Chapter 6: Sunday

Tim

Jane and I slept in a while, getting up around nine; we went downstairs, where Aunt Beth had breakfast ready. It looked like she was feeding an army. Susan and Steve got up shortly after we did. After we finished eating, we cleaned up the kitchen and went into the living room to read the paper. As I was reading the paper, I noticed the posting of Saturday's lottery numbers. I figured I might as well check; it couldn't hurt. I got the ticket out of my wallet, and compared the numbers. I looked at the Powerball numbers, and then at my ticket. I looked once, twice, and blinked before looking the third time. Holy Shit! I'd hit all six numbers! I didn't even know what the jackpot was. I read the column, and then about shit my pants. Two hundred fifty-four million dollars! I had Jane check the numbers, and she started screaming.

Beth, Susan, and Steve came running in to see what the screaming was all about. We showed Beth the ticket and newspaper. "The numbers are identical, all right", she said. "Wait a minute; how did you buy a ticket at your age?" she asked. I told her about finding the dollar, and buying the ticket on a lark. "They'll never give you the money, since you're not of legal age", she said. "I've already thought of that", I said. "You can claim it as if you'd bought it". She went over to the phone, and called someone. "Jim", she said. "Beth Andrews. Sorry to interrupt your Sunday morning, but we have a bit of an emergency here. Can you come over? Thanks; see you then."

"I just called my financial advisor, and he's coming over. I trust him to guide us in this." A half-hour later, the doorbell rang. Beth let a man in, and introduced him as Jim Carnes. "Jim", she said, "Tim here found a dollar bill Friday morning lying on the sidewalk outside the diner and, on a lark, bought a lottery ticket. They never questioned his age, apparently because of his size. Look at this." Beth showed him the lottery ticket and the newspaper. He whistled.

"Well, son, you've just become a very wealthy young man. Since you're underage, Beth will have to claim it on your behalf. In case you haven't figured it out, the interest on that amount is over 7 1/2 million dollars per year. At your age, I would suggest, at your age, you take the annual installments. I'd estimate you'd receive a little over 12 million dollars per year, which would generate about $360,000 in interest per year. I know this is a little overwhelming right now, but have you given any thought to what you'd want to do with that kind of money?" he asked.

"Well", I said, "I was thinking of opening a group home for abused teens, like ourselves; I think I'd limit it to about ten kids at any one time. We'd need a director, and counselors and a psychologist on staff. Beth has been great about taking in the four of us, but this place wouldn't hold any more; we'd need to look for a larger place. I demand it have a homey feel and not feel like an institution."