I had not seen my friend, who we'll call "Bill", for many years; not since I was a kid. Then one summer after I was out of college, we ran into each other again... we had grown up and I soon found out that time had changed him for the worse.

I was just out of art school and penny-less. I was constantly looking for any art related work I could find. Bill was out of work too and trying to hustle up a job. I arranged for him to stay with me for a few days at my bosses studio loft when he found an add for work in the local paper. The ad stated that an orphanage was looking for an artist/sculpter to build a five foot penquin for a charity ball. This mascot was to be displayed at a formal fundraiser for a boys home in Los Angeles, and the payment would be $400 to anyone who could build the giant seabird.

Bill asked if I could make such a thing, and if so, suggested that we do the project together and split the dough. I agreed and simply let him handle the arrangements. Then, Bill mysteriously disappeared and after a few days I had completely forgotten about the penguin project. All that changed when I got a call from a distraught woman who was near the point of tears, claiming that she hadn't heard from Bill and the date for the fund raiser was fast approaching (obviously he had met with her and given her my phone number). I began to suspect that he might have set up a deal and taken off with some cash. I told her I hadn't seen him either and so I asked her to further explain to me... "What exactly was the problem?" She went on to say that my friend had picked up the $200 payment (half down) from her and wasn't heard from again since. I knew she had been conned.