Читать книгу The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs - Nicola Maria Vitola - Страница 9

At this point, all of you reading this, would have woken up from the daydream if John had asked you for money, right? Melanie doesn't wake up; but let’s look at their chat exchange:

«I’ve applied for discharge. They’ve told me they’ll accept my application but with certain conditions.»

«What conditions?»

«They want me to pay something. A sort of penalty.»

«How much?»

«The equivalent of 24 thousand euros in dollars.»

«Well, you’ve got it, haven’t you?»

«I’ve invested in securities in the United States, it’s money that is tied-up. I haven’t got the amount they want, here.»

Melania is upset by this request. It’s not decorous for a man to ask his woman for money. She’s not used to it, because although she can remember many shortcomings of her former husband, he always provided for his family.

She never lacked anything while she lived with her first husband.

A little alarm bell rings faintly in her brain, but her heart overrides the doubts that are surfacing. Because he’s also clever at brushing them aside.

«I don’t know if I’ll be able to get that amount together» Melania says, already starting to regret her caution because she has some money put aside, more than the amount John needs.

«Don’t do it, my darling, if it’s a problem. I feel rotten asking you to do this. It’s not right. I have enough savings for both of us in my US accounts. It’s the man who should always look after his woman! Forget what I said. We’ll find another solution. I’ll stay here a bit longer and we’ll postpone meeting for a year until I’m discharged.»

«A year?». Melania is appalled at the prospect of waiting another year to be able to embrace John. No, she can’t wait that long. Because he writes to her assiduously, intense words full of emotion. He tells her how much he loves her, how lonely he feels laying in his bed and hugging his cold pillow; every night he dreams of kissing her and making love to her, then in the morning waking up leaves his soul empty and sad.

So, Melania gives in. She dips into her savings and transfers some money by Western Union. John collects it and disappears. The great love affair ends overnight.

John doesn’t really exist. The person writing to Melania is a 23-year-old Nigerian. He’s part of a gang of crooks who split the loot between them after each romance scam⁴.

When Melania contacts the police, they tell her she is the third woman from Rimini to be scammed in a few months. But that’s small consolation to her. As soon as she can she insults the so-called John (online again) and calls him a thief and a scammer. He answers that he gave her what she was looking for and suggests she join him in Nigeria to have some “fun”. Melania calls him an “animal” and ends all contact with him for ever.

No dream could finish in a worse manner. Poor Melania. She’s upset about the money - yes - but even more about having fallen for a scam which, with hindsight, seems so obvious to her. «I really am stupid!» she tells herself every morning as she looks in the mirror.

She began treatment because she didn’t know what else to do. She closed her Facebook profile. The psychologist told her to avoid the computer and start going for long bike rides again like she used to when she was young, to enrol in a club for environmentalists, artists or whatever she liked, to leave the virtual world alone and get out and meet real people.