Passport: America

It is tight and cramped in the nitch under the counter where the boy hid. To ease his boredom he tried to sleep, waking only when a customer came in. Not just any customer was worth his attention though. He is after foreign customers. Often it is the foreign customers who care carry the most money and the best prize, the passport. He has been hiding there since early morning. He is getting hungry between his naps. It is now just early afternoon and he would be here all day.
A young couple comes in the front door with a little jingle of the door chimes. They smiled and giggled at each other then went separate ways through the store. The boy sat still and listened to them, hoping to catch an accent of any type.
“Tony, come look at this,” the woman called to the man with a clear American accent. Now the boy was paying attention. He just needed them to come towards him.
“Where are you, Barb?” the man called back from across the shop. The boy wondered which one of them had the money.
“Over here,” the woman answered. Oh, how the boy hated that answer and rolled his eyes in disgust. He may be young, seven, but he is old for his age and views that as the most worthless answer out there.
The man named Tony finally found Barb and the trinket she found. It was a small amethyst necklace. It was priced rather high, 50 Euros. The couple was discussing that very detail when an older woman who appeared to be the storeowner came up to them. She had an ageless face and kind eyes. The kindly appearance hid the truth very well. The boy knew the woman well, it was his grandmother. She was trying to sell the couple the necklace. It seemed to know because Tony was looking at Barb and she was nodding her head excitedly.
The couple approached the counter. The boy stiffened and held perfectly still. He knew he had to be unseen and fast when he does go for the purse. The woman made his job much easier by taking off her purse and setting it on the counter right above his head. He heard his grandmother ring them up, and then it was his turn.
The boy jumped out of the nitch, snatched the purse off the counter, and ran out the door. The leather bag of a purse was an easy zipper, easy for him to get into while he ran. He shoved what he could into his pockets, and then noticed the woman’s husband bearing down on him fast. The kid dropped the purse and disappeared around a corner.
Tony grabbed the purse off the sidewalk and started towards the antique shop where his wife was with her new trinket. He did not bother to open the purse since they boy would not have had time to open it himself. By the time he got back, his wife, Barbara, was being comforted by the storeowner. He handed the purse over to his wife who takes it with shaky hands. “Don’t worry about it, Dear. You can just take the necklace, it is yours,” the storeowner offers. The couple accepts the offer and leave.
A few minutes pass as the couple leave, but once they are completely gone, the store owner’s eyes go from soft to hard. She knew the boy would be back soon. Just as she finished the thought, the boy came jogging down the alley behind the building.
“Don’t dottle, Joe. Let’s go!” the storeowner barked.
Joe obliged by hurrying into a trot the rest of the way to the store. He looked up to his grandmother then walked in to the back room. He emptied his pockets on a small table, and then got a soda and an apple from the tiny refrigerator behind him. His grandmother started to route through the small pile. Joe had managed to grab a few loose Euros, some make-up, and one very important item, a passport. Inside was every piece of documentation you would need. What was even better, the woman in the photo, Barbara Terressa Nilla looked just like her daughter and Joe’s mother.
“Well, you did great today, kid. You just got your mother a trip to the States,” her voice sounded so soft. “Go fetch her, we have work to do.”
Joe finished his soda, and then turned back out the back door. He jogged home. A few minutes later, he had brought his mother with him to the store. She did look a lot like the woman he just stole the purse from. Her hair was a little darker blond and longer than the other woman’s, but other than that, a match.
“Mom, what do you need?” her voice was definitely British though.
“I need you to talk like an American. You are going to the States,” Grandmother said as she started clicking on the mouse of her computer hidden under various boxes. The grandmother was importing the name on the passport, hoping to find some information about the woman her daughter was to become.
“The woman who was Barbara had all her identification in here. She is now no-body. She doesn’t exist. Monica, you will be Barbara. She has a house, a husband, a job. You will learn all this and be her. Once you are established over there, you will send money here for support. We can not pass this chance up.”
The light outside faded as Monica started to learn her new life. It will take a couple of days, but soon no one will know the difference between the girl once know as Barbara and the woman now known as Barbara, formally known as Monica.
After half a week, Monica was undistinguishable from Barbara. The grandmother purchased a plane ticket to Los Angeles, and the new Barbara Terressa Nilla was returning to her new home in the States.
Her touch down in Los Angeles was smooth, and just as smooth was her phone call to her husband. “Tony, I am at the airport. Could you please come and get me?” her tone and accent practiced and perfect.
“Barb? How could you be home? I have been working everyday trying to find a way home for you. I sent money to you. I couldn’t western union it because you had no I.D., I mail sent it but it was returned. I was so worried. How did you get home? Where did you go?” his voice was concerned and excited at the same time. It sounded as though he was trembling.
Barbara smiled and laughed for a second, “I will explain everything later. Could you just come and get me? I am hungry too. I spent the last fifty cents I had calling you.”
“Oh yeah. I’ll get you. I’ll be there in half-an-hour. I love you, Barbie.”
“I love you too.” Barbara hung up the payphone and smiled. So far so good. He was so excited to see her, he would believe anything. Tony believed she was his wife already. Will he believe her when he picks her up though? Will he believe her as the night continues? Those are doubts running through Barbara’s mind now. Slight doubt ebbed through her as she waited in front of the airport.
A car pulled up in front of her after a while. From the front seat came a man who matched the photograph that she got of Tony. “Barbara! It is so great to see you. I thought I would never see you again, or at least never see you home again. Come on, let’s get you some food. Wow, you look great for all you had to have gone through,” he ushered her to the front seat of the car. She notices that it is a black Jaguar; they must have some serious money. Barbara smiled and got into the car. Soft classical music was playing.
They do not talk until they reach the restraunt, Los Angelicas. It is a post restaurant and Barbara is starving. They sit in the non-smoking section and talk as they wait for the server. “So, how did you make it home?” Tony was leaning half way across the table, over-joyed to have his wife back.
“Well, it wasn’t easy.” Now comes the hard part for the new Barbara. She had to follow her plan exactly and hope that is as believable to Tony as it seemed when her mother said it in her old home. “After a couple of days of not hearing from you, I went to London via hitch hiking. In London, I found an Embassy. I managed to get a meeting with the Ambassador, which was not an easy feat; apparently, he is very busy all the time. They took me in, allowing me to stay there. They looked up my passport information using my social security number and when it matched all my information and I was able to quote the information off my identification they believed who I was. They managed to get all the identification for me while I was there. They even supplied me with enough money for the ticket home. Once home, I asked around until I got enough money to make a phone call to you,” she smiled as she spoke. She had practiced this story so many times that she almost believed it.
“Wow, how resourceful. It is a shame we didn’t think of the Embassy while I was over there. We could have continued our vacation then together. Did you see much of interest while you were over there alone?” he had completely bought the story.
“No, not really. I didn’t have much money and once in the Embassy, they wanted me to stay in there.” Thankfully, for Barbara, the server came to take their orders. Barbara ordered the steak and steamed vegetables. Tony looked at her strangely, but then ordered the Veggie Melody with a fruit salad on the side.
Once the server left, Tony looked up at her. He locked eyes with her and in a concerned manner asked of Barbara, “When did you start eating meat?” Barbara had been a vegitariarian for as long has he had known her.
“When you are hungry, you will eat a lot of things. I was hungry and I had meat offered to me, so I ate it. I even liked it. I have given up the vegetarian life-style, although I will only be eating meat that comes from organic and free-range farms. You don’t have to eat meat, I will make different food for you,” Barbara held his eye contact the entire time. She wished she had known that Barbara was a vegetarian. She continued eating, belying her concern of how this really was not going to work. She worried that she would be found out if there were any more slip-ups. Tony held her eyes for a moment longer than nodded as though to say that he believed her. The rest of the meal was in silence since they were both tired and hungry.
“Ariel will be happy to see you. She has been so worried about her mommy,” Tony says excitedly. He was once again certain that this was his wife. There was no way that she could be anyone else.
“Ariel, oh I did miss her,” Damn, Barbara thought. She was certain she did not have any children. She was very concerned about this Ariel. Children seem to have an ability to notice little things. The car ride was quiet, as Barbara seemed to doze off; while in reality, she was busy thinking of an escape plan if she needed it. In short order, they were at a high rise in the middle of town. He lead her in and though the elevators. They rode to the middle of the building, and then walked down a short hall into a suite.
“Welcome home, Baby,” Tony flicked the lights on and looked around. “Ariel, Mommy is home. Come and say hello,” Tony called out. He quickly looked around and then spotted her. “There you are, Baby,” Tony picked up a large Persian cat and hands it to Barbara.
“Hello, Ariel. Did you miss me?” Barbara was very relieved to find that her kid was only a cat.
The cat settled in Barbara’s arms as she looked around the apartment. It was very posh and plush. The white walls were decorated with rich pictures. A few of them appeared to be originals. The couch and loveseat were of rich Italian leather. The carpet was plush and soft. Everything was very rich. “It is so good to be home,” Barbara felt that she could easily belong here. “Love, I am very tired. I think we should turn in. It has been a long week and a half.”
Yes, of course. I set out your camisole every night. Your P.J.’s made me feel like you were near,” Tony seemed to be a dazed state, too much too soon.
“Of course,” Barbara smiled. She must be the center of his little world. She wandered in what she thought was the right direction to the bedroom.
“Honey, the bedroom is over here,” Tony was across the room from her. He stood in front of a sliding door. He looked concerned for her.
“I know, I am just reassuring myself that this is all real,” Barbara flicked on the lights to the kitchen. She stood there for a second, turning the lights off and followed Tony in to the bedroom.
Barbara entered the bedroom and tried not to be surprised by the size of the bed, or the size of her dresser. She walked over to where her pajamas were and started to get ready for some sleep. As she slipped off her pants, Tony notices something odd on her legs.
“Honey, Love, where did that mole come from?” his voice was deep with concern.
“What mole?” she figures that if she acts surprised that she can pass it off as nothing.
“This one,” Tony reached over and touched a small spot on her thigh. Barbara looked down to where he was touching.
“That one? I’ve always had a little mark there, it must have just gotten a little worse. You are probably just noticing it because I’ve been away from you. Don’t you worry about it, Baby,” her voice was soft and flirty. She reached down and touched his cheek. It was a touch to make him forget a little flaw in her legs.
Morning quickly came for Barbara. After years of having to get up early in England, she rose with the sun in her new home. It appeared that cereal was on the menu for breakfast, since it was just about the only thing in the house.
After helping herself to some food, Barbara started to wonder around, learning where everything was. Barbara was very lucky, everything was marked. She stumbled across some photo albums. She noticed that every picture was marked with everyone’s names, relations, and activities. The music was easy, everything was the same and all the albums were marked with the favorite songs starred for easy identification. She felt completely comfortable with her new life, especially when she realized she was a secretary at a local law firm. A nice easy, posh job with a good pay. Her mother will be so proud and happy.
The day passed without incident and she remained relaxed and comfortable. The next morning she awoke early and went to her new, old job. Once there, everyone was glad she was back. No one noticed that it was not Barbara in the desk. She had completely become her new person. The old Barbara no longer existed, there was just Monica being Barbara.
As the days turned into weeks, the new Barbara felt comfortable in her new life, comfortable enough to call home, after all, no one at work thought anything strange, and her new husband had fully accepted her.
“It appears to have worked, mom. No one even suspects I am any other woman but Barbara. My new husband doesn’t even think anything is wrong,” her voice was filled with excitement, even though it was the dead of night.
“Good, good. Now, how is it over there? Money is good, life is good?” her mother’s voice was overcast with careful manipulation.
“Everything is very good. Soon I will be able to send money to you. How do you want me to do that? Do you just want me to wire it to your account, or will there be a go between?” the new Barbara did not need to be manipulated; she knew why she was here.
“No, I set up an account here named “Monica’s Child Fund”. I will send you a packet with the account number. It will look like a charity fund. It should cover itself rather well. No one will suspect a thing,” her mother’s voice had a tinge of excitement in it as well now.
“How’s Joe?” Monica’s voice lowered suddenly as she asked about her only son.
“He’s alright. He’s keeping us entertained and fed. He’s a good boy,” her mother sounded almost caring about the young boy.
“Alright, I gotta go. Love you and Joe.” With her conversation over, Barbara snuck back to sleep next to her husband.
In the next couple of days, a package arrived for Barbara. It was from the charity, “Monica’s Child Fund” in England. Once her husband, Tony, was asleep she filled it out and sent the first of many expensive checks over seas.
At the fifth of the next month, now two months after Barbara arrived home, there was a problem. Tony opened the bank statement and noticed a lot of money going to a “Monica’s Child Fund”.
“Barbara, what’s this ‘Monica’s Child Fund‘”? Tony’s face was red with anger. She had spent half their checking and savings on this Fund.
“’Monica’s Child’? Oh, that’s a charity I ran into while I was waiting on the paper work. They do some really great things for these kids over there,” she was so non-chalent about it. She had practiced what she wanted to say when he asked her about it.
“Did you have to send so much money? Any more and you’ll drive us to the poor house!” Tony was on the verge of screaming now.
Barbara just looked at him with cool eyes, not allowing him to faze her. After standing there a minute, Tony points to her and says loudly, without screaming, “You are not to send them any more money. Not a penny. Understand?” Barbara just smiled as he walked away from her. That night, she wrote out another check.
Two nights later, Barbara called her mother again. “He’s telling me that I’m not to send any more money. I’m afraid that he’ll try locking me out of the account or something,” her voice was low so not to wake Tony,
“Don’t worry. If things get bad there, you can come back here. Just try to keep him in the dark. The longer he thinks you’re his Barbara, the better. Keep going,” her mother was supportive but money hungry.
“Alright, mother. I will try to send you more money and keep this whole show up. Love you,” with a sigh, Barbara hung up the phone and turned to go to bed. To her surprise, Tony was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, looking right at her.
“You’re not my wife. You’re not Barbara,” he stated quite simply. His voice held no emotion.
“Of course I am, why would you say such a thing?” Barbara took half a step back as her mind searched for a way out.
“Mother? Monica’s Child Fund? Eating meat? A mole on your leg? None of that is of Barbara. Her mother is dead. She wouldn’t have donated so much to an unlicensed charity. Barbara would rather starve than eat meat, and her legs were flawless. You are someone, but you are not my Barbara,” still Tony let no emotion seep into his voice. It was as flat as a dead man’s voice. Monica knew she could no longer be “Barbara” to this man.
“You’re right, I’m not Barb. I’m Monica. I took her place and you loved me instead of your precious wife. Monica’s Child? That’s my mother who is caring for my child, Joe, in England. As for you? You’re stuck. No one would believe you if you tried to turn me in. I’ll get your money and go home if you try to ‘devoice’ me. I won. Sorry.” Monica decided that lying to him was not going to work this time. She watched as he turned pale as he realized she was right. No one would believe him if he just tried to turn her in, she‘s been here for over two months. It would be murder if he killed her. He lost.
“Now you see? Weren’t you better not knowing?
“What happened to Barb?” his voice had the lost quality of a child.
“How should I know? She could even be dead by now. It has been over two months,” Monica simply did not care about his one time wife. “From now on, I’m Barb, and you will get used to it.”
Therefore, it was.