By David Topping

Before we published our post yesterday about a chair for sale on Kijiji by a woman with one heck of an ex-boyfriend story, we emailed the seller. The details of their now-dead relationship, we thought—alleged relationships with “transvestite hooker[s],” alleged “cocaine habit,” alleged grand theft—were too sensational to be real, and plus, there were plenty of inconsistencies with her few-paragraphs-long story: Was her car sold? Didn’t she say she needed money from the sale of the chair to buy gas? Didn’t her ex buy her car? Is the chair really an Eames, anyway?
We didn’t expect a response from the seller, and we certainly didn’t expect a defense of her story’s truthfulness, but we got both. So! Perhaps you’ll want to read her harrowing emails to Torontoist, minus some identifiable details which we’ve edited out, with the caution that her whole story remains altogether unverified? Yes, you do.

Everything is true. The hookers, drug habit, abuse, stealing, and poverty…all very true. I went from living in a townhouse in Cabbagetown to living in an area where the closest major intersection is Shady and Scary.
With regard to the car, I had a Honda that I had purchased while with the ex. I had a VW that I loved dearly, but he burned the clutch out of it (didn’t offer to pay to fix that or tell me that he had no idea how to drive a manual transmission prior to borrowing it) and our dog didn’t fit comfortably in it. I was on stress leave from work (another huge part of the long, long story) and EI doesn’t pay much, so I found myself in dire straits. I actually had the gall to ask him when he planned on repaying the money he’d taken from me and was informed that he would not be facing any financial difficulty to repay the loan I had made to him. Instead, he took his beard to [Central America] for Valentine’s Day. I had to trade in my nice car for a used Smart Car, which fits my dogs (who live here with me) just fine as our dog went to visit him for Christmas and never came back. The trade-in difference enabled me to make rent and feed myself and my dogs.
As for the car he has, I paid in full for a Nissan that was imported from Japan. There were only twenty thousand made. It’s quite a unique car. He picked up one of my former clients in that vehicle, and had “her” in the house that we shared when I was away in Ottawa following our breakup. It should be noted that I used to work for [a support organization for sex workers] and my former clients are sex trade workers. She described my home in detail, down to what I had hanging in the bedroom closet and the bedding. I have a contract to force the sale of the vehicle for repayment of the loan but until I have money in excess of my living expenses I can’t afford to file in small claims against him. I had a Nissan imported for myself but could not take delivery of it as I had to move and use what little money I had left in my savings account to furnish my home as he’d forced me to get rid of everything prior to moving in with him.
So, if I don’t laugh about this and learn what a huge mistake it was to believe that because we were living together meant that we were a couple with a future instead of a naive woman with too much money burning a hole in her bank account, then I just might as well throw in the towel! At least I’ve managed to get by without having to grovel for my money. The courts can take care of that for me one of these days!
The chair story is another one entirely…there was another chair that I loved dearly that had upholstery to complement the chair I listed. He said he’d go pick it up for me prior to Christmas, did so and didn’t tell me, keeping it for himself instead, despite having a house full of pricey furniture we’d purchased together and I received nothing for. He knew that I loved this chair and I’d paid three-quarters of the balance owing on its restoration and vehemently denies taking it despite the owners at the store providing signed invoices and knowing very well that he did it as he lives right down the street from the business. I painted my living room and decorated around the chair he stole from me. There was no reason to take it other than to screw me over, again. I do laugh about all of this; it defies belief sometimes. It’s my own personal Jerry Springer episode!

She wrote back again after reading our initial article:

I assure you that the entirety of what I wrote in that ad is the truth. I have many friends who stood by me throughout the entire relationshit. Also, I’ve got emails to support what he did to me, from him, and I’ve been victimized long enough. I appreciate that you don’t or didn’t believe the ad, but what have I got left to lose at this point in time?
I’m not the first woman he has done this to either. His ex-wives (the second marriage was only five months in entirety as he was caught cheating shortly after the wedding mere blocks from their home) were also robbed of money and left to move away from his abuse. Would that I had a time machine to go back and listen to my gut before he sucked my bank account dry, but I’m a survivor and have managed to land on my feet every single time.
But, as with all women who have been badly dumped and hurt I don’t want to come off as bitter or jaded. I’m simply using humour and managed to sell off what few of the belongings I have left to make ends meet, and at a bargain no less.

One small victory: the armchair is now sold.