Dream of: 02 April 1986 "Nigerian Romance"

While in my Cedar Springs Law Office, I was surprised to see Michael Ilbe (a Dallas acquaintance) walk in. Ilbe (about 25 years old) had a stocky build and was black. I recalled that he was a Nigerian and that he had asked me to help him with an immigration matter. He had seemed like a likable character; however he had not had any money with which to pay me and I had never done the requested work. Now I was preparing to leave Dallas and move to Europe.

He sat down and asked me if I had been able to do anything for him. I told him I had not, and I intimated that Leland (the other lawyer in my office) had been supposed to do some of the work for him. Ilbe said he had tried to have another lawyer help him, but that lawyer likewise had not done much for him. I implied his new lawyer had apparently not put much effort into his case. Ilbe replied that neither had Leland. I did not know what to say.

He stood as if he were about to leave. I said, "There's one thing that will usually get a lawyer to do something for you."

"Money?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered.

I thought perhaps I would recommend he go to my ex-wife, Bonnie, but before I could say anything, I was surprised to hear him say he had already gone to see Bonnie. He then said he had taken Bonnie out on dates several times. That really surprised me.

I immediately wanted to find out more about his encounters with Bonnie. He sat back down, we continued talking and I said, "Let me make sure I've got your name and number here."

I picked up an index card lying on the desk and wrote "Michael Ilbe" on it.

I wanted to get back to his dates with Bonnie and I asked, "Well did you know I was going to go to Europe?"

He said, "Yea, she mentioned that."

I asked, "Well did she say anything about me?"

"No," he replied.

I thought it was curious he would say Bonnie had not said anything about me when he had just finished telling me that she had told him I was going to go to Europe. Obviously, she therefore had said something about me. I asked, "And you went out with her?"

"Yea, four or five times," he answered.

He then made a gesture as if he were going to pull out his billfold and added, "The last time I spent $25 on the date."

I remembered having recently encountered Bonnie in a restaurant when I had been with a black woman, Francis (a clerk in judge Michael Schwille's criminal court). I had taken Francis out to lunch merely as a courtesy and not because there was anything romantic between us. Bonnie, however, had apparently been romantically involved with this black man. I looked at him and tried to imagine why Bonnie would want to go with a black man. I thought she probably had some sexual attraction for him.

I suddenly remembered Bonnie was going to marry someone soon and I wondered whether she had gone out with Ilbe while she had been engaged. I wanted to ask Ilbe exactly when he had gone out with Bonnie.