JOE
by
Janet Tench

He was only 19, but Joe had been in and out of prison for much of his young life. Stealing, taking away cars – always other people’s – causing a nuisance when he was drunk and this time it was drug offences. Joe was a big, noisy lad and knew how to look after number 1, even in prison.

Today he was feeling very pleased with himself. He was soon to be released and he was one of the first offenders to try out the new electronic tagging system. It was a type of bracelet worn round the ankle and the electronic device kept police aware of the offenders activities at all times. He wore his bracelet with pride.

So, Joe was out of prison – his prized tag round his ankle and free to do as he liked, and the things Joe liked best were to put a bet on the horses and buy a couple of lottery tickets each day. The evening pastimes he enjoyed most were drinking with his friends and having a good fight in the street afterwards. The police knew Joe very well! Now, with his tag in place he had to be a bit more careful, so he bought an extra lottery ticket in place of the fight.

He checked to see if his horses had won. No luck. He then checked his lottery tickets.

The numbers on one of his tickets were the same as printed in the newspaper. His brother and then his mother checked them. He had won 12 million pounds.

Joe’s first thought was that he would never have to work again.

He collected his cheque, still wearing his tag like a badge of honour. The newspapers took lots of photos of this young tearaway with his 12 million pound cheque. He was a celebrity and the local papers were full of his story.

His first purchase was a brash, bright yellow car, with a powerful, noisy engine. He roared up and down the road in it being a danger to all who came across him.

He bought a huge, smart house and had endless loud and drunken parties. His neighbours, in their equally smart and expensive houses were not amused. Joe’s guests left the parties about 4o’clock each morning and woke everyone living near. The police were called night after night and night after night Joe promised to keep his guests quiet. Joe’s once beautiful, landscaped garden was now full of rubbish. There were old cars, boxes of empty bottles, beer cans. One night when Joe’s party guests were all drunk, they decided to burn the whole lot. They found all the rubbish they could to add to the flames and then started on the furniture – why not! – Joe had plenty of money to replace it and they were, after all, enjoying the fire. The neighbours houses were full of smoke and the noise was the loudest yet. Again the police came. This time Joe was taken to the police station and was charged with affray. He had to appear in court. Joe didn’t appear! He was given a second chance and asked to appear on a different day. Joe didn’t appear. He was arrested and got 28 days in prison. He had a huge party to celebrate when he came out. His friends thought it was all wonderful and encouraged him to do outrageous things and spent a lot of his money for him. Joe started to use drugs in a more serious way. His house became the drug city. The last I heard of Joe was that he was back in prison with most of his money gone. His house is the only asset he now has and that is nothing more than a shell. When he gets out of prison he will have to sell that to get money to live. Joe will be back where he started.