Summary

The short story “I Spy” by Graham Greene opens with Charlie Stowe, a 12-year-old boy who sneaks out of his bed at night after his mother falls asleep. He goes down the stairs to the tobacco shop his father keeps, to smoke a few cigarettes. Charlie wants to smoke because his schoolmates tease him since he has never smoked cigarettes before. He believes stealing the cigarettes is justified because he thinks he does not love his father.

It is very dark inside the shop, but Charlie is afraid to turn on the light. Hearing the footsteps of a policeman outside, he quickly grabs a pack of cigarettes and hides in a hole under the counter. 

Through a crack in the counter, Charlie watches his father enter the shop with two strangers. The father offers the two men cigarettes, but they refuse because they are on duty. Charlie’s father asks them if he can take some cigarettes with him before they go, and the men allow this. One of them asks Charlie’s father if he wants to talk to his wife. Charlie’s father replies that there will be time for that later. The men advise him not to worry too much, because while there is life, there is hope, and his father tries to laugh.

After the men leave, Charlie goes back to bed, wondering about the scene he witnessed. He realizes that he does love his father, after all. Then he falls asleep. ...