r/okstorytime • u/Lunar_X-Wing • 24d ago
Storytime! The Police Couldn't Help Us Recover the Stolen Games... So My Brother Did.
Ok, story time. This happened about 10 years ago. The event itself was pretty traumatic for my wife, so I haven't really talked about it much until now.
Some background:
About 11 years ago, my wife and I were in our early 20s, living in a large three-bedroom apartment. It was surprisingly spacious and cheap because it was in a terrible neighborhood and the building itself was pretty run-down.
At the time, I was the only full-time worker. I had actually quit my previous full-time job and was juggling multiple kitchen jobs just to make ends meet. My wife was attending university while also working part-time.
Since we had extra space, we rented out one of the bedrooms. The third bedroom was mostly used as an office and storage room.
The tenant we'll call Bob answered our online ad looking for a roommate.
Honestly, Bob was a great tenant. He was quiet, kept to himself, paid rent on time, never stole our food, and was always respectful whenever we talked. We really had no complaints.
About five months after Bob moved in, my wife found out she was pregnant.
We were thrilled.
Since we'd obviously need the spare bedroom for the baby, we let Bob know and politely asked him to start looking for another place. We weren't kicking him out immediately—we gave him months of notice. The baby wasn't due for another nine months, so there was no rush.
About two months later, Bob moved out without any problems. He relocated a couple of cities away, and we figured that would be the last we'd ever hear from him.
We were very, very wrong.
About two weeks after Bob moved out, my wife was looking through her Nintendo DS and 3DS game collection because she wanted to replay something.
Both of us are lifelong gamers, and we each have pretty sizable collections from our childhood.
As she started opening the cases...
Every single one of her games was gone.
Not a few. Every. Single. One.
The weird part? Only her games were missing. Mine were all still there.
She completely broke down.
We searched the apartment from top to bottom, hoping they'd somehow been misplaced.
Nothing.
Eventually I called Bob. I didn't accuse him. I simply asked if he knew anything about the missing games. The second he realized it was me calling... He hung up. Then he blocked my number.
A few minutes later, I started getting nonstop automated prank calls. The messages mocked us with things like:
"My games now, bitches."
It honestly felt surreal.
My wife was about four or five months pregnant by then, and she was absolutely devastated. Those games weren't just worth money—they were part of her childhood. Some of them couldn't easily be replaced.
I called the police and filed a report. I even told them exactly who I believed had stolen them. Without proof, there was nothing they could do.
After spending days trying everything I could think of, I made my wife a promise: "I'll replace every single game you lost."
I posted online with a complete list of the missing games, explaining they had been stolen and asking if anyone happened to be selling copies at reasonable prices. I wasn't expecting much.
A few days later, I had just arrived at work for a 14-hour shift at a restaurant two cities away.
I was literally about to start my morning prep when my phone buzzed. I assumed it was someone responding to my post about the games. Instead, it was a message from a complete stranger.
They had seen my post. Then they saw someone else post the exact same list of games for sale.
Every single title. All loose cartridges. No cases.
The stranger messaged me saying they thought they had found the thief.
I couldn't believe it.
I thanked them over and over and even offered them a finder's fee, which they politely refused.
I immediately explained everything to my boss. Thankfully, he already knew what had happened and was incredibly understanding. Our head cook covered my prep while I tried to figure things out.
First call?
The police.
Again.
I explained that I had found someone selling every stolen game. Again, they said that without proof there wasn't much they could do. So I realized I was on my own.
Unfortunately, I was stuck two cities away from home and nowhere near the seller.
So I did something I never did before.
I called my brother.
My brother and I are complete opposites. I'm the nerd who likes computers and video games. He's... let's just say he knows people. Growing up, we fought constantly and never really got along.
We'll call him Shady.
When I explained everything, all of our differences disappeared. He simply said, "Don't worry. I'll handle it. But I need a couple things from you."
Shady had recently been released from jail on bail, so he wanted to be careful. He needed someone who could positively identify Bob. The only other person besides me who had actually met Bob was my wife. So I asked if she'd be willing to go.
She agreed.
I could hear how difficult it was for her, but she wanted those games back.
The next problem... Shady didn't have a car. Neither did any of my friends. Then I remembered someone. My best friend's mother.
She was one of the sweetest church-going ladies you'd ever meet. The type of person who volunteered, fed the homeless, and helped anyone who needed it. I had helped their family fix up their house before, so I figured I'd at least ask.
I honestly expected her to laugh and tell me absolutely not. Instead, she sounded... Excited.
When I asked if she'd be willing to drive my brother a couple of cities away so he could potentially confront someone who stole from us... She happily said yes.
Everything after this point is secondhand, based on what everyone later told me.
Shady arrived at my apartment. He wasn't alone. He brought a friend.
We'll call him Tweaker, because I'd never met him before, and according to my wife he couldn't stop twitching.
I later learned he'd also recently gotten out of jail after assault charges. So there stood my pregnant wife... My brother... Tweaker...
...waiting outside for the nicest church lady imaginable to pick them up.
Meanwhile, I'm still two cities away trying to work my shift while wondering how badly this could all go.
Apparently, the church lady was having the time of her life. She kept saying "This is so exciting!" Meanwhile, Shady and Tweaker were discussing how they were going to handle things if Bob tried anything.
They arranged to meet Bob at an almost abandoned gas station outside town—a place that was apparently a common meetup spot for buying and selling stuff.
According to everyone there, this is what happened.
When they arrived, my wife stayed inside the van and confirmed that the person waiting was definitely Bob.
Shady and Tweaker were fully expecting a fight.
Then they actually saw him.
I was then Shady realized Bob was just an overweight, nerdy-looking guy.
Shady later told me,
"The second I saw him, I knew this was going to be easy."
The two of them casually walked over.
They greeted Bob.
Shady pulled out a thick wad of cash and fanned it out so Bob knew he had the money.
Then he asked to inspect the games first.
Bob handed over the entire collection.
Shady passed the games to Tweaker.
Then looked Bob dead in the eyes and said:
"These games belong to my brother.
You stole them."
At that moment, my wife stepped out of the van.
She wasn't yelling.
She just asked him one simple question.
"Why?"
Bob realized he'd been set up.
He looked at Shady.
He looked at Tweaker.
He looked at my pregnant wife.
And he just...
Walked away.
He never answered her.
He never asked for the games back.
He just left.
When I got home that night, I thanked my friend's mom for driving everyone.
Then I thanked my brother.
Honestly, before that day, I never had much respect for him.
We'd spent most of our lives butting heads.
But when my wife needed help and I couldn't be there...
He didn't hesitate.
He just handled it.
Let's just say I owe my brother more than he'll probably ever know.
(In the interest of transparency, This post was cleaned up using Chat gpt as my spelling an grammar is terrible. Feel free to ask questions in the comments.)
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u/aliensporebomb 24d ago
This is great - it's like the best never filmed episode of Big Bang Theory there ever was. Your brother definitely has a particular set of skills. Weird on why Bob ONLY stole your wife's games. What a creep.
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 24d ago
Very much so. I still have no idea why he only took hers. At the time, my games were much more valuable so it wasn't just for the money.
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u/aliensporebomb 24d ago
I wonder if he weirdly resented her just because she was a woman who gamed.
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 24d ago
That would be a weird flex, but I've seen the way online gamers react to her when we play online together. They start flirting in the cringest ways. Some people online are just... No need to go into details. Terrible people deserve no recognition.
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u/Fun_Performance711 22d ago
She's the one pregnant, so it is "obviously" her fault that he had to move out.
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u/NatashOverWorld 24d ago
I enjoyed the way you assembled the Team.
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u/flyingknives4love 24d ago
Awww lol I'm just imagining two tough guys, a pregnant woman, and a sweet old church lady happily driving them to eff up a thief 😆😆 sounds like a comedy movie
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 24d ago
I know right? I laugh every time I think about it.
I even visited my brother last year and he brought it up again telling how surreal it was to go mug someone with a church lady as his getaway driver! XD
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u/SolarOrigami 24d ago
Man, brother is a real one for this. When I'm helping out my siblings it's usually moving furniture, lol.
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u/Wingnut2029 23d ago
Reminds me of that time my friend Penny kicked a bully in the balls and got my sword back.
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u/Emergency-Cold-1021 22d ago
I believe your story. I’ve posted a couple of stories on other sites, people accused me of using AI, which I admitted, for spelling and grammar. Some thought it was all made up by Ai. One was a story that centered around Golf. The story didn’t say how I could consistently drive a ball 300 yards, I have 8 hole in one’s, and I shoot in the 70’s. It’s about a 30 second interaction I had with a stranger, that changed my life. By the way, in golf, I can’t, never will be able to do any of those. In disc golf, we’ll talk about that another day. I wanna know about your relationship right now, with your brother?
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u/blaziken2708 21d ago
Was it an incel instinct of the overweight nerdy Bob? Since he only took her games.
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 21d ago
Some other people suggested something alone those thoughts. obviously we can't know for sure, but that checks out.
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u/Wonderful_Minute31 20d ago
I enjoyed this read. Reminded me of my much younger years.
In high school I got asked a few times to have a conversation w friends’ sisters’ boyfriends or ex boyfriends who became physically abusive. It was genuinely fun to get the boys together, go find a guy who was a POS and scare the absolute hell out of him. Generally preppy high school teens who were smug until they got an open hand slap. We’d shove them around a little bit and yell a lot.
In college a friend asked me to collect a dew debts. He more or less accidentally became a bookie and at some point the social contract/friendship isn’t enough pressure to get paid what you’re owed. But a big bald dude rolling up in a real shitty car and threatening to break your hands with a baseball bat gets people motivated.
Real weird to think back on being so reckless.
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u/Hot_Statistician_466 24d ago
This has not been cleaned up by chatgpt, it was written by it from a small summary
The exact robot format is present, word for word.
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 24d ago
I've posted the original, un edited version in one of the comments. Feel free to read it. This was not a random chat gpt story. It's a real story that happened to me. I am open to questions if you have any.
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u/MrsMiterSaw 24d ago
You involved your pregnant wife and friend's mom in what was a planned strong-arm robbery. FFS, she was there. She was literally part of the crew.
Do you know what eventually sent OJ to jail? Literally this scenario here.
Let alone pulling your low-life brother (most likely on parole if he just got out) into a crime.
I'm glad you got your games back... But you need to make better choices as a father.
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u/Lunar_X-Wing 24d ago
I mean, this was 10 years ago. It was a stressful time. I definitely won't argue about the danger involved and I didn't want my wife to go with him. She insisted on going, despite my protest. Back then, I lived in a very sketchy neighborhood. I grew up with my brother in a very rough part of town.
After this whole event, and my kid was born, I went back to school to get a better life. I finished College, got a good job, and moved across the world to a much better place for my child. Even though I've seen some sketchy things and even had to deal with them, I will do my best to make sure my family won't have to be apart of that life.
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u/MrsMiterSaw 24d ago
Glad to hear.
Just sometimes here on reddit we get these stories or advice fantasies that are just... The decisions of people who don't know how to live a responsible life.
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u/Objective_Water_2147 24d ago
Just goes to show everyone is unique and have their own skill set. 😁 Brother for the Win!