The Eagle Part 2

So, "the eagle" had landed. My grandmother had her new car, so it would only be a matter of time before the rest of us got paid, right? I hated to admit it, but I was wrong. My cynical ass was wrong about "the eagle." It had taken over a year, but it was true. I went in the house and parlayed with my grandmother. Sometime between THE News at 6 on WTOC and Wheel of Fortune, I went outside to check out the car. I checked out the trunk, the CD player, the glove compartment.... What the hell is this???

I pulled out a stack of papers in the glove compartment and was confused to say the least. The paperwork from the dealership seemed to indicate that the car was not actually purchased, but a rental. I didn't know what to do then. Should I ask my grandma about it, or just let it go? She seemed to think that the car was hers, and maybe I was just not reading the paper correctly. So, instead I called my mother. She told me that "the eagle" was coming later in the week, and the dealership let her friend take the car on credit. Okay, it sounded weird to me, but it kinda made sense. I couldn't imagine that a car dealership would give up a brand new car without some hope of getting their money. So I left it alone. I came back to Atlanta and waited again...

A couple weeks later, I hadn't heard anything else about "the eagle." I called my grandmother and she told me that she had another new car. Apparently, since "the eagle" was delayed, they had to give back that car and get another one. At this point, the shit was just ridiculous. I felt bad that my grandmother was getting caught in the middle of this hoax. And I was finally convinced that it was a hoax. But when I tried to bring it up, I was rebuffed.

Would you believe that before it was all said and done, my grandmother had 9 different new cars? I don't understand how the dealership kept giving out cars, and I don't really understand why it didn't strike everybody else as odd that "the eagle" kept being promised, but never came through. I mean at some point, even the greatest optimist has to face facts. Finally, my grandmother just took a stand and told them to stop bringing her cars and got her own. As my family is prone to do, we just stopped talking about it. I never really knew what happened with the eagle until I went to Savannah for a visit a couple of weeks ago and had a conversation with my grandmother. The truth was even worse than my mind could conceive...

My mother's friend's sister's son was really dating this lady. She claimed she was an heiress to a fortune in Hawaii. At various times, it ranged from a few million dollars up to 500 million dollars. The money was supposedly in trust, and was supposed to be distributed on her birthday. And in exchange for being taken in by the family, she was going to share her wealth when she got it. I don't know if she deliberately running a scam or as my grandmother so politely put it "she wasn't all there" but basically the whole story was a lie. She never had any money, but the family bought into her story and thought they were gonna get rich quick. A few of them had quit their jobs, sold their houses in anticipation of getting larger newer homes, and then the truth came out and they were crushed. I think about my family and at least we weren't gullible enough to actually give up jobs or anything. But for real, we got suckered, by a crazy lady. I have to admit, even my cynical non believing ass was going for a minute. But as they say, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.