Chapter6
SIX
Kauai, Hawaii -- The Agar House
KAUAI WAS LIVING
up to its claim to be the wettest spot on earth. It had been raining in Koloa for four days straight.
“Hey, this looks like a check,” sixteen-year-old Melissa Agar said as she riffled through the mail.
“Let me see. Who’s it from?” her mom asked.
“Some law firm. Here, you got one too.” Melissa handed her mom a similar envelope.
“Mass mail checks?” Agnes said. “Probably Publisher’s Clearing House offer to pay for our first magazine subscription or something.”
“I don’t think so,” said Melissa. “Look here. The post mark is from the Isle of Man and the stamp has that three-legged Mercedes Benz thingy on it.”
“You’re right,” Agnes said. “Let’s have a look.”
Dear Melissa,
Enclosed, please find a cashier’s check in the amount of $2,068.83.
That’s your original $50 plus five percent monthly interest, compounded annually from 2006 through and including 2012.
This is not courtesy of your federal government. This is what I owe you for lending me money, back in 2006. Consider any settlement by the government, if or when it occurs, to be frosting on the cake.
I only wish I could continue our arrangement. You know what they say: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” -- except in those rare cases like this.
Good luck and God bless.
Dave Ruskjer
“Wow! Two grand! For only fifty bucks! Open yours, Mom!” Melissa urged.
Dear Agnes,
Enclosed, please find a cashier’s check in the amount of $16,357.63, which represents your $1,000 loan to me in 2006 at five percent a month, compounded annually through the end of 2012 … “
“Well, upon my word!” Agnes grinned, mostly to herself. Up ‘til now, she had felt guilty about having encouraged her daughter to loan an almost total stranger her only $50.
“Hey, Mom -- maybe we should deposit these right away,” Melissa suggested. “Or better yet, just cash them outright. I don’t trust banks any more than I do the government. Seems to me they’re one and the same.”