My $500 Dollar Friend

I only have a few ''Very best friends.'' One of them I literally paid $500 dollars for.

A gal named Arlene and I became friends. We seemed to have much in common and enjoyed each other's company emmensly. After about a year, Arlene asked me if I would be interested in buying a diamond ring she enherited from her grandmother.It appeared to be a good deal at $1500 dollars. Arlene said she had it appraised a few years previously at $7500 dollars and that it was 11/2 k's.

At this time, Arlene was residing with another friend of hers named Helen. She needed the cash fast as she wanted to get her own place.

I told her I would buy it since she needed the money so badly, but only on the condition she could repurchase it for the same price if she ever wanted to. I wrote Arlene a check for $1500 and told her she could cash it on monday when the bank was open. This was on a saturday afternoon. When I got home I looked at it closely with a magnifying glass. Not out of suspicion, but simply interest. I noticed what appeared to be a chip in the large center diamond.

Acquiring a ''bad feeling'', I decided to run it down to a jeweler I was familiar with to have it checked over. The man at the jewelry store scowled as he checked the ring over carefully. He informed me it had two chips in it, which decreased the value greatly. Also he said it was under 1k in size.

Leaving the jewelry store, I felt confused. Partially betrayed and partially concerned about how to handle the situation without deliberatly hurting Arlene's feelings.Maybe she didn't really know all this herself, I consoled myself.

I called Arlene at Helen's house on sunday, telling her that I changed my mind. Her angry response put me on the defensive. I let her know what the jeweler had told me. She told me he was mistaken but I knew him and trusted him. Still, I felt bad enough about having to put a stop-payment on the $1500 dollar check and as a consolation I told Arlene I would loan her $500 dollars instead. We agreed to meet for lunch so that she could give me back my check. She was their as planned and I counted out $500 cash instead.

When I called Arlene a few days later to simply chat, Helen answered the phone. Before asking to speak to Arlene, I told Helen who seemed to be a real swell lady, that I hoped she didn't think too awful of me for cancelling the ring transaction. Helen surprised me by telling me I had every right to cancel the sale. We talked for awhile and I found out Helen and Arlene had been friends for about five years, but Helen was seeing ceratin things she did not like about Arlene. Arlene's general lack of honesty towards others was the main thing.

I was saddened to hear all this as I believed Arlen and I would continue our friendship. I told helen that and she surprised me by responding with,''Ill be your friend Joyce, and I know how to be a good friend too.

Helen and I agreed to meet for lunch and really hit it off from the start. Sure enough, Helen has been one of my dearest friends for five years now.

I never saw Arlene again and either did Helen as she moved out soon after.Nor did I ever see my $500 dollars again either. This is why I refer to Helen as my $500 dollar friend. But that's okay! Helen was and is worth every penny.

The End

It helped me recognise and appreciate what a friend really means. And how to be a good friend in return.