Chapter 11

      After her outburst, Sam looked around to see who was noticing. People were avoiding her thinking she was a wino gone crazy. She didn’t care. She sat down for a second and took a deep breath to just relax. All her troubles were now cut down to size. She could buy a home, get some medical attention and not have to worry about money for the rest of her life. Hundreds, millions of thoughts began racing through Sam’s mind. She was trying to think about how to get the money, what she would buy, and then she began thinking about the children at the shelter. Her mind was racing with ideas about helping her friends, and the kids at the shelter. She then thought, ‘How do I actually get the money, and how much is it?’

      The first order of business was to get rid of the wine and figure out how to get the winnings. She thought for a few minutes and decided that Delvin would know what to do. He owned a store that had the lotto in it and he surly knew all the rules.

      She got up and began walking towards Delvin’s convenience store at E. Lancaster. Each step was a joy. She knew that very shortly any step she took would be a pleasure. A torrent of thoughts were racing through her mind of all the people she would help.

      She arrived at the E. Lancaster Convenience store and walked inside. Delvin immediately acknowledged her. “There she is, where u been.”

      Sam had a big smile on her face, “I been around, where u been.”

      Delvin noticed the peculiar look on Sam’s face, “What’s going on with you? You look like you just got somebody to give you some money or something. Somebody did win the lotto last night in this area. I’ll know more about it in a little while.”

      “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do however have a few questions for you.”

      Delvin now began to figure that Coley was drunk and feeling pretty good. “Okay my fair lady, fire away with your questions.”

      Sam still didn’t want anyone to know she had won the big one, “When my time comes and I win the big lotto, how do I go about collecting my winnings?”

      Delvin looked at Sam for a second, “I’ll tell you what, when you win the big one, I’ll let you know what needs to be done to get the money, okay? I don’t have the time right now.”

      “C’mon Delvin, just tell me what I need to do, and I’ll buy my wine and go get drunker than I already am.” Sam thought for a second, “I’ll tell you what, I know whose going to win the Eagles, Giants game.”

      At that point everything stopped. Delvin looked at her with skeptical eyes, “You going to tell me who’s going to win that game, right?” Delvin knew Sam could predict the games with surprising accuracy when she wanted to.

      Sam stood there nodding her head up and down.

      “Okay, okay man, you got to have a savings account to deposit the money in and then you call down to Austin and tell them you won. Ya go to Austin and get your fake big check, you know that check that’s the size of a piece of plywood, and then they deposit the real money through the computer in your savings account. Now who’s going to win that game?”

      “You want to know, you want to know, the Giants are going to take this one. I’d bet the farm on it.”

      That’s all Delvin needed to know. He was on the phone to his bookie the instant Sam walked out the door. It seems both had gotten the information they wanted from each other. Sam stood outside the door for a second thinking how sweet this moment felt when she turned and looked at the lotto jackpot amount that Delvin always posts in the window of his convenience store. The sign said the jackpot was seventy seven million dollars. Now she just stood there smiling and thinking to herself everything she could do with the money.

      Sam already had a small savings account set up, there was hardly any money in it but that was about to change. She sat on the curb about a block from the convenience store thinking about what she had to do to get the money. Basically, all she had to do was call Austin, and get down there to collect the money. Then, anything goes, she’d be rich. She would need help. Who could she trust to help her with the vast fortune that had just come her way. After comfortably sitting on the curb reflecting for a while, she decided that Brad from the shelter would be the one to tell about her good fortune. Brad could get her to Austin and coordinate the Christmas she has planned for the kids at the shelter.