings."
Xavier furrowed his brow. Whatever had transpired in that room had catalyzed a shift in Jace's demeanor. Still aloof, there was nonetheless a spring to his step that hadn't been there before. "Very well," said the Professor. "Just know that my door is always open... should there be any developments."
In the meantime, Xavier intended to get to the bottom of exactly how an attorney had tracked Jason Adams to the X-Mansion.
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