He said it would be over on Tuesday. All over. Wash-our-hands- of-the-matter-and-get-on-with-our-lives-already over. Fair enough. Let’s end this thing.

Tuesday came and went.

He said he was sorry. He said there was a mix-up at the bank. 24 hours and he’d have it all straightened out for real this time. Honest.

Oops, he said the check bounced. Now it was Thursday. His friend must have overdrawn the transfer account by accident, surely it was a careless mistake. He said he’d get in touch with his friend and sort the matter out right away. Haha, Murphy’s Law, right? It’s pretty silly really. He thanked us for our patience.

He was out of town for the weekend. Family business, he said. A personal emergency. He’d call on Monday.

We called him on Tuesday. He said he was so sorry, things were crazy and he couldn’t get the money out of escrow. With thirty bucks to cover the fees, everything should be taken care of in no time.

He said he was enjoying the motorcycle. Our motorcycle.

We never heard from him again.