Chapter 11

[Wednesday, June 25th, 1986]

I woke around 6 am and made it into the shower without running into anyone, as I would expect for the time. After getting dressed, I headed to the kitchen and was in the mood to make some breakfast. I had come across a jar of instant coffee the other day and decided to go for it. We were going to have to get a coffee machine soon. This instant coffee stuff was going to be horrible. I put the kettle on the stove to work and started rummaging for food ideas.

Two full dozen eggs and a pound and a half of bacon were in the fridge, so I decided to do some aromatherapy for the kitchen while making breakfast burritos. I got the bacon going in the oven. It was around 6:30 am and Mom probably wouldn’t be up for at least another hour unless the smells got her moving early.

I found three medium to large sized onions and sliced them up into lots of half-moons. I threw that, plus a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper, into a dutch oven on the stovetop and let them start caramelizing. I grabbed a large bowl and combined flour, baking soda, and some salt then set it aside.

I kept an eye on the onions as they slowly caramelized, stirring frequently. When the onions were deeply brown in color, I moved them into a bowl and set them aside as well. When the bacon was ready, I put them onto the paper towels, and then I poured the bacon fat into a mug.

I needed to cool the bacon fat quickly, so I grabbed another medium-sized bowl and lots of ice and some water, then put the mug of bacon goodness in it to cool. 10 or 15 minutes later, it was at a workable consistency—kind of like the texture of soft-serve ice cream.

I mixed some bacon fat in with the flour mix and some warm water. I gently brought it all together, trying not to overwork the dough. I covered the bowl and set it aside as well. I wanted it to rest for 30 minutes or so.

Let’s see: fresh tortillas, caramelized onions, bacon, some shredded cheddar cheese should be all I need to prep now. I got to work on grating the cheese and also chopped most of the bacon up into nice sized bites. One and a half of the strips went to the cook as he worked. I cracked a dozen and a half of the eggs into the bowl I had been using to cool the bacon fat after cleaning it, of course.

It had been more than 30 minutes for the dough, so I cut it into a dozen similar sized balls and covered them with some plastic wrap on a cutting board. I cleaned the bowl I had been using to let the dough rest. I figured I would have to scramble the eggs in two batches because that would be way too much for the skillet. The dough bowl would work for holding the cooked eggs when I got to them.

I got Mom’s large cast iron pan heating up as I started using a rolling pin and a sprinkling of flour to roll out the first tortilla to about ⅛” thick on the countertop. I like to be able to see my hand through them. I prepped a plate and towel to hold the warm tortillas and waited for the pan to get good and hot. I then began an assembly line of rolling out the balls and cooking the tortillas for about 30 seconds per side, stacking and wrapping them in the towel as they got completed.

Mom came downstairs and looked around with surprise on her face when I had about half of the tortillas done. She said, “Wow, it smells wonderful down here. What are you making?” I had not thought this one through. At this age, my cooking skills were pretty much limited to toast and bowls of cereal, maybe the occasional grilled cheese sandwich. Marybeth was a young baking queen, but I left the kitchen pretty much alone, and Mom did almost all of the cooking.

Making the burritos was something I picked up in my 40s. They made for a great meal I could make up ahead of time, and I would freeze about half of them and keep a few in the fridge for the next couple of days. However, now I had some explaining to do because this was not normal for me when I was 18.

I told her, “Breakfast burritos. Hey, while I’m working on these tortillas, can you scramble these eggs? You’ll have to do it in two batches. Try and get it evenly split, please.” She agreed, and I quickly seasoned the eggs with salt and pepper while she dug out the whisk. I got back to my assembly line again and managed not to burn the current tortilla I had been working on.

Mom said, “This looks great. Where did this come from?”

I said, “I was just in the mood, plus I wanted to take a few of these with me this morning as I’m meeting up with some friends.”

She replied, “That’s fine, but I meant that this is unusual for you. Where did you learn how to do this?”

I jumped into the tunnel. I hadn’t worked out a believable story yet, and not for the lack of trying. I was just drawing a blank out there. The tunnel gave me all the time I needed to think. When I had something workable, I jumped back into my body.

I said. “Oh, sorry. I saw them being made in a class I had to sit in once earlier this year. My normal Science teacher, along with many others, were all out sick, and they didn’t have any more substitutes available. They split our class up and farmed us out to various other classes. The options were; Metal Shop, Wood Shop, Home Ec, and Typing Classes. Guess where they put me? The food was tasty and didn’t look too difficult. We’ll have to see how these turn out.”

Mom said, “Well, this looks like a treat. I bet they are fabulous. They had time in class to do the fresh tortillas too?”

I said, “Yes and No. We did cook them, but she had the dough made ahead of time. It has to sit for a while after putting it together. She had some of us make up a couple of batches for later classes.” I had finished my tortillas about the time Mom had half the eggs done. I took the first batch of scrambled eggs from her and added half of the onions and half of the chopped bacon. Then I mixed it all up to distribute everything evenly.

While she finished the last of the eggs, I grabbed the roll of aluminum foil and got a dozen roughly square sheets ready. I tossed the last half of the bacon into the bowl with the onions and asked mom to mix it all in the pan when she finished with the eggs, then to add them to the bowl I was working from.

I made sure the shredded cheese was handy near the egg mixture and my towel wrapped stack of tortillas. Then I started assembling them—a sheet of foil, then a tortilla. I eyeballed about ⅙ of the egg mixture and spooned it into a line across the tortilla. It looked like about two egg-sized amounts on the tortilla. I sprinkled a generous amount of cheese over the fillings.

Then I folded the ends of the tortillas in and took the bottom edge and pulled it over the line of filling, and tugged it all towards me to get a tight roll. I then rolled the whole thing forward to finish closing the burrito up. I used the foil to wrap it the same way and moved on to the next one.

After my third completed burrito, Mom added her mix into the bowl of eggs I was working from. I had a good feel for the portion size now, so that was fine. She watched me finish them all up. I told her to go ahead and try the first one I made. She unwrapped and bit into the end of her burrito and gave me some appreciative sounds.

When her mouth was no longer full, she said, “That is really good. The tortilla is delicious on its own, and the fillings take it over the top. Thank you.” and I got a kiss on the cheek too.

I grabbed six of the burritos and wrapped them in the towel. The rest I put in the still-hot oven for everyone else. Mom told me she would leave a note out about them before she left for work. It was about 8:20, so I took my burritos and headed out to pick up Kim.

When I got to Kim’s house, she was not waiting on her porch for a change. I parked the car and moved the burritos to the back seat, then went up and rang the doorbell. Kim answered the door about 20 seconds later.

I said, “Hi there.”

She replied, “Good morning. I’m ready to go if you are.” I said, “Let’s do this then.” and got her settled in the car.

When I got in the car, I informed her that I wanted to stop somewhere and grab some drinks to go with breakfast. That prompted me to ask, “Did you eat already? I made some breakfast burritos this morning.”

She said, “I had a bowl of cereal earlier, but I can probably find room for one.”

We stopped at a local grocery store, and I got a six-pack of Cokes, then we headed to the park.

When we pulled in, Sam was sitting at a table in the sun. We got out, and I grabbed the burritos and soda, then Kim and I headed his way.

I said, “Sam, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Kim. Kim, this is my friend and business partner, Sam.” They shook hands and said hello.

I said, “I felt like doing some cooking this morning. Can I interest you with a burrito? They’ve got bacon, eggs, onions, and some cheese inside.”

Sam said, “Sounds great. Thanks,” and we dug in. Both found them delicious, and I had to agree. Sam and I had each polished off two of them, Kim only one. While we were eating, Kim and Sam got to know each other a bit. We talked about the possibility of doing some shopping this morning.

Kim asked questions about what look we were going for. I told her that we were playing in the track’s VIP area, and we’re expecting to continue with that for the next few months. She asked about his sizes and said shoes were probably going to be an issue. She thought we might want to start with that, just to get it out of the way.

I offered the last burrito to Sam, but he declined. He mentioned if I was looking to get rid of it, he knew a guy who would appreciate it on the other side of the park. I told him I could give him a ride to deliver it, and we all got in the car. Kim insisted on taking the back seat as both Sam and I are pretty tall, and the back seat was not nearly as roomy.

It only took Sam a minute to find his acquaintance and deliver it. We waved and headed out to the mall. On our way, we worked out a game plan. Macy’s and JCPenney were the anchor stores in that mall, and either might work, but Kim thought Macy’s was probably a better choice.

We planned to park outside Macy’s and see where the nearest changing booth was to the entrance. If he were feeling ok, we would shop as usual, but if not, we would try doing some pre-staging. He could hang outside while we pulled some suggestions that he could briefly review. Maybe we could find a helpful employee to assist with better ideas too.

Kim and I left Sam in the car and headed into Macy’s. I let Kim lead, and we were soon talking to a sales associate who was very helpful. She suggested that we pull around to an employee entrance. There was a decent-sized break room right near the door that we could stage easily with gathered items after we got measurements and concepts in mind. Kim went with her to look at the area, and I went to get Sam and pull the car around.

I wasn’t sure I had the right entrance until Kim and Julie opened the non-descript door not far from where I parked the second time. Sam and I headed in, and just as described, there was a room about the size of my kitchen at home. It had a table with eight folding chairs and a refrigerator and sink along one wall. Julie broke out a tape measure, and Kim was taking notes for her as she got Sam all sized up. She even had one of those foot measuring devices for men’s shoes handy.

Kim and Julie brainstormed on ideas while Sam and I mostly stayed out of the conversation. Julie asked about the budget, and Sam said for her to use $500 as a top-end. He wanted several evening out options for that. Julie suggested that Sam and I wait here while she and Kim headed for the goods.

We sat around for about 10 minutes before Sam said he’d be outside in the car. I gave him the keys so he could unlock it and open the windows. Sam shook his head and said, “You are far too trusting, my friend.” I asked, “Oh, were you going to steal it from me?”

I continued, “I trust you, Sam. Besides, I made more money last night than that car cost me. Regardless, I’m confident you are far too honest to steal from anyone. I remember your rules. If you wouldn’t take a million dollars, why would you take the car?”

Sam said, “Well, you’re not wrong, but you are still too trusting.”

I said, “I disagree, I think that I’m just pretty good at judging character. Hey, are you willing to hear my thoughts about that ticket again? I’ll head out with you.”

There was a stack of post-it notes and a pen on the table. I left a message on the door, saying we were going outside. Sam and I sat in the car. It was in a nice bit of shade from the large overhang on this side of the building. The only downside was the smell from the three dumpsters that were not quite far enough away.

Once we were situated in the car, I said, “Okay, so I have this ticket. The easiest thing to do would be to sign my name on the back and then go down to the Lottery HQ and turn it in. I already made a trip there this week, so it would be really easy to do.”

Sam played the straight man for me perfectly when he replied, “But you don’t want to do that, because...”

I said, “Because I don’t want to be hassled by everyone in the world wanting to get their hands on it. I have some ideas on how I might, maybe, if everything goes right, be able to remain anonymous. But frankly, I doubt it will work. Someone is bound to talk, and then I’m back in the limelight. ‘Eighteen-year-old kid wins millions!’ story at 11. Here are his hometown and his name, go get him, folks.”

I turned to Sam, “I don’t want it to go like that. I wouldn’t mind the money, of course, but I can make all the money I will ever need in other ways. The biggest draw of it, as I told you, is paying for my college plans. After that, I wouldn’t mind if it all went to charity.”

Sam made a face. I said, “It’s just a word, Sam, it doesn’t have to have a bad connotation to it. Haven’t you run across agencies that are doing good things for people?”

Sam said, “Sure, there are a lot of them doing good things. I just don’t want to be one of the people that they help. I need to make my own way. Pull my own weight.”

I nodded, “I get that. But what do you think of the agencies themselves? Are they worthwhile? I’m serious about wanting to put most of the money towards some good work. In fact, I think I want your help with that.”

Sam asked, “How’s that?”

I said, “I don’t know yet. I don’t have enough clarity to even call it an idea yet. Can you tell me what you think about the people being helped by the charities?”

Sam said, “I’ve seen an awful lot of folks just gaming the system. They milk everything they can out of all of the agencies out there and the government so that they don’t have to work. Frankly, they disgust me. On the other hand, I’ve also seen many really good people in really bad situations. There are a lot of worthy people out there too.”

I said, “That’s it, that’s it right there. That’s what I want to do with it. I want to help out worthy people who are in exactly those situations. I want to do it directly, and there are no organizations I know of that do that. How would you feel about being part of something like that?”

Sam said, “What, like being part of some charity helping folks?”

I said, “I mean exactly that. But not part of some big heartless corporate thing. I mean one-on-one. Finding someone worthy, wherever you happen to find them—then finding out what they need to get back on their feet again. Then making sure they get the things they need, maybe even anonymously. It could be schooling; it could be new clothes, it could be anything. Would you consider a job like that?”

Sam said, “Why me?”

I told him, “I think you’re perfect for it in a lot of ways. You know their situations way better than me or anyone else I can even think of. You can recognize the worthy from the not so worthy. You have a much more realistic idea of what might be needed than I would. You probably will think of things that would help that I would never even think about because I’ve never lived it as you have.”

I finished with, “The biggest reason I can think of is that I’m headed to college for the next four years or so, and I won’t have the time to do it. I need someone I can trust to do a good job at it, and I can’t think of anyone I would rather have doing the work than you. Just think about it for a while, please.”

Sam said he would. Two minutes later, Kim called from the door. We headed her way, leaving the windows open in the car. I would normally not do that, but there were only employees parking in the area, and we would not be long before coming out again. When we got in, I noticed another employee sitting on a folding chair in the hallway and reading a book. I could see a chair from the break room had been conscripted for guard duty, which makes sense.

Kim and Julie had a lot of things laid out on the table. You couldn’t see the table surface at all. There had to be 15 pairs of shoes in boxes on one end. I couldn’t begin to count the numbers for the other items. Kim had a chair pulled out and asked Sam to sit. Julie pulled the lids off the top three boxes and showed Sam several loafers in different shades of brown.

Kim asked if he had a preference for the colors. Sam didn’t, so they moved on to how they fit. Sam tried all three on his right foot and called them all felt good. They went through the rest of the pile and settled on two pairs: a dark brown and a black. Next, they moved on to pants.

The girls had him hold up ten different pairs, then Julie too half of them away. Kim and I stepped out, and Sam tried on the five pairs, stepping out to show Kim for each one. She had asked him to get back in the previous pair and kept the one before that handy. The three other pairs went into the NO pile.

She lined up a bunch of shirts she wanted him to try out with the pants. Julie came back with two sport coats and a small stack of dress shirts. When Sam came out next, she dropped them on the table and picked up many of the discards and left again. Kim asked Sam to do the shoes too, then move on to one of the dress shirts and one of the sport coats.