During the Great Depression millions of people lost everything when the Stock Market crashed on Black Tuesday, October 29th, 1929.
There were a lot of reasons that so many people ended up in poverty, but one of the more depressing ones was, they were often taken advantage of by corrupt bankers, mortgage companies and lenders of all kinds.
Folks were often at the mercy of greedy landlords and lenders. It wasn’t uncommon for a family to be put out on the street if they missed or were late with little as one rent or mortgage payment. Financial cruelty was commonplace.
Jobs were scarce and so many hard working folks who did manage to find work, ended up working for what could best be described as slave wages. Earning just enough to put a little food on the table for themselves and families was almost impossible, let alone trying to keep a roof over their heads.
Unfortunately, in times like these, some segments of the underbelly of society seize onto every way to make a buck off of those in dire straits. If they offered work, it was at terrible wages and working conditions. People had no choice, it was a “take it or leave it” economy.
One such man who viewed the depression as a golden opportunity to increase his fortunes was Winston Grimes. Actually it wasn’t even his fortune, it came as an inheritance from his late father, Winston Grimes, Sr. who was by all accounts a horrible human being even before the financial crash. He is what is known as a slum landlord who would not hesitate to evict entire families onto the cold streets if they were even a few days late paying their rent or loan. He amassed his fortune by charging exorbitant interest rates and rents for substandard housing and ruled over them like a real estate emperor.
Sometimes in this life, it seems like things happen to the most deserving of people. And sometimes, those people deserve the worst. Such was the case when this awful excuse for a human being was suddenly struck down by a fatal heart attack.
After his funeral, it was his favorite son, Winston who was informed that he was the sole heir to his father’s fortune. It was rumored that Winston had received his father’s entire fortune, lock stock and barrel, leaving his other siblings out of the bounty. Of course Winston was not about to share any of his new found wealth with anyone else in the family. As far as he was concerned, he was entitled to it all, the greedy bastard!
Winston was a chip off the old block and refusing to share with his brothers, is something his father would probably do himself! “It’s a jungle out there,” he would say. “Only the strongest survive!”
He was a quick study, and had to prove to anyone who cared, that he was even more of a survivor than his father. He would show the world how much richer and crueler he could be than his Dad. Yes, they would all know!
It didn’t take too long before he became the most despised person in town after taking advantage of the sick and elderly who were financially at their wits end by kicking them out of their homes, and calling in their loans at the worst possible times for them, all in the name of more profit.
As the depression wore on, his greed multiplied. It wasn’t unusual for him to throw families out of their houses with no notice what-so-ever, if he knew he could get a few dollars more from the next desperate family that came along. He would hire people and decide whether he was going to pay them less than they were due, or simply just not pay them at all. There was no bottom of depravity he would not stoop to.
One day, he found himself in a quandary and needed help with a problem with one of his buildings.
Winter would soon set in, and at the worst possible time for him. The roof on his apartment building was damaged and was starting to leak after a large windstorm. He didn’t care if the tenants got wet, he was only concerned about the fact that he had placed the building up for sale and knew a bad roof would make the building harder to sell, and for less money.
As much as he tried, he could not find anyone who would agree to repair the roof. Anyone qualified was well aware of his reputation around town for not paying people who performed work for him. He was black listed as someone to avoid working for. There were a few tradesmen who might do the job, but these insisted on being paid upfront. Winston would not agree to that, knowing full well he had no intentions of paying for the job at all.
He had planned a trip to Europe in a few weeks and knew with the weather turning, he had to have the repairs made before he left on his trip, and before any prospective buyers had a chance to inspect the building.
Finally with the rain leaking into the apartments, a young man, dressed in old dirty farm clothes approached him and said he was desperate for work, and could do the job for him. Winston was already planning to skip paying this country bumpkin by finding some small fault with the man’s labor when the job was complete.
The young man told Winston it would take him three to four weeks to complete the job, but he had a few conditions first, before he agreed to take the job on.
First, he said Winston had to pay for the shingles and have them delivered up to the roof. Winston didn’t like that, but time was rushing on and he was desperate, so he agreed.
Second, he told Winston he would do the job for ten cents for the first day, and every day after that it would be doubled.
Winston couldn’t believe how dumb this guy could be. Ten cents? Thinking, he quickly figured out it would be 10 cents for the first day, then 20 cents for the second day, 40 cents for the third day and so on. What a deal!
Winston couldn’t extend his hand fast enough to seal the deal, but stopped and said the job had to be completed before he returned home from Europe in thirty days.
The young man said he was okay with that, but he insisted that he be paid in cash every day. Finally, he insisted that Winston write and sign a letter instructing the bank to pay the agreed amount of 10 cents and double it every day in cash for the entire month or until the job was completed.
Winston couldn’t get his pen out fast enough. The two men then shook hands on it and delivered the signed letter of instructions to Winston’s bank. Problem solved! He could now go home and start packing for his trip.
Winston left for Europe and work began on the roof as agreed. After the first day’s work, the young man arrived at the bank as agreed, and received 10 cents in cash that day for his wages.
The next day, he returned to the bank and received 20 cents.
On the third day, he once again collected his wages of 40 cents.
On the fourth day he collected his wages of 80 cents.
And on the fifth day, the bank teller handed him a one dollar bill and sixty cents.
Winston was vacationing in Europe and couldn’t be happier. This moron had worked an entire week and it only cost him three dollars and ten cents!
Telling himself he was a genius, as he poured a glass of expensive brandy and chuckled - what an idiot this kid was!
Thirty days later, Winston arrived home and was quite pleased with himself as he inspected the new shingles on his building. What a deal he thought!
Arriving back at his office, there was a note on his desk left by his assistant, who was nowhere to be found. It read “Call Bank NOW!”
He phoned the bank thinking maybe someone had made an offer on his building. The manager got on the phone and said, “Mr. Grimes, I need you to come into the bank today, as I have something urgent I must discuss with you immediately.”
As requested he arrived at the bank within the hour and sat down at the manager’s desk.
Winston started with, “So what is so important that you need to discuss with me?”
The manager explained, “Mr. Grimes, I have to notify you that we must recall all of your loans immediately. Also, we have seized all of your commercial holdings for non-payment under our loan agreement.
“WHAT?” was Winston’s shocked reply. “I have lots of money in my account to service all my debts!”
The manager came back, “Mr. Grimes, I’m afraid not. Your current bank balance is overdrawn to the amount of $671,006.83. May I ask how you intend to settle this issue?”
Winston, clearly enraged, shouted, “I need to see my bank statement NOW!”
The manager had anticipated this, and reached into his desk drawer and opened a manilla folder containing the bank statement for Winston to see.
STATEMENT OF WITHDRAWALS:
Day 1 1 cent
Day 2 2 cents
Day 3 4 cents
Day 4 8 cents
Day 5 16 cents
Day 6 32 cents
Day 7 64 cents
Day 8 $1.28
Day 9 $2.56
Day 10 $5.12
Day 11 $10.24
Day 12 $20.48
Day 13 $40.96
Day 14 $81.92
Day 15 $163.84
Day 16 $327.68
Day 17 $655.36
Day 18 $1,310.72
Day 19 $2,621.44
Day 20 $5,242.88
Day 21 $10,485.76
Day 22 $20,971.52
Day 23 $41,943.04
Day 24 $83,886.08
Day 25 $167,772.16
Day 26 $335,544.32
CURRENT OVERDRAFT BALANCE: - $671,006.83
Winston scanned the statement in front of him and screamed, “Is this a joke? What are all these withdrawals I see? I didn’t authorize these!”
The manager calmly pulled out an envelope containing a second sheet of paper from the folder and placed it in front of him, out of the reach of Winston. He then said, “Mr. Grimes, this is the signed instructions that you, yourself delivered here to the bank with your employee, indicating that he would present himself each day and was to be paid ten cents for the first day’s work and double that amount every day for a maximum of thirty days. It also stipulated that your employee was to be paid in cash every day. We followed your instructions to the letter. However, your employee was unable to collect any money after 26 days, as all of your funds were depleted and credit stopped. Which brings us to the situation we find ourselves in today. The bank must recover any and all outstanding monies and, you sir have substantial negative bank balance meaning unless you can fund the overdraft today, you are now financially insolvent.”
Winston, was furious, stood up and screamed at the bank manager, “I am going to go home and contact my lawyer! You’ve not heard the last of this!”
The bank manager replied, “Oh yes, as you were in arrears on your own mortgage we had to take possession of your home as well to help satisfy some of the outstanding debts. You will find that any of your personal possessions that were not of significant value to reduce your debt, have been removed from the home and placed outside on the front lawn. I would ask you to vacate the property by six o’clock this evening.”
Winston yelled, “So you’re telling me that I now have no money and no home?”
“Yes, Mr. Grimes, I’m afraid so. May I ask, do you recall the name Robert Anderson?”
He replied “No, I’ve never heard of that man”
“Well Mr. Robert Anderson used to own a home that you once held the mortgage on.”
Stephen asked, “Why should I care about what this man used to own?”
The bank manager looked Winston straight in the eye and said, “Mr. Anderson was only one month late with his mortgage payment and, like so many others these days, he lost his job and you repossessed his house and threw his wife and three children out on the street with barely a day’s notice.”
Winston replied, “That’s got nothing to do with me!”
The bank manager continued, “Actually it's got everything to do with you Mr. Grimes. You see, Robert Anderson is the man who repaired your roof. And it's Robert Anderson who now legally owns your home and has all your money which you yourself authorized him to do so. And Mr. Robert Anderson will be moving his wife and children into it this evening! Have a nice day Sir!” as two large security guards escorted Winston out the front door of the bank and onto the street, where the ice cold rain and sleet began pouring down on him!
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Copyright 2024 Kenneth Lane Smith
All Rights Reserved
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