I walked onto the stage and placed the document in Curtis’s hand. He recognized his father’s signature immediately. But when his eyes reached the percentage written above it, the microphone slipped from his fingers and crashed onto the floor.
“Read it, Curtis,” I said quietly.
He picked up the microphone, unfolded the paper, and began reading. It was an Equity Guarantee Agreement dated March ninth, 1996, between Walter Prescott and Ruth A. Calloway. The document stated that Ruth had personally guaranteed a sixty-two-thousand-dollar bank loan, secured against her home at 412 Alder Street. In exchange, Walter had granted her a thirty-five percent ownership interest in Prescott Fabrication, including all its future forms. Curtis lowered the paper, visibly shaken. “Thirty-five percent?” he whispered. “That isn’t possible. My father would have told me.” I took the microphone and prepared to explain why I had kept that agreement hidden for twenty-nine years.
THE STORY CONTINUES ON THE NEXT PAGE… 👇👇👇
