Greener from a Distance

5. Marriages of Convenience

65 5 Marriages of Convenience lbert’s friends, most of whom he had not seen for a long time, either came to visit him or invited him to their homes. This was a common trend for new immigrants; the first couple of weeks after arrival, friends and acquaintances stayed in touch. It was some kind of immigration honey moon. After this period, you were on your own, only seeing your friends on rare occasions. Albert made the best of this honey moon while it lasted, sharing stories and reliving the college, university and work years with his friend. The first visitor was Bruno. Bruno and Albert started university the same year before Bruno married his high school sweet heart, Vandoline. Vandoline was born in the USA while her mother was visiting, which automatically made Vandoline a US citizen. She was taken to Cameroon when she was three weeks old and only came back to the US after high school. While in the US, she stayed in touch with Bruno and they exchanged the most romantic letters and emails, keeping the flames of love alive. She visited Bruno two years after leaving Cameroon and her second visit, a year later, had been for their marriage. The couple seemed very happy and went everywhere together. They went to the night club on Bruno’s weekends off and were always hugging and kissing. They were known as the love birds while others claimed the public affection was a compensation for what was missing in the bedroom. A 66 Suddenly, everything changed. Vandoline became mean and showed no interest in Bruno. She would push him when he attempted to hug her; the smooth kiss on the lips was replaced by a “land it on my behind Mister”. Any effort by Bruno to have a descent conversation with her was either ignored or met with a one line conversation stopper. “How did things change so fast between you and Vandoline? We admired you. You two seemed like a perfect match, a match made in heaven” Albert asked. “It is a long story my friend. They say all that glitters is not gold, you know. It had to do with Eve’s arrival to the USA” Bruno said. “How is that?” Albert asked. “Remember we were always a threesome the first time Vandoline came to visit in Cameroon. Eve accompanied us to every party, every friend we visited, when we went to church and even when we went to my home. Rumors began to spread that I was involved with both Eve and Vandoline” Bruno narrated. “I remember those rumors. I remember some perverts telling you to be proud of it; that it was every young man’s fantasy to be in a threesome” Albert said. “If only they knew what was really going on. It was a love triangle, to say the least but it wasn’t a typical one” Bruno continued. “You need to know Eve’s story to really comprehend my situation.” Eve, like many other young Cameroonians, was desperate to come to America. Her plan was to find a white American who will eventually bring her here. She started posting her pictures and soliciting men on the internet while still in high school. She posted provocative pictures and desperate messages. 67 I am a young beautiful African princess looking for a white man to marry. If you are white and from America contact me through my email. I want to marry you and come to America. My country is poor and corrupt and there is no future for me here. Come rescue me and fly me away to the promise land. Princess Eve. Of course she got rapid replies from perverts who resided on the internet in search of easy prey. Most of them asked for explicit pictures, others asked for videos of her playing with herself and others took it even further, asking for a video of her in an act with a man. Eve sent more provocative pictures but refused to cross the line into sending videos over the internet. She had learned a lesson through her friend who had sent out videos to a man. The man had said he wanted these videos as a final confirmation that she was real before coming to marry her the following week. Once he had received these videos he stopped writing to Eve’s friend. Soon afterwards these videos appeared...