HOOKED CROOK

 

He occasionally heard the voice telling him again and again to get out but now, after a month of being introduced to the “blue candy”, the voice had been dulled.

He had asked for his salary for that month in advance and apart from the portion he gave to his wife for the children and the home, he could not account for the rest. All he knew, all he wanted was to get his fix and if it didn’t come when it was supposed to, life would be hell for him. He would begin to hear voices again; not the voice of his daughter, no, these voices were not lovely or innocent. They told him what to do, where to go, what purse of his wife to look in, yes! They knew it all.

His wife had complained to him that her money was missing and had her suspicions on their son but couldn’t do anything till she got her facts straight. He just nodded all through what was meant to be a conversation. 

One day, she almost caught him stealing from her purse. He had checked earlier for his stash which he hid in the kitchen but it had finished and his last cash was used to buy the one he took early that morning. So he told his wife that Shirley needed her attention and while she was gone, he began to ransack all her things until he found some cash hidden in an old purse. Though a paper was wrapped around it that read, “women fellowship contribution for Anna’s son”, he took some without counting. And just when he was about to rearrange the mess he made, his wife walked into the room. He stammered through his reason for being in her stuff but he was sure she bought it.