Thief

After Summer got out of jail, Summer felt exhausted and relieved. Maybe she could sleep but it was more challenging to sleep when she needed it the most, or was she having a sleep walking episode?  Who could she call for help? 

She walked into her room and scanned her bookshelf for her bible. Sometimes when she was troubled, she would open the bible to any page just to see if a verse applied to her. She used to read the I Ching but got tired of the counting. 

She opened the page John chapter 12  why was this ointment not sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and “had the bag, and bared what was put therein.  John 6-7. 

A thief? Summer re read the passage.  A little voice inside sp9ke to her. Then she opened her phone and realized she hadn’t checked her credit card account.  Her eyes widened when there was a charge on her account that she hadn’t recognized.   The charge was for an Amazon purchase he hadn't made. The word thief went through her mind again.   Hal was the only person who had been on her computer.  They were both drunk and her Amazon account had been open. They had been joking about sending an Adam’s Family doll to this student who looked like Morticia Addams.   Summer’s face reddened.  She texted Hal and tried to remember what she had done while she was drunk. Granny never liked Hal and said he didn’t have a lick of sense. Why didn’t Summer have real friends? Granny always told her she was better and, she deserved better.  And Granny advised her to choose her friends carefully.  Her mother told her it would take some time, but now who would want to be around an alleged felon?   And why did a woman who was a complete stranger want to ruin her life? 

 Summer had always been very shy and quit going to church after deciding she was an agnostic. Most of the people in her town were affliated with some kind of church, as there were over four hundred Baptist churches.  Granny gave her a copy of How to Win Friends and Inflence people. Summer was surprised the book had been a best seller for so long.  The advice didn’t seem to help much. She’d recently joined the newspaper hoping to make some friends there.   She also had gotten involved with the literary club.  But now she could be in danger of ge3tting kicked out of school if Morticia accused her of a bomb threat. 

Hal finally texted her back and admitted to purchansing an Uncle Fester doll. He said he was going to pay her back.  Summer dialed his number. Her hands were shaking. 

“You did what?” she yelled. 

“I sent her a doll. I wass going to pay you back. You seemed to like the idea.” 

Summer remembered speculating about all the pranks they could play on Sue, but she never gave Hal permission to order anything from her account, and she didn’t think his inebriation exonerated his actions. 

“I got accused of threatening her because of that doll. I don’t know how they came up with bomb threat.” 

Hal laughed.. “That’s crazy. Your joking, right?” 

“Fuck no. “ Summer almost dropped the phone. “I could get expelled from school.” 

There was a silence. 

“How about we go to the dean and explained what happened? I’ll meet you for coffee tomorrow morning. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.” 

“Well, I hope so.”   Summer was still shaking when she hung up the phone. She felt betrayed, but she had to admit that she was responsible for being so naieve and getting drunk with an idiiot.   But if Sue’s family was willing to say she made a bomb threat, how would she get out of it?  And would Hal own up to his part? They were both drunk and the doll came from her account. 

Summer wanted to just sleep through the entire episode.  Now it would be even harder to make a friend, and she would be blacklisted.  Granny would give her a woman up lecture. Summer though of all the places she’d rather be, but a little voice inside her told her she had something important to do. Did that mean she was some kind of narcissist?  She thought back to the accident she witnessed at her grandmother’s when she was a little girl. Why did that image keep coming back to her mind? She rememberd a dark haired man. Her grandmother had dialed 911, and the man died.   Granny hugged her and said, “that’s how life is.”  yes, one never knew when something was coming. Sometimes she saw herself stopping the accident.  Sometimes she dreamed about the man. How old would he be now?  She was only seven.  He would tell her stories in her dreams and she would forget them when she woke up. He wanted something from her.  Sometimes she had nightmares that her breaks went out and she couldn’t stop the car.  She kept going until she was about to crash into something and then she would wake up.  Something would stop her from running into a tree.  And sometimes she saw a shadow appear and then vanish.   

Yes, that’s life. It just happens that way.  Summer felt a chill in the air.  She took several deep breaths and tried to hold back her tears. But crying was good for the eyes.  It was a way to clean them out.  She would work everything out.  Granny always helped her find different ways to solve a problem.  Granny always told Summer that she had something special to do although Summer was never sure what and how. She was just a shy, ordinary country girl.  She wanted to believe she was destined for something more, but the notion seemed ridiculous.

Summer heard the word thief again. She stared up at the ceiling and prayed. She shivered when she felt a cool breeze. The voice inside her told her that someone would help her figure out what really happened.