Rich or Poor, A Lottery Winner's Adventure

Rich or Poor, A Lottery Winner's Adventure - Chapter One

                                                                        Chapter One

Tennessee

USA

   My names Ryan, I’m 19. My parents and I recently moved to the good, smart, and more respectful side of town only a few blocks away from our old place in the more slumy and downbeat district. My older sister, Jane, is married and she moved away a couple of years ago. We get on just fine and are always there for each other should either of us have any problems. If only we had known the enormity of a situation coming our way fast, happening at lightening bolt speed, before either of us had a chance to do anything about it.

   I was fighting, again, my so-called friends from college. Why were they fighting me again? Me…. I mean I’m the nicest guy in the world! Ever since that big win two months ago I’ve been so paranoid, thinking people are out to get me, to try and take what they can from me with not an ounce of consideration, and to just leave me in the gutter. I swung a quick punch at Todd but I think it hurt my knuckles much more than it hurt his dumb face. Jim then pushed me to the ground and started kicking me in my sides, bruising me with every contact of his shoe.

I heard something as Todd began to take the watch off of my wrist and my wallet from my jacket pocket. What was that noise? It was getting louder and louder! Then I recognised the sound as a dumpster truck reversing to collect all of the garbage from our street.

Beep Beep…. Beep Beep…. Beep Beep…. **BEEP BEEP**!!!

   Drenched in sweat I suddenly woke up from the nightmare I was having and stared at the alarm clock. It was 07:00am. I needed to get up and ready for the last college day of the week. I couldn’t wait for the weekend. Two whole days of living like a king in my own home, the home I had recently purchased to live in with my parents so we could just be a happy family for a change, a huge contrast to the way things used to be.

   I managed to get up and out of bed, but instantly felt magnetically drawn back into the cosy warmth of my sheets. Just another five minutes…. Just five more minutes! “No.” I said to myself, “It’s the last day of the week so no excuses!”

   Walking down the hall towards the bathroom I passed a picture on the wall of my parents. It was taken on their wedding day and they looked so happy together. My Dad, Charlie, he’s a really good man, but he’d been hitting the booze rather a lot lately. His favourite tipple is whisky and I think he started drinking more due to his business doing so badly. He runs a hardware store near our old apartment with one of his good friends but it’s just making less and less money each month - while the bills seem to be going in the opposite direction. I’m so happy that I recently came into a position where I could help. I knew he loved his job, I think he’d be lost without it. I bought the hardware store for him and his friend, Jack, who he has known since they were at school together, so now they can relax and enjoy their work without the worry of the damn bills becoming more and more colourful each month. I also gave him a few bucks… well… more than a few bucks really to pay off all the family debts from the old place. He had enough left over to take Mom out on the town. My Mom, Jackie, is so hard working. Always there with the dinner on the table when Dad came home from work. She worked part time at the local retail store and she never complained about anything, although I could tell she would often worry and pretend that everything was ok. Money was very tight.

   I remember one day, a few years ago, after washing my hair, I threw the empty store brand shampoo bottle in the trash and she instantly grabbed it back.

   “Ryan, what on earth are you doing?”

   “What?” I said.

   “There’s still a lot of useable shampoo in this bottle.” She told me.