The Windfall (5 page)

As soon as the money was cleared and deposited into a private bank, we went house shopping, bought some new clothes, and just enjoyed ourselves. If nothing else, Mom deserved it. We’d both worked hard in our lives, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to cut loose and enjoy this wonderful miracle that had changed our lives forever.

Naturally, I made some major changes in my life. After all, I had over two billion dollars in the bank after the state and federal governments took their cut. So, yeah. There were changes right down to the shoes on my feet. Make no mistake, I wasn’t wearing some fancy tailored suit. It was still me, only in a new pair of jeans, a nice buttoned down shirt, and a brand new pair of Chuck Taylors that felt like smooth butter on my feet. I felt like a new man, but there was no way I was going to let this luck of the draw, this new life, go to my head. No, I planned to create a legacy for my family and buying a business was the first step of many I had planned to accomplish.

“Congratulations, son,” the owner Harold, now retired, said, shaking my hand enthusiastically. It hadn’t been my intention to buy the bar and even after winning the money, I had still come to work for him for a few weeks while I sorted all of it out. Harold had been good to me, giving me a shot when no one else would and I knew he was at least in his sixties, well past the age of a man who should be running a bar in a rough neighborhood. So, casually, I had asked him if he had ever thought about selling and when he said he had and made the statement he’d sell the place in a heartbeat if given the chance, I started the process. And because I knew Harold deserved it, I might have offered him a decent bit more than the place was probably worth. “I have to say, I am glad that you are buying this bar. I know it will be in good hands with you.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied as he released my hand. I wasn’t planning on changing much about it. It felt like home, and I wanted it to stay that way. “Would you consider staying on part time? You know the ropes better than anyone. Name your price.”

Harold laughed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Son, I didn’t sell just to come back to work. I have every intention of enjoying your money as soon as it is deposited into my account. There’s a lake house with a fishing pole calling my name as I speak and breathe.” I laughed as well, knowing I would probably want to do the same thing if I had been here as long as he had. “But,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “I am only a phone call away. If you need anything at all, Cooper, all you’ve got to do is call.”

“I appreciate that, Harold,” I said sincerely. “I hope I can run this place half as well as you have.”

Harold’s eyes went to his ever-present calendar on the wall of the office, where we always penciled in what we were available for. It was a crude schedule, one that was in sore need of being converted to something a little more updated, but when one of the other bartenders had suggested putting it on Harold’s cell phone, he’d balked at the idea. “What if you had no service, no electricity?” he’d challenged, making a point to nod toward the calendar. “All I need is a flashlight to look at that thing.” No one wanted to tell him that if the electricity was out, the bar would be closed anyway, so we just let him have his moment.

“So, I guess you’re gonna have to find someone to replace you,” he said with a grin, his fingers pointing to the upcoming weekend I was scheduled to work. “Can’t have the owner behind the bar, can we?”

“I plan to be,” I said with a shrug.

Harold laughed and slapped his knee. “That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day. Son, you’re a billionaire! You can’t do that anymore!”

“Why not?” I challenged. “It’s my place now. I can work if I want to.”

Harold shook his head, his eyes growing wide. “Do you know your life has changed? People are gonna be hounding you constantly. In this neighborhood, you better keep one hand on the Bible and the other on a gun, which is on the bottom shelf behind the bar, by the way. I’ll be leaving that for you.” My eyes widened, and Harold grinned sadly. I had never known there was a gun just a few feet away from, well, my feet. “People don’t value life around here and will kill you over the littlest thing anymore.”

As much as I hated to, I silently agreed. The killings in the neighborhood were on the rise and getting worse each day. But I wasn’t going to let that scare me off from at least attempting to be part of the neighborhood I’d known my entire life. It was still my home. My heart was here, and I only wanted it to flourish.

“Well,” Harold said, pushing out of the chair and grabbing the box on the desk that held everything he’d cleaned out of the office. “I guess this is it for me. If you find anything of mine, trash it. I won’t be needing it anymore.”

“Thank you, Harold, really,” I said as I stood and put out my hand. “I will not let you down.”

He shook it and then slapped me on the back. “No. Thank you, son. Come on, let me buy you lunch. It’s the least I can do.”

“Sure.” I smiled and allowed him to lead me out of my bar, shutting the door firmly behind him. It wasn’t time to open yet; the building would be dark until the evening crowd converged on it for their social hour. The first bartender would arrive at four to open the place and then I would take over at seven, just like I always did. Still, I couldn’t wait to see it all as a proud owner for the first time. I would be looking at it through new eyes.

We walked down the street to Mimo’s, the local Italian restaurant on the corner, where the lunch special was enough to feed a family of four. Mom and I had eaten there only once or twice, when the tips were really good or it was a special occasion, always sharing a plate and taking the rest home to eat on for at least two more days. Now, I’m sure I could buy this place, too. The thought made me laugh. I could buy half the block if I wanted to. Probably the entire block. I suppose that would be a way to revitalize the neighborhood and get rid of the gangs.

“Cooper! Cooper! Wait!”

I turned around to find several people all rushing at me at once.

“I need some money to pay rent this month!”

“Please, won’t you lend me a few thousand bucks for a new car? Surely you can afford it!”’

“I can’t feed my kids. Can’t you give me a few bucks?”

Some of them I recognized, some I didn’t, but all of them had that gleam in their eyes like they were looking at a shiny diamond just beyond their grasp. One young woman pushed her way to the front, getting grumbles of attention from the others. “Cooper,” she breathed, grabbing a hold of my hand. I noticed tears in her eyes, and my heart lurched in anticipation of what story she was going to tell me. “My grandma, she’s real sick. Cancer and all. I can’t afford her medications. She’s real sick.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, thinking of how it could be my own mom in that situation. Without her, I wouldn’t know what to do. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the small wad of cash I had stuffed in it that morning. It was just a couple hundred dollars, and I hated I didn’t have more. “Here.”

“Lucy, leave him alone,” Harold suddenly said, grabbing my hand as I held out the money to her. Her hands missed mine by mere inches before falling to her side. “You know your grandma has been dead for two years! I even went to the funeral.”

The entire crowd laughed, and Lucy’s tear-filled eyes changed to angry ones as she placed her hands on her hips, staring Harold down. She looked nothing like the woman from seconds before, and I was surprised at the change. “You are confused, you old man! My grandma is still alive, no matter what you say. Just stay out of my business. This is between sweet Cooper and me here.”

Harold shook his head and forced me to put the money back in my pocket, clasping my shoulder and turning me away from the crowd. “I’d never forget your grandma,” he called back to her. “She was hell on wheels and probably still causing hell with the devil. Now, all of you, leave him alone and get on with yourselves!”

Harold forced me to move to the restaurant at a quick pace while my mind tried to process what had just happened. I had stayed largely away from the neighborhood since winning the money, not even allowing my picture to be taken when we had gone to cash in the ticket. They had taken my name, and I knew it had been in the paper. I didn’t have a choice since I lived in a state that didn’t allow me to remain completely anonymous. But I had tried not to advertise it. Obviously, everyone had been glued to the paper to find out who had won. Was this how it was going to be everywhere I went? I didn’t mind helping people out; I’d probably been in their shoes a time or two myself. But that woman had lied to my face, and I wouldn’t have thought twice about it if Harold hadn’t been there. Immediately, I was concerned about how I was going to handle this after Harold left me alone. Did I need to hire someone full time to help protect me? That definitely wouldn’t be what I considered staying on the down low.

“Son, you can’t let people cloud your good judgment and take advantage of your good nature,” Harold said as we walked into the restaurant, the aroma of homemade Italian food causing my stomach to growl in response. “You’re gonna get hit up by all kinds of people, but most of them are gonna be liars and thieves. Open your eyes and you’ll be able to pick them out. Hate to say it, son, but you can’t even trust your friends either. When they see you, they’re gonna see nothing but money, you hear me? Keep low and don’t spread your gossip around. There’s enough of that these days to get the world in trouble.”

I nodded, not so sure. I hadn’t seen that woman as being someone who would take advantage of me. Hell, I hadn’t seen any of them as taking advantage of me, but now I was going to have to really pay attention to everyone around me, including those who I thought were close friends. How was I even going to be able to run a business around here?

The restaurant was extremely busy, as it always was for lunch. We were shown to a table and seated then handed our menus. My stomach growled appreciatively once more. I was pretty hungry apparently and looking forward to their spaghetti. It was the best.

“You buying, right?”

I looked up at Harold to see him peering at me over the top of the menu. He then grinned, waving his hand. “I’m kidding! Hell, lunch is the least I can do considering the price you’re paying for the bar.”

I grinned, looking back down at the menu. I was going to miss Harold. He was apparently the only person I could trust besides my mom.

The waitress came and took our orders, and I finally relaxed after the tense situation on the sidewalk, glad that I could just be myself sitting there with Harold. Inside, I hadn’t changed. Sure, I ‘d bought new clothes and the stress of day to day living was virtually non-existent for me, but I was still the same old Cooper.

“Well, well, look how handsome you are! I declare, it’s my lucky day indeed!”

I looked up to find one of the girls who had made fun of my shoes at the bar just a month earlier standing by our table, twirling a finger in her fake blonde hair as her mouth turned up in a red-lipped smile. She wasn’t exactly dressed for lunchtime at Mimo’s. Skin tight black leather doesn’t scream Italian Mom ‘n Pop joint, nor does it leave much to the imagination, especially when the dress is short enough to make you wonder if she could sit down in it at all. The unblended line around the edge of her jaw made me wonder if she was going to ask me for money to have her electricity turned back on. I’d have sworn she put her makeup on in the dark. Her face was caked with something that made her skin look like wax, and the black liner around her eyes was smudged and definitely not attractive. “Cooper, it’s good to see you, honey. How you been?”

I looked around behind me, seeing if there was someone else she was trying to talk to. Before she wouldn’t give me the time of day, not that I’d wanted it, and now she was acting like we were old friends? “Excuse me? Do I know you?”

She gave a husky laugh, her red fingernails pressing against my shirt as she squeezed my forearm in a manner I could only take as her attempt at flirting. “Honey, we know each other very well. I know you have been eyeing me at the bar while pretending to ignore me at the same time. Don’t think I didn’t notice that. I played it cool for a while, you know, since my friend was starting to like you, but it’s her loss if she won’t take advantage. I, on the other hand, plan to take full advantage of the chance. Take me out, Cooper, and I will show you a real good time.”

“She will also give you something you will never forget,” Harold muttered, taking a drink of his water.

She flashed her eyes at him quickly, narrowing them at his crude remark before turning her attention back to me, her lips curving into another smile as she fiddled with the button on my shirt. She reminded me of a snake stalking its prey, waiting for the right time to strike. “Don’t pay any attention to him. He’s just jealous that I ain’t interested in him. Well, what do you say, Cooper?”

I leaned back, drumming one hand on the table with a grin. She thought I was thinking about her offer and I could see the gleam in her eyes, the greed that was in all of the eyes of those people on the sidewalk just a few moments ago. But my mind wasn’t filled with what she and I might do with each other. Once a snake, always a snake, and I wasn’t blind to the fact that I was dealing with one.

“Well,” I started, looking up at her. “You know, I would love to, but your dress just isn’t going to match the holes in my shoes.” Then I made a great show of sliding my feet from under the table, inspecting them carefully. “Oh wait, I don’t have holes in my shoes anymore. Oh, and how about that, my new ones are probably worth more than your, well, um . . . dress there. It seems someone was listening in on your little conversation last month. You should really consider using an inside voice when you’re going to talk about people.”

Her dreamy expression turned to one of rage as Harold burst into laughter, the entire restaurant turning their eyes toward our table. “H-How dare you!” she sputtered, pushing away from me. “Do you think you’re better than us now? Do you? You’re nothing but the scum of this neighborhood who has his pockets lined now.”