The Gallery

 On a mid summer’s day, Jim and his wife Sarah are going back to their hotel after a long walk on Miami’s sandy beach.

Jim is a tax adviser for major corporations and he lives a very comfortable life in his townhouse in New York.

While his wife is looking at sunglasses in one the over-priced stores, bored Jim goes into a fancy looking gallery.

“Good afternoon sir, how may I help you?” asked the clerk.

“I’m just looking, thanks.” Jim answered.

“Is there anything specific your looking for?” “the clerk pushed.

“Actually, my wife is redecorating our house in New-York and she’s desperately looking for something to go with the new Italian sofa”. Jim took his phone from his pocket and showed the clerk a photo of a luxurious huge red leather sofa.

“Oh I know just the one, this way please mister…”

“You can just call me Jim” 

“Ok Jim, I’m Adrian, follow me please.”

He led him to a gray marble stand upon which stood a very handsome redhead. 

“This is Nate, 28 years old, he just arrived last week. Have a look and tell me what you think”. Adrian explained.

“Oh I really like him” Jim walked around The platform, examining the artwork, and checking the price tags hanging from Nate’s finger.

“$150,000 for a decoration.. I don’t know.” Jim hesitated.

“You should know it’s a great investment. These boys are like a Picasso piece, their value never drops. Last year I would probably sold him for $125,000″ the clerk made a his pitch.

“Oh I know, I have a couple I bought last year in NY for my home office.” Jim bragged. “I really like how smooth this one is. The one we got last year is a bit hairy and he collects so much dust. The maid has to clean him every other day. What can you tell me about him?” Jim was looking interested.

The clerk opened his tablet and told Jim the details. 

“Nate here was sentenced just 2 months ago. He was accused for crypto-currency fraud which partly caused the 2019 financial collapse. The Trump administration recently changed regulations to cut back on federal prison expenses, so financial criminals are also being included in the program. I have a couple of more guys here from the same trial, but I don’t think you’ll like them as much.”

“Financial criminals as well? I didn’t know. The two I have back home robbed 11 banks. To be honest, I’m not sure who was more dangerous”. 

“You should know, as law dictates, 30% of the price in being transferred to the victims. Also, if you sell him in the future you will need to pay this 30%. So what do you think?”

“I’ll have to talk to my wife. I not allowed to make decorating decisions” They both laughed.

“Well, let me show you some other items…”