Posted January 02, 2016
Oh yes. This was quite a long time ago, but I'll never forget it. It's a long one, so grab a drink.
When I was in high school, I had a boxed copy of American McGee's Alice. At the time I had no computer available that was capable of running it past the install phase. Feeling defeated, I put the box away on a shelf in my bedroom, hoping that one day I might get the chance to play it.
During the same period of time, my sister's then-boyfriend was living with us. To cut a lot of unnecessary backstory out of this I'll sum up this guy as such: a real piece of work. Eventually both he and my sister moved out and got their own place. Not too long after that, I had access to a PC that could finally run my game!
But, there was one significant problem.
When I went to pick my game off the shelf it was nowhere to be found. I frantically combed over every corner of my bedroom, every nook in the house at large and still came up empty in regard to where the hell my game might've disappeared. I was considering the possibility that maybe I'd moved it elsewhere during a room cleaning, forgotten about it and it got "accidentally" scooped into a pile of trash. But there was something else lingering on my mind, the possibility that someone had stolen it.
The list of people capable of having done so was rather small and I went with the first person who sprang to mind: my sister's boyfriend. Of course, bringing this accusation forward meant that I was only met with incredulity from my sister and mother. Both seemed hellbent on convincing me that I was being suspicious for nothing and my sister attempted to reassure me that upon questioning her boyfriend he denied having pilfered my game at all.
A couple years roll by, eventually I'm out shopping with my mother. I stroll past a budget display of PC games and notice an interesting 2-pack: American McGee's Alice & Clive Barker's Undying. Still disheartened over the loss of my original copy of Alice, I buy the games. After what felt like forever, I was finally able to play my game (though I'd go on to enjoy Undying much more).
Multiple years even further down the line, my sister and her boyfriend call it quits. Bizarrely, I get messages over MSN messenger from him (he and I were far from what I'd consider "friends" of any kind) and after he gives me a spiel regarding issues not relevant to this thread, he brings up something that was very interesting to me:
He'd stole my game. The bastard had stolen it and stuffed it into a crawlspace that my sister never went in when she lived with him. For years my sister and mother had let me believe I was delusional and that this guy wasn't capable of something like this. Immediately after he sent me the message, I shouted as loud as I could: "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" and fell into a fit of laughter that was equal parts vindication and insanity.
To know, at long last, that I was absolutely friggin' right about what happened to my game was satisfying - hollow, given that I had spent money on another copy - but satisfying nonetheless.
He eventually tells me he'll send the game back to me through my sister and he does. My sister tells me she was shocked he had it and swears she never knew he did until he'd given it to her. Upon learning the news, my mother was equally shocked to know he'd had it all that time.
In the end, I get it back (and still have it to this day). The box is a little worn, but is surprisingly still in one piece. The game CDs were likely never removed (I assume because he couldn't justify installing it on his own computer without buying another copy to cover it up) so it likely just sat in the crawlspace for years.
What I ultimately learned from the experience is: never doubt your own instincts.
When I was in high school, I had a boxed copy of American McGee's Alice. At the time I had no computer available that was capable of running it past the install phase. Feeling defeated, I put the box away on a shelf in my bedroom, hoping that one day I might get the chance to play it.
During the same period of time, my sister's then-boyfriend was living with us. To cut a lot of unnecessary backstory out of this I'll sum up this guy as such: a real piece of work. Eventually both he and my sister moved out and got their own place. Not too long after that, I had access to a PC that could finally run my game!
But, there was one significant problem.
When I went to pick my game off the shelf it was nowhere to be found. I frantically combed over every corner of my bedroom, every nook in the house at large and still came up empty in regard to where the hell my game might've disappeared. I was considering the possibility that maybe I'd moved it elsewhere during a room cleaning, forgotten about it and it got "accidentally" scooped into a pile of trash. But there was something else lingering on my mind, the possibility that someone had stolen it.
The list of people capable of having done so was rather small and I went with the first person who sprang to mind: my sister's boyfriend. Of course, bringing this accusation forward meant that I was only met with incredulity from my sister and mother. Both seemed hellbent on convincing me that I was being suspicious for nothing and my sister attempted to reassure me that upon questioning her boyfriend he denied having pilfered my game at all.
A couple years roll by, eventually I'm out shopping with my mother. I stroll past a budget display of PC games and notice an interesting 2-pack: American McGee's Alice & Clive Barker's Undying. Still disheartened over the loss of my original copy of Alice, I buy the games. After what felt like forever, I was finally able to play my game (though I'd go on to enjoy Undying much more).
Multiple years even further down the line, my sister and her boyfriend call it quits. Bizarrely, I get messages over MSN messenger from him (he and I were far from what I'd consider "friends" of any kind) and after he gives me a spiel regarding issues not relevant to this thread, he brings up something that was very interesting to me:
He'd stole my game. The bastard had stolen it and stuffed it into a crawlspace that my sister never went in when she lived with him. For years my sister and mother had let me believe I was delusional and that this guy wasn't capable of something like this. Immediately after he sent me the message, I shouted as loud as I could: "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" and fell into a fit of laughter that was equal parts vindication and insanity.
To know, at long last, that I was absolutely friggin' right about what happened to my game was satisfying - hollow, given that I had spent money on another copy - but satisfying nonetheless.
He eventually tells me he'll send the game back to me through my sister and he does. My sister tells me she was shocked he had it and swears she never knew he did until he'd given it to her. Upon learning the news, my mother was equally shocked to know he'd had it all that time.
In the end, I get it back (and still have it to this day). The box is a little worn, but is surprisingly still in one piece. The game CDs were likely never removed (I assume because he couldn't justify installing it on his own computer without buying another copy to cover it up) so it likely just sat in the crawlspace for years.
What I ultimately learned from the experience is: never doubt your own instincts.
