For several weeks now Dad has been talking about his latest woman on the internet. He says that she is "dark skinned" but he doesn't mind because she is a real pretty one. This is a new twist for my father because he is the most racist person I have ever known. He tells us that she sends him pictures of herself in her underwear! This makes him smile. This makes me……..gag. It seems that she wants him to send her $250.00. He is a bit leary of this since the last woman almost took him for $200.00. He asks Lee to stop by and have a look at her and see what he thinks.
On Saturday Lee and I make our drive to Terryton. It's about time that I give the house a good cleaning anyway. I've been trying to get my father to hire a cleaning person. He is very tight with his money. This amazes me. He is willing to shell out hundreds of dollars to people he has met on the internet, but won't part with a dime for his family, or for his own needs. He knows very well that Lee travels weekly, that my children are busy with school and that I have a full time job, but yet he expects me to clean his house and we are expected to provide lawn care and snow removal. He refuses to pay for these services.
When we get there dad greets us with a smile. We sit at the kitchen table for a few minutes and small talk. Lee and dad head for the computer upstairs and I begin cleaning. To his credit, he keeps the house fairly tidy. He will run the vacuum, wash his dishes and sweep the floor. On the surface things aren't too bad. Look any farther and it is obvious that the house is neglected. The mail is neatly left on the counter for our review. My father is unable to pay his bills or understand any type of paper work that is mailed to the house. He has never written out a check in his life. My mother managed all household affairs. Now that she is gone, Lee and I manage everything. Each check still requires his signature. He refuses to give up any control of his finances. He is paranoid that everyone is out to steal his money away. Everyone meaning his family, neighbors and store clerks, especially that guy down at the Whole Donut! Everyone does NOT include strangers on the internet - who happen to be the only decent people he knows.
As I clean, I think of my mother. I miss her so much. I wonder what her life was really like here with my father. She used to tell me "Stacey, you don't know how bad he is. He doesn't remember anything anymore. You just don't know how bad." I know that my father was less than kind to my mother. He always was. Since her passing he lives a fairly isolated life. He doesn't have any friends and he has alienated most family members. My father has always been a narcissist. It's all about RAY!
After an hour or so, I am summoned upstairs. Lee tells me to come and see Dad's new girlfriend. He pulls up the picture on the screen. My eyes widen and Lee is laughing. Lee asks me "Do you know who that woman is?" I say "Well yes I do!" My father is shocked! "You know my girlfriend???" Lee says "What is her name Stacey?" Now I'm thinking, and I can't get it out, it's on the tip of my tongue. "Oh you know she is one of the Victoria Secret models!" Lee laughs and says, "That is Naomie Cambell. Ray, she is a super model. When you come to our house Stacey can show you her picture, in a magazine!" My father turns to Lee and says, "Why would a super model need my $250.00???" He has a bewildered look on his face. He shrugs his shoulders, scratches his head and says, "Maybe they don't pay her that much."
I tell my father that the person he has been talking to has used Naomie Campbells picture. The real person he has been talking to is NOT Naomie Campbell. He does not understand, and wants to know why she wants his money. I have to leave the room. I am angry because he doesn't understand. I am angry that he is so delusional that he really thinks that a Victoria Secret model might actually be attracted to him. Lee spends the next thirty minutes upstairs calmly explaining the situation to my father. My husband is a very patient man. A very kind man. He does not get angry. He never shows frustration. I don't know what I would do without him.
I finish cleaning the house. I make lunch and call them down to eat. By now my father understands that someone could possibly present themselves as another person. He is still skeptical that his girlfriend would do that to him. She tells him that she loves him no matter how old he is. He says that he will ask her about it when he talks to her again.
My father later confronts this woman with his "knowledge" of Naomie Campbell, and she says she is so sorry for lying to him. He has been taken for yet.............another ride.
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