Post #9 - Bruno

Post #9 - October 21, 2016

At the age of 31, I married Bruno.  He was from South Africa (SA).  I mentioned him in an earlier post.  He was charming, handsome and a pathological liar (but I didn't find that out until after the vows).  When I met him, he was a Mormon.  He had served as a Mormon missionary with the brother of a lady that I worked with at the trucking company, hence how we met.  I shared a little bit about him in an earlier post.  He was a runner, cyclist and a swimmer.  Very lean, dark hair and had a great smile.  He came to CO to visit, little did I know he really wanted to stay and would do anything to make that happen.  I had dated quite a lot and I thought I was pretty good at reading people.  This guy conned everyone tho.  My family, friends, etc.  After we got married, we lived in my apartment and he was working for a landscaper based in Parker.  He, supposedly, had been a landscaper in SA, but who really knows.  He also told me he had been in the SA military and had gotten shot in the shoulder (scar proved that, he said).  No way for me to verify that either.  I was working for a software company and I usually got home from work before he did.  This was the dark ages of answering machines and often I'd come home and there'd be a message from someone wanting to know why he hadn't showed up at their house that day to do yard work / landscaping?  I was confused by this, as he was working full-time for this other guy, so why was he contacting people on the side, making appointments with them during the week, when he was only available on weekends?   I began to trust him less and less due to him telling his personal clients that he would be at their house during the week.   After only a few short months, I wasn't trusting him at all.  He had gone to FirstBank to try to get a loan for a vehicle.  The bank wanted me to co-sign on the loan (I had banked with them for quite some time - still do), which I didn't (thank god).  They did give him a loan and he bought a pickup.  My sister had moved to Maui and I wanted to go visit, so my mom and I planned a trip out there in November (Bruno and I had gotten married in March the year before).  Bruno wanted to go really badly, however, he wasn't pulling his weight with paying bills or an income, so I told him he could pay his own way (which is what I was doing).  He didn't go.  I can't remember all of the details, but the marriage was on it's way out.  I was really stressed on the trip to Maui due to my marriage and when I got back, found out that Bruno had racked up HUGE phone bills calling family, etc  in SA.  (bills that were over $500, which I ended up paying to keep my phone connected and my credit good).   I was at work one day and called the house to check voice messages and a woman had left a message for Bruno saying she had had a good time the night before and to call her.  I was immediately sick to my stomach.  I went home and when Bruno got home I asked him about it.  I looked him straight in the eye and he denied it without flinching.  I told him we were done.  I called the woman back and told her Bruno was married and she said he hadn't said anything and that she didn't know.  He must've taken his ring off as well.  I was so livid that I was afraid I would kill him, so I went to a motel for the night, because he wouldn't leave and I wasn't about to sleep in the same house as him.  The next morning I drove back to the apartment and Bruno was loading all kinds of stuff into his truck (MY STUFF!!).  I immediately called the police and they came and he had to unload all of it.  He left and I haven't seen him since.   Over the course of the next 5-6 years, I received phone calls from numerous women he was dating (he was now in UT...back to his Mormon ways).  One wanted to know if he had a VW car when he was here in CO.  I said no.  Others wanted to know why I had kept his name....did he owe me money?  It was hilarious.  All of these women were wanting to verify what he had told them because his stories weren't stacking up.  I told all of them to just walk away from him...that he was a pathological liar.  All of them did, but one.  She married him, even after talking to me.  I think they are still married and I believe they had a child.  Just recently (a few months ago), Wells Fargo in UT called me and wanted to know if I had contact information for him.  I was NOT happy. I told them I had been divorced from him for 20 years....why were they calling me?  I asked them why they didn't just drive down the street to his house to collect money that he owed them!  I had to laugh.....he's still up to his same shenanigans.  Oh.....and not long after he moved to UT, I was at my bank and I saw his truck parked in their lot.  I immediately called the banker and asked him if Bruno was in town?  He said no, we went to UT to repossess the truck!  ha   In my opinion, honesty and integrity are the best policies....a lot less hassle.