The Flim-Flamming of a Scam Man

Ah, the satisfaction of Tables turned.............

“Good morning Mr. Alfred.  How are you today, sir.”  Rosa Lee asked cheerily, as she entered the front door Mr. Alfred had just opened.

“Fine. Fine, Rosa Lee.  I’m in a bit of a hurry.  I’ve got a very important Phone Call I must return to quickly.  Just go on back to Liza’s room, and get her ready for the day, and for her breakfast,”  Mr. Alfred said urgently.  “I’ll join the two of you in the kitchen as soon as I can.”

“Yes sir,”  Rosa Lee replied.  “Is there anything I can help you with, sir ?”

“Maybe.  I’ll know more at the end of the Call,”  Mr. Alfred said uncertainly, as he turned and strode down the hallway to the master bedroom.

After giving Mrs. Liza her morning bed bath, dressing and grooming her, and carefully lifting her from the bed with the Hoyer lift, nicknamed, Stanley, in order to place her slowly into her awaiting wheel chair, Rosa Lee headed for the kitchen, wheeling Mrs. Liza in front of her, in order to cook breakfast for her two elderly charges.

A little later, Mr. Alfred entered the kitchen, and poured a cup of coffee from the antique percolator, with unusual seriousness.

“Mr. Alfred, please don’t think me forward, sir, but is the phone call the reason for your being so concerned over something ?”  Rosa Lee asked carefully.

Mr. Alfred sat his coffee cup down on the kitchen counter, and peering worriedly at Rosa Lee said,  “It’s my son.  He’s in the 

Dominican Republic doing some business, and his taxi got unexpectedly pulled over, and he’s been arrested on drug charges.”

Rosa Lee blinked twice.  “Mr. Alfred, that does not sound like something your son would ever do, sir.”

The Man on the Phone told me that Johnny is being hauled into court in just a few hours, and told me that I must send him $1,000.00 for bail, and more later for a lawyer.  He told me to send a Western Union Money-gram to a woman named Carla Smith.”

“One thousand dollars for bail, must be sent to a woman named Carla Smith, instead of some Dominican Republic official ?”  Rosa Lee asked calmly.

“Yes, yes, and he told me that it must be done right away or it will be too late,”  Mr. Alfred said agitatedly.

“Mr. Alfred, sir, once again, please forgive my forwardness, but I think that this is a Scam.  None of this makes sense.  Your son does not use drugs.  He is a well respected businessman.  Also, why was his taxi pulled over at all ?  Was the taxi driver arrested as well ?”

“According to the Man on the Phone, yes he was.”

“Do they think that the Taxi Man and your son were in cahoots ?  And also, sir, why are they in such a hurry to get your money sent to them ?  Why are you to send it to this Carla Smith person ?”  Rosa Lee continued to query.

“Sir, I think that you are being scammed.  And I think that you need to call your son, and speak with him in person on his phone, before you make any further decisions regarding this situation.  It just smells very fishy to me, Mr. Alfred.”

“But they let me speak to Johnny very briefly at the beginning of the call in order to verify his identity.”

“And the Voice on the Phone sounded like your son, Mr. Alfred ?”

“Well, yes, I guess it did.  I was so surprised by what I was hearing, I wasn’t really paying very close attention, but I thought that it sounded like him,”  Mr. Alfred said shakily.

“Mr. Alfred, I think that it was the Scam Man’s accomplice in crime.  Sir, you need to call your son, and speak to him about this.”

“But the Man on the Phone warned me not to tell anybody, because it would ruin my son’s reputation and his job.”

“Sir, you really should call your son and speak with him in order to get to the bottom of this.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll do that, Rosa Lee.”  Mr. Alfred barked.  “Liza and I can go ahead and eat the eggs, bacon and toast you’ve got ready for our breakfast, while we wait to hear back from him.  But what if I’m wasting precious time getting this bail money to Johnny ?”

“Mr. Alfred, sir, I really do think that you are being scammed by this Flim-Flam Man from the Dominican Republic, if that is even where he was calling from.  None of this makes any sense, sir.  It just does not add up.  Please, bear with me, and wait for your son to return your call.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to do just that.  It’s just that I’m confused as to what to do,”  Mr. Alfred said irritably.

“It really galls me that there are people in the world that do this to the Elderly, Mr. Alfred.  In the rainbow of life, mid-rainbow adults, like myself, are supposed to take care of both ends of the rainbow as a whole.  As adults we are supposed to take care of and protect our Young and our Elderly,”  Rosa Lee said earnestly.

“If you ask me, doing something like this to our Elderly is a greater Sin against Humanity, than doing it to an Adult, like me.  There is a special place in Hades for people like this Scam Man,”  Rosa Lee added.

Rosa Lee cleared her throat, and setting the table for Mr. Alfred and Mrs. Liza, she changed the subject.  “Mr. Alfred, are you playing cards with your friends this afternoon ?”

“Well, I usually would, but there’s a funeral being held today for a gentleman some of the fella’s knew.  So, it’s been postponed until next week.”

“Do you plan to attend the funeral, sir ?”

“No, I didn’t really know him that well.  Although, I must say he died in  rather surprising circumstances.”

“How so, sir,”  Rosa Lee asked as she placed a fork full of egg into Mrs. Liza’s open mouth, and gave her a sip of juice.

“It appears that he went out to the mailbox to get the mail and dropped dead of a heart attack.  His wife didn’t think it odd that he hadn’t returned right away, because he always stopped to speak to the neighbors.  In fact, he was found lying out in the street by another gentleman who just happened to be out walking his dog.”

“It appears that the dog ran up and used the dead man as a fire hydrant.  The gentleman scolded the dog, and felt for a pulse.  After determining that the dead man was dead, the dog owner, went straight up the driveway to the dead man’s house, and got the dead man’s wife.”

“The dog urinated on the dead man, Mr. Alfred ?”

“Yes, that is what I was told.”

“I pray that never happens to my dead body,”  Rosa Lee said with a grimace.

“That is most understandable, Rosa Lee,”  Mr. Alfred chuckled.

“Ring ! Ring !  Ring !”

Mr. Alfred looked at the number displayed on his phone.  “It’s Johnny.”

“Hello son.  Where are you calling from ?”  Mr. Alfred asked pointedly.

Mr. Alfred smiled and winked at Rosa Lee,  “He’s in Dallas”

Rosa Lee smiled and said, “Thank heavens.”

Rosa Lee finished feeding Mrs. Liza, and helping her drink a glass of water and cranberry juice while Mr. Alfred laughed and joked on the phone with his son about him being a Dominican Republican drug runner.

When Mr. Alfred wished his son well and hung up his phone, Rosa Lee said, ”Mr. Alfred, when the Scam Man calls you back in order to try and steal your money, you should tell him that you called the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, and they are going to take care of everything over there.  You need to tell the Scam Man that you gave the United States F.B.I. all of the information that he gave to you over the phone regarding himself and Carla Smith, and that they, too, are going to take care of things over there for your son.”

Mr. Alfred laughed outright.  “Rosa Lee, God help me if I ever get on the wrong side of you or yours.”

“Ha !  Mr. Alfred, sir, you have nothing to worry about.  You and Mrs. Liza are under my protection.  However, I must admit that I am rather enjoying your being able to turn the tables on this ugly spirited fellow.  I am more than happy to help you out Flim-Flam this Scam Man.”