Saul stared at me following his admission, anticipation written all over his face. He’d been in this position before. He probably liked to get these things out of the way at the get-go, like my date who advised me that he’d had prostate surgery on our first date. (See; “Three Cats & A Dog.”)  It’s not my nature to pry into someone else’s past—at least not with them knowing about it. 

Saul was no dummy. He could read my face like a book and knew I wanted to know what mistake he’d made. He continued.

“The judge had it in for me. She didn’t like me. The money was mine. But she had someone stake my house, and they went through my trash and found evidence that implicated me.”

 His story was like an episode of “Law & Order.” There had to be a lot to take in. But we were at a bar during happy hour in an establishment where Saul was very comfortable, warmly greeting patrons and employees. It wasn’t the time or place to ask questions. People walked by constantly, interrupting our conversation. Most worked there. After they left our table, Saul always had a comment about how helpful he’d been to them. The establishment was a family-owned, small-town bistro. He knew everyone there, their jobs, their respective families, and he bragged about how he alone grew the establishment for them. Saul complained that, later, the powers-that-be soon forgot how instrumental he’d been in helping them achieve success. 

 Saul then returned to his own story. He admitted he’d been sentenced to ten years in prison but got out early on good behavior. I felt uncomfortable and told Saul I was meeting my daughter for dinner.

“Have her come here,” he replied. I told him she didn’t like the place. That was the truth but was beside the point. I had no dinner plans with my daughter. I needed to end the date and go home. 

 Saul continued talking as if I hadn’t spoken. “I have to be honest with people,” Saul said. “I told my story to one woman I met through Zotsky, and she told me she never wanted to see me again.”  Again, Saul studied my face, waiting for my response. I wanted to tell him the same thing that woman had told him. Dating an ex-con hadn’t exactly been on my bucket list. But I couldn’t do it. My mother had an expression that popped into my mind at that moment.

 When someone steps in shit, they know it. Don’t make them eat it to prove it

 “We all make mistakes, Saul,” I told him. “We pay for them, and we move on. Speaking of paying,” I continued, “can you get the check so I can pay my half of the bill?” He waved me away like an unwanted fly, but not before asking me to join him for dinner on Saturday night. Fearing I would hurt his feelings if I declined the invitation, I said I would.

 I thought about Saul on the short ride home. I wondered what he’d done to put him in prison. Being disbarred was terrible enough. But to serve time? 

 As soon as I arrived home, I went straight to my laptop. It was easy to find Saul’s name in a Google search. But reading what I found was difficult. Multiple charges were listed, like “Theft-Scheme: $300 plus; Violation of Probation; Uttering False Document; Theft/Felony; and one bankruptcy. So much for the nice Jewish boy. I just shook my head. How did I get so lucky? 

 “Been Verified,” the investigative site I use, gave me more detailed information about Saul’s arrest and bankruptcy. I knew there would be published articles that would tell me his story. I found many articles about a personal injury lawyer who was accused of stealing approximately $297,000  from his clients’ funds—money that insurance companies had paid to compensate injured individuals and their doctors. Saul was accused of using that money to support his obsession with thoroughbred race horses.

© Miriam Greenberg, and the blog Love In The Time Of Corona, beginning April 2022 to the Present. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Miriam Greenberg and Love In The Time Of Corona with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.