How A Drug Addict Stole my Money

It was the beginning of 10th grade and I had one of the best classes I could wish for. Plenty of friends and nice girls to talk to. But there was this guy who I have never heard of, upon asking my friends who he was, they explained to me that he did drugs and was one of those "low life" fellows. I took this lightly as many people smoked and did drugs in my school, I hardly talked to him for the first few weeks of school, never really making friends or anything. But it didn't matter - we didn't need to be friends anyway. Then came sports day, where we had to wear a shirt and shorts, I couldn't fit my wallet into these so I left it in my bag. That same day, I had over $100 in my wallet because I wanted to buy a bicycle after school. While hiding it in the bottom of my bag,
I realized that this guy, who we will call Bob, wasn't partaking in sports that day because he was apparently ill, was staring at me. I didn't really care and carried on towards the field. I did my thing, had fun and it was time to head back to fetch our bags. Upon checking my bag
for my money, that took me over a year to save, I realized it was gone. I went into a sort of panic mode, immediately thinking of my father and what he would do when he found out that I lost all that money. I immediately asked the five other kids that were not doing sports that day.
They all said that nobody came near the bags, other than Bob, he was sitting alone, by the bags.

I didn't even consider him a suspect. He didn't come off as a thief to me. After a long day of running around the school with my friends, asking every teacher to help and
looking in every corner of every building, it was the last lesson. I managed to get the principal of the school, who was an intimidating man
to walk into the class and let them know that they will be involving the police and dogs will come to sniff out my wallet. My school was helping me and it made sense as it was a very conscious school that cared about their kids and made sure that everyone was happy.
At this stage, Bob was shaking and I could see the fear in his eyes, the sweat running down his face. Earlier on, during lunch time, I stood near where he hung out with my friends, watching him and he constantly peered towards my location. This was enough for me
to know that he was the one who stole my wallet, along with all the support from my friends.
Upon walking out, Bob came to me and handed me my wallet, telling me that he found it. I shook his hand, thanked him and left. But by now I knew it was him. There was only $20 in the wallet and I immediately went to the office to let the principal know.

The boy was called in and given a disceplinary hearing. Apparently he was caught multiple times with drugs at school and was known for stealing. He wanted to buy drugs with the money. He was then given a hearing by the police. A week later, he was never to be seen again and to this day, I don't know where he is.

Sure, my case is small and $100 isn't exactly life threatening, but for a 16 year old boy, it was everything to me. It just goes to show that people can do crazy things when they want to feed their addiction. Drug addiction doesn't only affect the user, it affects those around them. Sorry for the story being long, I left out a lot and tried to make it as short as possible, thanks for reading!

Sorry for the formatting being a little off, I had to type it in Notepad as my internet wasn't working.

"Sure, my case is small and $100 isn't exactly life threatening, but for a 16 year old boy, it was everything to me. It just goes to show that people can do crazy things when they want to feed their addiction. Drug addiction doesn't only affect the user, it affects those around them. Sorry for the story being long, I left out a lot and tried to make it as short as possible, thanks for reading!"

Do you think your case is small @SashaS? I think not. I just wonder if "Bob' was ever helped before he ended up in jail or worse dead. You are right. Too many times we have seen or heard of cases where addicts will steal and lie to feed their addiction. It's a sad reality. I pray for the 'Bobs" of the world and their victims.

Wow, what a low life I hate thieves, I don't care if it's fueled by their addiction it still isn't right what they do! Thanks a lot for sharing, your story reminded me of my biological dad and how he stole from me and my mom recently. He is a gambler, for me there is no excuse for stealing from your own daughter. Thieves are the lowest of the lowest.

Let me start by saying your case isn't small. You were still affected by someone with an addiction. Anytime someone steals from another, it's a big deal. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. It's sad that nobody knows what happened to him. We can only hope that he spent some time in jail and got his life together. So young to have such a bad problem.

I am sorry that you had to go through this but it is never a good feeling when somebody steals from you. It would be nice if we could trust everybody but you learned a lesson the tough way. You never know who will steal from you. I have had money stolen from me on a number of occasions but a lot of time never knew who did it.

Yes, with a drug addict you have to remember that the disease always comes first. It is a sad but true fact. I would not trust having any kind of money around an addict. When my son went through his "pothead" stage, I was always missing money from my purse. He admitted he had taken it on several occassions, this was after the fact, when he was sober.

I'm sorry but I laughed non-stop after reading your reply, Bob is obviously not his real name and I've omitted his real one for his sake. I didn't realize how silly that was until I read your reply. Thanks for the constructive feedback anyways. That goes for everyone who has replied. You've helped me see the situation in a different light.

I am glad I made you laugh. Is it me or "Bob"?

Ain't that the truth.

Just to add to the point you raised by sharing your story, we had this neighbor before and he used to be good at fixing things. We didn't know how it all happened but one day he stopped losing his ability and ended up destroying people's appliances every time he was asked to repair them. It happened over and over again in the neighborhood. Men nearly punched him but they ended up pitying him for "losing his way." Some even paid money just to make him stop (even if he failed to repaired stuff).

I really felt bad for that neighbor. He used to have such a bright future ahead but because of drugs, he lost his skills, his wife, the possibility of a great future and a lot more.

It was just right that you told it to the authorities in the school so that they did what they should do. That way they were aware of his situation and better if they helped him through counseling or what could be the best approach to him.

Just because things seems small, doesn't mean they are... Luckily you panicked like you did, or else that poor kid would have probably died by now... I was like you, in a similar situation, some girls I knew, we weren't really friends, but decided one day to try cigarettes, because they thought it seemed cool... So when they decided to tell me (I guess cause I wasn't that popular...) and thought that it wouldn't much of impact on them, oh how wrong, I told the bus driver and at the times I was friend with a girl who could gossip for days and told her that those two were smoking well within the day those 2 were called to the principle to have a talk... The next day and after they quit cold turkey...

Like how you just managed to either stop/slowdown the addict known as "Bob", I also stopped those 2 from becoming addict, so trust me when I say that not everything that seems like no big deal, is not a BIG deal...

Wow @SashaS that is an amazing story, I must say. I'm so glad that the situation came into your favour. That makes me smile today knowing that you got your money and that thief was dealt with. Things like that need to happen to criminals around the world.

I am cigaretts adictit,i smoke about 1 pack of cigaretts per day,this will destroy my health first of all and second i spend a lot of money on it.Today i am trying to smoke just one cigarett in the morning,but i wish to quit even is a little hard for me because i smoke from 8 years.

The saddest part of the story is the fact that we'll probably never know what happened to "Bob" in later life. I only pray that he got his act together and is living a responsible life somewhere in this small blue planet. Addiction is such a terrible condition that it can make you do very bad things to other people, not because you hate them but just to satisfy your cravings.

Thanks for all the eye-opening replies. It has really made me see the situation in a new light. It happened many years ago and I disregarded the fact that "Bob" was still someone who existed. I did some research on Facebook and I found him. It turns out he moved to a high school in another city and started a new life there, he seems to be doing well, judging from the pictures he posted and I can safely guess he kicked his addiction. I sent him a message asking him how life was and whether he remembered me, he replied that he did remember me and that he was doing alright. I sent my regards and that was it.

When I was in high school I had a drug addict friend, he and I were sharing the same dormitory. My other friends said the guy was a thief and used to steal their money and other valuables, however, he never stole from me. Perhaps that's because I supported him very much.

Sadly, as you know and others have said, that's what drugs do to people. They will do anything to get their fix, no matter who they hurt with those actions.

To be honest, I've met very few drug addicts who weren't also thieves. If they can't afford their habit, or if someone else isn't supplying it for them, then they will do what they have to in order to get it.

It is true that Bob was only 16 and stole $100, when he is 20 he will steal a thousand. Addicts become prone to stealing when they desire to feed their addiction. If a kid is caught telling a lie at 4 and is not stopped, he will tell a bigger lie that would cause a war at 12. Same goes for stealing; petty thieves graduate to become bank robbers; little is never enough.

I'm glad Bob left when he did and did not negatively influence you or your friends.