Youre quite well-off, arent you? My wifes younger sister borrowed money and ran off to Brighton.
It was many summers back when my dear wifes sister came to visit us. Our family always jokingly called her the darling, because at every gatheringbe it with her mother, father, or the whole broodthey only ever spoke of her. Shed always been top of her class, left university with flying colours, landed herself a respectable jobtruly, the perfect English daughter.
Meanwhile, my wife, the eldest, hadnt finished her studies and married early. Yet no one seemed to mind, because I was rather comfortable, running my own little business. I had a flat, a decent motor, and a sound income. Still, the pride of the family remained my wifes younger sister.
So, that year, the sister paid us a visit and rather sheepishly asked for a loan. She wanted to put down a deposit for a flathad her sights set on a mortgagebut was short on funds. The amount barely made a dent for me, so I was happy to oblige. She assured me her job at the council was steady, and she would pay me back regularly, right on time.
She took the money, pledging faithfully to repay me month by month. Imagine my surprise, then, when barely a week later she was sending postcards from the seaside! I couldnt make heads nor tails of ithow had she scraped together enough for a trip to the coast, but not her deposit?
Its a holiday Ive saved up for all year, she told the relatives, though I couldnt help but note she hadnt actually bought a flat nor taken out a mortgage. When I asked about it, she simply said shed changed her mind.
I gently requested that she repay the loan, reminding her that the money was intended for her flat, not a jaunt in Cornwall. She replied, with no little cheek, that she was skint and every farthing had gone on sun, sand, and ice cream.
Thats when the penny dropped: shed never planned on buying a place at all.
I politely asked her once more to settle her debt as soon as possible, since the loan had been for a flat and not a holiday. Her answer stung:
Oh, Ill be raking in the cash soon enoughyoull just have to wait. I havent got it now.
And how did it all end, you may wonder? Just as you might expect. She went running to her mother, claiming Id demanded the money back too soon, and that no decent relation would treat family so. True to form, she was hailed once more as the angel of the family, while we were cast as those dreadful rich folk. Strange how some tales always end the same way.
