“He arrived in a 300,000 BGN Mercedes. I had just finished unharnessing the horse. I was really dirty, like I am right now.” Tzvetan paused. “No, less than I am right now.”
Tzvetan was telling this story to Martina in a rushed walk to one of the Sofia court houses. He had been sent a summons letter, which was picked up by his father. In a panic, his father called Tzvetan at his work - an unregulated construction job. Still covered in dust and dirt, Tzvetan took the bus to our place so Martina can take him to the court building since he had no idea where it was and how to get there.
What was this letter about? “I pray to God it’s not about the cars,” Tzvetan kept repeating. On the 30-minute walk to the court, he told Martina the story.
“Petya was in the hospital. I was out of a job,” he explained. This was during the time his daughter Petya fell into a pot of boiling water and spent weeks in the hospital with her life in danger, undergoing multiple surgeries. And some acquaintance mentioned how he could get quick cash just in exchange for his signature. Tzvetan showed interest tentatively and the very next day, a guy rolled up in a 300,000 BGN Mercedes as he was unharnessing the horse from the cart.
“Jump in,” the man said.
“No,” Tzvetan said, “Look at me, I’m too dirty.”
“Come on, come on,” the man insisted, his hands glued to the wheel, the motor of the car still running. “Come make a quick 1,000.”
Tzvetan climbed in. The process was easy. Before he knew it, he had signed some papers and now a bunch of cars were registered to his name. So simple. 1,000 BGN for a signature.
“Don’t worry,” the man assured him. “You’ll have no problems with these cars. If you have any trouble, just call me.”
“200 here, 300 there,” Tzvetan continued his story. “Bills, debts, food, supplies for Petya, and the money was gone.”
But the cars weren’t gone. Soon, Tzvetan learned they were used for smuggling refugees.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Sky and Earth Know to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.