Kleptocure

Kleptocure

He started stealing as a child,

Though born into was an average family

Where there was always enough to eat and a roof over their heads.

His parents were teachers.

He lacked nothing.

And yet the impulse would suddenly come upon him.

To take something for himself.

It made him feel very powerful.

The first time he was caught.

His Father spanked him.

He stole a piece of meat from the pot.

But then his father begged him and explained to him that he ought to have asked for meat rather than sneak into the kitchen to take one out of the pot like a thief.

He was six years old.

For him, there was a thrill to stealing,

An Adrenalin rush,

A feeling of 'getting away' with something.

His parents didn't get it.

It was for the thrill.

It made him feel smarter, special, and wiser

Sometimes he employed it as a form of punishment or revenge to get back at his offenders.

To win!

By the time his parents became concerned about his criminal mind he had become quite good at it.

The habit had left the four corners of their flat to his school and neighborhood.

At 13, he devised a perfect means to steal bread from a bakery close to their house without being caught.

At school, he was way ahead of his classmates.

He picked pockets.

Stole food from vendors.

Broke lockers!

Ironically, he was so smart, such that,

Most of his crimes were easily pinned on dull classmates.

He was also academically exceptional, none of his teachers would even dare to suspect him.

At age 14, he single-handedly broke into a local community bank.

The bank was located beside a book shop.

He hid in one of the bookshop's toilets until the staff closed and then climbed into its ceiling, before breaking into the bank through the ceiling.

It was damn right daring!

He couldn't break into the safe but he stole as much as he could from cabinets and offices.

Back home, his parents had gone grey with worry.

Their son went to school and had gotten missing.

By the time they returned from the police station and his school late in the night, he was home,

Sleeping!

In the middle of the night his mother became restless, she turned his room upside down.

She discovered his loot .

Seized the bag.

Where did he get almost 200,000?

The next morning, the news of the bank robbery broke!

She called her husband,

Told him everything.

What should they do?

They waited a week.

He never acted like he lost anything.

The next Saturday, his parents told him they were going to visit a friend, and that they wanted him to come along.

They drove silently until they got to their destination.

The Agodi Prison, Ibadan.

They signed in.

He saw the massive gate.

When they got in,

He noticed there were so many heavy metal gates,

So many prison wardens in uniform,

So many rooms.

He: (Suspiciously) Mummy, what are we doing here?

His mother: This is where you will be living now.

He: Why?

His mother: We found some money in your room last week.

He stopped.

His Father: Don't even think of running, where would you go? If you confess to us, we can reason with the prison officials and get you out in less than six months.

He was scared witless.

He confessed and promised never to steal again.

His father spoke with the wardens.

They left after some hours.

Unknown to him, his parents arranged the whole episode with the prison management.

The next week he was enrolled in a boarding house.

It took some time.

He met Jesus at his new school.

He never stole again.

He is now 40 years old.

Married with children.