A Lie By Omission

In the wake of Dazed and Confused mailbox-baseball came back in vogue in my hometown of Rockford. In preparation my dad installed a quick release mailbox which would simply pop off if struck.

One day returning home from school I found our mailbox was not on its stand. It was by the front door with an envelope. In it there was a note and $20. The note said "Very sorry, this was an accident. There was no one home when I rang the bell. I hope the enclosed money will cover the cost of repair."

I took the mailbox and locked it back in place atop the stand. Problem solved. After brief deliberation I put the $20 bill in my billfold and threw the envelope away.

I never mentioned the incident to my parents. Or anyone else.