Violated, Part II: Always trust your gut.
So, as it turns out, I was right. As per usual, when I'm right, I regret being right. The thief was the oldest son of my long term friend and occasional lover. As I thought, someone close to me, but also a kid as others suggested.
Due to the dollar value involved, they will likely charge him with a felony. When asked (right in front of me) why he did it, at first he tried to say he was borrowing it, and then told the police officer that he did it (referring to me) 'because I don't like him'.
Wow. OK, story time now:
Once upon a time, about 3 years ago, there was a boy named Martin. Martin was very sick, having a rare condition known as linear scleroderma, and having suffered in the past from having Arnold Kiari brain malformation - which required brain surgery. The doctors in Utah wiggled the bones in their noses, and consulted the chicken entrails - and told his mother and siblings that he wasn't going to get any better. In fact, he was going to die, most likely before reaching adulthood. He was often ill, and needed constant care, so his mother would stay home and watch him. But while she did that, the place she worked at didn't pay her, and so, she lost the house her mother had left her, and was about to be thrown out in the snow with three children. The fourth child ran away with her boyfriend, but that's a story for another time.
Knowing how dire the situation was, Martin's mother called me. I had been in love with her when I was 15, and and stayed in contact on and off, and even though she had hurt me terribly when we were kids. I was in the middle of a divorce, and had been alone for more than 5 or so months. I knew that an instant family was not what I needed, I needed to concentrate on myself. I knew that Lisa wasn't the same person I had fallen in love with 20 years earlier. I also knew I couldn't let 3 pre-teenage children go back into a homeless shelter. I sent her train tickets.
When they arrived, they looked and smelled terrible. 2 days straight on a train with very little in the way of sanitary facilities was hard on them. They had more luggage than we could really fit in my car. We shoved as much in the car as we could, and I put Lisa and the youngest boy on a commuter train home, while I took sickly Martin and his sister home in the car. I had a one bedroom, and was living off my G.I. Bill while going to school.
I quit school and got a good job. It was very far away, so we moved there. I got Martin into Children's Hospital in Chicago, where he got much better care and treatment than the witch-doctors in Utah were giving him. With the right combination of medications, proper diet, and a normal home life, Martin got a lot better. His condition eventually went into remission, and for the first time in his life, he was looking at the prospect of a full, and normal life.
Lisa and I didn't always get along. I became very unhappy, and we separated. I stayed around, and helped where I could with bills and food. I tried to always make sure the kids got what they needed. Sure, sometimes I fell short of what I'd like to do to help, but times are hard for all of us, and I did what I could. Sometimes, I would give them my groceries, and survive off snacks at work so they'd eat.
Sunday morning, I woke up to my x360 being gone. Only that, and a package of meat. The meat was what gave it away, really. They knew I always had food for them. Martin decided it was OK to do this because his mother was unhappy that our relationship had failed. I was (and am) unhappy about that, too. Martin would see her cry, and he'd hear us argue, but he didn't see me buy them food, or put gas in her tank. So, that made it OK to rob me.
Not only did he steal, but he erased all my data from the box, and changed my profile name to 'fuck you'. He also tried to take it to a local pawn shop and sell it. They wouldn't buy it because he was a minor. They were only going to give him $70 for it anyway. They heard him talking to another kid who he was going to sell it to for $200. He also gave them his name.
So now, he's likely going to be charged with a felony, due to the dollar amount involved. Even if I dropped the charges, the state would just prosecute on my behalf, and without my involvement. I think it's better for Martin if I stay involved and ask the court to help Martin rather than just punishing him. I am concerned with the surgery that he had, as there is a chance, however small, that he could be paralyzed if he is hit in the head. While I do not believe in Christianity any more, I do believe in mercy still. I'm just not sure how much to ask for on his behalf.
I guess the old adage is true. No good deed goes unpunished.
posted by Scott @ 05:42
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