3. Teaching Them A Lesson
I noticed my shed door was open, and the padlock I used to keep it locked with was broken one day when I returned from work. And I had a ton of bags filled with soda cans.
I’ve accumulated a lot of soda cans over the period of about a year because my pals and I tend to drink a lot of soda. And because I like big payouts, I was going to cash them in at the bottle dump soon. Where I live, a can costs 10 cents.
But other things were missing from the shed beside my bags of cans. My gardening shears, a steel rake, two shovels, a two-gallon gas can, a cheap power drill, an electric hedge trimmer, a tiny electric chainsaw purchased secondhand, a machete, and three other items were also taken.
I have no idea why they took what they did, but I assume they believed they could sell them for a profit or something. When I looked over the video from my camera to see whether It had captured anything, I saw something disturbing. With one of their dad’s big claw hammers, my three nephews—ages 16, 15, and 14—broke into my shed.
The hammer is bright yellow and black; their dad has many of them, so I knew it was them. They simply needed a couple of blows to break the cheap lock. They started by breaking into my shed and taking anything they could by hand.
They had to make many trips to collect all the cans. And when they were finished, they even made no effort to shut the door. First, my sister and brother-in-law denied that their children had stolen anything from me.
I then went to their home and showed them my security camera footage. There is a sad reason why I never disclosed to them that I had cameras installed. My nephews have robbed me before, so this was nothing new. Snacks and food came first; then, they moved on to DVDs and video games.
Then, after that, pretty much anything else they believed they could smuggle out. Every time I forced them to return something they had taken from me, I was made to feel awful before receiving the fakest declarations of regret. Moreover, they were never in trouble with their parents.
When my nephews snuck into my home last year and stole three six-packs of my favorite blood orange ale from my fridge, that was the final straw. But that isn’t the worst of it. The worst aspect, though, is not that.
They entered using my secret spare key, and they also used one of my restrooms, not only without flushing but also peeing all over the floor. And I do not doubt that it was deliberate. When I questioned my sister and brother-in-law about my nephews stealing it, I discovered the drinks they took were hidden in one of their bedrooms.
When I wanted them punished, I was essentially given an equivalent justification to “Boys will be boys.” I installed the cameras without telling anyone. My sister and brother-in-law were furious after viewing the video of my nephews stealing from me.
But they were even angrier that their boys skipped school to rob me. Their lads skipping school to rob me, however, actually made them more furious. They had been going to the Bottle Drop multiple times during the day to cash the cans. They spent the money on junk food and video games after that.
Actually, the amount in question was close to $200. That, together with the broken padlock, convinced me that my sister and brother-in-law now owed me $200. My sister and brother-in-law became furious at me for wanting the money back because I knew they had three children and a mortgage.
I stated that it was either that or I would go to the authorities and file charges. They told me to leave, and I told them they had two days to figure out how to pay me back before I went to the authorities. Everything else my nephews took was returned to me, including the machete and gas can.
My phone overflowed with messages from my sister and brother-in-law throughout the following few days. Both spoken and written. Because it was immediately following the holidays, and they have three children and a mortgage, they initially scolded me for being heartless.
After that, they began to gaslight me and even threaten me. All of this would be repeated in a loop. All of this would be repeated in a loop. My nephews phoned from a different phone and began sending me messages of their own, which resulted in even more phony apologies and gaslighting.
Even my oldest nephew texted me a photo of himself pointing the middle finger at me while holding a Soda can. I suppose they weren’t taking my threats to contact the police seriously. My sister and brother-in-law refused to discuss any kind of means of compensation for what my nephews did when I last spoke with them. even after I advised them to sell the video games they bought with the money from the cans.
They then had the gall to claim that I had tempted my nephews by keeping the cans in my shed in the first place. That morning, I went to the police station to file the report. A copy of the video depicting my nephews robbing my shed was given to them.
They broke the lock, so I gave them the pieces. showed them all the texts and screen captures that served as additional proof. I let the police know that I thought it was concerning that my nephews had taken the machete.
However, they categorized it as a tool. especially considering how many other tools they took. However, my nephews were apprehended and detained on Saturday. Officers arrived at their home and forced my sister and brother-in-law to let them in because they had a warrant.
All three of my nephews, who were previously arrogant little jerks, reportedly started sobbing when they were put in handcuffs. I know this because a neighbor who is somewhat friendly with my sister was around to witness it. But it didn’t end there. My sister and brother-in-law started blowing up my phone again after the arrest.
Their children couldn’t leave until Monday morning. The boys are currently facing larceny charges, malicious mischief, and harassment. Since there have been accusations about my nephews for a while—but nothing has been proven as of yet—the authorities took the entire situation quite seriously. Bags of cans have been disappearing all over the area over the past two months.
I’m not sure if my nephews were involved or not. Though they are likely suspects. Let’s hope other neighbors with security cameras step forward with more footage when word of their arrest spreads. Also, my sister and brother-in-law visited my home.
I refused to let them in and informed them that they were the ones who were enabling their children’s behavior by failing to hold them accountable. They continued to shout and bang on my door as a result, and I eventually threatened to call 9-1-1 on them as well.
And because I’ve already done it, they know I mean it now. So they left without any further issues. However, they reverted to blowing up my phone.I decided to save all of their messages because I’ve chosen to take them to small claims court over this.
I already replaced the damaged padlock with a much better one and didn’t really need or want the money. Children need to learn a lesson, but they’re not the only ones. I’m hoping that they will have learned their lesson by the time I’m done and won’t mess with me ever again.
My family is totally in support of this. Including my parents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. All of them are with me because my nephews have also stolen from them. And several followed suit after I banned my nephews from my home.
Pexels / Andrea Piacquadio
