Personal Drama - any thoughts?

Emeline

Guest

« on: November 03, 2009, 09:49:45 PM »

I live on the same property as my father who is 77, houses quite close to each other. He's just had two knee replacements and been in hospital for over 2 months because of complications. He doesn't keep the greatest of health and earlier in the year he broke his arm in a fall. I have a lot to do here and spend quite a bit of time also looking after him each day which gets difficult for me sometimes as I still have my own health and disability problems - on really bad days I sometimes need to use a wheelchair. Add to that the fact my father has often been and often can still be a difficult man and well - you get the picture.

A few weeks ago his doctor arranged for him to get some outside help as well with housework and shopping, two and a half hours a week. Ours is a small town, 700 population in all including the village and surrounding farms. Our family has been here since 1858 and once upon a time everyone knew each other. They'd known each other's families for generations. The important thing about that is we all knew we could TRUST each other. We just assumed everyone else was honest and trustworthy because that was how it was. Now there are more strangers in town, people we don't know from Adam. We now have 3 drug dealers in the town. I can hardly freaking believe it. Only a few years ago they probably would have been shunned, but it seems these days they're almost (almost) respectable in some quarters.

Anyway to the drama, my father's home help arrived a week ago and she seemed okay. I didn't know anything about her. Once she'd been to his place the first time and people knew, they told me she was the wife of one of the local drug dealers - he runs one of the "tinny houses". Well, I wasn't too happy about it but then I thought, take her at face value, give her a chance, maybe she isn't like her husband. I've never met her husband but one of the neighbouring farmers says he knows for a fact he stole a $1600 motor off the back of his pickup. He never complained to the Police though because he says, "he's a badass, best to let sleeping dogs lie".

So - today - the wife (Rebecca) was there again when I went over to my father's house. I'd recently been to some auctions where I'd purchased some large lots of brand new linen which was made in the 60's and some lovely antique china. Last week Rebecca asked me if she could borrow some money for petrol so I gave her $10. I don't know why. It just comes naturally to me to help people out like that. The funny thing is though my father said, "she has no petrol money but that car she is driving is worth about $35,000". I thought, oh well, maybe they are struggling to make the payments on the car and their new house (asset rich, cash poor kinda thing).

So....when I walked in to my Dad's house Rebecca began to wax lyrical about the beautiful old linen which was made in the 60's but still in it's wrappers. She began to tell me how her grandchildren needed new sheets but their family couldn't afford it, and how marvellous all these new sets of sheets were. I had 8 sets from this auction - georgous stuff. So I began to feel sorry for her and you know, the poor grandchildren. She said she was going to try to give them some nice sheets for Christmas although she thought they wouldn't be very happy getting sheets. She said, "oh lord I'd be over the moon if I could get some linen like this for them".

We're not rich but we're not poor and materially we have quite a lot, especially from my trading and bargain hunting so I thought - yeah, goddamn, I have all this spare linen, most of which I was only going to re-sell at a profit, so I let her have 4 new single sheets and 4 pillowcases, beautiful embroidered stuff. She seemed so happy. Then I thought dammit, those poor children, I'll let her have some other stuff. So I gave her two antique trinket boxes filled with jewellery for her granddaughters for Christmas. She was over the moon and I felt good making her happy and thinking how happy it would make the children.

Anyway, meantime my father handed me $40 out of his wallet which he owed me, which he left on the table. I didn't pick it up right away because I went up to another room to do some work. I came back 10 minutes later and the money wasn't there. I said to my father "where's that money gone to?" and he said, "it's still on the table". I said, "no it isn't". I just assumed he had put it away or it had fallen to the floor - something like that. So I began to look for it. Rebecca had left just a few minutes before. I searched high and low. I even moved all the furniture. I looked in every imaginable and unimaginable place it could be. No sign of the money. Meantime I am starting to think, "man, surely she wouldn't have taken that money".

This morning she had gone and done some shopping for my father. I knew how much cash he had given her because I watched him do it. The change was $20 short. I checked it over several times. I'm certain it was $20 short.

That meant there were now 3 x $20 notes missing. If it had just been ONE thing maybe I'd have let it go, but now there are TWO lots of money missing and she had ready access to them both. My father rang her and said "there's $60 missing from my house and we can't find it anywhere". He said she acted shocked and said, no, she hadn't seen it and acted all innocent, although he said she sounded a little "smooth".

By now I'd turned the house upside down even more. I even took the vacuum cleaner apart. Accusing someone of dishonesty is not something I like to do. But the money was gone and I have no idea how unless she took it. She was the one who had had obvious opportunities to help herself to both.

My father said, let it go, I'll watch her more closely next week. The trouble I had with that is I know she goes to 4 other elderly people in the district every week. One is in his 90's and blind. They're all what I would call "vulnerable people" even though a couple of them are very wealthy. They're good people. I've known the gentleman now in his 90's all my life and he's such a good man. It was screwing me up inside thinking, "if she ripped my father off so shamelessly what is she doing to Mr A and the other old folk?". I'd also heard a whisper through the week from a relative of one of them who had joked that during the time Rebecca was at his place he said she acted like she was "casing the joint".

So - I rang Rebecca's employer and asked for a manager. Believe me, it didn't give me the least bit of pleasure. I hated having to do this. I asked if they did background checks and criminal checks on their employees. She said they did and ran Police checks on them all. She said Rebecca was "cleared" although I thought she sounded kind of vague about it. I said, "According to the locals her husband is a drug dealer". She seemed surprised by that. She said she would put a note on the file that Rebecca wasn't to come to my father's house any more and she is sending out a manager in the next few days to do an investigation (fill in some forms). She said, "if you feel you need to complain to the Police as well we will understand that" and how they take these complaints very seriously, nada, nada, nada.

I haven't complained to the Police. My father is kind of supportive of me making a complaint but at the same time he is worried about the ramifications. I said we had to, what about all the other elderly people she is going to? If this woman is dishonest and from what I can see I am sure she is, someone has to make a stand. My father thinks someone else should take it, hahaha.

Well I do see his point. He is in no positition to defend himself. We have good fences, locked gates etc but I doubt they would stop a fit and determined person. I can't even lock my own house which is about 50 metres from his. I lost the key to the ranchslider and haven't worked out how I can get a replacement. We do have 7 large to medium sized dogs. That is some comfort. My father used to have a rifle but he gave it away to a friend a few years ago.

But even if we don't go to the Police (which I am undecided about) she is going to know I complained to her employer. I know we don't have a chance if her drug dealer husband and assorted other thugs decide to take some kind of retribution. Obviously I could call the Police but since we live in a fairly isolated rural area, it would take them a while to get here, probably at least 45 minutes outside normal working hours. During the day there are 3 policeman in a town 5 miles away but they're only there 8 - 5 as I understand it. After hours calls go to the city.

I'm a little nervous. I really don't know what the heck to do. I just still believe I had to act to protect others, but I'm kinda worried about the fallout.