I had the craziest shit happen to me this morning

So bizarre,,,, I'm still pretty shaken up about it. I woke up for class and as I'm heading out the door to take a midterm I get a phone call from a Florida area code (I live in California).

"We have your brother."

A little background. My brother and I aren't that close as he's been in jail for most of my life (mostly for drugs, petty crimes, violating probation... he's not a bad guy but he makes stupid decisions...). He's been out for a few years. This is relevant because it is believable that he would get himself into this kind of crap. Also he used to hang around with gangsters, actually his whole mother's side of the family is... like that---we share my father only. This is relevant because this person sounded like the type of people he would run around with.

He begins to tell me that if I hang up the phone call or call the police my brother will be murdered. Confused and caught way off guard (thinking about my midterm and how late I am, so selfish I know haha), I just ask a few questions to see if this is legit... where did you find my brother? (California... refuses to be more specific) Are you sure you don't have the wrong number? You think your brother would be stupid enough to give us the wrong number in his situation? ,,, etc. Finally, I'm just like what do you want?

$1000. Uh.... you're going to kill my brother for a thousand dollars? Well, you see, he got into an argument with my friends, and I need to fix up my car....

What. The. *bleep*. This doesn't sound right. I stop talking. That's not good, if you stop talking we're going to kill your brother. Don't you dare hang up. We'll kill him.

I hang up, something I'm still struggling with. I call my dad to see if my brother is with him, or if not, where is he? He says he'll call his mother and figure it out. I spark a blunt and head to school.

My dad calls back and tells me he told his mother that he went to play basketball about a half hour ago. He's not answering his cell phone. I hang up and start freaking out thinking what if these guys where serious? What if my brother just died because I panicked and didn't know what to do?

I get to class. About a half hour later, my phone rings. My brother is fine. He "had his earphones in and didn't notice the calls." I start to get very angry and tell my dad I'm happy he's ok and I have a midterm to take. Why am I so angry?

I think my brother was involved and was trying to shake me down for $1000. The funny thing is our dad just gave me some cash for college a few weeks ago, not sure if my brother is aware. If it was a random prank, why me? I rarely ever get unsolicited phone calls, I give out my number carefully. It would make sense, if he was back on drugs which would be sad.

What do you think just *bleep*ing happened?

I think your brother was trying to shake you down for $1000. I think you should talk to your brother about the phone call and ask him what he makes of it. It's really crappy that a family member might try to con you like that. I have a cousin who occasionally steals jewelry and money if she sees it lying around... She isn't allowed alone in anyone's home anymore.

Did you try calling the number back? Or try using the reverse phone lookup (enter phone number at whitepages.com).

Spastic, it wasn't easy for me to believe at all. It had to sink in a bit when I was told what she was doing/stealing/abusing and when she went to jail for the aforementioned crimes. I was really young at the time.

Well if he's okay then it was obviously not serious. Maybe he just wanted to play a practical joke on you. Or he just wanted $1,000. Either way, you should take it up with him personally. He has no right to treat you like this. To scare you into giving him money.

I have a *bleep*ed up brother too. Well, was that way. He never did drugs, but he beat up a couple of people as dares. I haven't seen him since I was 2, nor am I allowed or want to see him. For all I care, my $1000 isn't worth him. Afraid to say, it sounds like he's trying to rip you off. If I were you I'd tell him where to go. If you're above 18, you choose your "brothers" anyway. Saying that, this is coming from a very bitter guy towards his brother "-_-... Not very unbiased here xD. I prefer my foster brothers to my real half-brother.

You ought to get someone to do the exact same thing to him and see how he responds.

quote Ben73

Your brother is not a bad guy, he has just been to jail multiple times and then tries to steal $1000 from a family member. What a top bloke. Just made a silly decision.

This.

quote KR_1250

Whoa!

If my brother did do that, i'd kick his f***ing teeth through the back of his skull. Surely not. I mean... do bastards of that magnitude even exist? faking ones own kidnap to mug your own flesh and blood out of a measly thousand dollars?

Naaaaaah. Must have been someone else playign a random prank or something... right?

I lost faith in humanity a long, long time ago.