by Emma Easter
“I didn’t say you should do that forever. You have a college degree. You will find a better job eventually.”
“But it will take time to find a suitable job.”
Edith stared at her for a long moment, and then finally said “I might have something that will pay well now, but I’m not sure you will want to do it.”
Sofia sat up and stared curiously at Edith. “What is it? Tell me.”
“I’m not sure that...”
“Edith! Just tell me.”
“Well, Flynn knows someone who works for an agency that helps immigrants looking to settle permanently in the United States. They are looking for a girl who can work with one of their clients.”
Sofia blinked. An agency that helps immigrants? Her heart soared with hope. Maybe she could work for this agency working to help immigrants settle in America. But she had no experience in that area. “Do I need any experience, Edith?” she asked.
“No, you don’t need any experience for this particular job.” Edith chuckled. “You just need to be willing.”
Sofia frowned and looked at Edith with suspicion. “What kind of job is it exactly? I have never heard of that kind of job before.”
Edith put her hand on Sofia’s arm. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. This agency helps people who have overstayed their visa or want to expedite the process of getting their permanent resident card in the United States… and other things like that. They pair them with a citizen. Flynn’s friend mostly handles that. Since you have no money, it might be a good way to make some.”
Sofia was almost afraid to ask, but she did anyway. “What does this job entail exactly? Why does this agency need to pair immigrants up with citizens?” She narrowed her eyes as she stared at Edith. Considering Edith had said she was not going to beat around the bush, she was doing exactly that now.
“Umm… they pair them up to get married. You marry an immigrant who pays you in installments, and in return you help him get his Green card. Once that is done, you get your full payment and then you get a divorce and go your separate ways.”
Sofia leaned back against the headboard. She felt sick to her stomach. “You’re saying I should marry someone I don’t know for money so that person can get a Green card in order to remain the United States?
“It’s not as bad as it sounds, Sofia. You will get to know the guy as much as possible so you can both be convincing when you attend the immigration interview.”
“But isn’t that illegal?” Sofia asked. “What if I am caught… and where on earth did Flynn even meet these kinds of people?”
Edith waved her question away. “Don’t worry your pretty head about that. If you and the guy they pair you up with do your homework properly, you should be able to convince the immigration officers that your relationship is real. You’ll have to spend quite some time with him, but I believe you don’t have to be married to him for long.”
“How long do I have to be married?”
“Just long enough for him to get his Green card, and then you can get a divorce.”
Sofia felt like throwing up. She shook her head vigorously. “I can’t do it.” She turned away from Edith. “Please don’t ever ask me to do something like that again.”
“Well then, you will have to leave the house as soon as possible.”
“Edith…”
“Flynn might consider letting you stay here if you decide to accept this offer. He told his friend he might have someone who is willing to take it. But if not, then you will have to leave, Sofia. Tomorrow at the latest.”
Sofia felt like weeping, but she held herself together. “What’s in it for Flynn, anyway?” Sofia asked, and then laughed harshly. “Don’t tell me. I know. He gets a cut from whatever the immigrant guy pays, doesn’t he?”
She shook her head in disgust. She had always known there was something crooked about Edith’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, he had roped Edith into his twisted ways. Now they were threatening to rope her in as well. Actually, they were not threatening. They had already tightened the noose around her. She pleaded with Edith again. “Please I do not want to do what you are suggesting. I will get out of your hair as soon as I can save enough for my own apartment.”
She winced when the bedroom door opened again and Flynn walked into the room. He looked at Edith. “Babe, have you told her?”
Edith sighed. “She says she doesn’t want to do it.”
Flynn narrowed his eyes as he looked at Sofia, his face a mask of rage. “Well then, Sofia, I guess you will have to move out tomorrow.”
Sofia glared at Flynn. There was no point pleading with him. He did not like her, and the feeling was mutual. Edith had said once that he thought she was a spoiled little gold digger who thought she owned the whole world because she had a wealthy boyfriend. But considering he’d never been able to hold down a job and was living off Edith, she found that laughable. Without a doubt, he would throw her out when he moved in the next day.
She ran Edith’s request through her mind again. The more she thought about it, the more repulsed she felt. The whole thing was so wrong. And yet a part of her was prodding her to take the job, or at least consider taking it. Edith had said she would be paid well, and right now she needed the money. And she certainly didn’t want to be thrown out onto the streets, nor did she want to go through this difficult time alone. Even though Edith was caustic at times, she was still the only person Sofia had to talk to. She didn’t really have a choice.
She swallowed and then, against her better judgment, said in a shaky voice, “How much would I get paid to do this, exactly?” She settled her gaze on Flynn.
Flynn smiled widely, but she continued to scowl at him. Just a moment ago, he was glowering at her and threatening to throw her out onto the streets. “The client is supposed to pay fifteen thousand dollars in all. You will get about ten thousand dollars. Three thousand now, and the remaining after you get married and he gets his Green card.”
“Three thousand dollars now,” she said slowly. That was a lot of money. But when she was with George, she would have spent that amount shopping in one afternoon. Flynn was probably right. She was spoiled. She had let George spoil her and had forgotten how to fend for herself. George wasn’t here anymore. She was on her own, and she had to learn to provide for herself.
She swallowed the sob that was rising in her throat along with her revulsion and nodded. “I will do it.”
“Good girl.” Flynn grinned. “I haven’t met the guy you’re supposed to marry, but Shaffar tells me he’s good looking.” He gave her a wicked smile. “It will not be too hard for you to marry him.” He turned to Edith, held out his hand to her, and said, “Come on, babe. Let’s give Sofia her space for now.”
Edith took Flynn’s hand, and they left the bedroom together.
For a long moment after they left, Sofia sat on the bed, gazing at the wall in front of her. Her mind roiled with guilt and shame. She finally lay down on the bed. Closing her eyes, she prayed that sleep would take her so she could escape the disgust she felt at herself.
Chapter 6
As Jude approached the house where the girl he was hoping to marry lived, he grew more and more nervous. Shaffar walked beside him with quick, confident strides. They got to the single-story building, and he studied the area. The house was tiny and in a low-income part of town. He looked around. He hadn’t known what to expect, but where did he think someone who married immigrants for money would live? Surely not in a mansion.
He immediately chided himself for thinking that way. Was he not a part of this strange arrangement? Wasn’t he about to meet a woman he had never seen before with the hope that she would help him remain in this country by marrying him? He slowed down as Shaffar climbed the front steps. He felt wretched, having descended to this place where he was planning to marry a citizen just so he could get a Green card and then later get divorced.
“Jude!” Shaffar turned back and stared at him. The scrawny guy was already standing on
the porch, about to knock on the door. “What are you doing there? Come on.”
Jude reluctantly climbed the steps and stood on the front porch with Shaffar. Anxious, he held his hand behind his back and then placed them at his sides before folding them across his chest. He was never able to stand still when he was nervous, and he could not remember the last time he was this nervous.
Shaffar knocked on the door, and Jude winced. The knock sounded as loud as a clap of thunder. Everything in him screamed for him to walk away, to not go on with this foolish plan. But he knew that would be even more foolish. He had to do this. He had no choice.
Shaffar knocked again, and Jude looked away. He did not even know what this girl who they had set him up with looked like. He had never seen a picture of her and only knew her name was Sofia. Yet, if everything went well, they would be married in less than a month. After their visit today, he would give Shaffar the money for the first installment. Hopefully, by the time he had to pay the second installment, he would have the money he needed.
Shaffar knocked on the door once more and then looked back at Jude with a frown on his face. “Where on earth are they?” he asked angrily.
Jude took deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm his nerves. Hopefully, in an hour or so, the meeting with Sofia would be over, at least for now, and he could breathe easily again.
The door suddenly opened, and Jude’s heart skipped a beat. Here goes nothing. A man who looked to be in his late twenties opened the door wide and grinned at Shaffar. “You’re here,” he said and then nodded at Jude.
“I’ve been knocking for a while now, Flynn,” Shaffar said, scowling.
“I’m sorry. My girlfriend and I were speaking to Sofia, trying to prepare her for your meeting.” He looked at Jude again and then turned back to Shaffar. “I didn’t hear you knock until now. Come in, both of you” He stepped aside so they could enter the house.
Shaffar entered, but Jude’s feet felt like clay. He stood unmoving at the door, a part of him still screaming for him to walk away. The man Shaffar had called Flynn stared curiously at him, and Jude sighed and forced himself to move forward. He entered the house, and the man shut the door behind him.
He looked around the small living room. Everything was neat and tidy, though the furniture was old and nondescript. On the other side of the living room, a blonde with a short bob sat on the sofa looking at him and Shaffar. Jude felt his anxiety spike slightly, and then he pushed it down and exhaled.
The girl stood up. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She was not pretty, though not unattractive either. He let out a long breath. In a strange way, he felt relieved that he was not attracted to her. At least he would not have to battle any attraction for her in the process of getting his Green card or develop any kinds of feelings for her. That way there would be no complications or strings attached when it was time for them to go their separate ways.
Flynn walked up to the girl and took her hand. He turned to Shaffar and Jude and said, “This is my girlfriend, Edith.”
For a brief moment, Jude was confused. Shaffar had told him the girl’s name was Sofia. But this girl’s name was Edith. Had Shaffar found another girl for him, and was Flynn giving up his girlfriend to marry someone else just for money? He frowned deeply and then remembered that Flynn had said he and his girlfriend had been trying to get the girl he was supposed to marry prepared for their meeting.
Edith smiled widely as her eyes studied Jude. “Well, he is very good looking,” she said. “That is a plus. At least he will not repulse Sofia.”
Flynn grinned. “Sofia, repulsed? Wasn’t she dating that old guy before he broke up with her? She should be happy.”
Edith shook her head. “Stop it, Flynn! George is not really old. He’s in his forties.”
Jude’s frowned deepened as he watched them. They were both talking as though he was not here.
Shaffar snapped his fingers. “So, guys, let’s get down to it. Where is Sofia?”
“Where is she, babe?” Flynn looked at his girlfriend. “I thought we agreed she would come out here five minutes after we did.”
“I am sure she is still in her room and still as nervous as ever,” Edith said.
“She is still nervous?” Flynn shook his head. “Who would have thought your friend was capable of being nervous. She walks around like a peacock every time I see her.”
“She hasn’t really been herself since she broke up with George.” Edith glanced at Jude and then pressed her lips tightly together as a slightly worried look crept into her face.
Jude found himself thinking about this George and why he and Sofia had broken up. He felt slightly worried. Hopefully, this guy would not suddenly appear before the deal went through to insist that he wanted Sofia back.
Flynn looked at Jude and then at Shaffar. He pointed at the couch. “Please sit down.”
Jude sat on the couch, but Shaffar, who was usually unable to sit still for too long, sat on the edge. He looked up at Flynn. “Dude, are we going to start this meeting or not?”
“Edith, please go get your friend,” Flynn said.
She nodded and left the living room.
Jude threaded his fingers together and thought about what Edith had said about Sofia being nervous. Surely she could not be more nervous than he was. Not only was this arrangement strange and so wrong, he felt a huge amount of pressure to try to impress this girl who he’d already pegged all his future hopes on, even though he’d never seen or spoken to her.
Shaffar nodded at Flynn. “Can we step outside for a while? Let’s leave Jude to get to know Sofia when she comes in. And we have to discuss what day we should expect her to be ready to marry my man Jude.”
Flynn looked at Jude and then turned to Shaffar again. “We have a lot more than that to discuss, like how much each person gets.” He grinned.
Jude watched them curiously as they opened the door and stepped out together. Their conversation was a little cryptic, and they seemed to have much more to discuss than what they had revealed just now. For a minute, he wondered what else they wanted to talk about, and then he sighed and brushed aside his curiosity. It didn’t really matter anyway. They handled the business part of this arrangement. He had to focus on making a good impression on the girl he was hopefully going to marry soon.
He looked around the tiny living room again, and then his mind traveled to his late parents. He missed them so much, but he was glad they were not here to see him now. What would they think if they knew what he was about to do? A vivid memory of his mother appeared in his mind. She was sitting on the couch in their living room, and he came and climbed into her lap. He had to have been about five or six. He remembered he did that regularly. He would make himself comfortable on her lap while she told him interesting Bible stories. She told him different stories everyday, and he loved the times he spent listening to her.
He remembered a particular day when she said she was going to tell him a very special story about Jesus and what he had done for him on the cross. He was eight then. She told him in a way that was easy for him to understand about how Jesus had taken away his sins when he died and then was resurrected again. After that, she had asked him if he wanted to receive Jesus into his heart.
He remembered saying that he did, and then she had prayed for him. He had felt brand new that day, but his mother had died months later. She was killed in a car crash on the way back from the market one day. He had mourned her every day for months, and the prayer about Jesus coming into his heart had been forgotten. He had been angry with God for years and then had put God completely out of his mind.
When his father died about a year ago, he had not even thought about God, not even to be angry with Him, having decided that God was not in any way involved with the lives of people on earth. But, for some reason, this threat of deportation and his desperation to remain in America, plus the consequent decision he’d made to marry a stranger, had brought God to the forefront of his mind again. Wh
y that was, he did not know.
“Hold on to Jesus,” his father had said before Jude had come to America for his studies. But he had done no such thing. Maybe that was why he had started to think about God now. He had not followed the wish of his father. Or of his mother, who, if she were still alive, would tell him the same thing his father had. He had completely forgotten about Jesus, and his childhood faith was a distant memory. However, he still had his own set of values and a moral compass, even though he had not held on to his childhood faith. What he was about to do was wrong, but he could not back away as he had no choice. Not if he wanted to remain in this country.
He held his breath as footsteps began to approach. Edith walked into the living room, followed by a tall brunette. They walked toward him, and he stood up. He studied the brunette as she came closer. She had long wavy hair and bangs that swept over her eyebrows. Her skin looked so smooth and shiny it reminded him of polished glass. She wore a long, elegant dress, an expensive-looking gold watch, and several gold bracelets on her wrist. She looked expensive… and delicate. He watched her as she came to stand before him, surprised by the way she looked. She did not fit the mold he’d been expecting. It wasn’t like he’d expected someone poor, but he definitely had not expected someone who looked as rich and self-possessed as she did. She leveled a cool gaze at him, and her eyes studied him, just like he was studying her.
He did not avert his gaze. Even though he could not deny she was pretty and many men would probably consider her beautiful, she was not his type, which was a relief. She was tall, very slim, and white. She looked like one of those runway models he sometimes saw on television. She was the very opposite of what he was usually attracted to.
His mind immediately went to Keziah. She had been exactly his type and he’d been smitten the very first time he saw her. A sliver of sadness went through him, as it always did whenever he thought about her, and he instantly pressed her out of his mind. He smiled politely at Sofia, but she did not smile back.