A Tale of Two Women - A Mini Series, Part XII

During one long weekend, Deanna’s friends Nazar and his cousin Osama flew to California to see her and the baby. Nazar was outraged by Adam’s behavior and just kept telling Deanna “this is how all the damn Egyptians are”. He hated to generalize such a statement but from he and his family’s experiences and dealings with the Egyptian culture they received the same deceitful treatment.

Deanna, Mindy, Nazar, Osama spent the weekend laughing, eating and exploring the city, which was exactly what Deanna needed………time with good friends and laughter. Deanna knew that Nazar had deep feelings for her, but also knew Nazar wasn’t available for being anything more than her closest friend due to his unhealed heart. Nazar’s mom died from cancer when he was in college and has never recovered from the loss. His mother was everything to him, and now that she was gone he resolved himself to never feel such a loss again EVER. Although he struggled with his feelings for Deanna, his not wanting to ever lose something special again outweighed those feelings. So they resolved through unspoken words to remain forever friends and support each other no matter what happened in their lives. After their glorious weekend together, Nazar and Deanna continued supporting one another through daily phone calls, and Nazar would visit Deanna whenever his schedule permitted as he was in the process of earning his Master’s degree.

Clint and Claudia’s arguing was rearing its ugly head yet once again. His parents were at their wits end because they felt helpless. Even Clint’s father disclosed to Deanna that maybe it would be better if they got a divorce, which he didn’t necessarily support, but after seeing all the arguing that was happening in front of his grandson he thought in this case it might be warranted. Upon learning this news, Deanna once again contacted her brother to inquire as to what was happening. She received the same story she had always received that Claudia was the source of their problems, that Claudia was spending money like crazy, and that Claudia wasn’t supportive. Deanna asked if he would be willing to consider letting Deanna mediate between he and Claudia in an effort to fix things. He agreed that it couldn’t hurt and made the arrangements for their son to go to his parents for their meeting with Deanna.

Deanna arrived at Clint and Claudia’s house with her new baby in toe and got right to work talking to her brother and sister-in-law. Clint started in that they were having money problems and that he was very frustrated about it. Claudia sat silently. Deanna asked Clint what remedies he had taken to improve their financial struggles, to which he declare sheepishly “none”. Deanna realized there was no time for pointing the obvious finger, but rather to get to a solution that would work for them. Deanna shared again things they could do to help their financials situation to which both Claudia and Clint agreed. Deanna realized this was the first time Claudia had been included in these conversations so was really intrigued to see her reactions to these discussions.

Clint shared that he didn’t feel Claudia was supportive of him enough that she seemed to always be on his case about something. Deanna asked Claudia how she felt about this, and she said that she didn’t agree, and looked directly at Clint and said, “Clint, did I not leave my family, my culture, my entire life to come here to make a life with you?” He bowed his head and said, “yes”. She continued by telling both Clint and Deanna that she loved Clint more than anything and had done everything she could think of to support her husband and son. When Clint wanted to go anywhere didn’t Claudia make all the necessary arrangements, didn’t she always re-arrange her work schedule to the point of even losing jobs, didn’t she always clean Clint’s clothes, keep their house clean, and care for their son. To which, again, Clint agreed. Deanna could see things weren’t, as they always seemed. Although admittedly Deanna always struggled with the idea that Claudia was the one spending too much money, but just couldn't quite figure out what the underlying issue was.

When Clint brought up the money issue again, Claudia asked Clint what he thought she spent money on besides food for the house and necessities that were required for their son, and he said, “well what about all the calls to Mexico? Those cost money, Claudia, and you should be using your money from your work to pay for them, but you leave the phone bill for me to take care of”. Deanna interjected and suggested that perhaps they could invest in calling cards rather than using the tradition phone service, which they both fell silent.

Then Claudia reminded Clint of the money he spent on all his toys, motorcycles, camping trailer, camping supplies, and all the other guy things he purchased. She reminded Clint that she never complained of him purchasing these things and always supported his activities. Moreover, she said, “what about the other stuff Clint?” There was an exchange that went on between the two of them the Deanna noticed, and then inquired as to what other things.

Clint looked his sister directly in the eye, then bowed them before saying, “I have a problem. I smoke pot regularly.” When his sister said nothing Clint looked up at her expecting to see a judging look in her face, but rather found his sister’s look had not changed from prior to his confession. In fact, she seemed to have softened and asked in a calmer voice, “how long has this be going on?” To which Clint replied, "since I was in high school". Deanna looked from Clint to Claudia and could see the relief flow from Claudia as if the floodgates had finally opened and she wasn’t the only one that now knew the ‘secret’.

Clint admitted he’d been going to a doctor on and off over the years to try to get some help, but nothing seemed to help. He realized he held a high position in the fire department, and realized he was risking every day going to work being exposed for his secret, but he didn’t know what to do. Claudia shared also that she didn’t like him hanging out with his friend Mike because they always seemed to get drunk together. Although, Claudia really liked Mike and considered him their friend, she still struggled seeing the two of them destroying lives together drinking and smoking pot.

Deanna assured both her brother and sister-in-law that she was there for them and would do whatever it took to get them through this situation. She strongly suggested to Clint that he contact a counselor as soon as possible to get some counseling for his alcohol and drug addiction. She also encouraged Claudia to seek counseling for dealing with this condition as well, so she could better understand what Clint was going through and to be a support to her son. She reminded both of them of their obligation to their son who didn’t deserve to live in an unfit household. Reminded them he deserved so much more and so did they. Deanna agreed to help them through anything, and more importantly agreed that they would not inform their parents because they did not need to be burdened with this situation. Both Clint and Claudia thanked Deanna separately for her help and support.

It had been nearly two years since Adam had left, and Deanna was finally felt she could show herself in public, for she had been living in hiding this entire time. For one because she was so embarrassed and ashamed of her situation, and for another because people were trying to come after her legally for Adam’s criminal and fraudulent dealings through his business. She was able to ward off much of the attempted legal action because of her discovery of not being legally married to Adam, however, she was taken to court over a vehicle she had purchased through Adam’s business. Not long into his business, Adam had taken Deanna’s little Mercedes in as a trade and sold her a Jaguar in the preparation for their baby’s arrival. Deanna could not afford the payments of the Jaguar since she and Adam had separate accounts and he was not giving her any additional money, so she traded the Jaguar in. Adam gave her a Lincoln Town Car as a gift because he wanted to make sure she and the baby had a safe reliable car to drive. After Adam’s departure from the U.S., Deanna was served with legal action concerning the Jaguar she had traded back in to Adam. Apparently, when Deanna filled out the loan papers with the financial institution for her auto loan, the lender then in turn gave the money to Adam for Deanna’s purchase of the Jaguar. Adam was responsible for registering the vehicle with the Department of Motor Vehicles making Deanna the registered owner and the lender the lien holder; however Adam never did this. More importantly Adam sold the Jaguar to another guy. This guy paid cash for the car, to which Adam was suppose to pay the loan back to the lender who had supplied him the money and didn’t, which meant Adam profited twice on the same car that was now registered to no one. Deanna had a team of two attorneys helping her fight this battle because she, too, was possibly facing criminal proceedings, which terrified her tremendously. Doing what Deanna does best, she kept all of this to herself and suffered in silence with the exception of her attorneys and best friend who knew everything. As the proceedings continued even the attorney representing the financial institution suing Deanna was advocating for her, working with her attorneys to come up with a doable plan that would not bring criminal action against Deanna. However, they were not able to do anything about the fact that Deanna had signed loan documents with the bank for the car, which still made her legally liable for the money even though clearly the liable person for the illegal operation was Adam. In addition the lender's attorney proceeded vigorously getting a criminal judgment against Adam, which means nothing at the moment due to his absence, however it will be a tool that is used against him should he ever try to return to this country. The lender's attorney informed Deanna and her attorneys that they were tracking him and not only was the U.S. immigration department after him, but so was the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and many many other entities.

Deanna learned an expensively valuable lesson, and now clearly understood the meaning of “hind sight is 20/20” because she was every day seeing Adam clearer and clearer for who he truly was, a very disturbed individual with no moral fiber or spiritual values whatsoever.