I Was Arrested When I Was Six

What I am going to narrate is a true-life incident. Nothing is fiction. Names of the people and the supermarket has not been written to respect their privacy.

Ten years ago, I was arrested. I had broken several laws in my country. As a result, I was liable to be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to three years, or with a fine, or with both.

You may wonder how the hell did this happen.

To answer, I need to backtrack a few months before the incident.

I had an ordinary youth. Amazing parents, fantastic school, great friends, life was perfect. Every evening, I used to go down and play football with my friends in the local park. One day, one of my friends asked me to accompany him to the nearby supermarket to buy something. I said okay, and we went immediately.

We reached the supermarket and immediately went to the junk aisle. While walking down the aisle, my friend swiped a chewing gum packet. I witnessed it but for reasons unknown, I did not say anything. Perhaps I was scared to expose him, or I was greedy for the gum, I do not remember why I had remained mute.

Anyways, the cashier helped us pay the bill and went back to the park. On the way back, he gave me a piece of gum. I greedily accepted it without thinking about the consequences.

A few days later, we again went to the store. This time, we stole a chocolate bar. This soon became a habit. I never told about it to anyone because I was getting free junk food every third day, and as a six-year-old, that felt like winning a jackpot.

For over a month, this occurred. Every week, we used to go twice to the supermarket and steal something while simultaneously buying something to ward of suspicion. It became an addiction for us.

One fine day, out of the blue, my mother asked me if I was stealing from the supermarket.

I was shocked. Never had I felt so nervous and scared to answer any question. My mouth became dry, and my heart raced like an F1 car. My brain started firing on all cylinders and was imagining all the possible outcomes. In the end, I decided to come clean.

I got scolded terribly and was grounded for an entire month.

A few days later, my parents asked me to go with them for a car ride. I could not say no, so off we went. After a few minutes of driving, we landed in front of the nearby police station.

I was dumbstruck. I thought that we were going on a leisure drive. I imagined being stuck in a juvenile prison for the rest of my youth and felt very sad. I cried a lot and begged my parents not to let me go, but they did not listen to me, so I had to go.

I was first made to visit all the empty prisons. They were dirty and hardly had any sunlight. Next, I was forced to sit in front of two burly officers.

The conversation went like this.

Kid. You were caught red-handed stealing from the supermarket. Don't try refuting it. We have video proof. What you did is a pretty big crime. Will you ever do it again?

(In tears) I promise to never do it again.

The next time you do it, you can go to prison for up to three years. Don’t do it again kid. Don’t waste your life.

They let me go. Fortunately for me, the shop owner decided to not press any charges against me, so the police decided to turn a blind eye over the incident.

Looking back, I think the main goal of the visit was to scare me. My parents must have planned it with the help of the police. If that was their goal, truth be told, it worked fabulously because since then, I never stole anything.

Authors Note - I still go to the same supermarket. The cashier is a great man. He never talked about the incident.