The Fool Doth Think He is Wise | A Little More Than Kin, and Less Than Kind

Then came the best of all: the opportunistic relatives. Enemies right under the blanket.

The shadow his mother planted was just as skilled at treating Don like an absolute idiot, performing theatrical bursts of labor only when eyes were fixed upon him, but never really actually lifting a finger to ensure tasks and projects were completed on time.

He took his own sweet time at work each day, stretching out long breaks to stream Netflix while everyone else broke their backs under the brutal hot summer afternoon.

He snail-walked around the company making everyone else's work life miserable until the hours and days passed by, just to collect his paycheck. He had been pulling this ultimate heist for years.

Projects crashed and burned, costs ballooned for no good reason, and countless corrections were required to fix stupid mistakes - all thanks to his monumental laziness and incompetence.

Employees fled the building like clockwork having to endure his abuse with zero recourse. Challenging someone like that is a fool's errand. It just puts a target on your back while nothing ever changes. There are better working environments and paychecks everywhere else.

Many of the catastrophic losses in the company traced directly back to this parasitic fixture.

But none of that mattered, for he served the dowager, feeding her intel. Idiots were meant to be used.

Photo by J Murdoch on Unsplash

The rest of the brood was never far behind. They left their toxic droppings tucked into every nook and cranny: get-rich-quick schemes, dubious business contacts, and fishy investment fronts where one had to sign away their rights.

They pushed endless charlatans into his face, delivering so-called divine messages and promising fortunes as if they would fall straight from the sky.

They even unloaded bogus gold artifacts on him, swindling him of what could have bought real precious metals many times over. Non-optional, chain-letter-flavored threats were included to ensure his compliance. Cozeners with painted shows, selling smoke and fake tomorrows for gold.

Omnipresent infestation that no pest control could ever hope to clear out.

Nor let us forget the endless demands for this gift and that for every conceivable occasion - practically forcing the poor man to bankroll their luxury lifestyle.

They were malignancies disguised as magnanimous benefactors. Instead of real help, they doled out unwanted scraps and measly crumbs spit out from their mouths, keeping him indebted.

They made sure it was enough to entrap him, but never enough to actually be useful. They weren't idiots; they knew full well that crippling him was the best way to keep him obedient.

They anchored him down with lies, legally and emotionally looting him - operating on their twisted family creed that if blood needed to be spilled, they would always make sure to deliver the first stab and take the first dip, all the while citing that blood is thicker than water.

Daily Prompts for FreeWriters

©Britt H.

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