It seems you never really know a person. I've known Jimmy and thought I knew everything about him. We'd been friends in kindergarten, boyfriend and girlfriend in high school, and lovers in college. Now we were newly married, and I KNEW him. I really thought I did.
We were renting this ratty old flat, doing it up the best we could. You can find some good bargains in the second-hand places. We were both working and saving towards the deposit on a house of our own. As a side issue I was also saving towards a new washing machine and refrigerator.
The first hint that we had any trouble was when Jimmy came home after work and told me that the money in my special account was gone. I needed to speak to the bank and find out why. My account must have been hacked, he insisted.
I was making taking it easy sounds and trying to calm him down and finally he shut-up enough to listen to what I was saying.
"I was at Walmart," I told him, "looking at the stuff I wanted and trying to work out how many months it would be before I could buy it. Too many months, was my opinion, and then, while I was right there in the white-goods section, Walmart announced a lightning sale with seventy percent off all white goods. That's seven zero percent. They had new stock coming in the next day and they wanted all the old models gone. I just grabbed the salesman standing next to me and told him I wanted both a fridge and a washing machine. My special account was still ten dollars short but I was willing to skip lunch for a few days to make it up. Would you believe the salesman was a real sweetheart? He said not to worry about skipping lunch as he'd knock the extra ten dollars off the price. The stuff will actually be delivered anytime now. Apparently they need the warehouse space."
So Jimmy was happy for me, pleased that I'd managed to get such a fantastic bargain, and wasn't it lucky I had that special account? Was he what? He was furious.
How dare I spend the money in the special account without telling him? Ah, I used it for the purpose my special account was set up for. MY special account, I might emphasise, as I was the only one who had contributed to it.
I'd have to return the stuff and get my money back.
The hell I would. I'd saved hard for those things and now I had them. Also, Walmart wouldn't refund for goods brought on a special sale. That was part of the deal. They would replace if the goods proved defective but no refunds. (I very much doubt they made much profit at what I paid for those things.)
With that Jimmy went off the deep end. I'd been selfish and inconsiderate. I should have considered his feelings. How did I know the things I bought were suited to us? He'd always assumed that I'd get his advice before actually buying the fridge and washing machine. Would they even fit in our unit?
Seeing they were the items I'd told him about, and seeing I'd measured the spaces where they had to go and had those measurements entered in my phone my answers were yes, all along the line. I'd told him which items, checked that they were suitable, knew they would fit, etcetera.
For one unbelievable moment I thought he wanted to hit me, but he didn't. (Probably because he learnt as a little boy that I hit back. And bit and scratched and kicked as well.)
"What," I asked, "is the problem? It's not as though we had that money marked for anything else."
Come to think of it, why was he snooping in my account anyway? Not that I asked him.
All of a sudden he was looking shifty, not wanting to look me in the eye.
"Well?" I demanded, suddenly all suspicious.
"Um, I put some money on a horse. It was a guaranteed winner. It would have paid a fortune."
"It lost and you owe the bookie? I thought you'd given up gambling? You swore you didn't do it anymore."
"I don't," he said quickly, "but this was a sure thing. Not really a gamble at all."
"Except it lost. How much do you owe?"
"About five hundred," he mumbled.
Now it was my turn to be furious. That would have wiped out my special saving account completely. I chewed on my lip, considering the situation.
"I suppose we could set up some sort of payment plan," I suggested. "As long as he's getting his money your bookie won't mind." I'd met his bookie. He had an eye for the bottom line at all times. (With him that meant both money and my bottom.)
"I don't exactly owe Jacko," Jimmy muttered.
"Why not?"
"He won't let me bet on credit. I had to borrow the money from a friend."
That showed that Jacko was smart and his friend not so smart.
"Well that's all right. Your friend will understand."
"Um, he's decided that he's not so friendly anymore and he wants his money. Now."
My immediate reaction to this was along the lines of, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."
I gave a heavy sigh.
"I hate to do it but I suppose we'll have to pull the money out of our housing deposit. You'll have to put in extra for a while to help build it back up."
I saw the guilty look on his face and my heart sank. I didn't walk, but ran, to my computer, logging into our joint back account. The housing account was empty. Not a single solitary cent left. Well, there was ten cents to ensure the account remained open. It was only missing about five thousand dollars.
I turned to look at Jimmy and from his reaction the look on my face was scary.
"It wasn't my fault," he said. "I did it for you. I know you want your own house and I thought I'd get a decent deposit this way. You can't blame me for trying."
The hell I couldn't.
"Oh, it's not your fault," I said sarcastically. "It's the fault of the horses. All running slowly because they're weighed down with our money."
"Obviously I can't talk to you while you're like this," Jimmy stated. "We'll discuss it later when you're feeling better."
Before I could say anything else he was out the door and gone, leaving me fuming. How could he be so stupid? He never won. If someone dealt him four aces in a poker game he would still lose. Where gambling was concerned Jimmy could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory faster than anyone I knew. Teams have been known to commit mutual suicide when they learn Jimmy is backing them.
My little temper tantrum was alleviated just a trifle by the delivery of my nice new refrigerator and washing machine. The men were even nice enough to wheel them right into the kitchen and laundry so all I had to do was take off the boxes and push them into position, and that was easy. I had more trouble packing those huge boxes down to the dumpster.
All the while my mind was busy turning over possibilities to get Jimmy off the hook. Not that I'd object too strenuously if a couple of thugs gave him a firm reminder but I'd just as soon they not break any bones as I'd be the one who'd have to wait on him until he was better. I came up with a tentative solution. Jimmy would just have to sell it.
Jimmy came sneaking back and was very complimentary about my choice of fridge and washer. I smiled glowingly.
"If you're thinking that you can hock them, forget it. Anytime that thought crosses your mind, remember that the freezer compartment is large enough to take your body."
"I'd never," he protested.
"I assume that the friend who loaned you the money is our local friendly loan-shark. I suppose you'll have to pay him. I suggest you arrange to pay him on payday. It's only a couple of days off. You can use the money that would go towards the rent. That'll give us a chance to make up the money before the rent is actually due."
"But what do I do if they want to, ah, make an example out of me?" There was a touch of desperation in his voice but I was feeling rather cold-hearted.
"In that case, ask that they make it a simple break of your left arm. That way they get to show their professionalism, you serve as an example to other idiots, and you can still work, as a broken left arm won't stop you."
"Your sympathy is underwhelming," he grumbled, and I grinned.
Idiot does, idiot pays, is my new motto.
That evening there was a gentle rap on the door and when Jimmy answered it two gorillas walked in, propelling him backwards into the front room. The gorillas came down the hall single file, each of them filling the width of the hall quite easily.
"Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy," said the first gorilla. "You were supposed to stop by and see Mr Demass today. You know, with that little payment you owed him."
Jimmy started to dither so I butted in.
"Didn't you stop to make arrangements like I suggested?" I demanded. Really, asking for a two day extension wouldn't be that hard, surely?
Now Jimmy was also giving me a hunted look.
"I got delayed," he said quickly. "I'd have been in tomorrow to make arrangements."
"Arrangements?" asked Gorilla One. "What arrangements? The only arrangements required were you handing over the money you owe. What's so hard about that?"
"Beth spent the money I was going to use," he said. "It was there in the bank but she saw something she wanted and spent it. It's not my fault."
"Me?" I exploded. "All I spent was money that I had in my account that I had been saving for months, to buy some things that we badly needed. Don't go blaming me because I spent my money on essential things. It's not like you told me that you'd blown all our savings on a horse that apparently had trouble walking, let alone running."
"See," said Jimmy. "She admits she spent your money."
"And just what did you buy that chewed up our five hundred?" growled Gorilla One.
"A new fridge and washing machine," I told him. "I was lucky enough to get a special deal at Walmart, and it was all my own money, saved by me from payment I receive from working with my two little hands."
