I have a tendency to trust people more than I should. This has gotten me in trouble on more than one occasion. The Bakery was a bar, that me and three other people started together. I thought I had learned something from the board shop, and I had, but the voice started whispering, greed turned us against each other, and the whole thing ended going up in flames. I lost more than one friend in the whole ordeal, but learned a thing or two about loyalty.
It all started as a pipe dream. The idea was brought to my attention by a guy that I had tattooed, (I will not name names, but imagine a weasel that walks upright and you will have a good picture of whom I am talking about,) He knew the owner of the building, that was his way in. He had a very large friend that followed him around, kind of like a body guard. He reminded me of a neanderthal, the way his brow hung over his eyes, His lower jay jutting up and out into the world, causing a sever under bite, and he wasn't to bright.Some how this guy got involved, he had nothing to offer other than the fact that he was friends with the weasel. That fact alone should have been a red flag, but the voice in my head was screaming, COME ON DUDE YOU COULD OWN A BAR!!! Sirens where sounding, it was dream come true.
I live in a bar town, There is nothing else to do, I mean there is, but nothing as entertaining. Bars are also a cash business, basically it is a recipe for success, and all I saw where dollar signs. The weasel and lurch approached me because they thought I had money, and could back their little endeavor. I, however, had no cash, but have a talent for asking for it. That was my way in, it would be my job to secure the capital.
I didn't know many people with the kind of money that we were going to need, but I knew a few, so I made some calls and arranged a sit down. It would require a drive, so I invited a friend to ride along. He agreed to come, on the way we discussed the plan, how I would phrase things, what and how much I was going to ask for... We arrived, I went in and had a nice little chat, but in the end I was turned down. I had figured it was a long shot, so I was not disappointed, I was in no hurry to be in debt again, and was not sure about the weasel and the proof of evolution. The way i saw it, I had tried, it didn't work, it was not a big deal.
My buddy was kind of quite for the first part of the ride home. When he did finally speak up, it was to offer the money I had just been denied. The request shocked me a little, in fact I tried talking him out of it. I knew that his family would not be a fan. He would have to put his car up for collateral at the bank, and technically he didn't own it. He said he would talk to his banker, and try to keep his parents out of it. We parted ways at my apartment. He had to return to his life hours away. Before he left told me he would call me in a couple of days to tell me what the bank had to say.
I tried not to focus on it to much but that phone call consumed my thoughts. It finally happened four days later, it was good news, the bank had approved his loan request, we where in business. He told me he would be up the following day to get the ball rolling. I made one phone call to the weasel and told him we would need a meeting with building owner.
He set it up and the following night we were looking at the bar and the lease. We came to terms, signed the papers and started cleaning, painting, getting signage, setting up bank accounts, liquor licence, just a whirlwind, and I loved it, I have always worked well under pressure, and we only had two weeks to get up and running. We opened in the middle of the winter, which is a horrible time, all the tourists are gone, but there is a strong local crowd and if you can win their favor, you can make it to the halfway point. At the end of January there is a massive weekend long party on the frozen lake. Thousands of people flood back to town and they are there to do one thing, and one thing only... drink.
We managed to get everything done and opened just before Christmas, this was a good soft opening, because all the college kids come back for Christmas, and many of them stay through New Year's. Luckily our gamble paid off. We didn't make a huge amount of money. but we made enough to make through to the end of January. We had all agreed that none of us would get paid until we had made it through to February, just to see what we were dealing with.
The weasel was older than I was by quite a bit, so for some reason he made the argument that he should hang onto the check book. I said alright, but I shouldn't have. This is where I trusted blindly. If there is one thing I know about myself, it is that I am great with money. This arrangement worked for me, because if I didn't have it, I could not be accused of using it improperly, unfortunately it also meant I could not keep a close eye on it.
January came to an end, and it was a blow out, I had never seen so much cash in my entire life. The weekend came to an end and I knew how much money we were supposed to have in bank th following Monday. I was anxious to get paid after all the bills the bar where taken care of, we where looking at a four way split, it was so close I cold taste it and I had my own bills stacking up.
I got to the bank and over half of the money was missing... Angry is not a strong enough word... I immediately called my partner and told him what was going on. I got a copy of every check that had been written over the past month, and sat down to figure out what was happening. What I found was both eye opening and devastating.
The weasel had been paying all his bills out of our account. I mean everything, rent, cable, new car payment, settling old debt, it was ridiculous. It took me a couple of hours to comb through everything, but as soon as I was done I called my partner, and told him we needed to kick the weasel and the gorilla out, they could not be trusted. I was told that it was my fault, and was accused of stealing it myself. I was shocked, I had done everything I could to keep my integrity intact. I told him I could prove that it wasn't me. He told me to go meet his dad and plead my case.
Armed with the truth I met with him. He was not a fan of me, he held me responsible for getting his 25 year old boy involved. I understood this, but didn't have the time to deal with it. I showed him what I had found and was redeemed, we spent the next two weeks pouring over the books, and trying to get the weasel and the thing gone. We changed the locks, took his name off the accounts, reapplied for our liquor licence, it was a hassle. Not to mention the fact that we had become the talk of the town, and not in a good way. People started drifting away.
Legally there was nothing we could do about the lost money. In the end we had to buy the weasel and lurch out, I made some noise about this, but ultimately there was nothing we could do. We paid him and decided to incorporate. The Day before we were supposed to sign the papers, my "buddy" turned on me as well and cut me out completely. Part of me saw it coming, but the rejection still stung,
I dove into the pool with out checking to see if there was any water. I was again blinded by the possibility of success, but I rushed in without checking my surroundings. I had learned to keep track of my bank account after the board shop, but I was so focused on the money, that I excused or ignored what was going on. I can say that I was not the only one that was blinded by greed. We all became ugly. I had been friends my partner for years, never had a bad memory with him, and now I have no desire to ever see him again. I wish him no ill will, but that doesn't mean I have to invite him back in my life.
I will always be driven to success. I have not made it yet, but it took Edison 2000 tries to get the light bulb right. I know I got a few more tries in me, The prospect of making money is my blind spot. Not just making money but making it fast. This thought gives that voice power. It drives me to make rash decisions. Controlling this part of my life is crucial, and somewhere that I need to rely heavily on God, I need to take a step back and trust that he will take care of me, he always has.
North Dakota for part 3 and day fifteen.
-Micah
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