Chapter 13

[Thursday, June 26th, 1986]

When I woke up, the alarm clock told me it was nearly 8 am. In case I ran into anyone to or from the shower, I donned a pair of shorts from the laundry hamper to cover myself. I should get myself a decent robe for that. The bathroom was surprisingly free. I took my shower and headed back upstairs to change for the day, carrying my shorts and wrapped in just a towel.

I dressed in jeans and one of my new polo shirts. I liked my new wardrobe a lot better than the scrub-like look I sported my first time through. It was a little preppy for the area but was certainly fitting for the times. Improving the image couldn’t hurt anything.

I headed down to the kitchen and looked in the fridge for breakfast ideas. I quickly realized I wasn’t particularly in the mood for cooking this time. The breakfast special at the diner sounded just fine to me, so I headed out instead.

Carol took my order and left me sipping coffee. I hadn’t grabbed the paper on my way in, so I got up to get one and settled back down. As I started looking through it, I realized that tomorrow around noon would make it exactly a week since I had jumped back into this timeline. I started thinking about the mistakes I had made or ways I could improve what I had done.

Well, Kim was a no-brainer. Everything I had learned about her screamed that she was a keeper. I could see the two of us having a long and happy relationship if I managed not to screw it up along the way.

Sam was a pretty good guy in a bad situation. He was dealing with a shitty problem that life had thrown his way, and he had managed to do so while maintaining a level of integrity I honestly never managed to achieve for myself. I wanted to help him, but he was uncomfortable with my help. Stepping back and thinking about it, I had probably gone too far to bring him so close so quickly. I had been foolishly trusting in trying to explore his nature. With my abilities, the risk was manageable. Still, it was something that should have been done more carefully, or at the very least, done more purposely.

Carol brought out my food, and I tucked in, enjoying it as much as always.

I loved the idea of the Charity, and I loved the idea of having Sam help me to do that. But I also knew he was uncomfortable with the rewards he was getting. He saw it as too much in return for the level of work he was doing. The more I thought about it, the more sure I was that he would be more comfortable as an employee than he ever would be as a partner. I could fix that.

The question was, what was I risking by doing things over again? I suppose the most significant risk was that things might not work out the same with Kim. That would be a bad thing for sure. But apparently, she was very open to the idea of dating me as of when I saw her that Friday night. So long as I was there to meet her walking into Pizzarama, it should be fine. Hell, even that might not be critical, but no sense risking it further. I remember noting that it was right at 6 pm when I left the house, and mom called Pizzarama. I would just have to be sure to keep that meeting.

I think it is reasonable to assume she would still be just as interested if I did things over again. I could probably get myself more short term money from the lottery too. That would mean less need for the dog track to hold me over for the summer, though I would still want to start something with Sam. We could do it a lot less often, with less risk.

I had finished my breakfast a while ago and had just sat there thinking while drinking a second coffee cup. I paid Carol at the register with a $5, telling her to keep the change, and thanking her for a great breakfast. I drove back home and parked, then jumped into the tunnel again.

[Friday, June 20th, 1986]

I walked into the credit union and got in the customer line instead of using the ATM. I was quickly working with another teller. It was a lady named Paula this time, who was happy to help me with my PIN and then assisted me with withdrawing five twenties.

I left the credit union and headed to the nearby Cumberland Farms. I had worked out a silly explanation that would work well enough to explain what I was doing and started filling out a couple of ‘play slips.’ They only had room for five picks per sheet, and I was doing seven of them. I planned to explain that I had a dream of seven different numbers, so I just played all of the variants. Seven sets with six of the numbers.

On one ticket:

1,6,13,14,30,34 (without 43)

1,6,13,14,30,43 (without 34)

1,6,13,14,34,43 (without 30)

1,6,13,30,34,43 (without 14)

1,6,14,30,34,43 (without 13)

On the other:

1,13,14,30,34,43 (without 6)

6,13,14,30,34,43 (Jackpot without 1)

If I understood it correctly, the pool of 5 of 6 winners had five people last time through. That included my one ticket. Now I would have six out of the ten winners’ share of that pool, so it should be something close to $6,500 total instead. But because I would only be turning in the ticket with five sets on it, I’d see something like $5,400.

I’m sure it will raise some eyebrows at the lottery office, but I don’t plan to explain anything. I didn’t owe them an explanation. They just had to make sure it was a valid ticket. It would be enough money to get me through the summer easily.

I intended to try to entice Amanda Kerns with the winning lottery ticket. With her and Kim, I might need to use the story. She could cash it and form the Charity for me for considerably less than the ticket was worth. If it didn’t work out, I could always roll her part back and try with someone else.

Sooner or later, I’d find someone who was genuinely willing to do it. And if I gave up trying, I could always do it myself if I had to, as much as I hated to do so. I feared that all of my friends and family, hell anyone I ever met probably, would want a piece of it. I didn’t want that hassle.

I grabbed a “Whatchamacallit” candy bar and a can of Sprite, then headed to the cashier with my play slips to purchase everything. I headed out to the car, and after stashing the tickets in the glove box, I decided to go ahead and beard the lion in its den.

I pulled up to Lisa’s house and knocked on her door. Her younger sister Joeel (pronounced like Noel but with a J) answered the door and let me enter. I said, “Hi, Joeel, is Lisa here?” She said she was and went to get her as I sat at the kitchen table.

Lisa came out and smiled as she said, “Hi there, you’re a bit early. I thought we said you were picking me up a little before six o’clock.”

I said, “Have a seat. We need to talk about that.”

She lost her smile and said, “I think I’ll stand, thanks. What’s going on, John?”

I told her, “Suit yourself. I don’t think there is a better way to do this than to just get right to it. I don’t want to date you anymore.”

She asked, “What happened? What did I do?”

I said, “Lisa, how many times have we broken up? I can’t count them anymore.”

She said, “I don’t know, but what does that have to do with this?”

I answered, “Because things finally crystallized in my head, that should have been clear a long time ago. After the first couple of breakups, this relationship was never going to work. We’ve repeatedly proven that we don’t even work very well short term, much less long term. High School is over now, and it’s time both of us grew up and moved on with our lives.”

I stood up and headed for the door. “Truly, Lisa, I hope you have a great life. You deserve to be happy; we both do. We just won’t be doing it together.” I let the door close behind me as I headed for my car.

I got in, started it, and backed out of the driveway into the street. As I got ready to put it into gear and pull away, I saw Lisa come out the door with a couple of items in her hands. There were a few more things tucked into an arm across her chest. I could make out a few stuffed animals and several crystal ones. She started throwing them in my direction and screaming that I should do some physically impossible things. None of them hit the car as I drove away.

I half expected to see her car behind me, but I made it home without incident.

When I got home and noticed the time, it was almost 4 pm. Mom would be home in a little over an hour. Thinking about things I needed to do, I wanted to get my room cleaned up tonight and maybe pre-weed out some things. It would be way too hot up there right now. Hopefully, I’d be able to get Kim to assist me with shopping again. Hmm, do I want to have her directly involved in the lottery ticket? Maybe, maybe not.

I already have a good idea that the money wouldn’t be an issue for her in a golddigger way, but it might be an issue the other way. She might be uncomfortable starting a relationship with someone who has that kind of money. We had already been pretty involved by the time she found out last time. I’d have to see how that went. I might have to try a few different approaches.

I went through the pantry and started making an actual list of some things I might like to get for the house. Things like the coffee maker and some cooking items would be needed again. I could see improving the spice cabinet contents a bit too. After that, I headed out to clean the car and stuck the list in the wallet slot for now. I got done quickly and settled back into the house.

Before too long, Mom got home. I greeted her and asked, “How was work?” She told me, “It was a fairly normal day, nothing fascinating unless you want to hear about Maggie’s grandkids?” I smiled and told her, “Thanks, but no thanks. I can do without the update.”

I said, “Since it looks like just us tonight, how about we get some pizza. I’ll fly and buy it if you place the order.” She asked if I knew Marybeth’s plans. I told her I wasn’t 100% sure but thought she would be at Tom’s for dinner. I had no idea where David was, but we could get more than we needed just in case. She agreed and went upstairs to change out of her work clothes.

When she came back down, I saw we had about half an hour before I needed to head out for the Pizza. That should be enough for our “summer plans” conversation, I hoped.

I muted the TV and asked her, “Hey Mom, can we talk about plans this summer?”

She said, “Sure, I’ve meant to talk about just that subject with you for a while now. You know you’re going to have to get a job soon, right?”