true confessions of a mastermind criminal(s)

     Since Jason hinted at some sort of scandal involving me, Jonathan, and a few hundred starbursts, I figured I would just come clean.  You know, confess and feel better and all that.  Not that I've ever needed to confess anything before; I mean, I've only heard once you do you feel better...from uh, other people who have had to...;-)

    So, when Jonathan and I were little, my parents would give us each one starburst once we completed our chores.  Well, it wasn't long before we realized that we could siphoned some more starbursts from the bag (we weren't dumb; we knew exactly where mom kept them) and just pretend that we were still chewing the one that we had initially been given (Wow, mom, these starbursts sure are chewy! And then we would share a knowing glance; there's nothing like crime to bond you together, you know).

  Our plan worked perfectly, for a time.  But, I guess nothing lasts  forever.  Anyway, our Achilles heel turned out to be something as simple as where we chose to dispose of the evidence.  If we had only thrown the wrappers away like a normal person, we would probably still be stealing starbursts from the utility closet today, but no--we had to be all cloak and dagger about it.  

   We decided that the best place to put all the evidence was in Jason's bedroom--specifically, the baby cradle that was in his closet (why Jase had a baby cradle in his closet, I have no idea). We figured this was a win-win plan: either the wrappers would never be found because let's face it, nobody ever looks in the baby cradle in Jason's closet, or if it was found, Jase would get pinned with the crime and we would be far away, having already wired the starbursts to a swiss bank account, living out our days scott free while drinking shirley temples with little umbrellas in them.  That was the plan, anyway.  

   The day came when pop, I believe it was, discovered the wrappers in Jason's baby cradle.  This had been going on for quite some time now, so the baby cradle was literally stuffed with starburst wrappers.  Jason was summoned up to my parents' office, which only meant one thing: he was in big trouble.  He had no idea why he was in trouble, but Jonathan and I knew right away.  I remember feeling horribly guilty, but at the same time, we were bonded in our terrible secret and just couldn't give it up.  

 Well, Jase was up there for quite some time, and all the while we thought that we were free, that there was no way they could trace those wrappers to us.  But, uh-oh, Jason skips out of the office and my parents' then call us in.  Gulp.  What happened in there?  Did Jason know?  How could he have known?  We were so careful; we made sure to only put the wrappers in the cradle when Jase was safely away at school and we were home schooling; we covered all our tracks, didn't breathe a word of the operation to anybody, and even wore gloves so as to not leave our fingerprints (okay, so maybe the gloves are an exaggeration, but you get the point).

   Turns out when my parents showed Jase the baby cradle stuffed with starburst wrappers, he claimed complete innocence, told them that he hadn't even seen those wrappers before.  And then he said it: He had been framed.  It was as simple as that; somebody was trying to stick him with the crime.  And he must have had some conviction when he said this; he must have had all the indignation of the wrongly accused to give him that passion in his voice and that fire in his eyes as he claimed his innocence, because my parents believed him.  As he trotted out of that room, free as the proverbial bird, we knew that the hook he had just escaped wouldn't be empty for long; soon, we would be on it...

  As we faced my parents, wracked with the guilt of our indiscretion, we broke down and confessed to everything.  And we had to apologize to Jason, too, for framing him.  I do believe there were some spankings involved, but it sure did feel good to be forgiven--as well as to finally not have to work so hard to cover up our...habit, if you will (but you shouldn't).     

   So, there you go.  That was the only venture into organized crime that Jonathan and I ever attempted, thank goodness.  And thinking back, it is pretty funny that we thought our idea of framing Jason was a good one.  Sorry about that, Jase!

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On another note, this is my last night in Costa Mesa and then on to AZ tomorrow!  Six days under the hot desert sun (it was 112 degrees there today! yikes!), and then I go home for a brief and necessary visit!  Woo-hoo!