AN EYE FOR AN EYE
Children are very suggestible at six. Gregory Meggendorfer knows that from bitter experience.
**
According to his big sister Sabine, he was very fond of his little plastic Ferrari and wouldn't have parted with it for the world.
Yet he had just left it for a stupid Panini card about a soccer player he didn't care about. Why the hell did he bump? This Lucas-guy probably didn't propose it seriously. He was nice and wouldn't have pressed the trade, had Gregory refused.
But the deal was sealed and the red car gone.
Tears fell as soon as Lucas left the room.
Gregory remained disconsolate. A little too much for his mother. She had noticed the scene and felt that her child wasn't crying so much over the loss of his small toy than out of wounded pride.
Her son had been fooled and he knew it.
Instead of yielding to his whim, she considered preferable to teach him a lesson.
"It's no use crying over this. You accepted the deal. You only have yourself to blame. Pay more attention next time."***
This mundane event was forgotten.
Months later, Lucas Scola had a birthday party at home. He invited Sabine Meggendorfer. The party went great and at 9 o'clock, Mrs Meggendorfer came picking up her daughter. Her son Gregory was with her.
Mothers chatting with mothers. Schoolmates yapping with schoolmates. Gregory was left on his own for a few minutes.
Exploring the house, he ran into a corridor leading to various rooms. Pushing each door cautiously, he examined them one after another. The last one was smaller. A Rangers pennant, a game console and a Batman duvet cover – Lucas' room, no doubt!
It wasn't long before Greg's eyes alighted on a red car.
His car. He took a good look around and stretched out his arm to reach it.
He grabbed it and was about to put it in his pocket when his fingers stopped.
What a stupid idea! This is theft! And I'll be the prime suspect once Lucas notices the car missing.His mind went into revolt as he was returning it with trembling hands.
Bummer! It's right here and I can't have it!He stood still for a moment, undecided.
Then he heard his mum calling in the distance.
Helpless and panicked, he rushed to Lucas' desk and vengefully took the first thing he could find – a zebra fountain pen.
Hiding it in his underpants, he swiftly returned to the main hall and said goodbye to the people he was told to.
However, regrets showed up quickly when he got in the car.
Once again, he had let his gut instinct get the best of him. Once again the result was shameful and counterproductive.
What had he stolen? A recognizable fountain pen that he wouldn't be able to use without arousing suspicion - not that he had any need for it anyway. It wouldn't bring his car back and it could get him in trouble.
Biting his upper lip quietly in the backseat, he took the resolution to bury the zebra pen in a trunk of the attic and to return it when given the opportunity.
****
The opportunity in question presented itself a couple of weeks later.
One morning, Mrs Meggendorfer informed her children that Mrs Scola would pick them up in the evening.
The second he was alone, Greg was climbing into the attic and retrieving the fountain pen.
He kept it in his pocket all day long, casting furtive glances at his trousers and praying that it wouldn't leak.
As agreed, Lotte Scola welcomed them in her minivan after school.
Greg was determined to drop his burden. He hadn't foreseen that they'd be so tightly packed though.
Between two Meggendorfers, three Scolas and another unknown kid, no seat was left vacant. Worse still, Greg was placed in the middle.
He decided to try his luck nevertheless.
The guilty kid waited a few minutes and made his move. At the first sign of a general relaxation of vigilance, he dropped the pen on the floor with little movement. All that was left to do was push it under the seat with his foot – push this whole unfortunate story into oblivion.
Alas! Violette Scola, age five, caught the move of Greg's leg and tracked his gaze instinctively. A wide smile lit up her face when she saw the pen.
"Lucas! Lucas!"Unfastening her seatbelt under the reproving back look of her mother, she undertook digging at Greg's feet.
"Look what I found!"Violette waved the bicolor thingy to great applause.
Bemused, Mrs Scola let the joy burst into the van for a few seconds.
"How can it be? I cleaned up the van this morning..."Greg laid low for the rest of the drive.
His name hadn't been mentioned but he could feel the suspicious look of Lucas behind him when he left the vehicle.
Not sure that his shifty eyes pleaded on his behalf.
*****
These small incidents occured fifteen years ago.
They didn't prevent the Meggendorfers and Scolas families to get very acquainted.
So much, in fact, that Lucas Scola marries Sabine Meggendorfer today.
Greg's the best man and he can't hold back a tear when they grab each other's hand.
At the end of the ceremony, the priest calls the witnesses and the newly wed couple around the altar to sign the register.
As the bride, Sabine signs first. When his turn comes, Lucas politely turns down the pen that the clergyman offers him and pulls a small object from his boutonnière. Gregory doesn't recognize it immediately but raises a quizzical eyebrow when Lucas hands him the zebra fountain pen!
With a mischievous smile on his face, Lucas slips in :
"You stole my pen, I steal your sister..."