by Cherry Kay
*
It was a good thing that they had put those things into practice immediately, as just three days after they had exchanged vows, two officials from the immigration department showed up on Jason’s front porch with ID cards and stern faces.
The first agent was named Harold Davies. He was an aging, tired and overweight man with an expression that was constantly frowning, created by lines in his face that had formed over years of frowning. His skepticism for love and romance hung in his eyes, making his whole expression seem sour. Perhaps, it was his own divorce that made him a cynic, or perhaps it was all of his years on the job and the hundreds of sham marriages he had seen that made him disbelieving of a foreigner in love.
His partner was the young Sam West who was fresh out of training, bright-faced and eager. He’d fallen into the job when his father, a retired detective for the immigration department, had spoken to a friend of a friend to get his son a step higher on the ladder. Sam had been surprised in his first couple of weeks working for the department to see how tenacious Harold was in tracking down romantic fraudsters. Sam was a believer in love at first sight and this showed in the way that he would listen to the stories of those couples he was investigating with patience and sympathy. He had a knack of picking up on that spark between two people, although Harold would just scoff at him for it every single time, because he didn’t believe in love at all anymore.
Harold also didn’t believe it the day that his boss had called him into the office and told him he was going to be strapped with the new pup in the agency who was tugging at his lead to get out there and become a top dog in the shady world of immigration. He had fought and argued, begged and pleaded against it, railing and bucking the system, asking for someone else, anyone else in the whole office, other than Sam West.
His boss had said no, flatly. “No one wants to work with you, Harold. West is your new partner and there’s nothing that’s going to change that.”
He placed his ace card and threatened early retirement. "What if I leave? You can't replace the kind of experience I have! I've been here forever! I deserve some respect!"
His boss had not wavered on the decision, and after a solid week of complaining and griping, arguing and shouting, he had still gotten nowhere, and so it was with no small amount of stubbornness and resentment, that he finally acquiesced and began to face each of his cases with the polar opposite of himself.
Unsurprisingly, in nearly every case, they were each pulling in different directions, arguing and struggling with one another, though Harold was more often the cause of the struggle than Sam was. Sam tried his best to get along with Harold whenever he possibly could, which was rarely. Still, they somehow managed to get their jobs done, though Harold fought against the possibility that any of their couples could be in love, and Sam was sure that at least some of them just had to be the real love deal.
At the end of the day, though, their job was not about love. It was about authenticating relationships solely for the purpose of making sure that America wasn't flooded with aliens trying to get an easy life in the United States through a fake relationship.
For Harold, Amara and Jason's case was a classic sham marriage. A young and beautiful girl from a poor and politically torn country marries an older man after five minutes... Well, it was a classic scenario. Harold didn't know what the girl was running from or what she hoped to achieve, but he was damned if he was going to let her find it in America. There was no way he could believe that these two people could fall in love and choose to marry in such a short time. He wasted no time in getting to the point when Jason opened the door.
"Mr. Malloy." he drawled out in a monotonous and fed-up voice that clearly belied the attitude that instead of standing on Jason's porch dealing with his fraudulent handiwork, he could’ve been doing something much more interesting, like scrubbing the grout in his bathroom with a toothbrush.
"We are agents from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Department." He flashed his identification while grinding down on a piece of gum that may have been in his mouth for a decade. "We are concerned with the legitimacy and validity of your recent marriage. We have reason to believe that your wife does not wish to return to her own country, and is using your marriage as an illegal means of staying in the United States. Therefore, your marriage is under evaluation and review. May we come in?" He looked at Jason with boredom.
Jason had expected their arrival, but it was still difficult to keep his fear from showing.
"Of course, please come in." he spoke politely, stepping back to let the agents in. He led them to his living room, where Amara was curled up in an armchair reading a book. She looked up when the agents entered and Jason could see her own fear jump to her face, but she quickly made her expression neutral and set her book down.
"I didn't realize we had guests!" she said lightly, standing up and walking to them.
She extended her hand in a friendly way. Sam took it, giving her a hearty handshake, but Harold just gazed dully at her, both of his hands hooked on to the sides of his narrow belt that was nearly lost beneath his spare tire waistline.
"Mrs. Malloy, we are sorry to intrude." Sam said in a gentler tone than his partner. "We understand that you've had some recent trouble in being granted a student visa and when we were notified of your sudden marriage, well, you understand that the timing looks questionable."
"I do understand that." Amara sighed. "But Jason and I were engaged weeks before I found out that the visa had been denied. That was nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence."
"So the marriage was rushed then?" Harold accused gruffly, his eyes narrowing at her. "You pursued a wedding to stay in the country when you heard that your visa would be denied?"
Amara lifted her chin as she looked at Harold and spoke confidently. "I'm a traditional girl, Mister----?"
"Davies."
"I'm a traditional girl, Mr. Davies." She said, coolly. "I pursued a marriage because I wanted to be married before I was intimate with my husband. Of course, news of the visa being denied upset us both and we wanted to be married right away in case I had to leave. We would have no way of knowing when we would be able to see each other again. I told Jason that it didn't matter where I was in the world, but wherever in the world I found myself, I wanted to be his wife."
Sam smiled at her declaration. He believed in that kind of passion. He had once had a long-distance relationship with a British girl and he remembered how their Skype calls and airmail had seemed like such romantic moments at the time. Distance does not diminish the feelings of two people in love.
"Your father made an official statement when we interviewed him not long ago, that it was always your intention to marry an American man to avoid returning home." Harold told her bluntly. "I can't help but believe that this marriage is all part of your plan."
"Amara's father wants her to live in a cage." Jason stepped in. "He was unhappy about our engagement from the beginning and he said the things to the Immigration Department to spite us, because he wants Amara to marry a South African man she barely knows."
"So you stepped in to save her?" Harold accused him, point his finger at Jason and then waving it around.
"I love her." Jason told him seriously. "We got married despite what her father said, and despite the pressures from the immigration department, and despite what the college might say, because nothing will keep us apart. This is a valid marriage between two people in love."
"You have only lived together a few days, is that right?" Harold asked coolly, deciding not to comment on Jason's declarations of love and devotion.
"That's right." Jason said. "Amara wanted to be married before we moved in together."
"And you were satisfied with that?" Harold lowered his brow at Jason.
"I respect her decisions."
"It didn't seem to you that she was in something of a rush to get married, Mr. Malloy?" Harold suggested. "You would not be the first American man to be taken in by a be
autiful girl from abroad. Thinking back over it, do you have any doubts that her feelings towards you are genuine?"
"How dare you!" Jason flared. "Amara is a brave and determined young woman. She doesn’t need to try to manipulate or use me, everything about her captivates me. She is a kind person with a brilliant mind. I fully intend on spending the rest of my life with her."
"Not just the rest of her degree?" Harold challenged. "She's your top student, is she not?" He had done his own homework on them.
"I told you, she's brilliant." Jason stated staunchly.
"So this wouldn't be an act to keep a brilliant mind in education?" Harold rolled his eyes slightly, wondering if he had hit on their underlying reason.
"Amara would succeed anywhere in the world, Mr. Davies. She doesn’t need a man to hold her hand along the way, no matter where she is." Jason told him with conviction.
"So if we were to ask around, people would say that you are in love?" Harold asked him in a tired drawl. He held his pencil over his pad and lifted his eyebrows in a condescending manner.
"Amara is a student at this university and I am a professor." Jason told him pointedly. "So we have not made a show of our romance, for obvious reasons. However, I am sure that anyone you ask would have recognized the... tenderness between us."
"We'll see." Mr. Davies said. He made a note of a date, time, and address in his pad and ripped the page off to hand to Jason. "We will need to interview you both, separately of course, at this address tomorrow. That's not an optional appointment."
"What kind of interview?" Jason asked with uncertainty.
"Looking for tips, Mr. Malloy?" Harold said sarcastically.
Sam had a little more mercy on them and gently explained the procedure in a little more detail.
"They will be standard questions about how your relationship started, where you met, and personal details about each other. That kind of thing." he told them. "It's nothing to worry about. It's just a chance to prove that you know each other well."
"You shouldn't give so much away, Sam." Harold scolded. "They will be up all night now, quizzing each other. You've practically given them a cheat sheet."
"Disclosure, Harry." Sam reminded him. "I don't want them to worry all night over it."
"I don't care if they worry!" Harold grumbled. "She'll be worrying a lot more when she's on a plane back home."
Amara glared at him from across the living room and then stood up calmly to show the pair to the door. "I look forward to seeing you both tomorrow." She said politely but resolutely.
After the agents had left and Amara had closed the door, Jason and Amara exchanged panicked glances.
"We haven't had enough time!" Amara worried. "How can we pretend that we know everything about each other when we've shared so little time?"
"That's not true, Amara." Jason insisted. "We've had all those sessions together where we spoke about so many things. We know more about each other than we think. The rest of it is just details."
The two of them spent the rest of the night doing just what Harold had said they would do: making sure they knew the fine print of each other's lives, where they grew up, their first pets, the names of their brothers and sisters. Jason struggled a little to recall all the names of Amara's one sister and three brothers, especially as their South African names didn't roll easily off his tongue, but he was eventually able to recall them all and list their hobbies and professions as if he knew them well.
"What if they call our parents?" Amara worried.
"I've told my parents about us." Jason told her. "I met with my father last week before the wedding. They were shocked to say the least, but they understand what we're doing and why it must be done. They won't say anything."
"What about my parents? We both know what my father can do." She groaned sadly.
"There is a difference between having you sent back to South Africa and having you sent to jail." Jason told her reasonably. "We've already undone his plans to marry you off. What use would your return be now? You couldn't marry that man even if you were there."
"I'm just really scared, Jason,” she admitted with a desperate frown.
"Don't be, Amara." Jason comforted her. He took a step forward to cradle her in his arms and it surprised her how safe she felt there. Even more surprising to Amara was how his embrace felt familiar, despite the fact that they were both so new to this. "We are true friends and that will show."
*
The interview the next day was not conducted by Harold or Sam, which Amara was greatly relieved about. She was seated in an office alone with a woman who seemed ultimately very disinterested in her, and she was asked a lengthy series of questions about her relationship with Jason, which Amara was surprised to find were very easy to answer.
Jason was right. She knew him better than she had believed and not just because they had quizzed each other the night before, but because in the six weeks that she had known him, she had cared to find out about his life and he had cared to find out about hers.
The interview finished without Amara being led away in handcuffs and for that, she was grateful. The immigration official told her that she would be under observation for the next few weeks during the investigation and providing that the immigration agents were satisfied with the review and the results of the investigation, she would be granted her citizenship as Jason's wife.
Amara had to stop herself from becoming too excited by the idea. It was still so distant a promise, that she had to treat her hopes with great care. At any second, everything could fall out from under her by saying or doing the wrong thing. And if she fell, she would drag Jason down with her. It was a possibility that she could not bear to face.
*
Despite anything Amara was doing to protect him, though, Jason's demise was already in sight. Jason felt uneasy when he was called into the Dean's office after his interview that afternoon. He could only guess why he had been summoned.
Percy White was a kindly, aging academic who loved his university through and through. People would smile when they saw him come by in his Colorado colors merchandise meant for the students. They all knew that the best gift for the Dean as a Christmas thank you or thoughtful post-exam gesture was another CU mug for his collection. Their love for the college was something that had always made Jason and Percy comrades over the years, even when Jason had still been a student. It was Percy who had first offered him a position as a professor at Colorado Boulder.
Jason knew that the man was fair and fatherly, but he also knew that he would do anything to protect his students and more than that, to protect his school. He fixed Jason with a stern stare the moment he stepped through the doors of the Dean's office, and Jason tried not to wither under his gaze as though he had been caught dressing up the school statues again, as he once had when he was a freshman.
"Hello, Percy!" he said with a half-smile. "How are you doing?"
Percy shook his head and didn't speak. Jason took a seat before him at his massive wooden desk.
"This is about Amara, isn't it?" He guessed with no small amount of dread in his belly.
"What on earth were you thinking, Jason?" Percy flared. "Marrying a foreign student?! This is insanity! Are you trying to bring this whole college under review?"
"We're two consenting adults. She's of age. I'm breaking no laws." He said quietly with earnest eyes.
"I don't care about the law." Percy sighed. "Jason, we have a reputation to uphold here and if people think that our professors are going to be jumping into bed with their young, vulnerable daughters, do you think anybody will send their children here?"
Jason hung his head guiltily. He had so badly wanted to help Amara that he had let the bigger picture slip somewhat. He didn't like the idea that he was doing anything to hurt Percy or the school.
"What if the newspapers got hold of this?" Percy continued. "The only reason I'm not firing you on the spot is because you've had the foresight to keep this quiet, and thank God that Ama
ra's parents are abroad and not able to come storming in here to raise a fuss. Can you imagine what people would think? She's a freshman, Jason! She's nineteen, away from home in another country and you've known her for six weeks. Why would you marry her?"
The last thing Jason wanted to do was to draw Percy into his deceit, and so he lied to him for the sake of plausible deniability, to protect his friend from the sharp eyes of the agents who were already on his back.
"I fell in love with her,” Jason insisted. "The way she spoke in my classes, you wouldn't know she was only nineteen. And then we began spending time together in the discussion groups and I found out more about her. She's an incredible girl, Percy -- wise, intelligent and sophisticated beyond her years. You know I'm not one for dating, so for me to fall head over heels like this with a girl was something I just couldn't pass by. I've never met a girl who has felt like an intellectual equal and a true friend."
"So it has nothing to do with the fact that she is young and beautiful and impressionable?" Percy asked, with doubt.
"She is unquestionably young and beautiful, but she is most certainly not impressionable." Jason told him honestly. "She is bold and determined and she knows what she wants. Of course, I appreciate that she is beautiful, but our romance was an intellectual affair, which grew into something more as we spent time together. She found out her student visa had been denied and so we rushed forward with a wedding because I didn't want to lose her. But honestly Percy, it was just a matter of time before I made that girl my wife."
Percy sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. He folded his fingers under his chin and he considered his options. Jason was one of his best professors, and he was a gentle and good man. He had an ability to nurture the potential in his students, unlike many of the professors that the Dean had met before. In addition to all this, he didn't want to lose him as an employee, or as a friend.
"I don't want to fire you, Jason." He told the young professor with a heavy sigh, "But if this gets out and spins out of control, then I will do what I have to do to protect this school. My hands will be tied. Do you understand?" He looked at him pointedly.