Some Strange Events / Fernando Dámaso

Some twenty days ago there appeared in the ground floor of the house where I live with my wife, an elderly gentleman, modestly dressed, who told us that a neighbor and acquaintance of ours (who had left the country some time ago), was his friend and had informed him, by telephone, that he had sent him, through us, 400 euros and a radio.

After the initial surprise, we said we didn’t know what he was talking about and, in addition, the former neighbor had not communicated with us nor told us anything about it. We suggested he clarify it with him. He asked for our telephone number, to call us in a few days to see if we received something for him. Although we gave him the number, not to offend him, it seemed strange, particularly given that our former neighbor resides in the United States, where the national currency would be the dollar, not the euro. We thought he was a freak or con artist in the making, and forgot about it.

In five days, the character called on the phone, repeating the same assertions to my wife, who told him she didn’t know anything about it, and that he should deal directly with his friend, without us as intermediaries.

On Sunday, about three in the afternoon, a young man in T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, showed up on the ground floor, asking for my wife (by name and surnames) to deliver something from some Eduardo (unknown to us). She told him she didn’t know him, and he asked her to come down (we live on the third floor) with an identity card. He showed her apiece of paper with her name and surnames, noted the ID card number, and asked her to sign and give him 1 CUC, which he could change into National Money (Cuban pesos), to pay the cost of sending the package that she would soon receive, which would not exceed 25 pesos.

As we were expecting a package from family abroad, my wife didn’t think anything of it until a few minutes later, until a few minutes later when we started to piece things together and worry about the absurdity of everything that had happened.

Before this strange string of events, which may be about a simple attempt to two criminals to scam us, or something more involved and of a different character, I limit myself, for now, to exposing them, in anticipation of any further developments.

May 6 2012