Baby, You're a Rich Man

Chapter 17

"Tomorrow?" Pete repeated. "We can't go tomorrow."

"Why not?" I challenged.

"Well...we don't have a plan. We don't have a car. We don't even know what we're doing. Chicago is a big place, Charlie. A lot bigger than Milford Academy"

"Ritchie has a car," I informed him. "And I know, we might just have to wing it, but this is our last chance to find the fortune. We'll leave tomorrow morning, drive to Chicago, and wait for a taxi driver with red hair to take us to the fortune. It's not a fantastic plan, but it's more of a plan than we've had all year."

"But..." Pete stammered, probably feeling sorry he even told me that the fortune was in Chicago in the first place. "We have finals to study for. Look Charlie, when I said Chicago, I didn't mean we should actually go to Chicago..." His voice trailed off.

"Look," I told him firmly. "I'm going to Chicago. I'm telling my friends about it as well so that they can go to Chicago with me. If you want to come with, you're welcome to. If not, that's your choice, but I'm going."

Pete sighed. "Oh, what the hell. I've always been a sucker for a bit of adventure."

"Great! Let's find Patty."

We met Patty in her dorm room, where she sat playing drums, as usual, and I told her everything. Her reaction was similar to Pete's.

"You're saying we're going to Chicago tomorrow?" she asked.

"It's the only way," I told her. "This is Pete, by the way," I added, as Pete gave a nervous wave. "He's the genius who figured out this entire thing, and he's coming with us."

"Hi Pete," she said, and then she turned back to me. "I'm really not sure we can make this work..."

"Sure we can," I insisted. "We'll take Ritchie's car, someone will read the map and direct him to Chicago, we'll catch a taxi, and he'll know where to take us."

Patty sighed with defeat. "Let's go talk to the others," she muttered.

After convincing Mary, Bryan, and Ritchie that a trip to Chicago was the only way we would find the fortune, our next problem was agreeing on a departure time.

"I'm not leaving before ten in the morning," Bryan said stubbornly.

"We need to leave at a time when nobody will see us leaving," Ritchie put in. "We aren't exactly allowed to drive three hours away from the school grounds, even on a weekend."

I gulped as I imagined the potential consequences if we were caught attempting such an endeavor. A year ago, I wouldn't have even considered trying something so dangerous and outrageous, but now, I had dreamt up the task myself.

"I think we should leave at six in the morning," Patty agreed, and I couldn't help but notice how she and Ritchie avoided each other's gaze at all costs.

"It's decided then," Mary said. "Tomorrow, at six o'clock sharp, we meet in the parking lot and leave for Chicago."

"It is certainly not decided," Bryan retorted. "I need my beauty sleep."

"Then stay home," Patty told him sharply.

So it was decided. Pete and I set our alarms for 5:30, at which point we silently climbed out of our beds, got dressed, and headed down to the parking lot.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," he squealed, with a combination of nervousness and excitement.

"Shhh," I said, for we were still descending the staircase that connected the freshman and sophomore floors of the dormitory building. "If we wake anyone up, we're dead meat."