Short Story

Such A Crime

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Denise at GirlieOnTheEdge
has challenged us once again
to write a Six Sentence Story
and to include the word “stock”.
This is my response.

Monday after school, me and my friends were in our usual hang out …. Caroni Brothers Grocery Store …. where we go for snacks, gum, you know – typical things 10 year old boys like – and, as usual, my mouth was watering for my favorite candy in the whole wide world, Tootsie Rolls, BUT I forgot my allowance and my friends didn’t have any extra money to loan me so I just walked around the store feeling glum when all the while those chocolatey Tootsie Rolls kept calling my name; before I could even think about what I was doing, I reached into the display box on the shelf, snatched a handful of Tootsies and bolted out the side door, but instead of running as fast and as far away from the store as I could, I tossed my candy into my backpack and sat on the ground leaning against the wall, relieved that I got away with it, when suddenly Mr. Caroni appeared outta nowhere, looming over me like a gorilla, and he reached into my backpack for my stash of Tootsie Rolls, shook his beefy fist and snarled something about cleaning him out lock, stock and barrel and to “get outta here, you mangy little thief, and never come back!”  

That night I prayed Caroni’s would burn down – no such luck, by the way – and every day that week I gazed at the store with longing as my school bus passed by with one sickening thought haunting me: this coming Sunday morning, when me and my Dad are gonna take our weekly walk to Caroni’s for a loaf of Italian bread, a box of macaroni, a half-dozen cannoli and the newspaper; there’s no way I’m gonna be able to walk into that store and I’m thinking maybe I should just run away from home right now and never look back, but that would break my Mom’s heart. 

Sunday arrived and Dad called out for me to “get a move on!”, all the while I’m making up excuses why I can’t go but he ain’t buying any of them; that’s it – dead man walking – and I dilly-dallied the whole way to the store, watching caterpillars, kicking pebbles, stopping to tie my shoelaces .… again …. until my Dad couldn’t take it anymore and shouted “C’mon, kiddo; what is this .… a funeral?” and I’m thinking “yeah, mine!” and before I knew it, I started crying and blubbering like my baby sister. 

Squatting down and taking hold of my shoulders, Dad looked me square in the eye and asked “Ok, what’s going on?” and sobbing pathetically like a little sissy, I told Dad the whole sordid tale about me, Mr. Caroni and a handful of Tootsie Rolls; he took out his handkerchief, wiped my face, held it to my nose and said “Blow; listen, kiddo …. what you did was wrong and it’s obviously eating you up inside, but I’m afraid it’s not over because you still have to apologize to Mr. Caroni, which won’t be easy, but you have to do it …. and not a word about any of this to your Mom because this is a “guy thing” and it stays between us guys.” 

We walked into the store, picked out our usual items and brought them up to the counter where my day wasted no time mincing words and said “Mr. Caroni, my son has something to say”; shaking in my shoes, I managed to look up at Mr. Caroni’s face and squeaked out “I’m sorry for taking those Tootsie Rolls, sir, and I’ll never steal anything from you ever again” and I extended my hand; an eternity seemed to go by but, to my shock and relief, Mr. Caroni took my little hand in his large meaty one, gave me one solid shake and nodded in agreement. 

“Anything else?” Mr. Caroni asked, to which my dad replied “Just these” as he tossed a handful of my beloved Tootsie Rolls onto the counter; I’m sure glad my secret’s safe with Dad ’cause the last thing I wanna do is break my Mom’s heart.

NAR©2024

Sunday’s Six Sentence Story Word Prompt!

From 1971, this is Cat Stevens with “Father and Son”

This portfolio (including text, graphics and videos) is copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NAR © 2017-present.

44 thoughts on “Such A Crime”

    1. You are so kind, CA, and I’m happy to know you’re enjoying my stories. Sometimes I can’t remember what the story’s about just by the title and I have to go in and take a look. That was the case today with Such A Crime. That was a true tale about me and my dad and I remember it like it was yesterday!

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  5. Surely there has been, down through the ages, a tendency among adults to to indulge in disproportionate drama when it comes to instilling moral values in the young.
    The world is, (for us at that age), not only new and surprising, it’s full of adults.
    The fanciful giants of fairy tales notwithstanding, we must survive life in a land of giants and ogres in order to learn to live our own lives.
    (But then again, how many cultures down through the ages, make the decision to teach by intimidation and scare tactics rather than (by) example, indoctrinating the young with tales of evil and retribution (aka Brothers Grimm et.al.)
    lol
    yeah, I’ll lighten up… someday

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  12. Lovely story. If only all kids owned up to their responsibility and errors in judgement.
    The youngest son of ex partner was caught shop lifting and I had a policeman knock on my door. He was lovely and very discreet, waiting while I rang Nanny to send him home.
    He gave him a ‘talk’ and said he’d leave it that he would go and apologise to the shop manager and that he’d never do it again.
    I sent him to his room and he sulked, saying I was going to tell tales. I said I wasn’t going to tell his Dad, he was. Of course I got it in the neck saying I was always on his case (this was before he’d seen the boy) but when he found out, he was livid. Did he go into the store with him to make him apologise? No. He sent him in with our foster girl. It was apparently my fault because I didn’t give him breakfast, he was hungry and had no pocket money. Not only did I give him breakfast, so did Nanny, AND she gave him 50p to spend every day. I was glad to leave the relationship.

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      1. This particular child was spoilt by his grandparents, father, mother and her new partner and all of her family (she was one of 10). I saw right through him, would not pander to his whims or wants, but I did care.
        If a child can break your heart, I think he shattered mine as he threw everything I had to offer back in my face…….. yet I stayed in the relationship for almost 8 years to look after him and his older brother. I’ve written about it in my blog but I still remember the flack I took for his wrongdoing. Long time ago now, and the last I heard was he’d got in with a bad crowd and was in trouble with the police as his brother had sought me out after I’d left for advice. I told him that he had to tell his Dad, even though he knew he’d be angry, but once he’d calmed down, his Dad would know how to deal with it. Most important thing was that it was not my visitor’s fault and he wasn’t to begin to let anyone think it was. That was 32 years ago.

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  13. Nancy, your vivid storytelling drew me into the moment, making me feel the anticipation, fear, and eventual relief. It’s a testament to the complexity of growing up and learning from our mistakes.

    ~David

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      1. I never would have guessed it was you! It certainly sounds like a life-altering moment, in this instance it seems like more good than bad came of it though which is very fortunate for these sorts of circumstances.

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    1. Yes. Caroni Brothers was a corner store in the Bronx many years ago when I was a child; I can still see it very clearly in my mind’s eye. A few years ago during a drive through, I saw that the place was still there, still a small grocery store, but with a different name.
      I moved to the suburbs 55 years ago; there are still quite a few ‘mom & pop’ stores around, I’m happy to say.

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