lottery winner ✔️ h.s.

three

The couch. Familiar, recurring, and always uncomfortable. I've been in this spot many times. The couch is for failure's like me. The kid who gets into trouble far too many times. The one who gets kicked out from every house. The one who can't support himself. I deserve to be living on the side of the street. I dropped out of high school, got myself disowned, and now I'm in this shit town laying on my bosses couch.

How did my life end up like this? I'm 18 years old. It was just yesterday I was 16 years old with goals. I was going to be lawyer. I was in the honor roll. I had a 4.0 GPA and was in AP classes. I had the girl of my dreams, Jackie Terry. She was beautiful. We were gonna be high school sweethearts. We were gonna get married after college.

And I was going to be a big brother. 9 months passed and I wasn't a big brother anymore. October 20th, she gave birth to Thomas Michael Styles... Stillborn. My mom couldn't get out of bed for weeks. My dad was never home; work was his distraction. I tried to use school was my distraction, but it no longer worked. Everyone tried to act like they cared.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Harry," Principal Johnson said, patting me on the back. "But this doesn't mean you have to give up on school."

I shrugged my shoulders. I signed the paper without saying anything to him.

The school called home before I could get home. The door was locked. My stuff all over the yard. I threw my textbooks and papers all over the yard and put what I could in my backpack. They never said goodbye to me. My mom figured if she lost one son, she didn't need the other anymore. She just cracked. I wonder if my dad would of fought for me if he was there that afternoon. He never tried to find me, so I doubt it.

As for Jackie? She went for the next valedictorian in line. Her parents wouldn't of approved of her dating a high school dropout. A homeless high school dropout. I went to her house one day after sleeping on a friend's couch for a few weeks and saw her making out with Connor. Graduation is in a few days and Connor has a full ride to Harvard. Jackie is going to Yale. I wonder if they're still together. They can have the happily ever after we were supposed to have.

I throw the pillow under my head on the ground. I try to close my eyes and relax, but all I hear is the ticking sound of the clock on the wall. I open my eyes immediately and go back to staring the ceiling fan. It's the only thing I can see in the pitch darkness. I feel something poking me after a minute and I put my hand in my pocket. Nothing. Just those stupid tickets. I pull the tickets out of my pocket and sit up. I turn the light on and turn around to make sure the bedroom doors in the hallway are closed. I unfold both tickets and look at the first number.

2. I look at the first number on my ticket.

2.

12 is the next number and it matches. 15. 22. 35. 56.

They all match. I sit in silence for a second.

"Wait... Holy fucking shit, they all match."

They all match. I can't stop re-checking the numbers. All of them match. I have the winning ticket. I check the clock to see how long before Big Mike wakes up. His alarm will be going off in 15 minutes. He has to take the kids to school and then go to the shop to do paperwork before it opens.

I don't even know what to do. What if i'm dreaming? Do I tell Big Mike? Where do I go? What if I get there and they tell me it's fake? I'll be devastated. I turn the light off and lay back down. I hold the tickets close to my face so I can see them and continue to match the numbers. 2, 12, 15, 22, 35, 56. Every last number matches.

I jump at the sound of his alarm going off. I hear the shower turn on after a few minutes and after fifteen minutes, he comes out of his bedroom in his normal work uniform. I see him walk across the hallway into his children's room.

After a few minutes, he comes out of the room and into the kitchen. "Big Mike," I say quietly.

He jumps a little and turns the light on. "I forgot you were here, honestly," he says, catching his breath.

The living room and kitchen are one room, seperated by carpet and tile. I sit at the table and put the tickets down on the table. "I need to tell you something... Advice, maybe. You're like the only father I've had in a few years and I know I can trust you."

He pulls the orange juice out of the fridge and pours a glass for me and for him. He makes both of us a bowl of cereal and sits down across from me. "Did you sleep at all last night, Harry?"

"No," I say, taking a bite of my cereal. "Just a lot on my mind."

He nods slowly, stirring his cereal. "You're scaring me, kid. Did you get a girl pregnant?"

"No," I let out a small laugh. "I have the winning Powerball ticket."

This time Big Mike laughed. I wasn't laughing, though. And quickly Big Mike wasn't laughing either.

"That's impossible," He says seriously. He grabs the tickets and after a minute, he sets them back down. "That's... Impossible."

"That's what I've been saying for the last half hour. I need your advice. What do I do?'

Big Mike can tell I'm nervous and visibly concerned. "You're going to have to go to Phoenix, where the lottery office is. And before you do anything with the money, you get a lawyer. You're gonna have people coming for you, Harry. Family... Friends... Everyone is going to try to get something from you. After you get a lawyer, you get the hell out of Tucson. From Phoenix, you get as far from Arizona as possible. Everyone in Tucson will be looking for you. Trust nobody, Harry. You're name is about to be plastered all over North America. And, more than anything, don't let money ruin your life, okay? You do something with your life, Harry. Consider this your second chance."

I start crying. Not like shedding a tear, but like full-blown sobbing. Big Mike reaches across the table and puts his hand on my shoulder. "Why are you crying? You're a millionaire, Harry."

I take deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. "It's just a lot to take in with no sleep. I think it's just now hitting me. And I'm upset because I don't want to leave you and I don't know what to do next."

Big Mike hands me twenty dollars and stands up with his empty bowl. "What is this for?"

Big Mike doesn't answer my question. His two daughters sit at the table, on either side of me. They're both on their phones. Big Mike makes them both a bowl of cereal and glass of orange juice. "Fare for your trip to Phoenix. Do you need me to call a cab?"

I nod and he pulls out his phone. He walks into his bedroom and comes out a few minutes later. "Fifteen minutes, Harry. Better get your stuff together."

I finish my bowl of cereal and orange juice and grab my backpack off the ground. I pick up my work clothes off the floor and brush my hair real quick. Big Mike comes outside with me and we both stand on the steps waiting for the cab to pull up.

"I'm nervous," I say, breaking the silence. "I wish you could come."

He puts his arm around me. "Just come visit sometime; after the initial attention wears off. Bring me something nice, too. Maybe a mug from New York City... With my name on it."

We both laugh. "I'll keep an eye out for a mug that says 'Big Mike' on it when I go to New York."

"Good. And, maybe, you'll go back to Portland and see your family..."

I sigh. "I doubt they want to see me, rich or not."

"It's worth a shot, Harry. It's been almost two years. And you're still their son."

The cab pulls up and honks their horn. The sun is beginning to rise and the sky is turning from a dark blue to an orange on the horizon. I should be at the lottery office by the time they open. I'm going to walk in their a homeless kid with a backpack full of clothes to his name and walk out a multi-millionaire.

First thing I'm gonna do? Buy a bigger backpack.