Free Every Woman's Dream by Mary Monroe

her face and it was really getting on my nerves. She took a deep breath and suddenly perked back up. “I can sure use the money. Maybe I’ll stick with this for just a little longer. Are you going to respond to all of the letters we received from the new men?”
    â€œI can’t think of one good reason not to. Those men sound so pathetic, I feel sorry for them. Just think how happy we can make them just by writing to them and . . . and—”
    â€œConning them out of their hard-earned money?” Lola tossed in.
    â€œThere you go again! That’s not what I’d call it, so please don’t say that. And how do you know they’re not crooks themselves? For all you know, they could have made their money by conning people! With all the scams and Ponzi scheme stories we see on TV and read about in the newspaper, I’m surprised that hadn’t already occurred to you.”
    â€œThat’s besides the point, Joan. What do you call what we’re doing? If this isn’t ‘conning,’ I don’t know what is.”
    â€œWell, yeah, we are conning them, if you want to split hairs. But this is different from a real con. For one thing, our new men friends probably don’t see it that way. They were the ones who offered us money.”
    â€œBut that’s only because we told them we had financial problems and because they think we’re a gorgeous woman in her twenties who will eventually hook up with them in person. Almost every single one either wants a serious relationship or a wife.”
    How a superfly girl like me ended up with a wishy-washy BFF like Lola was beyond me. “Look, if they didn’t want to give away their money, they wouldn’t have bragged about how prosperous and generous they were when they sent their information to be listed in that magazine. These men want some attention. We want some money. You can back out if you want to, but I . . . I’m going to get more prints of Elaine’s pictures because I’m going to write to a few more men. I’m going to tell them all about how poor I am and how my mother needs an operation.”
    â€œI need to think about this a little more,” Lola said, her voice cracking. “I’m glad I got this money, but . . .”
    â€œBut what? You feel guilty? If that’s the case, like I said, give me the money you received.”
    â€œI don’t feel that guilty,” she said, and chuckled. If she was laughing, she couldn’t be too concerned about being a “con artist.”

Chapter 10
    Joan
    I LOOKED FORWARD TO EACH NEW DAY BECAUSE I WAS ON A ROLL . Thanks to my elderly pen pals, cash was coming in faster than I could spend it. Just last week, a real nice man—a retired oil executive in Dallas—sent me a thousand dollars in his second letter! In the last couple of weeks, I purchased all of the latest CDs by my favorite rappers and a few I had just discovered, half-a-dozen new novels, and some very expensive new clothes. Last Monday after school, I got my hair and nails done for the first time at a salon that catered to local celebrities. I didn’t know what to spend my money on next! As long as nobody noticed all the new stuff I had acquired, I wasn’t worried. I was over the moon. I had just begun to flirt with the idea of buying myself a set of fake D-cup titties, until my busybody cousin Too Sweet said something that brought me back down to earth.
    â€œJoan, you been looking mighty spiffy these days. New clothes, fresh hairdo every week—what’s up with all that? Where you getting all this money from? I know you ain’t making much by babysitting now and then, and you ain’t doing nothing else to be getting paid.”
    I sat at my desk with my back to the door. Too Sweet had entered the room so quietly that I didn’t even know she was present until she started talking. I whirled around, with a lie ready to slide out of my mouth.