Just When I Think I’m Out…
One of my uncles is part of a kind of Mafia. The authorities were after him for trafficking offenses, so he ran away and changed his identity. Later, his case got cold and he got his identity back, but it all messed with his mind—and the consequences were devastating. He decided to “take revenge” on the family for “not supporting” him while he was on the run—even though literally no one could have done anything about it.
He messed up my father’s life anytime he tried to help, over and over again, until my dad gave up and cut contact. The guy tried toswindle whoever he couldand used his own children in his schemes. He would often brag about how he was defending a certain Mafia/gang from my state—because guess what, on top of being a criminal, he’s also a lawyer! No one ever had the evidence to report him.
But his quest for vengeance didn’t stop there. He then organized aburglaryof the family business, and messed up my father’s retirement plan by disappearing with one of his work registers—which was the only proof of a company he worked for before everything got digitized, the company went under before the records were saved.
Also, my family is pretty much convinced that the latestburglaryfrom my dad’s work, and even an “accident” in which my dad thankfully wasn’t hurt, were this uncle’s misdeeds. Everything points to him, but there’s nothing to show as evidence—almost as if he wanted us to know he did it, but made sure we couldn’t prove it.
He also tried to take advantage of my younger maternal aunt. He offered to take her to a show or movie, then my mom commented something like: “She’s only 14, so she needs to be back home at 8 PM”. My mom and aunt have a 20-year gap, so my mom often looked out while my grandma worked. His reaction was seriously telling. He got enraged and offended that my parents wouldn’t allow him to take her to his home as the movie/show would end up late.
My parents thought his reaction was very odd and asked what the problem was, but he refused to say. That was the moment it clicked he probably thought of trying something with my aunt, so it was immediately called off until he explained himself. He played the victim and misunderstood man who tried to help out and got wrong to the family, but after that, my dad cut contact completely.
My grandma tried to advocate and defend him, to make my father go back, but he never did. Then, a few years ago, after he finally got his hands in the family business, the rest of the family saw his true colors. He fired every family member, buried the company in debt, refused to pay his own parents, and started to purposely annoy my grandfather knowing his heart can’t take it, almost as if he was trying to end his life sooner.
Then, it finally dwelled on my grandma why my father refused to let him back in our lives. My little sister had never seen him until my grandpa’s birthday and she literally looked at his face and said: “He looks like a mad man who would do anything for his own profit”.