By Indu Kumar
Feeding Oscar under the table Archie shouted out “Yes Mum I’ve eaten all my toast .” He had his fingers crossed behind his back. Satisfied with his reply his Mum carried on with her household chores upstairs.
That was when Archie realized how easy it was to lie. Adults were so gullible. They did not even check to see if you were telling the truth. Just took your word for it!
At first Archie tried this out in small doses mostly on his mother and sister.
“Yes, Mum I’ve walked the dog, yes Mum I’ve checked on baby and yes Mum I’ve washed my hands.”
This was followed by a trial of what he named essential school lies “no maths homework today Mr Price was poorly so we had a substitute teacher, they cancelled parent teacher meeting this year.” He even used Tippex to change his grades on the annual school report!
Archie’s Mum was a single Mum and rushed off her feet all the time. She had just enough time and money to make both ends meet. It was no surprise then that she failed to notice her sons devious and cunning actions.
Archie had nightmares of his father. He would come home drunk late at night. He hurled verbal abuse at his mother at every opportunity. The bruises on her face were the result of his actions. But she hid them well. At times Archie thought that perhaps he had inherited her art of lying about his Dad from her. Well that’s how he justified his actions.
Finally, one day his Dad did not return and it was a blessing in disguise. No one was more pleased about it than Archie.
All the time Archie was becoming better and better at lying.
He lied to his teachers and he lied to his family and friends. He skipped school and lied through his teeth making up stories about his broken family. His sob stories sounded credible enough and he easily won the sympathy vote.
His neighbour got him a paper round before school.
On day one Archie delivered the papers to every other house. When questioned he said he thought it was for only one side of the street. The owner of the corner shop, a kind hearted middle aged Asian man, felt sorry for him and gave him the benefit of the doubt and gave him a second chance.
The second day Archie lost his job. The newspapers were all delivered to the neighbour’s wheely bins! Archie told them he was mugged and his paper bag was snatched from him. He said he was lucky he was not hurt and they did not take his bike. He even gave a very good description of the thief. A character from one of his sister’s books. Unfortunately, it was bin day and he had put them in the wrong bins. He was caught! That should have been a lesson for Archie but it wasn’t.
Instead he focused on how to get away with lying.
He practiced a lot on his little sister. He told her their Mum needed her pocket money for food or they would all go hungry. She bought it and he used it all on himself. She was told not to say anything to their Mum as it would upset her!
He was now an expert liar.
No surprise that Archie left school with no qualifications at all.
He lied his way through job interviews. He CV said he was orphaned in childhood and had an unhappy childhood in foster care. He forged documents with qualifications and even got convincing false references from people he just made up.
He went in for jobs where they were desperate for workers.
And so it was that Archie found himself working in the local sweet factory. More sweets ended up in his pockets that in the boxes!
Before long he was found out and got sacked at once.
Archie lied to his Mum and pretended to go to work every morning with the packed lunch which she prepared for him.
He spent all day roaming the streets. He tried his hand at pick pocketing unsuccessfully so moved onto shop lifting successfully.
Archie told his Mum he was working the night shift. That way he would have plenty of time to plan his burglary.
Filled with a sense of satisfaction, on this dark and cold winters night Archie made his way home. It had been a very rewarding day. It went so well. Everything was done and dusted earlier than he planned. Home for supper the thought. It was what he called a golden ticket day. He managed to steal small but expensive items. He had 3 gold watches, a pair of gold earrings and best of all the most expensive a diamond bracelet. He had somehow distracted the salesman at the jewelers by setting off the fire alarm. In the few seconds of confusion the loot was in his pocket and nobody was any wiser. By the time the alarm was raised he was on the other side of town.
Armed with the loot he slowly walked back home on the narrow road that led to his village. He dared not risk catching the bus. The CCTV on the bus was a guaranteed give away.
The drizzle from earlier had now turned into a torrential downpour.
It was a deserted road with the sound of traffic heard occasionally.
As the downpour got worse Archie unsuccessfully tried to protect himself with the hood which seemed to have a mind of its own.
It was a long and somewhat rugged road and Archie’s legs were tiring. His heavy bulky pockets did not make it any easier. It was still a long way from home. Archie was hungry wet and very very tired. His legs were getting heavy and every step needed a superhuman effort. He must have momentarily nodded off.
Archie stood no chance. The driver of the vehicle was driving fast at the bend. Poor visibility with the heavy rain made it impossible to see the road.
Archie was struck and thrown across the windscreen. He did not know what hit him.
As the car sped off Archie lay sprawled on the road. Thousands of pounds of loot were scattered around him. The watches were broken but the jewelery was intact. In his pocket was a document.
It was the false ID he had used for his job, with a made-up home address and nonexistent next of kin.
The last thing Archie heard in the distance was the faint sounds of sirens.
Author Bio:
I have written short stories in my spare time. Love reading and written for magazines websites . Self published a short stories book earlier this year. Love to participate in competitions as it keeps me focussed with a time target. New to this site. Sent a story and was surprised to see it published as top read of week and was very encouraged by it. Read all the stories on the site and found them all interesting.
Contact Author:
Email indukmr7@yahoo.co.uk
