COMING CLEAN

Although the constant rain meant that there was at least a bit of an escape from the unbearable heat of the previous months, it also meant that the lawn in front of my house was fast covered with overgrown grass.

I had been postponing mowing the lawn, but hadn't gotten the time to do it until it looked like my house was the only unkempt one in the neighborhood.
Knowing postponing was out of the question, I'd forced myself out of the house this morning and here i was enjoying the cool morning breeze as i whistled an old tune.

I was lost in my thoughts when i heard my phone ring inside the house. I went inside to retrieve my phone and as i picked up, i heard a male voice on the other end.

"Andrew Scholes, you have twenty four hours to return back the money you stole and confess your crime"

" who's this and what are you talking about?
I heard a click as it disconnected.

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This was a weird call to receive this early in the morning. It felt like someone was playing a prank on me, but i just moved to this house and everyone knew me as Drew. The only people who called me Andrew were from a past i would love to absolutely forget.

As much as i wanted it to be a prank, i couldn't shake the feeling that it had to do with my past. The people who knew about that money from that time in my life were mostly out of the country and i was sure no one else knew about it.
Or so i thought, because this caller knew my full name and he sounded like he knew the details of what transpired many years ago.

For the next few hours i was jittery and didn't know what to do, but after the time elapsed and a few days passed with nothing happening i soon forgot about the incident.
Two months later i was in the mall shopping for a few things when my phone rang and immediately i picked, the voice came on again.

"You had your chance, punishment awaits you"

I was shouting now and people were begining to stare, but i didn't mind. There was no way this stranger could've known about my biggest secret.

"You know the money I'm talking about. The tuition fee you stole" he answered

I knew this was no ordinary stranger this time around, this was someone who knew me well and who was willing to destroy my reputation.

I was shouting and snarling as he threatened to expose my secret to the whole world. I didn't know when i started crying and begging for forgiveness as people now surrounded me.
This was a secret that had been weighing me down for years, it was time to finally let it out.
I told the crowd how i had been jealous of my cousin who got admission to an ivy league university and how i stole the money meant for his tuition fee which he'd been saving up for months.

My accomplices were two other friends who split the money with me. My cousin lost interest in his education after that lost opportunity and everything soon went downhill from there.
Seeing him everyday continue to move from one bad decision to another and knowing my part in what had happened was too much to bear, which was why i moved to my new house.

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I was still crying with people watching me when i saw one of my friends who helped with the theft walking towards me alongside my cousin Mathew.
My cousin explained how he had lost hope in his academics and his life after that incident. Fortunately one of my friends reached out to him and confessed what had transpired.

Mathew had waited for me to come clean and confess, but was surprised i never did. Even though he could see the struggle and pain in my face whenever i looked at him.
He was surprised when i finally moved to a new house without any reason and knew i was trying to get away from him.

He decided to set up an anonymous call to see if my conscience would make me finally do the right thing. I was crying and begging him now that i knew he was aware of what had happened.
This secret had been a burden, giving me sleepless nights and disturbing my conscience. Mathew said he'd forgiven me a long time ago and had been waiting for me to simply say the truth and everything would be back to normal.

Shamefaced but happy it was finally over, i hugged my cousin as the crowd watched on.