When my mom and sister got back from the grocery store, I helped them put away the groceries. I asked my mom, "Can you give me a ride downtown?" She asked, "Why?" I said, " I made an appointment with an attorney. It's just a free consultation about my ice cream idea." At first, Delilah was concerned her daughter had made a consultation appointment with an attorney, but when she heard it was free her concern lessened. She said, "Sure, what time is the appointment?" Jasmine said, "I made the appointment for 3." It was already 2:15, so she said, "OK, let's go!"
Delilah thought to herself that she could speak to the attorney and ask if he knew any good divorce attorneys. Jasmine was glad she agreed to take her. This would create more opportunities for her mother. They left Amber in charge and the kids pretty much played in their rooms, careful not to make too much noise and upset James.
Jasmine and her mom reached the lawyer's office 20 minutes early. It was a small city, so downtown was not too far from their house. They lived centrally in the city, so everything was about 15 minutes away. They went into the building and up the elevator to the third floor. When they saw the door with the legal sign they went in and were greeted by the receptionist. Jasmine said, "Hi, my name is Jasmine, and this is my mom. I have a 3 o'clock appointment with Mr. Smith." The receptionist checked them in and said, "Hello, Mr. Smith is currently with a client, but please wait in the lobby and he will be with you as soon as he is finished." We nodded and thanked her and headed to the lobby. The leather sofa was plush and comfortable. I could tell it was expensive.
My mom asked me, "How did you find out about him?" I said, "I looked up attorneys on the computer in the library at school. I called all of them and he was the nicest-sounding attorney. He offered a free consultation, so I made the appointment for today because I knew you were off work." Delilah looked at her daughter and was impressed. Her daughter was smart and sometimes too smart for her good, but this time it worked out. She said, "Do you have your questions ready? It is only a short free consultation. If you need more time, we will have to pay his hourly rate." Jasmine nodded and pulled out her notebook with the questions written down.
Delilah took the notebook and read over the questions. She was impressed again with her daughter. She thought of a couple of other things to ask and shared them with Jasmine. The receptionist called them back and led them into an office. They sat in the comfortable metal chairs and the lawyer entered. He said, "Hello, my name is John Smith, Attorney at Law." He shook hands with Delilah and Jasmine. Delilah introduced herself, "Hi, my name is Delilah, and this is my daughter Jasmine. She is the one who made this appointment, and it is her idea. I'm just here to support her." John looked at Jasmine and was intrigued. He said, "Nice to meet you, Jasmine. Were you the one I spoke to on the phone?" Jasmine said, "Hi, nice to meet you as well. Yes, I called you."
He sat down and asked, "How can I help you?" Jasmine said, "We own an ice cream store, and I would like to create some non-dairy ice cream. I have a hard time digesting dairy and thought it would be nice to have other options. I want to create a recipe and sell it to the franchise owners." He thought about it for a second and nodded. He said, "I also have a hard time digesting dairy. I think it happens to a lot of people as we get older. It would be nice to be able to eat ice cream again. I think you have an excellent idea. You need a patent once you create the recipe. Once you have applied for the patent you can propose your idea to the franchise owners. If they like it, they can buy the recipe from you, and you will still own the rights to it and can keep earning profits." He said, "I would love to help you with this. Once you have the recipe can you bring me some to try?" He looked excited. I said, "Sure." He smiled, and I smiled. We all smiled at the non-dairy ice cream!
My mom asked him, "How much will it cost to patent the recipe?" Mr. Smith said, "Normally it costs around $5,000 with the attorney fees, but I can offer you a discount." My mom's eyebrows shot up! She was not expecting it to be that much! She said, "Can we do it ourselves?" He nodded and said, "Of course, but it is a hassle to go to the patent office. I can help you with the process." My mom said, "We will keep that in mind. If you don't mind, I would like to ask if you know any good divorce attorneys." He looked at her seriously and said, "I have a good friend who is a divorce attorney. He might give you a discount if you tell him I sent you. His name is Jessie James." My mom thanked him and made a mental note to make an appointment with Mr. James.
We asked the rest of the questions we had and thanked him for his time. I promised to bring some non-dairy ice cream and asked what his favorite was. He said, "My favorite flavor is Rocky Road." I nodded and said, "I can do that! It's chocolate with marshmallows and almonds." He nodded and said, "Thank you!" We left and headed home. My mom told me, "Don't say anything to James about the divorce lawyer yet." I nodded in understanding. I didn't want him to make things difficult for my mom. Right now, they still share a bank account, and all their finances are combined. My mom would need time to separate herself from him financially
I knew what my mom was worried about, and I told her, "Don't worry. I will help you. I can make an appointment with the patent office after I perfect my non-dairy ice cream recipe. I won't tell James about it either." I knew my mom was the one with a mind for business. In my past life, James had opened three different restaurants and they all failed because he was too proud to accept help from anyone. He said he wanted to be his boss and wanted to provide for the family by himself. I guess his heart was in the right place, but having too much pride was not good. He was not too smart! I almost felt bad for him. I would help him get a food truck after the divorce. He was a great chef, but bad at business. Maybe he could keep a food truck going himself.
We went home and my mom had to get ready for her valet job. She told me to look after my siblings and hugged me. She felt bad for leaving her daughters in charge of her other kids, but she didn't have money for a babysitter. Luckily Jasmine was wise beyond her years and responsible. James went with her to the valet job and the kids were home alone. Jasmine talked to Amber about writing some parody songs. Amber was used to Jasmine's parodies for church and asked, "For the church?" Jasmine said, "No, I had an idea to change some of the songs I don't like into parodies. Can you play the keyboard, and we can both sing?" Amber was shy and didn't want to be the lead singer, but she didn't mind playing the keyboard and singing back up. Jasmine liked to be the lead singer, so it worked! Caitlyn heard them talking about singing and got excited.
She was a little cheerleader for the boy's little league baseball games. Her peppy spirit was contagious. Amber and Jasmine smiled at her. The boys were playing Super Mario Bros together. Jasmine asked, " Hey guys, do you want to play the drums or something in our band?" The boys had their eyes glued to the TV and both said, "No" at the same time. Jasmine just chuckled and was glad they were getting along. She went to the dining room table with the girls to work on the songs together. The dining room and living room were connected and she could still see her brothers playing on the TV from the table.
Jasmine liked the song 'I'm Good' that used the same music as 'I'm Blue'. She wrote down the lyrics she could remember and improvised the ones she couldn't. It was still pretty good. Amber played the music for 'I'm Blue' while Jasmine sang the new lyrics. Caitlyn loved it and tried to sing along. Jasmine showed her the lyrics and used her finger like a karaoke machine to show Caitlyn the lyrics.