The Original Alternate Version Of "I Didn't Want To Cheat, But"....

[Janice Johnson]

Here is my original version of "I Didn't Want To Cheat, But...."(I had originally written the story this way, but I didn't like how I had ended it, so I changed it drastically.

Part 1

I reluctantly picked up my cell phone. I paused before calling Mom. I was getting ready to put the phone back down, but my conscience kept telling me to call her.


I reluctantly called my Mom. The phone rang two times with no answer. Mom answered on the third ring. "Dave?" She exclaimed happily, but as if she'd been crying.


"Hi, Mom," I told her reluctantly.


"Are you okay?" She asked me.


"Yes, I'm okay," I told her.


"Thank God!" She said, crying a little. Happily, I guess.


"Where are you now?" She asked. Mom must have thought I was a sucker. I have an IQ of 150 points, which made me a genius.


"Mom, you said, "No questions," remember?" I pointed out to her coolly.


"Okay, you don't have to tell me. But can you give me a hint?" Mom asked.


"I am in a big building." I said, non committal.


"Dave, you gotta give me more than that, Mom said, obviously not satisfied.


"Look, Mom, you told me to call you and tell you that I was okay." I said, bitingly. "And I did it," I added nastily.


Mom said, "Is that anyway to speak to your mother?" She sounded indignant.


"Mom, you said you wouldn't ask me any questions besides if I was okay. And now, you are asking me other questions. Goodbye, Mother," I told her.


I hung up the phone on her. I was angry with Mom. She was trying to trick me into telling her where I was. Can you guess what happened next? Mom called back. I didn't pick up.


I watched some T.V and I went to sleep. I was awoken by my cell phone ringing. It was my older 20 year old brother Ryan calling me. "Hello, Ryan," I said, sleepily into the phone. I looked at the time on my cell phone. it was 2 AM! "Ryan, why are you calling me at 2 AM? I asked him, a little irritated.


"Mom's on the floor! She collapsed of sheer sadness of your running!" Ryan said, sounding panicked.


"What do you want me to do about it?" I snapped.


"Come home. Right now. She will feel better if she sees your face in person," Ryan answered, pleadingly.


"You want me to go all the way to Sarasota from Orlando? Right now?" I asked, livid.


"So, you're in Orlando," Ryan repeated. I had a bad feeling that Ryan wasn't just talking to me.


"Ryan, I'm not really in Orlando," I lied. "I am in Tallahassee," I lied again.


Ryan said, "Dave, please come home and see Mom. We won't ask you any questions. You can drop in and we'll let you leave at your own will. Mom would really be happy to see you."


"Is Mom really on the floor?" I asked.


Ryan paused before saying, "Yes. He hesitated. Hmm. I wasn't sure if I could believe him or not.


"Then call the fu....ing ambulance!" I shouted nastily to him! "Why do you need me there for?" I snapped.

Ryan gasped. “Dave, sure you hacked into a school computer. You can’t keep hiding. Mom really needs you, and you’re gonna betray her for your own selfish thoughts. You’re a BITCH, Dave, and Mom doesn’t deserve a son like you.”


Something really hurt me about what Ryan said. I was betraying Mom in her time of need.


I packed up my things and left the hotel. I took a cab to the next train station, and then I took a train to the nearest airport and got emergency tickets to Sarasota. On the airplane, I thought of poor Mom collapsed on the floor because of me. My heart twisted and my stomach churned badly.


At Sarasota, I got an early train, and then another bus to my house. I tentatively knocked on the front door.


Dad opened the door. “Hi, who are you?” He asked me. I was still wearing my disguise.


My name is Andy Swinton,” I said. “I was sent over by your son, Dave, who wanted to see how his Mom was doing,” I lied.


“Well, she’s right over there,” he said. He pointed to the living room. I saw Mom collapsed on the ground.


“Mom!” I cried automatically, running up to her. I felt pain in my heart.


“Did you just call my wife, “Mom?” Dad asked suspiciously.


“I….I….I uh, I didn’t mean to. It just slipped,” I told Dad.


“I know you didn’t mean to,” Dad said, softly.


I gently checked Mom to see if she was all right. She opened up her eyes.


“Mrs. Winston, your son Dave is all right. He’s fine. He’s okay,” I said, going just a little too far.


“Oh thank God,” she said. “But, who are you?” She asked.


“I’m Andy Swinton,” I lied again. “Dave sent me.”


“Why didn’t Dave come himself?” Mom asked “Andy” suspiciously.


“Because he’s on the run,” I answered as “Andy.” “Would YOU eagerly show up at your parents’ house if you were on the run?” I reasoned.


Mom answered, “No.” Mom sighed, and then burst into tears. I just want to see Dave’s face. I would trade 30,000 pounds of Gold just to see Dave again.” Mom cried even harder. I couldn’t take Mom’s crying. It stabbed me in the heart.


“Mom, don’t cry,” I told her softly. I wiped her tears away.


“Did you just call me “Mom”? She asked in surprise.


“I didn’t mean to,” I lied again. I meant to say, “Mrs. Winston.”


Dad said, “That’s the second time you’ve called her “Mom” and said you didn’t mean to,” Dad said, suspiciously.


“I didn’t mean to. That term just slipped out twice,” I feebly lied.


I looked at Ryan. I think he knew who I was. It was in his eyes. “Andy,” he started slowly, “Don’t you think Dave should come on home and show Mom his face so he can stop torturing her like he is?” I squirmed uncomfortably. “Yes, he should. But, he doesn’t want to be jailed,” I said.


Ryan looked at me even more intently. “If Dave came home, Mom would be so happy. We wouldn’t have to get the police involved. We could hide him from the police and keep him safe from them. It was just a hacking mistake,” Ryan said, softly.


Mom chimed in, “It would mean a lot to us just to see Dave.” She sounded hopeful. “We wouldn’t have to rat him out to the police if that’s what he’s scared of.”


Dad said, “Dave could sleep in his warm bed for the first time in a long time and eat some good, home-cooked food.” My stomach was already growling with the possibility of eating Mom’s good cooking. And, I longed to sleep in my bed.


“You sure? You won’t tell the police if Dave comes over to see his mother and you guys?” I asked.


“We won’t tell the police,” Dad said. Mom and Ryan nodded in agreement. I took out my cell phone and called myself.


“Dave, your mother really needs you. She is collapsed on the floor.” I took a pause as if I were really talking to and listening to someone on the line.


“They won’t rat you out. They said they weren’t going to call the police on you. They are all worried about you and especially your mother is. Come home,” I said pleadingly. I paused.


“Okay, bye,” I said. I hung up.


“Bye,” I said to them. “Dave is coming over, and I’m leaving,” I said to them.


“Aren’t you going to stay and wait for him?” Dad asked, suspiciously.


“No. This is a family meeting,” I commented.


I soon left.


I went outside for 30 minutes, and then I took off my disguise and put on my Johnson uniform. The wig and the blue eye contacts were gone!


I knocked on the door. Dad opened up. “Hi, Dave,” Dad said happily.


Mom was on the floor when I came in. I ran up to Mom, and Mom happily got up. “Dave!” She cried happily. She gave my face lots and lots of kisses!


Ryan said, “Hey, Dave!” He gave me a huge smile. Mom said, “Dave, we were so worried about you! But, we’re glad to see you.”


“I came because I heard you had collapsed on the floor,” I told her truthfully.


Mom said, “I’m fine now, now that I see you.” She hugged me.


We all chatted. Mom, Dad, and Ryan all suddenly said loudly, “Dave’s here!” And I suddenly saw police officers who were hiding in another room in the house. They took out their handcuffs and I began running out of the house, but they took out their tasers and tased me. I convulsed in shock and pain. It felt like shots of sharp electricity surging through my body.


They put me in handcuffs and read my rights. I stared at my family in betrayal.


“You all tricked me,” I said in a hurt tone. “I trusted you three and you fed me to the police. Especially you, Mom. You knew I would come back once I heard something bad had happened to you.”


Mom said, “We did it for your own good. You need to face your punishment for hacking into the computer.” She seemed to have little remorse for what she had done to me.


“That’s enough, Mother,” I told her in a cold tone.


My family told me “bye” as the police escorted me out of the house and into a police car. My soul felt hollow. My own family used my love for them against me. They ratted me out to the police.


I was soon brought into jail, fingerprinted, got a mug shot, and was put in a jail cell.


I was put in with some tough-looking dudes. They’d eat me for breakfast! I thought, scared.


“What are you in for?” One of them asked me.


“I hacked into a school computer, changed grades on it, and ran and evaded police,” I answered.


“I’m here for robbing a jewelry store,” the guy told me, proudly.


“Oh,” I said, looking at the ground. Damn, these guys looked like gangsters!


I couldn’t believe I was locked in here with them. If only I hadn’t let my revengeful emotions get the best of me.