After a few quick taps on the keyboard, and I began the shut-down sequence on my laptop. Recent events had put a sad smile on my face, as I thought to myself that once again, I had helped to pull my younger brother out of yet another jam. Not that he would ever really know it, of course. Some things are just best left unsaid.

It all started a little over a year and a half, ago. One evening the phone rang. It was my brother, Adam, and I detected from the tone of his voice that he was excited about something. “Guess what bro’! I’m getting married!” The news was a major surprise. Last I knew, he wasn’t even dating someone seriously.

“Tell me about her,” I said. “Her name is Anna,” he replied. And what he said next made my jaw drop; “We met on-line. She lives in Russia.” Well, if you had smacked me in the face with a wet fish, I couldn’t have been more surprised.

“Russia? You can’t be serious.” But he was. It seems that he had met this girl in some chat room, and after a few months, managed to fly over to Moscow to meet her. That’s where he had been hiding for the last two weeks. He had been holed up in a hotel with her, and they were screwing each other’s brains out like animals. By the time things wrapped up, he was “in love” with her and proposed.

“Adam,” I sighed. “You don’t really know a thing about her. I’ve heard of lots of cases where women from impoverished countries will go on the internet to find some sucker to pay their way to a better life and a green card, under the guise of marriage.” He wasn’t hearing it. As far as he was concerned, what the two of them had was genuine, and would easily work out just fine. “Maybe one of us will finally get around to giving our parents a grandchild to spoil!” he laughed.

That was a low cut. Over the years, my job had moved me around a great deal, and I had never settled down long enough to build a serious relationship with any woman. There had been numerous casual encounters, and had things been different, who knows what might have happened? But now, the age of forty was rapidly drawing near, and it looked like I was going to be an eternal bachelor.

“Well,” I sighed, “all I can say is congratulations, and good luck!”

In case any of you are contemplating something like this, be advised that getting someone out of a foreign country, like Russia, for the sake of matrimony is NOT easy. Miles of red tape, countless bribes to former Soviet Officials who now had to survive on a greatly reduced salary to “move things along”, and legal fees that would make your head spin. By the time all was said and done, Adam had invested close to $55,000 in getting Anna over here. While his position at a High-Tech Corporation provided him with a nice paycheck, he still had to dig into his 401k to meet all the expenses.

But at last, Anna was on her way. Adam explained to me that according to the INS, in order for Anna to stay here, he would be required to marry her within three months of her getting here. After that, they needed to STAY married for at least five years, or her ass was on a flight back to Mother Russia. The only way she could stay in the United States, should they divorce before five years, was if she had given birth to a child who was an American Citizen. In other words, an “anchor baby” that my brother would sire. And from the way Adam was recalling their time in that hotel, he was sure one would be on the way in a very short time-frame.

It was late in the evening, one Friday, when I found myself driving Adam to the airport to pick Anna up. Standing in the lobby of Sea-Tac International Airport, I thought about the fact that I was about to meet my future sister-in-law. Our parents had sent their best wishes and would be flying out from the East Coast in a few weeks. “We just want to give her time to get settled, before we come out there,” they said. All I really knew about Anna was that she was twenty-seven and had worked in a bakery in Moscow. She lived with her parents in a tiny apartment and had never traveled more than 50 miles from her home. Now she was on the other side of the planet, here in Washington. I could only imagine what was going through her mind at that moment.

As the crowd came through the gates into the lobby, I looked over at my brother who was wearing a stupid grin, holding a big sign that said (in Russian); “Welcome to your new home, Anna!” (In the months since he had first told me about all of this, he had been taking night classes to learn Russian. I confess I was impressed at his command of the language.) Anna suddenly appeared, looking tired and disheveled, but had a happy smile on her face. She saw Adam, and ran to him, squealing. Arms wrapped around each other, and there was lots of lip-lock going on. I turned my head and rolled my eyes. After a few moments, though, I nudged them and said; “If you prefer, I can drop you two off at a motel, if you can’t endure the hour drive back home.”

They parted, but kept arms around each other. “I not believe I am at last here!” Anna laughed. Her voice was thick with an accent, but the tapes that she had played to help her English had seemed to improve said accent, according to my brother. “Happy to meet you, is me!” Anna held out her hand. I took it, bowed over it, and winked. “The pleasure is mine. Lucky for my brother he met you first!” Anna giggled, as Adam gave me a good-natured shove. “Hey! Go find your own!”

I had to admit it; Anna was a cutie. She bore a strong resemblance to the actress who played “Buffy” in that TV show about vampires. Long dark blond hair that went to the small of her back, large blue eyes, and a figure that would turn heads. She stood at 5’5”, and the girl had a rack on her that defied gravity. My trained eye figured them to be a set of 34-C’s, and the outline of her nipples could be seen popping up from beneath her white blouse. As the two of them walked ahead of me, I could see the outlines of her ass in her tight jeans. I confess that I am a connoisseur of posteriors, and Anna had one that any man would love to sink his teeth (amongst other things) into. As we got close to the luggage conveyor, she looked over her shoulder at me, and smiled. There was a hint of mischief in those eyes as she winked at me, but I figured it was just her excitement at getting here.

I dropped them off at Adam’s condo and told them I would be over on Sunday. I figured that would give them all of Saturday to fuck, eat, fuck, rest, fuck, call respective parents, fuck, rest, fuck, shower, fuck, etc.

Sunday, noon. I knocked on the door, and Anna opened it, wearing one of my brother’s T-shirts, and nothing else. She took my hand and pulled me inside, saying that Adam was in the shower. She then gave me a quick kiss on my cheek as we went back into the living room. “I would like to offer coffee, but the stove is not to my knowledge,” she giggled (sounding a little like a female “Yoda” with her sentence phrasing). She indicated that her kitchen back home had a gas stove, and she had never seen one with electric heating elements before. The idea of a microwave was also new to her. The family apartment was a third of the size of the condo, with only a ¾ bath. And cable TV? Back in Moscow, they had three stations available. Here she could allow her eyes to glaze over with a few hundred choices that included ‘on demand’ and streaming. I was surprised that the idea of watching TV had even surfaced, since I had figured that the two of them would have spent the entire previous day in the bedroom.

On the coffee table, an English-Russian Dictionary and Phrase Book sat. Anna and I made small talk, each of us nervously getting a feel for each other. And I confess I was doing my best (and at times failing) to keep from ogling her legs as they poked from under the hem of the T-Shirt. I also caught a few glimpses of dark blond curls under there.

“What Job do you do?” Anna asked. “I know Adam work at electrical company for computer items.” (I had to suppress a smile at her attempts at forming sentences.) “Adam says I soon go to school here. American I learn to be!” I told her that she would be a great student, and that I worked for the government.

THAT struck a spark of fear in Anna’s eyes. “Government? Police?” From the hallway, I heard my brother laugh. “No darling, Victor is just a drone for the state. He’s not CIA.” Anna cocked her head confused, and a little concerned at the mention of the CIA. Adam picked up the dictionary, and soon found the words he needed. “Oh,” Anna breathed a sigh of relief. “You deal with ... trash.” That brought more laughter from my brother. “That’s right, the Department of Sanitation. Victor makes sure that the state of Washington stays green and litter free!” I just nodded and smiled.

And so, they were married. I won’t bore you with the details, but an Orthodox Russian Wedding is LONG. By the time it was over, we were all ready for the reception. Adam had invited many of his co-workers and friends to the shindig, and our parents had flown out from Vermont. Anna really didn’t have anyone there for her, but she just soaked up the attention, as brides are allowed to do, drinking wine like it was water. She danced, flirted, and made sure she had lots of pictures taken that she could send back to her family and friends in Russia. The dress alone had set Adam back almost six grand, and the hall and catering was also on his dime. Our parents and I offered to help, but he was not having any of it. I did a quiet mental tally and figured that he had spent about as much on the wedding as he had spent in getting the girl over here. For $100,000, I hoped she was worth the investment.

The answer was not long in getting there.

As part of her “Americanization”, Anna was attending a sort of school to help her learn about the country, improve her English skills, and adapt to the culture. She also discovered the joys of shopping. She really didn’t have much in the way of decent clothes when she got here, and one of the first things Adam had done was to take her to a mall. Seems that Macy’s was having some good sales, but even so, he sank a few grand into her wardrobe. I admit that she did look great, since a lot of the items were very flattering on her body.

The holiday season was getting close, and we were all planning a big family Christmas get together. The parents would fly out (on my dime) and stay with me at my place. I had a two bedroom condo not far from my brother, so we would all manage to get together. We had to explain just what and how an “American” version of Christmas was, and Anna was a bit stunned.

“So, many many gifts are sent or given? To friends and family?” she asked.

“Yes,” Adam smiled. “Why do you ask?”

“Can we send a gift to my parents? I think maybe they would like that.”

Sending physical items was going to be expensive and involve tariffs and more money than the items might even be worth. In the end, a large sum of money was sent. Yes, there were fees, but not as bad as trying to send physical items. Anna’s parents were thrilled, since they no longer had her salary from the bakery, they were running skinny on the budget.

Christmas day, Anna had a slight panic attack over how many things were under the tree for her. She felt that she didn’t deserve anything, and cried. We did our best to comfort her. Eventually she calmed down and she even managed to call her family back in Moscow for a bit. The conversation was in rapid fire Russian and most of what was said was missed, but we got the impression that everything was positive.

For New Years, we had tickets to a nice club that was holding a party that included dinner, and a band for dancing. My parents would be returning home on the third of January.

“There’s something a little ‘off’ concerning your sister-in-law,” Allison said to me as we danced. Who is Allison? She is a friend from work that I had known for years. She is in a different department, and there was no ‘formal’ romance between us. Just good friends (and the occasional benefits tossed in). We often joked that we were each other’s ‘Plan B’ for functions like this, since neither of us had time for a serious relationship.

“How so?” I asked as we waltzed across the floor. She was thin, but had enough curves to keep her body interesting. Her jet black hair hung to her shoulder, and her eyes were black. I don’t mean, the iris alone, I mean with the exception of the thin band of white around her eyes, it was solid black. A little disconcerting at first, but I was used to it. I pulled her a little closer and she smiled. Even with heels, she was still a few inches shorter than me.

“She asked if we are ‘a serious couple to marry’ and if not, she had friends back home to fix you up with.”

“Sweetheart, we know that isn’t possible,” I sighed. “Too many complications.”

“I know,” she nodded. “But just keep an eye on her. She’s up to something.”

“Three ... Two ... One ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Lots of kisses.

It was mid March when things took a turn for the worse. Adam left me a message on my phone, asking I call him back, as soon as I could. “It’s all sorts of messed up, please, I need advice.” He sounded very upset.

We ended up meeting at an IHOP for lunch.

“What’s that old saying? ‘Hook, line and sinker’? She had me totally fooled. I can’t believe how stupid I am!” Adam looked down at his coffee. “I loved her. I wanted to give her a wonderful life here. I thought she loved me. Boy, was I wrong!”

It seemed that while attending her ‘school’ to adapt to living here, Anna had met up and started hanging out with a group of other Russian students. Seems she was homesick, and these folks got inside her head and started filling it with ideas. She started skipping classes to hang out with them, and was introduced to the concept of credit cards. Knowing Adams information, she soon had several, and was treating her friends to meals, shopping trips and paying their way whenever they went out. Anna had managed to cover her tracks fairly well, until one day the bank called Adam to ask about questionable charges and late payments.