3. Kali

CHAPTER 3

Kali

After the day I had, I wished for nothing more than silence, but there’s a tinge of curiosity brewing in my chest. I click on the TV and press zero-zero-eight on the remote. Maybe they’ll announce the person who won. It’s likely a commuter. With a TV dinner in hand, I settle on the couch to watch the six o’clock news.

I smile to myself when a picture of our small-town gas station pops up. It’s the top story. The camera focuses on Henry and his family. They must’ve been filming when I walked by. He looks great on TV. He’s a natural with his charismatic personality. Why he likes me, I have no idea.

I twirl spaghetti around my fork as I listen to him talk about what the store plans on doing with the one percent bonus they get for selling the winning ticket. When the story pans back to the news anchors in the studio, they add, “No one has come forward to claim the money yet, so if you have a ticket, double-check it. Here are the numbers again.”

Wait? What?

The screen flashes blue with six white numbers on them. My heart quickens its pace.

Oh, shit. Slow down !

I toss aside my TV dinner and rush to find a pen and paper in my junk drawer. Frustrated, I can’t find something within reach to write on, I resort to scribbling the numbers on the palm of my hand before they disappear from the screen.

“No way,” I whisper to myself, walking back to the bedroom, staring at the numbers on my hand. I draw a deep breath, swiping the ticket off the table. With the ticket in my right hand, I uncurl my left hand and start comparing the numbers.

03

“Yes!” I made five dollars! At least it paid for my ticket.

10

“Ha! Two numbers!” I’m a millionaire. Not.

25

Three numbers! This is going to be a horrible letdown.

40

“Oh my god.” My voice escalates with four numbers.

55

“Holy hell.”

29

I freeze. I can’t breathe. All six numbers. That perfectly match.

Panic and excitement collide, sending me into a frenzy. My hyperventilating turns into screaming and jumping around my tiny apartment, my shouts filling every corner, “Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh. My. God !”

A firm knock at the door snaps me out of my hysteria. I swing it open, looking crazed, with a grin plastered across my sweaty face. I attempt to contain it. “Hey, Murphy.”

He peers at me, his brows knitted and his glasses perched low on his nose. He leans over to look past me. “You’re not supposed to be having a party after nine.” Even his typical squeaky voice doesn’t bug me. Lucky me having the manager of the apartment building be my neighbor. “The rules were very specific when you moved in here.”

I blow out my bangs hanging in my face. “Sorry. I just…got some good news.” His gaze darts to my hand where I’m holding the lottery ticket. I yank it behind me, hoping he couldn’t tell what it was. “I’ll keep the noise down.”

“Yeah, you do that,” he grunts, already turning to leave.

“Wait, Murphy, can I borrow your phone for a sec?”

“When are you going to get your own phone?” He sighs, yet he fishes it out of his pocket. Real soon. I promise you.

I hold up a finger and shut my front door. He grumbles on the other side about taking his phone. “I’ll be just a minute.” I can’t help but let the corners of my mouth twitch upward, barely containing my excitement. Leaning against the door, my heart pounds against my chest as I dial Pearl’s number.

She answers on the second ring. “Murphy, what in the world are you doin’ calling me this late?”

Does she have everyone’s number on her phone? “Pearl, it’s Kali. I need you to come over. Like right now.”

“Girl, what is burnin’ in your britches that you made me put on a bra again and come all the way over here? You know how much I hate this thing,” Pearl says, strolling in. She startles when I let out a loud squeal. I throw a hand over my mouth to stop myself, imagining Murphy’s ear glued to the other side of the door, knowing Pearl is here. “Girl, what has gotten into you? I haven’t seen you this happy since…well, ever.

“Promise me you won’t scream. Murphy’s probably listening.”

She waves her finger in front of my face. “I’m not the one having a problem holdin’ screams in,” she teases.

I blow out a breath and shake out my hands, trying to control the frenzy inside me. “I won,” I whisper-yell. She blinks, confused. I still keep my voice low when I say, “I won the lottery.”

“Say what, sugar? I don’t think I heard you right.”

I pull out my lottery ticket from my back pocket and show her the numbers written on my palm. Her eyes jump from my hand to the ticket, then she looks up. Her eyes are the size of saucers.

“It was you,” she quips, but then she repeats it with higher octaves in excitement. “It was you!” We both jump up and down, screaming. The adrenaline pumping through my veins is a rush I’ve never felt before.

Pearl knocks over a lamp, and it shatters on the vinyl floor. “Oh my! My tush did a little more push than I thought!”

“It’s okay.” I laugh, grabbing her hands and pulling her back into my celebration, bouncing up and down. “I’ll buy another one!” Because I can freaking afford it.

I’m not surprised at the pounding on my door. Pearl rolls her eyes, and we simultaneously scream, “Go away, Murphy!” We hold our breath, listening for a few moments, expecting more pounding, but to our surprise, it stops.

We both fall back onto the couch, sweaty and giddy. Shock slams into me, quick and fast. She’s still squealing as my rush comes to a complete stop. She rolls her head toward me, her laughter fading. “You didn’t have a heart attack on me, did ya?”

I stare ahead at nothing in particular. “I won. Me, the unluckiest person ever, won.”

“Honey, you deserve this.” She grabs my hand and squeezes. “Like I said yesterday, you had to wait out your storm. It’s your time to shine.” My thoughts jump to just Ann. How I wish I could thank her for adding to my horrible day, enough to push me to buy a lottery ticket. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do with it? What are your dreams?”

“I haven’t gotten past the part that this small piece of paper”—I hold up the ticket—“is worth four million dollars.” We lean our heads against each other’s and stare at it in silence. My mind slows, and everything I’ve ever wanted comes within reach. I exhale and tilt my head toward her. “I’m going to college.”

She jerks back, and her lips pucker like she popped a lemon in her mouth. “College? Sugar, you should be dreaming about what beach you’re goin’ to be on, drinking one of those fancy cocktails out of a pineapple, and lookin’ for a sexy man with a fancy yacht.”

I laugh, shaking my head, not surprised at all that her dream includes a man. “I’ll travel someday. Not now. I’m going to move to Austin and go to college. Buy a new car. I want to experience the life I missed out on. Traveling the world will come after.”

She rolls her eyes. “I guess if that’s what will make you happy,” she says in a breezy tone. “So, Austin, huh? You goin’ to look for Mr. Pie Guy?”

“Not him again,” I say, elbowing her in the side. “Austin is a big city. I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be,” she singsongs.

It’s my turn to roll my eyes. Despite all her failed marriages, she still loves love. I’d expect her to be bitter, warn me to stay away from the heartbreak, but she’s a romantic at heart.

I jump up, running to the kitchen, watching my steps, so I miss the broken ceramic pieces from the lamp. I’ll clean it up later. There’s no better reason to pop open, or rather, twist open, a bottle of wine. I giggle when I grab two red solo cups—a millionaire at her finest—and pour a heavy amount into each cup, taking a heavy whiff of one while walking back to the living room. I swirl it around, practicing the movement for the future. I’m almost certain all millionaires drink wine like this.

“Cheers, friend,” I say, handing her a cup.

“Cheers to a new journey,” she replies, tapping my cup. We both take a long drink. The wine’s warmth spreads through me. A new journey. Suddenly, nerves tickle my tummy. The idea that everyone will find out about my winnings makes me finish the wine and pour another cup. I down that one too.

“Whoa there, Nelly.” She laughs, taking the bottle from my hand and filling her cup up. She places the bottle on the side table. “This is a celebration. Not a race to see who can throw up first.”

I freak out and pace the room. “I don’t want anyone to know.”

“Why not? You need to be more like just Ann.” I chuckle when she refers to her like I do. “Go rub your fortune in their stuck-up noses.”

I shake my head. “I just want to leave town without all the hoopla. I don’t want to be the center of their gossip. They’ll all act like my friends, making up stories about knowing me, or worse yet, start telling the world about my parents dying and the road I had to take to get here. I am not giving people a chance for their five minutes of fame.” People I looked at for help at my lowest—who looked the other way—don’t deserve to have a part of me at my highest.

Or richest.

She sighs but then nods. “Can I at least watch you quit? Tell Roberto to shove the job up his ass?”

“You’re horrible. Roberto is not that bad.” Roberto could be a stuffy jerk, but mostly, he’s been a decent boss. After all, he hired me when most of the town looked the other way when I was searching for a job. The five-thousand-dollar insurance policy my parents left me when I turned eighteen didn’t stretch too far, but it allowed me to find a place of my own. “I’ll give my two weeks. My story is going to be that I’ve saved up enough to move.”

“You’re a much better person than me,” she teases. “I’d be shakin’ my hiney while I was wavin’ around hundred-dollar bills and high-tailing it out of this crappy judgmental town. Peace out, bishes.” I laugh, imagining Pearl doing just that.

Her questions about dreams stir up a memory . “Ladybug, you can be anything you want if you follow your dreams.” My mom’s words come back to me, and there’s a warmth inside me. It’s been a long time since I’ve remembered her words. We were lying on a pool float, staring up at the sky, when a plane flew right over us. I told her I wanted to live on a plane and fly all over the world. “ That sounds amazing. Just make sure to go to college first.”

Mom, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.