One day my wife went to her ESL class in America. Her teacher introduced her to another young woman from Belarus. We will call her Valentina, which is not her real name.
His real name has been changed to protect the not so innocent. She didn’t speak English.
Valentina told this long story about being brought to the United States by a man who was thirty years older than her. She said that he refused to feed her and take care of her. She said that she ran away from him and was staying with another Russian family.
She had exceeded the three months allowed by the fiancé visa, without marrying the man who brought her here. She was now in the United States illegally.
My wife invited her to dinner. She also invited a friend of mine, who is a lawyer, to dinner, hoping that she might give him some advice.
Valentina asked my wife if she cooked for me every day. My wife said she does. Valentina explained in Russian that she wouldn’t bother her with any of that.
Valentina asked my wife if she had a maid. My wife explained that she did the cleaning. Again Valentina turned her nose at the idea of housework.
Valentina didn’t eat much at dinner, but she drank almost a bottle of wine on her own. The wine loosened her lips.
Valentina explained that the man who brought her to the United States had mental problems. She said that he “acted like a bird, flapping his arms like wings, as he danced around his car.”
Valentina said that she knew about his mental problems before coming to the United States, but she came anyway.
She said she didn’t know if she would have another chance to get to the United States any other way.
My friend, the lawyer, tried to offer him legal help. He offered him a job cleaning her house if he needed some extra money.
Valentina explained to my wife, in Russian, in no uncertain terms, that she would rather earn money in another way, rather than do housework.
She asked how my wife could stand being around ‘these fat old men’, referring to my friend and me.
My wife got angrier and angrier at Valentina as the night progressed. She cut off all relationship with her after that night.
We heard through the grapevine that Valentina was on her way to Los Angeles to sort out her visa issues. She was probably now in the hands of the Russian mob, people she could understand because they thought like her.