National Lottery

By edward steller

This is a book about greed, corruption, and a young mother trying to cope with the challenges of modern-day life. It is not for people who are easily offended or looking for a love story. As you burn through the pages you will be introduced to characters who will challenge your emotions, and maybe bring a tear to your eye. What would you do if you won the lottery? What would you do if suddenly you were a national celebrity? Be careful what you wish for. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: edward steller
• Release date: Jan 14, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393782360

Book preview

National Lottery

edward steller

Published by edward steller, 2021.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

NATIONAL LOTTERY

First edition. January 14, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 edward steller.

ISBN: 978-1393782360

Written by edward steller.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

National Lottery

To Mike Steller the one who encouraged me the write this book

National Lottery

––––––––

Maria Jenner paused as she scrolled down the web page, she rarely bothered to read political posts because she found them frustrating in these divisive times. However, this article intrigued her.

The article read: In a statement released by Presidential candidate John Marshall, it was announced that a plan for a national lottery was being drawn up by his economic advisors.

Maria continued to scroll down the page, but no additional information followed. Who is John Marshall, she thought to herself, the name sounded vaguely familiar, but she really did not know much about him.

The idea of a national lottery was also interesting. How much money is the prize going to be, was her first question. She began fantasizing about all of the wonderful things she could buy and do for Josie, her seven-year-old daughter.

A new car would be nice. She said quietly to herself.

The idea of a new car returned Maria to reality. To the reality of owning a broken down junker and being two days late on rent.

Bye Mom! Josie called out as she ran out the front door.

Maria got up and rushed out the door after her. "Hey, wait a minute gangsta, aren't you forgetting something? Josie stopped and ran back to her Mom. After a hug and a kiss goodbye, Josie joined the other children at the bus stop.

*

Maria did not mind the walk to work, the day was warm, the exercise was good for her, and saving money on gas was a bonus. The break room at Albertway  supermarket was kind of depressing. There were no windows and the microwave oven needed cleaning badly. There were no pictures on the wall, only government posters that explained labor laws and job safety. Maria looked at the posters thinking it was pretty sad that she had actually read all of them.

Maria took a seat at the break room table. After logging on to the store's wifi she instinctively began to log on to FaceBook. She stopped when she remembered that the account was closed. Maria had made the decision a week ago to give up social media.  She enjoyed the goofy pictures of her friends with their tongues hanging out. However, it appears that the pictures and video clips of friends, cute kittens, and smiling babies have been replaced by insipid memes and ugly political commentary. She clicked on Craigslist general labor section hoping that there might be some part-time work  available. She noticed some postings for yard cleaning and janitorial positions. She hit reply and gave a brief description of what she could do and what hours she was available to work. A header that read, Beat the heat work in Alaska caught her eye. Visions of bears walking leisurely around her backyard came to mind. Alaska probably wouldn't be a good change for Josie. 

Barbara, Maria's best friend and coworker entered the break room and sat next to her. Oh, Maria Maria. She reminds me of a west side story... Barbara sang then gave her bestie a big hug. 

Shut up! Maria gave her friend a shoulder bump and returned the hug.

So what's up? Barbara asked.

Just thinking about going to Alaska, Maria replied.

*

What the hell were you thinking? John Marshall was normally unflappable, today he was flapped. A national lottery! What does that even mean? Pinkerton, John Marshall's campaign manager, knew he was in hot water.  He had read the memos, no unauthorized press releases.

Give me one good reason I shouldn't fire you?  Marshall growled."

Because I'm a genius, Pinkerton said softly.

With all due respect, Mr. Pinkerton, the last time I googled the word genius, idiot didn't appear in the answer box.

Please give me a minute to explain, Pinkerton responded.

What I should give you is a damn kick in the butt! You have no authority to put out a press release without my knowledge. The only reason that I can conceive for you to do that, is because you know that there is no way I would even consider your hair-brained idea.

John Marshall stood up and turned his back. Pinkerton knew that was John's way of saying get the hell out of my office. Pinkerton didn't move. John crossed his arms then cleared his throat, but said nothing.

John, we go back a long way. Nobody gave us a chance to win the race for Mayor, but we did. Then we worked our balls off to take the Governorship. If not for term limits you would still be the Governor. I know term limits suck. Your career should be over, but guess what, it's not. Do you know why it's not over? It's not over because I convinced you to enter an overcrowded primary. We won easily! Pinkerton stopped to catch his breath So here we are, running for the Presidency and 10 points down in the polls. Pinkerton held his hands out as if pleading his case. John looked as if he were truly considering Pinkerton's words. After a moment of reflection, Pinkerton started up again.

So, what is the solution? Do we stay on message? Do we tell the people we are going to fix the same things that every politician says that they are going to fix, but never do? Do we go negative and try to convince the people that our opponent is a fool?  Hell, he proves that for us just about every day. John, it is time to try something different, damn it!

John turned around and looked at his friend. Okay, call in the crew.

*

Mama how come we have a fat TV? Maria was used to Josie's curiosity and the oodles of questions that could be generated by something as simple as an odd-shaped cloud. Josie once saw a man with a cowboy hit on sitting in his truck next to them at a stoplight. Maria finally had to tell her that his horsey was home at the ranch taking a nap.

Fat TV, what are you talking about? Maria asked, while feeling so much love for the little girl with the big brown eyes.

When I was at Tina's party I watched her TV and it was skinny. The TVs at school are skinny and even the TVs at Walmart are skinny. Our TV is fat! Maria tried not to laugh.

I think that we are really lucky. Our TV ate the most food at the factory because it was the best TV there. All of the other TVs wished that they were as fat as ours. So what do you think about that?

Mommy I want a skinny TV.

Maria decided enough TV for one night. She got up to unplug the set, the off/on button was no longer working.  Before she pulled the plug an advertisement caught her attention. The White House was in the background while a large crowd cheered and hugged each other in happy anticipation. It looked like they were waiting for an important announcement to be made. Then an official-sounding voice rang out. "The winner is... EVERYBODY! The crowd went into a frenzy. The words Vote for John Marshall flashed on the screen followed by National Lottery End the Debt.

*

Pinkerton danced around the room in delight waving the papers in his hand above his head.  The room was full of staffers and volunteers. The mood was a lot happier than it had been at the previous meeting.

Here they are folks, the new poll numbers! Pinkerton, even though he already knew the results made an exaggerated gesture of concern. He adjusted his reading glasses then read the results as if he were totally surprised.

We are now only 3 points behind. That puts us within the margin of error. The people in the room heehawed and clapped enthusiastically.

"Okay, get this. What!  We lead in Texas by a point and a half! There was a moment of silent surprise and then the people in the room burst into a round of wild applause.

We have caught our opponent by complete surprise, they don't know how to spin this.  They tried to say that a lottery would cost too much. The average registered voter disagreed by 80%.

It is true Pinkerton's idea had caught the opposition by surprise, but it did not take them long to recover. They had several paid financial experts hit the political talk show circuit. They explained in detail how a lottery would not even come close to making a dent in the national debt. A story broke on a news network that was loyal to the current administration about Mark, John Marshall's son. They told how compulsive gambling had destroyed his marriage. It was a fact that Mark did have a gambling problem, but with the support of his father and a loving family, Mark overcame his addiction.

*

To kids. Barbara held up her wine glass clinking it against Maria's. The kids Barbara referred to were her daughter Tina and Maria's daughter Josie. The little girls joyfully ate popcorn as they watched Josie's favorite movie, The Little Mermaid.

Barbara's house was tastefully decorated. The furniture was fairly new and looked great sitting on the shiny hardwood floors. It was obvious that Barbara was doing better financially than her co-worker.

How do you do it? Maria asked.

Barbara raised her eyebrows and shrugged as if she did not have a clue what Maria was talking about.

"Come on, girlfriend, you know what I mean. Your car is practically brand-new and look at all of the wonderful stuff you have for Tina. Toys, books, and stuffed animals were scattered around the living room. We both work at the same place for the same wage, you do really well, I suck.

Barbara slowly shook her head, she felt bad for her friend. Barbara's ex-husband was an electrician and she had no qualms about sticking it to him in the divorce settlement. She got the house. He kept the business. She received a substantial child support check. He was allowed to have Tina for two weekends a month and most of the summer. Barbara sighed then explained to her friend about the benefits of having a good divorce lawyer. Maria listened without saying anything.

Enough about me Maria. What is your story? We have been friends now for over two years and you haven't told me a single thing about Josie's father. You are the most private person that I have ever known. Good God, Maria talk to me. It couldn't be that bad. Barbara waited for a response.

It's not that bad.  It's worse. Maria replied.

Maybe it was the wine or perhaps it was just the right time, but Maria decided to tell her best friend a story that she had never told anyone before.

Are you sure you want to hear this? It's a long story.

Barbara leaned in and took Maria's hand she gave it a squeeze.

"Well, I was 17 just a normal girl living a happy middle-class lifestyle. My Mom worked at a small shop that sold fishing flies along with other outdoor sporting accessories. She tied the flies and helped process mail order deliveries. My Dad drove a truck back and forth from Grants Pass to Portland. He was one of the few truck drivers lucky enough to have weekends off.

I guess we were what you might call a secular family. Christmas was more about Santa Claus and hanging stockings than Christ. We went to church once in a while and always on Easter. I can honestly say at that time religion and the church did not play a big part in my family's life.

One day there was a knock on the door. My mother let the two nice looking ladies into our home. They chatted with my Mom for a while. I could hear them talking from my bedroom. The conversation became a little loud. It sounded as if they might have been arguing. After the ladies left I asked my mother who they were, Just people trying to sell Jesus, was all she said.

Later that week while I was returning home from school the same ladies were stepping out of the front door. They smiled politely as they walked past me, but I noticed one of them checking out the dress I was wearing. She shook her head disapprovingly.

The ladies continued to come by regularly. After about three or four weeks my Mother appeared to welcome them. One afternoon I walked into the living room and was surprised to see the three of them praying.

At the same time that all of that was going on my father also began to go through some disturbing changes. One day I was riding with him in his pickup truck. We were going to the store to buy some items for a backyard barbecue. My father reached over and changed the setting on the radio. He had been listening to the same country and western station for years. Now the voice of an angry-sounding commentator, who was demanding that we kick all illegal immigrants out of the United States immediately, played on the radio You know me, Barbara I'm not a big country music fan, but  I would rather listen to Jason Aldean sing about his big green tractor any day than to hear the bullshit I was hearing.

Anyway, I was 17 and a senior in high school. My grades were average. My parents had never given me much encouragement to go to college, so I did the minimum necessary to pass my classes and called it good.

I am sure my friends thought I was pretty lame. At this point in my life, I never had even kissed a boy.  Most of my friends already had boyfriends and I'm sure some of them were having sex."

I know I was, Barbara said with a sly smile.

Slut! Maria exclaimed and both friends laughed.

"Well, Maria continued, there was this one boy that I liked. His name was Jose Ortiz. He was the brother of one of the girls that I hung out with. Jose had beautiful sleek black hair and a confident smile. He was nineteen and worked in his father's auto repair shop.  I was totally enamored. I had the wildest dreams about him. In my mind, he was the perfect solution to the problem of me not having a boyfriend.

On some of the days when I visited his sister, Jose would hang out and talk to me. I don't know if it was because he thought I was too young or what, but he always disregarded my giggling and flirting. It was quite obvious to my friends that I had a major crush on him. When I asked for their advice my friends said, Hey girl, just go for it. That sounded like good advice to me even though I hadn’t a clue what just going for it meant.

One day Jose and I were sitting in the living room watching TV while my friends were in the backyard smoking cigarettes. I moved in quickly and attempted to give him a kiss. He was so surprised that he fell off the couch. When he got back up he politely gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was so embarrassed, my face turned a bright red. I tried not to cry, but the tears dripped off my chin."

By now, Barbara was completely absorbed in Maria's story. She told Maria to hold on while she went to the bathroom. After checking on Josie and Tina and then getting another glass of wine Barbara sat back down.

They were being too quiet, Barbara whispered.

They were probably talking about boys, Maria said, then continued.

"So, where was I? Okay, Jose must have felt bad because he reached over and hugged me really tenderly. He explained to me that he liked me, but that he had plans to go to college and that he would be going away as soon as he saved enough money. He had only saved 3000 dollars so far but was expecting some scholarships to come his way.  It had always been his dream to go to Stanford University and get a degree in mechanical engineering. He loved working on cars and looked forward to someday working for an Indy race team.

I was heartbroken. I stood up to leave, but as I turned for the door, Jose stopped me. He looked deep into my eyes and put his arms around me. We kissed and pressed our bodies together. When our tongues touched I finally understood what it was all about. To me, at that moment, there was nothing in this world that was more important or more urgent, than being as close as possible to the beautiful boy with long black hair.  Jose pulled away. He told me that we would be together soon. I was breathing hard. I was ecstatic. I was afraid. I was in love!

Jose and I met several times that week. We came as close to making love, without making love as was humanly possible. Jose told me that we really needed to be careful, the last thing either one of us wanted was a baby. I told Jose that I would get some birth control pills. I thought my worldly friends would easily know how to get the pills or even give me some of theirs."

I would have hooked you up! Barbara exclaimed.

I wish you were there my life might have turned out way different, Maria said solemnly.

*

John Marshall had never liked politics. A career in law would have suited him just fine. John was always that guy who gets talked into stepping up. In high school, he was the captain of the basketball team and the president of the student body. In college, he was presented with numerous awards for his work in the community. After college, he excelled at local and state politics. Now John was thinking that perhaps he had finally bitten off more than he could chew. When Joe Pinkerton, John's political advisor, convinced him to run for President he never really considered the time and energy involved. He felt up to the task, but sometimes he had his doubts.

Pinkerton started out the briefing by informing John Marshall that he had some bad news, some