Journey 17
Since my return to the UK there have been occasions when I have been asked to send money - of course - the expected route - via Western Union - untraceable.
My interest has been encouraged also in a variety of "business opportunities" - purchasing some land available in Mayen's province - land that is for sale cheaply because the owner needs some money, according to the method outlined in a previous chapter - land that Mayen's father would administer for the Copra trade - interest has been stirred for purchasing condominiums, a franchise in a restaurant chain - requiring a 3 million pesos deposit - not quite my league.
I recall now, looking back, on at least a couple of occasions, Mayen quizzed me on why I had no children (if they were to try a scam & I had had a vasectomy, for instance - it would blow the whole thing wide open. Important for this detail to be discovered.)
The honey trap was set for me - I ate the honey . . .
I was surprised, as I expressed in the journey, when out of the blue the relationship with Mayen became physical.
That night I asked her if she was at all concerned about becoming pregnant - should I use contraception, to which she replied that she wasn't bothered and that she thought I would prefer not to - distinctly giving me the impression that our love was to include the possibility of children - whether sooner or later - which was precisely how I felt at the time - desiring passionately to bring new life through our union.
I was not rational at all - not thinking of complications, implications - merely being carried along on a tide of love.
I was equally surprised that while staying at the family house, after the briefest of inquisitions from Mayen's mother, we were permitted to share the same bed - it seemed to be contrary to the strictly Catholic morality that I had understood ran so deeply in these people.
Now I realise that my feet are starting to feel sticky . . .
Back in the UK - back from my final week in Jersey - my first day at home, just over a week since leaving Mayen in the taxi at Manila airport. I am busy sending the photos of the journey to her via email.
Soon, we are online - chatting - Mayen requests some money to help with the expense of internet cafes, as I am expecting her to chat to me daily if possible.
However - Mayen is not feeling well - fever - a stiff neck - very soon the request transforms into a need for money for a health check. Her friend's brother has been hospitalised with Dengue Fever and she is worried that she might have contracted that, although personally, my perception is that there is something else going on here. The following day I send the money - not an enormous amount for me - but a large amount for her to receive.
I learn later that Mayen and her colleagues all ate well on one occasion after collecting the money.
Having now discovered that I'm willing to play ball with her requests . . .
Friday 13th of July - ominous sounding date already - I learn from Mayen that she has had the check up - but she thinks that she is showing symptoms of pregnancy - I knew it - and has to go for another checkup . . .
"Timmy, I have to go back to the doctor this day coz i felt something unusual.. my fever is gone and stiff neck but i lose my appetite and i keep on vomiting..feel so weak and im delayed, im suspecting that im pregnant huhuhuhu.. but to make sure have to go for check up again.. i'll just let you know the details after the check up.. I love you..and i mis you a lot my timmyboy.."
. . . certainly the list of symptoms sounds suitably convincing - but it is too early to be positive and she is under medical supervision until the 27th. But the email is curiously brief and to the point - considering the monumentous news it contains - as if it were simply ticking a box in a checklist of procedures. After this I get the occasional report of morning sickness - loss of appetite.
Although, perhaps even the sickness is being experienced rather early - 23rd June is the first possible conception date - 15 days previous to the symptoms first being reported during our first communication on my return to the UK.
"If you're lucky you'll escape this completely. However morning sickness is a common symptom of early pregnancy. It often starts when you're four to six weeks pregnant. You may feel nauseated and queasy, or even vomit. Despite its name, morning sickness can affect you morning, noon or night. "
But later in an email she tells me . . .
"my monthly period was came and i told you im not pregnant coz i have a monthly period.. but i was wondering why its too early.. i know i have it every 2nd week or 3rd week of a month.. i thought it was just changing cycle.."
Here we have an admission that her menstruation is usually the 2nd or 3rd week of a month (8th - 21st) - yet in the previous email she thinks she is already "delayed" around the 13th of the month - right in the middle of her "usual" time.
Not only that but according to her, the menstruation which later confirmed the false alarm must have happened between the 13th & 21st July - coinciding with her regular time.
That doesn't add up.
And stickier . . .
On the Monday 16th July Mayen informs me that she is "spotting." Unsure of what this implies I do a google search - we are still online chatting - and discover that one of the causes could be infection with some types of STD in early pregnancy.
Now - this gets very personal at this point - but in the interests of authenticity I will include the details.
I had discovered what I thought had been early signs of a boil or a spot - squeezed and medicated the area and thought no more about it - until now. Putting those two pieces of information together - alarm bells rang like crazy in my head. Herpes was the number one contender in this case - although the symptoms are varied and sometimes unnoticed - but the major implication was for the health of the suspected baby.
So I passed all this news and information to Mayen. I should go for a check up. We chat on into the early morning - a 5 hour session in all - and my brain is completely fried when we say "bye for now."
I have a complete breakdown - early in the morning - after the chat session - I can do nothing but lie on my bed, staring at the ceiling - there is no one I can talk to who sees and feels both sides of this as strongly as I do.
I am on my own - contemplating that I have made an enormous mistake in my life - I felt about to be entering a living hell - the cold, menacing spectre descends on me again - this time it doesn't go away - I'm throwing away my marriage, my house - destroying any vestiges of trust I had with my wife - I've possibly contracted an incurable STD - a pregnant girlfriend whom I love so deeply on the other side of the world - was she lying? Is this all true? I shall have to go underground - change my identity - I envisioned a horde of machette wielding Filipino men coming after me to avenge their family honour.
Working through it all I am left with the strongest feeling - that I would never desert Mayen - carrying our child.
The next day, Mayen denies having an STD - telling me her sexual history - last time was a year ago. Now - hold on a minute - she had told me that she last had a boyfriend two years ago - inconsistency - more alarm bells. (She had told me as well that she met with him in Manila a year ago, by chance - not imagining that she'd had a sexual liason at this time - I had forgotten this detail - but Mayen confessed to having had sex with him a year ago at the Barrio Fiesta in her province & explained away the discrepency of dates.)
The implications that I had even dared to think that Mayen was a "dirty woman" - of loose morals - infected with an STD - resulted in her disappearing into the bathroom - in floods of tears - and there she remained - refusing to answer her cellphone - her colleague, Miss Ann, took over the chat session - and made me feel completely ashamed for my suspicions - telling me "You should love her with heart, mind and soul - she's too young to be hurt like this . . . " - always the emotional twisting - never any attempt at calm rationality - in other words - trust your faith in her - blindly.
Miss Ann
The outcome of this particular sub-plot was that I went for a check up - nothing confirmed - but that's the nature of the disease - I'd left it too late for a positive diagnosis.
Although blood tests can confirm the presence of anti-bodies there is no way to distinguish between the two varieties of Herpes.
To accurately diagnose genital Herpes a swab from the infected site has to be collected - and collecting a suitable swab depends on the time of presentation. Maybe it was just a spot - but I'm in the clear for anything else - relief.
I realise that the knife in my heart gets a severe twisting - and Mayen knows it - going overtly overboard in her crying - I am certain now that it is just part of the charade.
We are proceeding at home with visits from estate agents - plans are moving slowly.
A friend of mine had suggested that I go for another visit to the Philippines - now things are out in the open at home - I might view the whole situation differently. I remember telling Mayen that now would be a good chance for me to visit again as I still had some of the money from a bank loan in my account - she seems thrilled at the news.
An extract from my email to Mayen July 16th . . .
. . . then there is the news that we might be expecting a baby . . .
A couple of my posts from Filipino UK site that I joined at this time - seeking information for my proposed emigration, but which also go to prove that my story was already written up (so far) and was not entirely done out of revenge.
Here is part of my email to her on the 21st July . . .
. . . I want to try to get things moving as much as I can before August - as I said on YM - I plan on flying on the 14th (to arrive 15th) and leave again (huhuhuh) on the 28th. I don't really care what we do in that time - but I will ask you to keep a tight control on the budget, yah? It would be wonderful to perhaps have a look at a selection of condo appartments that you choose to be suitable - and make some appointments for me to discuss all the protocols with one of the agents. I will not be making any payments yet as that is premature - but it will get us a lot closer to a realistic idea of things - time scales, budgets, running costs etc. . .
My diary entry for Monday 21st July reads that concerns for the pregnancy have vanished - it appears to have been a false alarm. So - it is precisely around the time I announce my definite plans for a 2nd visit, with confirmed dates & flight details - that the "pregnancy" disappears.
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And stickier still . . .
Mayen informs me that her boss has decided that all 3 girls should now share Mayen's small room, although later on he denies knowledge of this.
Of course, I have seen the old room - it is decidedly small.
Mayen wants to find an alternative place to live. Will I pay?
Shall she have the one with air-con?
No - she chooses the other one - it's cheaper.
August 2nd - The end result is me sending another £160.00 for deposit and 2 months rent.
Of course - to keep my concern - it is in a very seedy part of town - the squatters area - and a few days later the room floods in the rain and Mayen has a row with her "new" landlady about fixing it. Although in a later chat Mayen doesn't seem to remember what I'm talking about when I refer to "Ten buckets of water . . ."
Also - I have discovered these conflicting stories from our chats on these two days:
7th August
mayen: tomorrow i will vivit my sister
tim: yah Adelaide?
mayen: in novaliches
mayen: yes
mayen: she invited me
8th August
mayen: yes and the drainage in the terrace
mayen: is not worki9ng
mayen: that's why the whole unit was fiiled with water
mayen: hhuhuhuhu
tim: not good
mayen: i just discovered it all last night
mayen: really get mad
mayen: i fixed one hour
tim: you fix it?
mayen: filled the water in the pale
mayen: huhuhu
mayen: 10 pales of water
mayen: the drainage in the terrace is not working
mayen: really trouble
mayen: hehehe
tim: yah - huhuhuhuhuh
mayen: that's why i left the unit
mayen: and visit my sister
tim: yah - to your sister's?
So Mayen has now been separated from any connection Tierra Maria Estates had by providing the original room.
Well - the room that I was shown - did she actually live there - perhaps that was a set-piece, with the emphasis on being miserably small and hot - that the girls used when it was their turn to entertain a foreigner - place a different photograph on the table - bring in a bag of clothes - a toothbrush.
This move would also distance Mayen that little bit more from the "paternal" protection that she seems to have hinted at from Sir Francis.
The stage is being set - perhaps . . .
And I'm stuck fast . . .
Friday 10th August.
I send Mayen an email saying, amongst other things, that I have just noticed that her profile on Date In Asia has been set to hidden.
Little contact with Mayen the last couple of days, since our last, long chat on the 8th August - she is staying with her sister, Adelaide, in Quezon City.
I recall now, thinking back to just before my first visit in June, Mayen visited her sister Adelaide - last minute details to discuss?
Early Friday morning, 6:30 am after a long discussion with my wife about my fears, I check online to see if there are any messages - I might have a date to keep at the internet cafe at 10:00 am - I can't use the computer at home for chats - too many interruptions.
A couple of minutes after I log on to the Messenger (something that they can observe discretely by signing in themselves as invisible) I get a call on my cellphone from Mayen - very unusual in itself - what with the cost of international calls.
[Now if this is any more than a coincidence - & Mayen was in the hospital - who was signed into her Yahoo Messenger account, waiting for me to log-on to give the go-ahead for her to make the phone-call? Was this pre-planned, or arranged by SMS on the spur of the moment?]
"Timmy - it's Mayen - I'm in hospital - call me back on this number, bad reception on my phone . . . "
I try to call the number from my house phone - the line is dreadful - breaking up in a very strange distorted way - I just about manage to hear Mayen who sounds annoyed that the phone is so bad, I can remember thinking that Mayen was unaware that I was even on the other end still. Stressing, but in a very business like way, I hear her say . . ."It's not working . . ." so I abandon the call.
The first call was from a cellphone - I traced it later - it belongs to Mayen's landlady - ate Glo - [good enough reception on her phone for the first call, in the same room as Mayen. I try Mayen's own cellphone - reception is fine - Mayen - suspected apendicitis or something - waiting for an examination - send money . . . the call is disturbed by my wife who screams abuse down the telephone at Mayen . . . I hang up saying I'll be in touch again really soon.
At home - imagine the scene - my wife attacking me - she overheard my loving sympathy on the telephone to Mayen - this provokes a great rage and a fit of violence towards me - she baracades herself in my studio - the computer room.
I try to barge in - my tobacco is in there - I'm desperate for a smoke - my wife threatens to phone the police - go ahead, I say, I've not done anything to you. She does . . . !
I send a quick SMS to Mayen "Be in touch later, my wife has called the police - the police are here now."
They had just arrived - keeping cool - my wife has hidden my tobacco somewhere - we are separately interviewed - it lasts about an hour - there is nothing they can do - much to my wife's chagrin - as she wanted me locked up there and then and the key thrown away.
[Does Mayen imagine that the police were called because I suspected I was being scammed? Is this the reason for the following reinforcements to her story by other people?]
I take myself out to the park and call Mayen on my cellphone.
"It's an Ectopic Pregnancy . . ." I'm passed to someone else, I'm reminded later on that this was "Dra. Leonardo" who explains in a very detailed way what I already knew about Ectopic Pregnancies - back to Mayen - "send some money . . . Sir Francis has paid a P10,000 deposit . . . groans and sobbing . . . speak to Sir Francis."
I dash home - in a panic - pick up a business card that Sir Francis gave me - back to the park - I call him up.
"I was just going to ring you" he says "Mayen has given me her phone . . . her sister is coming soon . . . Mayen has no insurance. . ."
We discuss things - my visit - Mayen's condition - what hospital is she in? Should I try to move my flight earlier?
I am in a whirl - what the hell do I do? Sir Francis sends an SMS:
SMS from Sir F. Sent Aug 10 18:55
Hi tim, mayen wil b out of recovery rm n a whyl.
She's ok - wil need to stay n hosptal 2 to 3 days.
Vien wil stay wth her til her sis arives.
Wil vsit agen late tom wen bak frm tme.
My first instinct - go to the bank draw some money - try to change the flight - or buy a one way ticket and go to Manila.
But I am worried - somehow - an Ectopic Pregnancy is just too perfect, exactly the right vehicle for extortion from a loving boyfriend - and worth quite a bit of money if it comes off.
I am very worried - I do go to town - sit and have a coffee - banks aren't open yet - and phone my supportive friend.
He is just amazed by this latest twist - tells me to hold on and be rational - he'd suspected all along that I might be being scammed (and so had I) but this latest event just revealed the magnitude of the scam - if they were all in on it.
I get home - discover the website for the hospital - Medical Center Paranaque - phone up the hospital saying I am the fiancee - (perhaps I should say financier) I am passed up to the nurse station - a man who I presume is a nurse hands the phone to Chots - one of Mayen's work colleagues - we chat.
"I have Mayen's cellphone here . . . just given it to her . . . you can call her on that."
I take myself outside and phone Mayen from my cellphone.
"Oh Timmy . . . no more babies . . . huhuhuhuh . . . send me the money . . ." in a nutshell is all that was said.
So, what was I supposed to do at this point? Phone up the hospital accounts department, I expect - and enquire as to the exact amount of the bill - send the money over via Western Union?
One thing's for sure - there is a certain amount of preparation to do for a scam such as this - people to brief, facts to organise.
But the long list of coincidences & indescrepencies that I am being expected to believe, is growing.
* Mayen's behaviour regarding money during my trip and since.
* Her initiating our physical liason.
* Her denial of having an STD is later proved a lie.
* Mayen's confusion over the dates suggesting to her that she was pregnant.
* The pregnancy itself. (Not everyone gets lucky - 1st time round.)
* The rarity of Ectopic Pregnancies.
* The time scale of the Emergency operation - pains at 4.00am - operation at 3.45pm.
* Ruptures of Ampullary Ectopic Pregnancies normally occur at 8 to 12 weeks. This is 6 weeks, 6 days from the earliest possible date of conception, 23rd June - very early. Read HERE page 267.
and HERE.
* The Fallopian tube was not removed - very unusual after a rupture.
* Mayen is only expected to be in hospital for 2 to 3 days.
* That this is happening just 5 days prior to my scheduled visit.
[When I announce my second trip - flight to arrive 15th August - the pregnancy disappears - false alarm.
I could have had her independently tested for verification when I arrived.
But there's that golden opportunity for a nice fat sum of money - how do they cash in on it.
Convinced more than ever it is a scam - I phone my friend again - are they all in on it? - hiding behind the Real Estate business - teams of girls - luring Westerners into parting with their money - small amounts by our standards - but multiply that by the amount of girls involved and the amount of potential "clients" they can each have at any one time - and it adds up to quite a business. Maybe the odd big windfall when the result is a sale of property - remember I was prepared to do all this - buy a condominium - maybe even another one to rent out. They must all be in on the scam - Mayen, Sir Francis, Marivien, Miss Ann, Chots, Adelaide and the people at the hospital.
One of the tell tale signs is the purchase of a new cell phone - remember - so that she knows who is calling.
My only course of action is to completely - from this point of time - cut off all communication.
That night I deleted all her emails, addresses, my profile on the dating site, Mayen's addition to my Messenger - the only way to get in touch with me that was still available was my cell phone.
I received several calls - I didn't answer them - voice messages left simply said "Timmy - call me - on my cellphone."
I was resolute - I was firm - for a whole day. Fortunately I spent the whole day, Saturday, working at a theatre and was busy until late evening. I'd told Mayen of this in an email - so my lack of communication was obviously expected - and mysteriously, despite the "seriousness" of Mayen's plight, I received nothing from her either.
Saturday night - I just can't sleep - what if it is true?
I am more interested to try to know the truth - more so than my relationship with Mayen now.
Sunday 12th August
More calls on my cellphone - I weaken - I send an SMS - simply saying "I know, I know, I know." which had become Mayen's catchphrase every time I told her how much I loved her. Clever - ambiguous - I thought - perhaps she'll be confused now - am I on to them?
I weaken again - this time answering a live call - Mayen asks me what's going on - I turn the question around - "You tell me " I said "I'm worried."
This continued without her giving me any information - until she upped the action " What are you doing to me . . ? " and burst into tears - uncontrolably - her sister Adelaide takes over the phone (perhaps Mayen's visit to her was to rehearse the script) - a brief exchange - the phone goes dead.
I cannot talk to Mayen on the phone - a distinctly unfair advantage to her is the effect the sound of her voice has on me - she knows this. I send an SMS saying I would only deal with this by SMS, email or chatting on the messenger.
Mayen sends an SMS back - she has given Marivien her Yahoo password.
SMS from Mayen Aug 12 Sent 19:49
ok, i wil let marivien access my email pls send me email .. love you
In our first chat after the "hospital" incident - Mayen is confused over these details - suggesting that she had given Marivien my email address and the password to her account on the Friday.
Mayen also states that Marivien had sent me an email using her account, but had received a failed to deliver notification - thinking that my blocking Mayen's address would have this result. Not true - blocking an email address simply results in its deletion - no failure notice is issued - reinforcing the fact that no prior email was sent - and that they were waiting to use the immediacy and intimacy of Yahoo Messenger - I might not have read or responded to an email straight away - and they knew I was working all day on Saturday - so they waited until they could use YM on the Sunday - no webcam - easy for Marivien to pretend that Mayen was not there - easy for Mayen to write the "Hi Timmy?" email herself - just using each others accounts.
So - on the Sunday I get an invitation to add Marivien on the messenger - she has sent me an email, using Mayen's account - I hastily add Mayen again to my list of email addresses and take her name from the block list - reply to Marivien asking her to resend it.
Subject: Blood transfusion Sat 11 Aug 2007 18:48 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Timmy?
Good day?
I just got your email now!
This is Marivien Friend of Mayen.
She ask me to check her email & to inform you also that she have blood transfusion yesterday.
She ask me to inform you that she need money for hospitalization & medicine.
Please call at her celphone ASAp.
Thanks & godbless,
Marivien Jalos
Marivien
Marivien and I have a chat session - Mayen is conveniently in touch with her via cellphone.
Apart from the small talk - remember I am trying to find out what is going on - without spoiling my patch with Mayen if it does all unfortunately turn out to be true - these events are really happening - and they're all really nice people.
I say that I can't talk to Mayen on the phone - it is too distressing.
I need to know what the hospital bill will be before I can assess whether I can still afford the visit in 3 days time - I have the plane ticket already but there is spending money for a fortnight to consider.
Here is an extract from our chat, Mayen is allegedly in hospital - but I think it's plain to see that Marivien is trying to cover the fact that Mayen is actually right beside her.
v: okey.tim mayen txt me right now that she need money for the hospitalization.please rely it to you she said
v: mayen ask if your at home or at the internet cafee?
[Curious - if this is a casual remark, is it the sort of thing that anyone would bother texting? If it was important - why? To ascertain whether or not I needed to proceed in secrecy at home, opening a door for blackmail?]
t: thank you - I need to know the total amount due - not just the deposit or the blood transfusion - please can you get that information?
t: I am at home
t: I got really scared that what my friends were telling me might be true - just a week after me paying for Mayen's new lodgings.
v: okey tim mayen call me right now more or less
v: P50,000 thousand pesos i dont know the exact amout due beacause im at the office right now.
t: OK - thank you - how shall this be sent?
t: or can it wait until I see if I can still bring it in person on Wednesday?
v: I understand what u said but i know Mayen loves you very much tim
t: tell her "mWaaaaaaaaah"
t: can you tell me how I get the money to the hospital?
v: mayen call me please sent it tru Western Union you can send it to my name because mayen cant go claim
t: and you will take it to the hospital?
v: Yap
t: ok - be careful
t: you will get a receipt from them please?
v: okey thanks tim .This is my Complete name Mxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx.celphone number xxxx-xxxxxxx
v: yap i will do it.Thanks for the trust
t: thank you Marivien.
t: but if i send it Monday when the WU office is next open - you won't gwt it untill Wednesday
v: later afternoon if sir Francis visit to the hospital we ask a favor to barrow his laptop so that mayen & you can chat
t: there is a 36 hour hold on money to the Philippines
v: ah okey
t: I might as well bring it myself
v: ah okey i ask mayen about that .okey [What possible objection can there be?]
t: ok - thank you
v: okey you very much welcome tim
t: Ask the hospital to send me an invoice by email - mailto:xxxxxxxxx@ - then I can send it to them Monday by eloctronic transfer straight to their account - the quickest way - yah?
v: okey tim i txt mayen regarding that [What possible objection, again?]
t: will Mayen still be at the hospital on Wednesday?
v: i dont know yet tim.i ask him or talk her doctor after out @ the office
t: thank you - ask who?Sir Francis? [Why is he the authority?]
v: your welcome
t: So will you please do that Marivien - sorry to burden you with all this - please tell the hospital that they must send me an invoice via email. I will get the money transferrd electronically to their account.
v: okey
t: you have my email there anyway in Mayen's mail application - he, he
v: okey i add you also om my email list .okey il email you any updates dont worry
v: hehhe
t: I read your email now - please pass on my love to Mayen - thank you so much for the time Marivien - hope to see you on Wednesday if I can still afford the trip.
v: lets pray for early recovery of mayen.
v: okey
That is how things remain at the moment - I got my point across about dealing with the hospital, but hopefully in a way that was not too accusative or revealing my suspicions.
I can cut off contact at any time - for my own peace of mind though - I need to try to find out, with as much certainty as possible - the truth about what is going on.
I am most concerned that I may be skuttling under the shield of my own and other people's cynicism - hiding away from my responsibility in its shadow - an act of cowardice.
But what a dilemma - wanting to have faith in the love I felt, but now suspecting that very same love to have been groomed from the start for the purpose of this scam. If I succumbed to blind faith - not listening to caution - that would be playing right into their hands - but is that also what true love would do? The whole of our planned future depended on me finding out the truth and I had very little time before my flight.
What had just occurred revealed how the plan was supposed to have unfolded - but now they realise that I am asking for proof, to deal with this through the proper channels - I haven't swallowed the bait, hook, line & sinker.
Click the flags to read about all the alarm bells.
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