Fiction

A redemption

2 ex-convicts decided to break into a detached house. They did not expect this turn of events

Jun 4, 2024  |   6 min read
A redemption
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"This one," Dylan nudged his partner-in-crime Walter and pointed to a detached house on the map. They dressed themselves in workmen attire and waited for the right opportunity. The exterior design of the detached house had caught their attention. "This is where rich people live, so chances of finding valuables in the house are very high," Dylan continued. By nightfall, the men left their apartment and walked to the park opposite the detached house and sat themselves on a bench.

Dylan and Walter had met while serving time in prison and by sheer coincidence, they were released on the same day. Their paths had been different, but now they emerged. Dylan grew up in an orphanage, and did not start a family either. Walter was in love once, but his girlfriend broke up with him immediately after his imprisonment. Dylan never had a home, and Walter's girlfriend ran away with all his money. Neither of them was a criminal at heart but they both ended up inside. Dylan was trying to help his friend, whom he knew had committed theft earlier, escape from the police. However, his friend betrayed him in order to save himself, which resulted in Dylan's arrest and subsequent imprisonment. Walter assaulted a guy who tried to perform indecent acts towards his girlfriend, and the guy was bent on pressing charges against him. Now these 2 men, both close to 30, ended up jobless and without a livelihood, they rented a dirt cheap apartment at the edge of town, a stone's throw from the detached house they decided to break into. The 2 men briefly went through their plan. They would pretend to check the water pipes and when no one was looking, Dylan would scout for valuables in the house while Walter would act as a lookout.
They felt that the value of items to be taken would be peanuts to the wealthy, and that they needed money at least to move about and find employment.

Just then, they saw a man and a woman left the house hurriedly. They got into a car and drove away. They had forgotten to close the door, which delighted both Dylan and Walter. "Now's our chance," Dylan whispered. But no sooner had they got up from the bench than another man in his 30s stagger out of the house towards them. He grabbed Dylan by his hand.

"Please...Help me get away from here," the man begged them. Liquid was coming out from his mouth. Although he did not mention what happened to him, the 2 men knew on hindsight that he was in some trouble. Using nightfall as cover, they carried the man some distance away from the house. Once the coast was clear, Dylan and Walter looked around and spotted a guard's house nearby. They brought the man there. He stuck his finger into his mouth and vomitted on the grass patch. The guard's house had long since stood empty. The ex-convicts forced the door open. After that, they carried the man inside and put him on a bunk. He was not really in need of first aid and he was conscious. Still, Dylan said that they should probably call an ambulance. However, the man spoke again.

"Please, no ambulance," he pleaded. Even though he was still quite weak, the man refused medical attention. He said that he could handle it himself and that whoever tried to poison him must be punished. The man was gradually recovering. He looked around and the 2 men saw fear flicker in his eyes. Carefully, he asked what they were trying to do in the dark
night. Dylan and Walter exchanged guilty glances and admitted that they were about to break into his house to look for valuables, further explaining that they were left without a livelihood and that they did not really have a choice. After all, the worth of valuables would be peanuts to the wealthy. After hearing their story, the man felt sorry for them. He promised to help them after everything is over. He then went on to explain what had happened.

It turned out that the man's wife was currently living in his house and probably conspiring with her lover to get rid of him. The man exclaimed that his wife and her lover were the ones whom Dylan and Walter had seen leaving the house in a hurry before he himself ran out and asked for their help. They had poisoned him and ran out of the house as they thought he was dead. The ex-convicts put their hands over their mouths in shock. "Couldn't you settle your family problems more amiciably?" Walter asked. The man sighed and said that his wife obviously wanted to settle this problem this way as it allowed her to get the whole of his property. He had caught her having an affair and wanted to leave her with nothing, so his wife and her lover conspired to get rid of him to get their hands on his business and property. They asked to meet up with him under the pretext of making peace and spiked his food and wine with poison. He had swallowed a mouthful of the wine and felt unwell. He then collapsed on the ground, and while still conscious, he heard every word of the conversation between his wife and her lover, which was about getting rid of his body, but he
could not do anything about it. He really thought his life would be in danger had it not been for the 2 petty criminals who were about to break into his house. The man thanked them for saving him. They never managed to break into the detached house but instead they saved him from danger by sheer coincidence. After this, Dylan and Walter had nothing left to do but take the man into their crumbling tiny apartment, but he was quite contented with that, saying that at least he is now safe. The apartment is located at the edge of town where there was plenty of fresh air to help the man recover strength and come up with a plan to get even. Besides, Dylan and Walter did not have visitors, which guaranteed the man's safety.

3 days later, the inconsolable woman summoned all the employees at the headquarters of a large company. She announced the disappearance of the founder and CEO. The employees had yet to reconcile themselves with his sudden disappearance. He had a cheerful demeanour, and there was nothing unusual in him which would suggest his disappearance. It happened so suddenly that nobody even had time to think. All the employees respected Oliver for being a great man and a great leader who knew all the details of the company's business. There were also employees who were with the company from day one and knew Oliver to be a true self-made person who attained these high postions through his own talent and hard work, and now his wife, the new owner intended to appoint her lover to a key position. No one had any idea how this will affect the company. Everyone knew Oliver's wife. Ostensibly she was his right hand but most employees knew her to be
a person with no real substance. She came to work for the company beautiful-looking and well-spoken, and for some reason, she managed to get Oliver to marry her. Essentially she did not have to work at all and she enjoyed living off the benefits of a wealthy life. Oliver was head over heels in love with her and could not see her true nature through the haze of his affection and how her ultimate motive was to inherit the company. The only place where she can lead the company is nowhere. While the inconsolable woman was giving her speech, the door quietly opened and Oliver stood in the doorway. The employees stood in silence with their heads down, listening to what the new general director was telling them. Suddenly, she fell silent, freezing as if she saw something she should not have seen. The employees followed her gaze. Oliver was standing in the doorway, which left everyone dumbfounded. The wife, smiling stupidly, greeted her husband and unable to find a better sentence, added that they all thought he had disappeared. Oliver smiled and did not say anything. His wife stupidly smiled at her colleagues and asked how someone who had disappeared can reappear. Oliver, still smiling, extended a file to his wife. Bewildered, she examined the contents. It was divorce papers. She started to protest, not realizing that Oliver had heard every word of her conversation with her lover. Oliver told her he did not want to see her and her lover any longer, and asked them to get ready to answer for their crimes. Just then, police officers arrived and arrested the woman and her lover. The police had searched the house and found the poison used to spike Oliver's food and wine. Apparently, the woman and her lover
were overconfident and they did not get rid of the key evidence. However, their plans were thwarted by 2 inexperienced criminals who appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time and saved Oliver from imminent danger. Oliver's wife and her lover were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison sentences. After everything is over, Oliver rewarded Dylan and Walter and gave them jobs with his company, which they readily accepted. They managed to turn their lives around, leaving their criminal past behind for good.

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Phani

Jul 2, 2024

Great Story. The twist was good

P

Phani

Jul 2, 2024

5/5

Yong Choi Chin

Jul 2, 2024

Thank you

Yong Choi Chin

Jul 2, 2024

Thank you

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