It can seem like stories of kids growing up in abusive homes are a dime a dozen.

If you’re the kid in question, though, the fact that you’re not alone really doesn’t make things any easier.

The following story shows us how lucky we can be to have pretty normal parents.

Let’s dig in…

Drink all your wage and not give my mum any – problem fixed!

So some background. This happened when I was 15 during the 1980’s in the months before I had to leave home due to my abusive alcoholic father’s violence.

My father would on every payday drink all his wage sometimes not coming home for days until he was broke.

The not coming home part was a mixed blessing.

On one hand my mum and I didn’t have to deal with his abuse.

On the other hand I was always waiting for his foot fall on the verandah thus heralding his return home – and then it would start.

Their family struggled financially because of this, and he couldn’t buy the records he loved very often.

Consequently we were always struggling financially with mum’s wage as a teacher barely covering the mortgage and living costs.

I was expected to do very well at school so I couldn’t get an after school job. Consequently I never had money to buy the one thing that kept me sane – Hardcore Punk music.

I would play music while I studied and and to channel all that angst and rage. The music was sourced from mixed tapes my mates would make for me.

I have to say even to this day music – like the Dead Kennedys- gets me through tough times.

So when he noticed his dad being careless with his cash when he came home drunk, he got an idea.

I digress so now to the petty revenge.

The revenge started when one day I noticed my dad had come home dead drunk and placed his wallet and cash on top of a wall unit in the lounge room before he went to bed.

I could see loose $20s and even a $50 -“lobsters and a pineapple” – Australian slang since the currency is coloured and easily identified.

That’s when my plan started to form in my mind.

It took awhile before his dad noticed, and there was no proof he had anything to do with it.

Come the following payday my dad did the same thing with his cash so I kicked my plan into action.

That morning before he awoke I pushed a $20 and a $50 off the top and down the back between the wall unit and wall. I had to be super cautious because if he caught on I would have coped a hiding.

So… 1. I left behind some cash not taking it all.

2. I waited a few days before taking the cash I had hid. This was so that if he came at me I could plead ignorance.

I could go up to the wall unit and point out he must have accidentally knocked the cash behind the unit – being so drunk.

Low and behold a few days later the cash was still there and dad was none the wiser.

My assumption he is to drunk to notice missing cash was correct. I retrieved the cash.

I slipped the $50 into mum’s wallet and kept the $20 with the anticipation that I could get some new vinyl – we are talking the late 80’s here!

How sweet that purchase of new music was.

This game went on for a few months before I found him tearing up my room one day – he found nothing as I had my hiding spot! He had nothing on me!

But the game was up!

Now he and his mom are free and she enjoyed the reveal.

Forward a few more months I leave home due to some pretty extreme violence resulting in mum getting legal support to kick him out.

I returned home completed school and went to University. I never had anything to do with him again. (Another kind of petty revenge!)

I still have that cherished vinyl collection. And in my 20’s I finally told mum what I had done (keeping her uninformed was to to protect her at the time).

She replied “All those times of finding extra money in my purse puzzled me for ages – now I know!”

I bet Reddit’s so happy this kid’s life turned out ok.

The top comment hopes he’s better than ever.

And his mum, too.

Every little bit helps.

Too many people have similar stories.

Everyone loves a good friend.

Good for him, honestly.

His dad owed him and his mom more than those stray bills.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.