Day: October 4, 2021 (Page 2 of 2)

The Lottery – Chapter 5
By
Caliboy1991

Something moving under my hand woke me up. Blinking my eyes open, I found myself on my side, my arm draped across Mom’s stomach as she lightly snored. Sometime during the night, we had shifted in our sleep until we were sleeping side by side. If I were a few inches closer to Mom, I would have been the big spoon to her smaller one, except she slept on her back.

With a sliver of light shining in between the curtains playing across her chest, I could see her profile. Our heads were nearly touching, and when I looked at Mom’s chest, even her little nipples were clearly outlined under her cami’s sheer fabric. Her boobs appeared even flatter than normal as she lay on her back.

That’s when I noticed a twitch between my legs. My morning wood reminded me of two things. The first, I had to piss. The second, last night’s promise to not think sexy thoughts about Mom was as dead as a doornail. I knew I would never try to peek under the flimsy fabric to see what I imagined were her delightful breasts, but I couldn’t shake thinking about what those boobs looked like as I stared at her form.

That only made my erection worse. As quiet as I could, I slipped a hand inside of my new briefs, and played with my dick. I was too close to Mom to do anything more than just squeeze it and make it feel a bit better. That was fun until I remembered how badly I had to piss. I slipped back onto my side of the bed and then crawled out and hurried to the bathroom. I was nearly totally soft by the time I finished peeing. Just thinking about Mom brought my erection back. I felt guilty as I wrapping my fingers around my erection and stroked. I filled my mind with what I imagined hid under Mom’s cami-top. I closed my eyes and leaned back on the toilet seat as my fingers teased the familiar tingling sensation from by balls and dick.

I beat off faster, the fapping of my hand smacking against my pelvic bone was the only noise I heard. I felt my balls constrict and a moment later, my eyes grew crossed as my orgasm ran from my brain all the way down to my toes, although it was the portion of my body pointing straight out that felt the best. My clear, watery ejaculate splattered on my chest while my dick spasmed in my fingers. The second little blast puddled in my belly button.

After cleaning up, I found Mom was still asleep when I came back to bed. The alarm clock showed it was just a few minutes after seven. We had nowhere to be, and time was hardly something to worry about. So, I slipped back under the covers, and even though I knew I shouldn’t, I scooted back into the middle of the bed and rolled back onto my side facing Mom and enjoyed looking at her. Now that I wasn’t particularly horny, I could enjoy looking at her without getting stiff.

Perhaps I had noticed before, but I don’t recall. But gazing upon her, it dawned on me, cleaned up and rid of Earl, Mom could pass as a teenager. Perhaps eighteen or nineteen. Maybe even younger. Would people who don’t know us possibly mistake us for girlfriend and boyfriend? I was, after all, an inch taller than her.

When Mom finally stirred and her eyes cracked open, she smiled when she saw me next to her, “Good morning, Pooh Bear. How’d you sleep?”

I stifled a yawn, “Pretty good. You?”

She yawned and stretched her arms over her head, “Wonderful. Best sleep in a long time. I woke up at one point and we had moved to the center of the bed. I know you’re nearly a teenager and not a little boy any longer, but it felt nice sleeping beside you.”

I certainly enjoyed waking up next to Mom, but I couldn’t admit to it, not to her. The last thing I wanted was for her to think I was perving her. Instead, I said, “Yeah, it was nice. You still want to go buy some new cell phones?”

Mom nodded, “Yeah. Then we can go out for lunch.”

She threw back the covers, exposing her panties. But within a minute or two, we were both dressed and ready to begin a new day.

A few hours later, we both had the latest iPhones with new phone numbers. Mom and Earl never had the money to get me a phone, even when most of the kids in the junior high had phones. Now, I was holding a phone worth a couple of weeks’ of Earl’s salary. That reminded me of something Grant had told me when I had recounted some of the abusive things Earl had done to me and mom. The best revenge is living well.

Once we walked out of Best Buy, my stomach growled. We had skipped breakfast. Mom must have heard it. She hooked her arm around one of my elbows, “Well, Mr. Lambert, now that you’ve made sure I have a cell phone, what do you have in mind now?”

I giggled at being called Mr. Lambert. About the only time I had ever been called that was when I was in school and a teacher was pissed at me. The look Mom gave me left me a bit unsettled. While I had never seen her look at Earl that way, I had seen some girls at school looking at some high school guys like that. I decided to ignore the glance she gave me, “I saw a restaurant on the way over here called the Tamale House. How does Mexican sound?”

Mom leaned in to me, “Sounds wonderful.”

As we got into the rented Maserati, she said, “This all feels like a dream, Robin. To think, everything we’ll ever need is practically at our finger tips.”

I fastened my seatbelt, “It’s a new life, Mom. Grant said we could treat this like a blank slate. Be who we want to be.”

Mom reached across the console, “Today, Pooh, let’s pretend we’re on a first date. We can pretend we’ve just met and we’re getting to know each other for the first time.”

Before the past few days, the notion of going on a date with my mom would have been very far down the list of things I wanted to try. That would not have kept me from agreeing, just that I might have done it under duress. I love my mom and would have done just about anything to make her hard life less so. Now, though, my preteen hormones liked the idea. A lot.

I may have liked the idea, but that didn’t keep my voice from cracking, “Sure, that sounds fun.”

When we arrived at the restaurant, I hopped out of the car, and raced to open Mom’s door, and offered her my hand. Mom was wearing a new halter top she’d gotten at Macy’s, as well as a skirt that ended hallway up her knees. When she accepted my hand and climbed out of the seat, for the shortest of moments, I could have sworn I saw her panties.

She took me by my arm, “My, my, Mr. Lambert, you’re quite the gentleman.”

When we got to the restaurant’s double doors, I jumped ahead and held one open for Mom. Even though it was lunch, the rush wasn’t bad, and they seated us right away. Mom rested her hands on her menu, “This is so much fun. I’m glad you talked me into coming here, Mr. Lambert.”

I knew Mom was into our little role-play, but hearing her call me Mr. Lambert a second time sounded weird. I was awkward, reaching across the table and placing my hand over hers. “Please, call me Robin.”

A tinge of red in her cheeks, Mom said, “Very well… Robin. Please call me Sam. It’s short for-“

I finished for her, “Samantha. That’s a pretty name.”

I’d always thought so, but had never found a way to tell her. When the waitress came and took our order, we split a big order of fajitas. Mom looked at the drinks menu, but stuck with tea. After the waitress disappeared, Mom said, “So, Robin, tell me about yourself.”

What didn’t she already know? But this was a game, so I thought for a moment, “I recently moved to Texas from Louisiana.”

“Is that all? Surely there’s more to a handsome young man than that.”

I flushed at hearing her call me handsome. “Um, even though I’m tall for my class, I kinda suck at sports,” I chuckled as a thought came to mind. “But if playing games on my PlayStation was an Olympic sport, I’d probably get a gold medal.”

Answering questions was hard. It was my turn, “Um, S-, Sam, what about you?”

Mom offered a smile, “What a coincident. I also just moved here from Louisiana. I can’t imagine ever going back. I just broke up with a real jerk, to put it mildly. I’m actually planning on staying in Texas for a while.”

I returned her smile, “I like it here too. What’s something you want to do here that wasn’t possible before?”

Mom smiled wistfully, “I want to go to the beach, stick my toes in the white sand and walk hand in hand alongside the ocean with someone handsome, like you.”

I thought Mom was laying it on pretty thick, but it fed my ego, so I didn’t mind. Before I could think of a response, I heard and smelled our food. The sound sizzling meat makes on an iron skillet is distinct, the aroma of well-seasoned fajita meet straight off the grill was just as unique.

We talked a bit more while we ate, Mom playing the role of a teenaged girl and me playing the role of a young teenaged guy. It was fun, learning things about her, like her favorite toys as a girl, were her Bratz dolls.

After lunch, I paid for it with a debit card I now carried in my wallet. As we left the restaurant, Mom slipped her hand into mine, “That was a delightful meal, Pooh-, um, Robin.”

I opened the driver’s door and before she got in, she leaned forward and kissed me on my cheek. Going around to the passenger door, my stomach was all aflutter. That was the second time in two days she had planted a kiss on my cheek. Back when we had lived with Earl, she stopped kissing my cheek at bedtime a long time ago. These kisses felt nothing like the little bedtime kisses when I was six or seven. It was also a reminder that after so many years of being under Earl’s heel, Mom was blossoming again. And I was right there beside her, watching it happen.

We spent the afternoon at one of the local malls, picking up more stuff we needed or wanted. More clothes for Mom, a new laptop for me; you know, mostly the essentials. We ate dinner at one of the restaurants in the mall and once again, Mom talked me into role playing our second date. The most awkward moment came when she ordered a glass of wine.

“Ma’am, can I see your ID, please?” the waiter said, as he held a tablet into which he had keyed the order.

Mom pulled it out of her purse and handed it to him. His eyes bugged out, and he said, “I’ll have that glass of Moscato out in a moment, Ms. Lambert.”

I couldn’t help but to giggle, all pretense at dating gone in that moment, “That’s what happens when you look so young and pretty, Mom.”

She looked down at the table, a hint of embarrassment at her cheeks, “You really think I’m pretty? After so long dealing with Earl’s put downs and abuse, I stopped feeling pretty a long time ago.”

I glanced and saw our waiter serving another table, and I stretched my hand across the table and took hers, “Of course you are. If this were a real date, I’d say something like this, Samantha, um, Sam, I’m really glad I met you. You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met. Even though you’re a few years older, you’d make me the happiest guy in the world if you’d be my girlfriend.”

I blushed furiously and pulled my hand back, feeling I’d gone too far, even though every word was the truth. I added, “Well, that’s what I’d say if this were real.”

Mom’s hand snaked across the table to where mine retreated and she took it, “God, why can’t this be real, Robin? Not yet thirteen and you ‘re far more of a man than your father or Earl could ever have hoped to be.”

There was a sadness in her eyes as she continued, “I feel the same way you do. Any girl who gets you as a boyfriend will be the luckiest girl. You’re sweet, kind, and considerate. You’d be amazed at how many guys don’t have those traits. Worse, yet, how many girls think they want the bad boy because he’s exciting, only to realize after they’ve nearly destroyed their lives, what they really need is someone like you, Robin.”

The rest of the meal was slightly melancholy. Seeing the girl inside Mom, who she would have been had my father and Earl not hurt her so much, was a revelation. There has never been a point in my life where I didn’t love my mom. But, seeing her across the table, I realized I really liked her. Not as Mom, but as Sam, a beautiful young woman, now liberated from the prison of past relationships. Still, as much as this shifted how I saw her, it didn’t change the nature of our underlying relationship. Sam was still my mom, and I was still her son, even if our relationship was undergoing a metamorphosis.

The sun was low in the sky as we left the restaurant. My only familiarity with alcohol was watching Earl abuse it. When we reached the car, I said, “Are you okay to drive, um, Sam?”

Mom took me by the hand, “Yes. One glass of wine doesn’t affect me like that. Half a bottle though, and you’d be driving me home.”

Mom’s back leaned against the car’s roof, inside the open car door, still holding me by the hand. Even though my hand was sweaty, I enjoyed her touch. I squeezed hers gently, wishing our day of role-playing wasn’t coming to an end. “Okay. Thanks for going on a date with me. I really enjoyed it.”

Mom returned my squeeze. Mine wasn’t the only sweaty hand, “Me too, Robin. I can’t remember enjoying myself like this ever. I hope you ask me out again soon.”

Still holding my hand, Mom leaned forward, closing about half the distance between the two of us. After a day of being with her like this, my instincts sent the fluttering in my stomach into overdrive. Her eyes held a look of expectation. My breath caught in my throat as realization hit. She was waiting for a kiss.

I leaned forward, closing the gap until my face was just a few inches away from hers. I hadn’t expected this and worried I was misreading her signs, I whispered, “This okay?”

Mom gave a slight nod, closing the gap until our faces were within in inch of each other. Then, trying to muster control of my emotions, I closed the rest of the distance until I felt the soft flesh of Sam’s lips against mine. The fluttering only intensified as my heart pounded in my chest. Surely, she could hear it. Beyond the slightly spicy taste of fajitas on her lips, there was more to the taste than simply dinner. Something my mind defined as Sam, as Mom.

Only a second or two passed before our lips parted, but in those few heartbeats, I realized I enjoyed this, my first kiss. My emotions were too jumbled to know if it was just the act of kissing someone, or if it was because of who I kissed. But I knew as I climbed into the car, I wanted to feel the magical touch of Mom’s lips on mine again, even though on some basic level I knew I shouldn’t.

As we pulled out of the parking lot, Mom glanced over at me with a pensive look on her face, “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, Robin.”

I raised a hand to my lips and touched it with a finger. I could almost feel them tingle. How could something that felt so right be wrong? Despite that internal struggle, my lips involuntarily curled into a smile, “I, uh, I liked it, Mo-, ah, Sam.”

Telling Mom how much I liked the kiss seemed weirder than telling Samantha how much I liked it. Her pensive expression evaporated and her smile matched mine, “Thanks, Robin. Me too.”

We were silent on the drive back to the hotel, each of us lost in our thoughts. After parking the car, Mom and I walked along a sidewalk beside the river behind the hotel. She took hold of my elbow as we walked along. After a bit, she said, “I wonder how things would have turned out for us had you not found the lottery ticket. Living in our car was rough, and we were both pretty stressed about it. There was no guarantee I’d have gotten that next job, and things were bad.”

My hand slipped into hers, seeking comfort from the memory. “Yeah. It wasn’t much fun.”

It might have been even worse. In my darkest thoughts when I’d been sleeping in the car behind that abandoned building in Texarkana, I had nightmares of Mom returning to Earl, crushed and defeated. The fate that led me to the lottery ticket had saved both of us.

“Now, we can go where we want, do what we want. It’s hard for this Louisiana girl to wrap my head around.”

I squeezed her hand, “At least we’re together.”

She squeezed back, “I know. Thank God. I couldn’t have imagined that pretending to go on dates would be so much fun with you. I wish…”

Still holding my hand, Mom fell silent. I knew how she felt. No doubt, she mirrored my own feelings, even if it felt incredibly weird wishing I could date my mom. Seeking validation, I asked, “What’s that, Sam? What do you wish?”

Mom leaned her head against my shoulder, “I like it when you call me Sam. In those moments it lets me believe we really are dating.” She sighed, “God, I must sound like a silly girl, pining after my own son.”

I stopped. Behind us was the hotel, rising into the night sky. In front of us was the river. And we were alone. “I don’t think you’re silly. I think you’re wonderful. I wish we could date. Maybe we can at least pretend to.”

Mom’s arms reached around my chest and drew me into a hug, “Thanks, Pooh, um, I mean Robin. I can hardly wait for you to ask me out again.”

The sun had been down for a bit and the early spring weather grew cool, leaving us chilled, me in my shorts and Mom in just her skirt and halter top. We soon retreated to our hotel room, where housekeeping had remade our bed and cleaned the bathroom. Mom got a shower first and then I got mine next. It still felt surreal coming out of the bathroom wrapped in only my towel, seeing Mom lying on the bed in just her underwear and cami-top, although if it were possible for her to look even better than the previous night, somehow, she managed it.

When I slid under the covers, I moved closer to the middle. Mom shifted over until I felt her smooth leg brush against mine. I nearly flinched at the warmth of her leg, instead, I left my leg where it was as Mom settled in by my side. Since coming back into the hotel, I’d been thinking about Mom and what to do next. I said, “I was thinking, tomorrow, if you want, we can check out and drive down to South Padre Island. Maybe stay there for a bit. What do you think about that, Mom?”

Mom threw her arms around me and squeezed me in a bear hug, “Oh, Robin, that would be so much fun. Seriously?”

I basked in the embrace. She pushed her boobs against my ribs, which resulted in something stirring in my underwear. Fortunately, the covers were thick and didn’t give away my predicament. I said, “Sure, Mom. We can stay there as long as we want.”

Mom said, “Thanks for thinking of me, Robin,” Still holding me, her voice grew quiet and low, “Um, Robin, would you do me one favor, please?”

She was holding me; her boobs against my chest. She could have asked for almost anything and I would have given it to her, were it in my power. “Yeah, sure.”

Mom said, “I love how you called me Sam or Samantha during our dates today. I’d really like it if you’d call me by my name from now on.”

I grew warm, feeling her body heat against me. One reason I enjoyed calling her Sam on our dates was because it was easier to think about her as a young woman instead of my mom; it was more intimate. “Yeah. If you’d like, um, Sam.”

When she finally leg go the hug, she said, “Cool. Then it’s Robin from here on. No more Pooh or Pooh Bear. Those were nice names for my little boy, but not appropriate for a handsome young man.”

After watching a TV show, Mom turned out the light. I had just fluffed my pillow and rested my head on it, when I felt Mom turn toward me. Her body moved against mine until I felt her hand on my face. Her lips found mine. The kiss was brief, but it still took my breath away. When she pulled back, she said, “Good night, Robin. I love you.”

My heart was racing as I stammered, “G-, goodnight, Sam. I love you too.”

Copyright 2021 – Caliboy1991
All rights reserved

The Lottery – Chapter 3
By
Caliboy1991

I have never been inside a Hilton hotel before that night. I’d always known Mom and Earl didn’t have much. After all, when other kids were bragging about the latest iPad or PlayStation, I was lucky to get the previous year’s model and never in its original wrapping. But standing in the hotel room with two queen beds, both decked out with the whitest sheets I have ever seen, it brought home just how little we had.

Mom turned the light on to the bathroom and let slip a happy yip. Looking around her shoulder, I saw a big tub in one corner of the bathroom. It was triangular. Mom went over to it, “It’s a whirlpool bath, Pooh Bear. Like a jacuzzi.”

Following behind her, I didn’t see what the big deal was, but if it made Mom happy, that’s all that mattered.

Back in the hotel room, I sat on one bed, just relishing the clean sheets and soft bed. After a few minutes of watching me channel surf on the large flatscreen, Mom said, “I’m going to take a bath, relax and get some of this dirt off me. Why don’t you look around and see if you can find the menu? Grant said we could order room service.”

I found the menu on a small, round table next to a couch. The prices on the menu almost made me put the thing back. We couldn’t afford to spend that much money.

Before I could put it up, I chuckled at the absurdity of my thought. Once we cashed in the lottery ticket, we’d be rich. We could afford the food. And with that in mind, I called the number on the bottom of the menu and ordered several items without worrying about the price.

Mom was still taking her bath when the food arrived. I resisted the urge to pick the coverings off the dish and went over to the closed bathroom door and knocked, “Hey, Mom. Dinner’s here.”

The noise of the jacuzzi was loud and I don’t think she heard me. I tried the door handle. It was unlocked. I opened the door just wide enough and repeated myself.

This time, the noise from the tub died as Mom said, “What was that, Pooh Bear?”

I didn’t mean to stare at her through the gap in the door. Her back was to the door. A fading yellow scar on one side was a reminder of Earl’s violence. Pushing down on my anger, I said, “Dinner’s ready.”

I should have turned away. But before I could close the door, Mom stood up, displaying her slim figure. Water slid off her lower back, running down her butt and onto her legs. Jeremy was right. Mom looked a lot younger than her twenty-six years and she was smoking hot.

I should have closed the door then, feeling guilt at seeing my mom’s butt. But I froze in place as she grabbed a towel from a nearby rack and rubbed her face. In doing that, her body shifted until she was profiled. I could see a boob. The gentle swells weren’t big enough to sag or droop. Her visible nipple stuck out, but it wasn’t near as big as the ones Jeremy looked at online or in Earl’s Penthouse mags.

I couldn’t see anything else, and as she finished drying her hair, Mom turned a bit more, and I moved away from the door, hurrying back to my spot on the bed. Praying she hadn’t seen me, I lifted the cover and barely looked at what was on the plate as I dug into the food.

When Mom opened the door to the bathroom the rest of the way, I glanced up, hoping the look on my face didn’t give me away. She wore a wide smile when she came out, “God, that felt marvelous. You should try the whirl pool, Pooh Bear. You’ll like it, I think.”

I was nearing the two-week mark since my last shower. I’m sure Mr. Jones had probably smelled me, but he was too nice to comment on it. Still, I was also catching up on a lot of missed meals. Once I finished, I said, “Okay. I guess I can try the jacuzzi.”

I swung my legs over the side of the bed when Mom put her fork down, “Um, Robin, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. It’s just until now, we’ve been busy just trying to survive.”

I froze, hoping she wouldn’t confront me about the look I stole of her body.

“When Earl was hitting on you, what were you and Jeremy doing?”

Uncertain where this had come from, I stammered, “N-nothing. Just hanging out.”

Mom cocked an eyebrow at me. Mom may not have ever graduated from high school and she might not be good with money or have the best judgement, but she could spot a lie of mine from a mile away. “Uh huh. Try again.”

I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. Of course, part of the reason was because the robe exposed the top of her chest, including some cleavage. I mumbled, “Nothing much, we were just, um, you know, foolin’ around.”

Mom nodded, “Fooling around? Is that what it’s called these days? And you and Jeremy have been fooling around for a while?”

I figured my face had to be just about every shade of red as I gave a shallow nod. Mom just chuckled, “Earl loved to talk about how much he hated gays. He took particular pleasure in making some inmates’ lives especially miserable if they were known to, um, swing that way.”

She paused, her eyebrows scrunching together as though in deep thought. “You know, I wouldn’t care if you were gay, sweetie. My love for you has no limits. I just wasn’t sure…”

There it was again. Why did both Mom and Earl think I was gay? Didn’t they know kids my age just want to have fun with our bodies? I don’t think my frustration came through, “Sure about what?”

Mom’s cheeks became heated, “I thought I saw you looking through the bathroom door. Were you?”

Oh, how I wanted to shake my head, deny everything. But she was my mom and I just couldn’t bring myself to lie, especially when there was no hope of fooling her. I bobbed my head, “Yeah.”

She set her fork down, “Why, Pooh Bear?”

I shrugged. Mom’s youthful sexiness was a recent discovery. A year ago, I would have made a huge scene about how gross girls were, including my mom. “I dunno. I saw you when I opened the door. And, well, it’s just that, you’re pretty. I’m sorry.”

A bit of red appeared on her cheeks, “Oh. You think I’m pretty?”

I nodded, “Yeah. Jeremy was always going on about how hot you are. I think he’s right.”

More flush in Mom’s cheeks appeared, “That’s really sweet, Robin. Even moms sometimes like to know their family thinks they’re attractive. But looking in there without permission was rude of you, sweetie. I want you to promise me you won’t go spying on my or any other woman without our permission.”

I felt like a heel as I nodded.

Mom pointed toward the bathroom, “Go on, Robin. Try the whirlpool.”

I closed the door behind me as I stepped into the bathroom. The water flowed hot into the enormous tub. It took a couple of minutes to fill up. Once the water was a few inches above the jets, I turned the water off and looked around for the button or switch to turn it on. There were a few on the wall, just above the tub. The first one started the familiar noise and made the bubbles churn in the water.

I pumped my fist into the air at my beginner’s luck and then stripped off my smelly clothes and stepped into the water. Two weeks was too long to go between baths. Even the water must have agreed. It turned brownish-gray as I washed the dirt from my body. Once I scrubbed the dirt clean, I leaned back against the back wall and let the water jets work their magic. After a couple of minutes, my consciousness realized my bobbing dick had become hard. Of course, I hadn’t touched myself down there for two weeks. There’s not really any privacy when you’re stuck in your mom’s car day and night.

My hand found my shaft, and my fingers wrapped around it. While I lacked Jeremy’s girth or length, I wasn’t like Marcos Lefetamine, another seventh grader. A couple of inches shorter than Jeremy, he was the butt of a lot of jokes in gym class. I’d never seen him hard, but soft, he was maybe an inch or so. I was just a smidgen over four inches when hard, even if those inches were kind of skinny. It certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying things when my fingers went to work. I kept my fingers below the water, just jacking off to nothing more than the pent-up stress that had built up over two weeks of no jacking off.

The tingling told me I was doing it right and that I wouldn’t last long. While it wasn’t as fulfilling as when Jeremy held my dick, my four inches didn’t seem to care as I crept up on my impending cum. I closed my eyes when my little balls retracted and my penis jerked in my hand. I arched my back, dick poked above the water, and a dewdrop’s worth of cum shot into the air, before landing in the water, where the roiling bubbles caused the clear drop to disappear.

That’s what Earl had interrupted. A week before Earl discovered me and Jeremy, I had been jacking off one night when I discovered a thin, clear bit of film on the head of my dick. Now, a few weeks later, I was making just enough of the stuff to shoot a tiny dollop of my watery, clear seed into the air.

I felt better, more relaxed when I finally turned off the bubbles. Mom was right, the jets blasting against my skin made me feel better. Of course, finally getting release after so long might have also had something to do with feeling better as I unplugged the drain and reached for a towel.

***

“Now, Bert, after talking with the Lamberts, it’s probably best for the trust to be blind until Robin Lamber’s twenty-first birthday.” Grant Jones said into the phone.

I glanced over at Mom. She was trying to pay attention, but after a few days of working with Grant, he was still arranging the trust with an attorney in Austin.

“Obviously, the Lamberts will decide who the trustee will be.”

Our entire lives were about the change, and even I was having a hard time following our attorney’s conversation.

“You know, I trust myself to make a call like that, but for the sake of transparency, I think the Lamberts would trust your recommendation on a trustworthy accountant to handle taxations and reconcile transactions and provide periodic reports to the Lamberts.”

Accountants, lawyers, trusts; it all sounded terribly complicated. But when I saw the deer-in-the-headlights expression in Mom’s eyes, I knew we were making the right choice.

“I’ll print it out for them and let them look at it. Sure.”

When Grant hung the phone up, he swiveled around, “Bert’s emailing a copy of the trust. Once you sign it, Mrs. Lambert, I can submit the ticket on behalf of the trust for you and Robin.”

Mom, still trying to feign interest in trusts, said, “What about the money, Mr. Jones. How long will we have to wait for it?

I gaped at Mom. The entire purpose of the trust was to make sure we didn’t blow through the millions in a few short years. Grant folded his hands on his desk, resting them on a desk calendar, “We’ll go to Austin this Monday. Mr. Willoughby, that’s Bert, will meet us at the Lottery Commission. He and I will actually submit the ticket on behalf of your trust. It’ll take a couple of days to deposit the money so that the trust can disburse some to you.”

Mom nodded, but I could see she didn’t quite grasp the concept. Maybe I wouldn’t either, but I’d been listening closer. I jumped in, “Mr. Jones will make sure we have plenty of money, Mom. He’s just there to make sure we don’t blow through it.”

There was more confidence in Mom’s demeanor after that, “That’s good. I know it sounds greedy to be worried about when we’re getting the money. It’s just stressful living off your generosity, Mr. Jones. I’m ready for me and Robin to be living free of worries.”

I jumped in again, “Mom, Mr. Jones isn’t giving us the money to stay in the hotel. We’re paying for it, just not yet. I’m sure we’re going to get plenty of money from the trust each month. Right, Grant, um, Mr. Jones?”

Grant nodded, “Grant’s fine, Robin. Exactly. At a bare minimum, you’ll be supplied with a debit card to draw funds from the bank holding the trust. Some expenses, like a house payment, utilities, and the like will be paid through the trust. Other things, like food, groceries, and fun money, will be paid on the debit card. To get you started, the trust is going to hold a fairly sizable cash reserve, probably around three percent.”

I leaned over the other side of Grant’s desk and did some quick math, “We’re supposed to get something like one hundred and sixty million, right?”

Grant nodded, and I continued, “So you’ll keep about four million and eight hundred thousand in cash that we can use?”

“That’s it in a nut-shell, Robin,” Grant said, “We’ll reassess after a year. But I think the trust will continue to grow for you if we allow around a three percent or lower annual withdrawal.”

Mom must have been paying attention at some point. Her next question was spot on, “So, why are we doing the cash payout instead of the yearly payments? How much would we get each year?”

Grant grabbed a sheet of paper from his desk and slid it across to Mom, “The annual payments rise over thirty years. The first few years, you’d get less than what you’ll get from the trust, but by the time thirty years rolls around, the payments are over fifteen million that last year.”

I asked, “What about after taxes?”

The attorney shrugged, “That’s the unknown, Robin. Today, the top marginal tax rate is thirty-seven percent. The first year’s annuity of five point two million becomes less than four million after taxes. And now that there’s a new administration in Washington, we’ll be seeing that top rate increase, meaning the government will let you keep less in future years.”

He paused and looked at my mom for a while. Almost like he was appraising her, “Here’s the thing, Ms. Lambert, there are no sure things. It is possible that if you took the annuity for thirty years, you might do a little better over those thirty years than if you take the lump sum. But how much of that money would be left after 30 years, how much would be saved? The reason people set up a trust and put the lump sum into it, they’re betting that after thirty years, there’ll be even more money in the trust to pass along to children or charities or whatever they want. Robin is twelve. You guys take the annuity for thirty years, what’s your plan when he turns forty-two and the money stops coming in? The trust takes care of that, and makes sure Robin won’t ever have to worry about money again.”

I offered Mom a smile as I reached between our chairs and took her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. With Mom’s nod, Grant said, “Lump sum it is.”

There was something Grant mentioned on the phone that came to mind then, “Grant, you mentioned about the trust being blind until I’m twenty-one. It’s not as if a trust has eyes. How can it see or be blind?”

Our attorney chuckled, “Very observant, Robin. A blind trust just means that the beneficiaries of the trust, that’s you and your mom, won’t have power to make decisions about the investments until you’re twenty-one. Once you turn twenty-one, you’d have control of the trust, to make changes, fire the trustees and the like. You could even terminate the trust and take the cash, if you were of a mind to.”

I shook my head, “That doesn’t seem like a very smart decision.”

“No, it’s not,” Grant said, “Have you ever heard of a fiduciary?”

“No,” I said as I glanced over to see Mom’s confused expression.

Grant said, “As the trustee of your trust, I’m a fiduciary. The accountant we hire, he’ll also be a fiduciary. When we hire a financial advisor, he’ll be one, too. The thing about us is that as fiduciaries, we’re legally bound to make decisions we believe to be in your best interest. Well, technically, the trust’s best interest. But that’s distinction with no meaning.”

Mom said, “That’s all well and good, Mr. Jones. But what do you, the accountant and the financial guy get out of it? None of you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart.”

I winced. I had a great vibe about Grant. I thought he was doing best for us. Of course, he was also billing us, too. I blurted, “Mom, we’re paying Grant for his help. That’s why he’s gotta do what’s best for us.”

Grant dipped his head toward me, “Robin’s right, Sam, um, Ms. Lambert. You, well, the trust, pays me, the accountant and the financial advisor to do our best for you. And we’re all going to be eying each other to make sure none of the others is taking advantage of you, because that’s part of what you’re paying for. That’s one reason I suggested an accountant from Austin. I don’t know him and he doesn’t know me. We’re more likely to hold each other to a high standard, than if we were close friends.”

My gut felt right. Even though I didn’t understand everything he said, I knew he was speaking the truth. I squeezed Mom’s hand again, “Mom, let’s sign the trust. I think we’re making the right choice.”

Before the end of the day, Mom and I signed the trust. Grant was honest about that, too. Because I’m a minor, my signature meant nothing. Legally, Mom signed on my behalf. But Grant took me aside and said it was important that I understand. As he and I stood by the scanner, turning the trust back into a file of ones and zeroes, he added, “Nobody expects a boy of twelve to understand everything, Robin. So, make sure you ask questions of me, of Mr. Willoughby, anyone who is working on your behalf. Promise me you’ll ask until you understand.”

I squared my thin shoulders, “I promise, Grant.”

Copyright 2021 – Caliboy1991
All rights reserved

The Lottery – Chapter 2
By
Caliboy1991

The next day, I walked back over toward the Circle K. I didn’t have any money and we still had a couple of more cans of Dinty Moore. I rationalized going back, maybe I would see the lady who gave me the money. Maybe I could give her back her lottery ticket. In truth, since fleeing Earl, I had discovered people were careless when they were pumping gas, and sometimes they’d drop change or even a dollar bill.

When I arrived, there was news van parked out front with the letters KSLA stylistically painted across the side paneling. A tall brunette stood in front of the plate-glass window, talking at the camera. As I approached, she smiled at the camera and said, “That’s right, Greg. One lucky soul bought the winning ticket in last night’s drawing.”

She was quiet, presumably listening to a TV anchor. “Well, Mr. Khan said he’ll give part of the store’s proceeds to charity as well as sharing part of the one-million-dollar bonus with his employees. Back to you, Greg.”

I stood there, next to the icebox. They had sold the winning ticket at this store? I reached into my pocket, feeling the crumpled ticket. No doubt Mr. Khan’s Circle-K had sold hundreds, maybe even a couple of thousand tickets since the last drawing. With my fingers holding the ticket still in my pocket, I walked into the store. The winning numbers from last night scrolled across an electronic marquee over the checkout counter. I silently read them, 07, 19, 34, 41, 62, and 32.

Repeating them in my head, I turned and walked back out, ignoring the perplexed look on Mr. Kahn’s pimply teenaged relative working the counter. As casually as I could, I strolled around the side of the building and fished the ticket out of my pocket. There was a single row of numbers across the center of the ticket, I read the numbers, 07, 19, 34, 41, 62. And the Mega Ball of 32.

I had won. I pushed the ticket back into my pocket and leaned against the cinderblock wall. I murmured, “Holy shit! I freaking won!”

I didn’t know what to do, but I ran all the way back to the car. Mom was still sleeping, just like she’d been when I left earlier. I knocked on the window until she lifted her head and saw me, nearly dancing beside the car.

When she popped the lock, I climbed in, closed the door, and hit the electric lock. Then I pulled the ticket from my pocket. I felt like Charlie Bucket from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory as I said, “We won, Mom.”

Shaking the sleep from her eyes, Mom said, “What? Won what?”

I took a deep breath, collected my erratic thoughts and said, “The lottery. This is the winning ticket.”

Mom gave me a look that said, don’t bullshit me, “I hope you didn’t spend any of my tip money on a lottery ticket, Robin.”

I shook my head, “No, I swear. When I went to the convenience store, a lady was getting into her car when the ticket flew out. I tried to catch her, to give it back. But she was already gone.”

With a mollified look, Mom said, “Fine. Now stop pulling my leg, Pooh Bear.”

I grabbed her arm, “Mom, I’m not kidding. I went to the store and there was a news van and the reporter was talking about how the winning ticket had been sold there.”

I paused and waved the ticket under Mom’s nose. “And this is it! I swear.”

Still eying me skeptically, Mom said, “Please let me get some more rest. There’s a Cracker Barrel up the road. I think the bruises are faded enough that a little mascara will cover them up just fine, and I can go find out if they’re hiring.”

She lay back in her seat and closed her eyes. I couldn’t believe it. Frustrated, I reached over and turned the key in the ignition until it engaged the battery and turned on the radio. I scrolled through the dial until I hit on a news station.

Mom opened her eyes and glared at me, as a voice said, “…Right, Rhonda. Some lucky Texarkanian is holding a lottery ticket worth over three hundred million dollars.”

Another voice, this one female, chimed in, “That’s a lot of Benjamins, Carl. So, what should this lucky lady do if she finds herself holding the winning ticket?”

“If He hasn’t already done so, he should sign the back of it. The last thing you’d want to do is win the lottery and then fail to sign the ticket.”

The female voice replied, “So, once she signs the ticket, what then?”

The male voice chuckled, “Well, if it were me, I’d cash my ticket and host a gigantic party and buy everyone margaritas and Shiner Bach. But the smart thing to do is sit down with a reputable attorney and accountant and figure out how you want to receive your money. That three-hundred-fifty-million-dollar prize is actually the annuitized payout before tax, and that’s paid out over a thirty-year period. Of course, the president’s party plans on raising taxes, so you do the math.”

The female voice said, “Sounds like the lump sum is the way to go.”

“Perhaps. That’s right, the lump sum comes in at two hundred and fifteen million dollars, before taxes. You’d walk away with about one hundred-sixty million dollars and change after Uncle Sam takes his pound of flesh. Of course, lots of lottery winners have taken the lump sum payments and because of poor financial planning end up dead broke a few years later, so even if taxes go up, someone who takes the 30 years’ payments has a lot of time to figure out how to manage his money.”

The female voice said, “Right. Just to recap, ladies, someone in Texarkana won the Mega Millions last night. So, if you’re just joining us, take a look at your ticket. The winning numbers are seven, nineteen, thirty-four, forty-one, sixty-two. The Mega ball is thirty-two.”

I held the ticket to Mom, “See.”

Uncertain, she took the ticket. Her lips moved as she read each number. When she looked up, she murmured, “Pooh Bear, you should sign this right now. Do you have a pen?”

Underneath a couple of changes of clothes were some school supplies. Pencils, pens, protractors, and the like. I grabbed a pen as we put our heads together and read the fine print above the signature line.

Mom let out a little groan, “Oh, Robin, it says you’ve got to be eighteen.”

I don’t know how many times I had read the back of Earl’s lottery tickets. Even though this ticket was from Texas and those Earl bought had been from Louisiana, the fine print was almost identical. I was surprised Mom hadn’t considered this. I love my mom more than anyone in the entire world, but at that moment, I considered what the man on the radio had said, lots of people who win the lottery squander their winnings. Earl and Mom lived paycheck to paycheck even though, between them, they had made decent money. Certainly enough to do better than a mobile home. While a lot of that could be laid at Earl’s feet, I figured Mom wasn’t any better than Earl at managing money.

Holding the pen over the signature line, I looked at my mom in a new light. She had always been Mom. She’d held me when I had hurt myself as a little kid. The first day of each school year, she’d taken me to school so I wouldn’t have to ride the school bus. She’d always made me my favorite foods when I begged her to. But she’d had a hard life. I was born a month before she turned fifteen. Her mom had kicked her out around the same time, and she and my father dropped out of school. After that, Mom worked as a waitress in Baton Rouge until the cops had busted my dad for drugs when I was still little. He was killed in a riot at Angola, and that was how Mom ended up with Earl. When she claimed my dad’s effects, Earl had been one of the prison guards to assist her. Before she left, he asked her on a date, and for reasons I can still hardly fathom, she agreed.

I handed her the pen, even as additional worries rattled around inside my head. “Can you sign for me, Mom?”

Her hand trembled as she took the pen, “Are you sure, sweetie? After all, it’s you who found it.”

I wrapped my hand around hers and pushed the pen against the paper. “How about we sign it together?”

With me holding her hand, Mom scrawled Samantha and Robin Lambert.

“There, Pooh Bear, what do you think?”

I wasn’t sure she should have signed my name on the ticket, but I also knew we needed to talk to a lawyer. I pulled out my wallet. The only thing inside was my school ID. I carefully put the ticket inside before returning my wallet to my back pocket.

“I’m glad we’re not in Louisiana anymore,” I said, “Can you imagine Earl finding out?”

***

We walked the last couple of blocks to Grant Jones’ office. The last of the gas in the Celica was gone. We were both glad it was March instead of July or August. When we arrived, we were winded and a bit warm, but otherwise fine.

Mom stared at the unassuming office. It didn’t look like much, but I’d seen it the day we drove into Texarkana and it was the only lawyer’s office I could think of. “Do you really think this is a good idea, Robin? If this guy’s a lawyer, he doesn’t look very rich.”

Out of gas and money also meant we were out of options. Instead of saying that, I grabbed Mom’s hand and, in a voice far more confident than I felt, I said, “Sure. Not all lawyers have expensive offices.”

The door opened with a chime into a small lobby with cheap plastic folding chairs along one side and a plain wood-laminate desk on the other side. The laminate was peeling with age. Behind the desk was a hallway. A moment later, as I seriously considered leaving, a young woman with nearly black hair and vaguely Hispanic features came around the corner. Her face lit up, “I thought I heard the door. How can I help you?”

Seeing the confused look on Mom’s face, I stepped forward, “Um, is Mr. Jones available? We’d really like to meet with him.”

The woman leaned her backside against the table, “Do you have an appointment? Mr. Jones is terribly busy.”

On the other end of the desk was a plastic potted plant. The green leaves were coated in a thick film of dust. I wondered what kind of law Grant Jones practiced, and I regretted suggesting him to Mom. Still, I felt like we were out of options. “Uh, no appointment. But it’s really important.”

The woman, who I figured was older than my mom’s twenty-six years, said, “Important? I could check his calendar and see when he can fit you in.”

At that, Mom tugged on my shoulder, “Come on, Robin. Let’s go.”

A rich, baritone voice echoed out from the back of the office, “Lucinda, was that the door?”

The woman frowned at my mom as she went over to the hallway, “Just a lady and kid. You want me to put them on your calendar?”

We were nearly at the door when a tall man in a wrinkled Oxford shirt stepped around Lucinda. He gave her a disapproving frown before saying, “Is there something I can help you with?”

Mom glared at the woman, “You seem a bit busy. We hate to bother you.”

Before she could say anything else, I stepped between her and Lucinda, “Um, we need help with, uh, a legal matter. You’re a lawyer, right?”

He rested a hand on the other woman’s shoulder, “Thanks for checking on things, I’ll take care of this, Lue.”

Once the woman disappeared back the way she came, the man said, “Sorry about that. Lue’s my girlfriend, not my receptionist. So, you need help with a legal matter? What kind of legal matter?”

While he seemed friendly enough as he sat on the edge of the desk, I wasn’t sure how far to trust him. Mom rested her hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, “How do I know we can trust you?”

The man’s lips twisted upwards as he said, “Well, there’s this thing called an attorney client privilege. If I were to represent you in a legal matter, then anything we talk about is protected by it.”

Mom and I have watched plenty of legal shows on TV. We knew about attorney client privilege. But when did it start? I said, “Well, how do we know if you should represent us?”

The small smile turned into a grin as he said, “We do something called a consultation. Just a short meeting where you tell me why you might want to hire me and we see if it makes sense to continue.”

Still not sold that we were doing the right thing talking with Mr. Jones, I said, “Is that covered by the attorney client privilege?”

Nodding, the man said, “If people aren’t honest during a consultation, then it gets really hard to represent them. Anything you tell me about why you want to hire me stays just between us. Does that seem fair to you?”

I glanced up at Mom. After almost letting her impulsiveness get the better of her, she glanced at me, “It’s up to you, Robin.”

I returned her smile before turning back to Mr. Jones. “My mom and I, we, um, we recently came into some money. And well, we’re not sure what to do about it.

Mr. Jones leaned forward on his desk, “I’m assuming a few hundred dollars wouldn’t have you guys coming in to talk. Did someone leave you an inheritance?”

I shook my head.

Mr. Jones scratched his chin, “You didn’t stumble on a stash of cash somewhere? Maybe someone else’s money?”

Shaking my head, I said, “No. I think it really belongs to us. We just don’t know what to do next.”

Mr. Jones swallowed as his eyes grew round, “You folks, do you have the winning lottery ticket?”

I nodded, “Yeah. We just realized it this morning.”

Mr. Jones stood and paced back and forth. “Wow. That’s no small thing. No wonder you need help. But why me? My practice is about half criminal defense and half divorces, wills, and probates.”

For the first time since coming into Mr. Jones’ office, I felt something right about him. The way he questioned why we’d use him was genuine confusion. I said, “Well, we just got to town a few days ago, and yours is the closest law office to where we’ve been staying.”

He chuckled, “And here I was hoping it was because you guys had seen my mad legal chops in court.”

He came over and offered his hand, “Robin, right?”

I nodded, “Yes, sir.”

“I’m uncertain if I’m the best person for you, but the two of you look like you’ve had a hard spell recently and I’m willing to represent you and your mom’s interests.”

While I felt a bit of relief, I still had questions, “Thanks. But until we’re able to cash the ticket, we don’t really have any money to pay you. You’re not going to try to collect a third of our winnings as a fee, are you?”

The lawyer laughed, “Oh, that would get me disbarred, I think. No. Nothing like that. The first thing we’re going to do is verify the ticket. Once we’re sure you’ve got the winning ticket, you and your mom will sign an agreement with me to be your attorney and represent you, at my normal rate of one-fifty an hour.

I’ve never heard of anyone working for such little money. “What? A buck fifty? What’s the catch?”

Mr. Jones’ melodic laughter filled the small office, “No, not a dollar-fifty. One hundred and fifty dollars an hour.”

This was a first for me. I craned my neck to look at my mom. She just shrugged, “It’s up to you.”

Even though my estimation of Mr. Jones was growing, Mom and I had a golden opportunity. I didn’t want to squander it. I thought back to some TV show I once watched and a clever question within the dialogue. Turning my attention back to the lawyer, I said, “I guess the fee is okay. But before Mom and I sign, is there any question that we should be asking but aren’t.”

The lawyer gave me a critical eye, like he was appraising me. “You know, Mr. Lambert, I’ve worked with lots of folks and that’s one of the best questions I’ve been asked. It shows me you understand that you don’t understand everything but you want to learn. That’s an excellent trait. Now an honest answer is that I don’t know everything, even about the law. Any attorney who’ll tell you otherwise is lying. But what I’ll do is faithfully represent you and your mom’s interests. Where I’m weak, I know other attorneys who I trust, where I can tap their expertise. Just be mindful those attorneys may charge more for their expertise than me. And if we need their help, you’ll be sending them checks for their hourly rate when this is done.”

After listening to Mr. Jones, I realized he hadn’t exactly answered my question, but he told me what I needed to hear. I said, “Mom, I think he’s the guy we should hire.”

With a conspiratorial wink, Mr. Jones lowered his voice, “Let me get rid of Lou, then let’s you and me make a photocopy of that ticket of yours.”

After letting the lawyer make a copy of both the front and back of the ticket, I hung out with Mom in Mr. Jones’ drab. Badly dated lobby. Nobody came or went. Save for the attorney’s voice coming from an office toward the back of the building, it was quiet. It was just pushing two in the afternoon when Mr. Jones returned to the lobby. “I talked with a friend in Austin, who knows one of the board members of the Texas Lottery Commission. I sent him a screenshot of the front of your ticket and although there’s a very thorough review process, it looks legit. You’ve hired yourself a lawyer.”

Mom grabbed me in a hug as I nearly shouted, “Yeah!”

When we settled down, I asked, “Where’s the contract. We’re ready to sign.”

Mr. Jones ruefully laughed, “You recall this is a Saturday afternoon. My assistant, who handles printing and prepping it, will be in the office on Monday. Until then, how about this,” he stuck out his hand to me, and added “My dad used to say with an honest man, a handshake is as good as gold. With a dishonest man, a written contract isn’t worth the ink and paper.”

I took his hand and felt a firm grip. I did my best to match it. Then he shook Mom’s hand.

“We’ll complete this Monday morning. Now, I don’t know about you folks, but I’m famished.”

As if the word was enough, my stomach gave a loud growl. Mr. Jones opened the front door and waved us toward it, “There’s a taco truck a couple of blocks away that makes some of the best salsa and chips this side of the Rio Grande. Why don’t we head over there and see about doing something about that monster in your stomach, Mr. Lambert?”

By the time we finished eating at an outdoor picnic table across the street from the taco truck, Mr. Jones had pulled nearly all the truth from me and Mom. I left out the details of what Earl had caught me and Jeremy doing. Partly because he didn’t need to know it, and mostly because Mom only had the vaguest of ideas.

I cleared the table and was coming back from a trash barrel when Mr. Jones said, “Look, I can’t stand the idea of the two of you staying in your car until Monday. Let me get you a hotel until then. It’s the least I can do.”

I didn’t mind the idea of paying him for his work as our attorney. But I didn’t like the idea of taking his charity. Well, not any more than we already had by letting him buy us lunch. Mom was shaking her head, too. She beat me to the punch, “We can’t do that. We can manage on our own until then.”

Mr. Jones looked over at me and Mom, almost like he was checking us both out, except he didn’t give off a creeper vibe. “Look, Ms. Lambert, I’m not being altruistic. It’s not safe in this neighborhood at night. I don’t want anything happening to either of you.”

I could see Mom was about to say no again when the lawyer added, “If it helps, I’ll be billing the stay to your account. Consider it a bit of a loan until we can settle your bill.”

He made perfect sense, and I was glad to see Mom’s head bobbing in agreement.

Copyright 2021 – Caliboy1991
All rights reserved

The Lottery – Chapter 1
By
Caliboy1991

I held the door open as the slightly overweight lady came out of the Circle-K. My stomach took that moment to growl. Sometimes, when it growls, I’m the only one who can hear it. But it was loud enough to make the lady glance my way.

“Gracious me, Sugar. You look a bit peaked,” she drawled.

While she seemed like a nice sort, the pity in her eyes bothered me. Sure, I hadn’t bathed in more than a week, and the angular face reflecting off the glass showed smudges of dirt under sunken eyes. My stomach gurgled again, protesting the lack of food. I just wanted to curl up and die right then.  I thought about letting go of the door and bolting. But I didn’t. A little voice in the back of my head said a real man wouldn’t do that. Even shamed, he’d do the right thing and hold a door open for a lady.

I mumbled, “I’m fine, ma’am.”

I’ve read online some women don’t like being called ma’am, but down here in the South, it’d be an insult not to. There weren’t too many lessons I’d learned from my mom, but that one stuck.

The lady shook her head and reached into her purse and pulled out a bill, “I ‘spect so. But you’ve got good manners. Somebody’s raising you well. Why don’t you take this and have a treat?”

I was loathed to accept the money. But I couldn’t stop my hand from reaching out and taking it. I’m sure the red on my cheeks came through the grime. Even though she was back in the car, I could almost feel my mom nudging me to do the right thing. I swallowed the lump in my throat, “Thank you, ma’am. It’s not necessary but I’m much obliged.”

She laughed softly as she stepped off the curb, “You’re sweet. Now why don’t you go get yourself something.”

Once inside the store, I opened my palm and saw the picture of Andrew Jackson on the greenback. Mom and I had spent the last of her tip money a couple of days ago, and the image of the dead president was a welcome sign.

Going over to the canned food section, I picked up a few cans of Dinty Moore before heading over to the wall of drinks at the back of the store. Mom loves her Red Bull, and I picked up a can for both of us before heading over to the cash register.

The pimply faced brown-skinned kid behind the register eyed me. Of course, if I saw me, I’d probably be dubious. Ten days in the same worn and ratty clothes, ten days without a bath, I didn’t exactly look reputable. Still, when he saw the Jackson, he scanned the items and took my money.

Outside, I spied the lady who had given me the money at one of the gas pumps. As she climbed into her car, a nice late model Buick, the wind caught a scrap of paper from one of her pockets and blew it across the island of pumps. The door closed and light exhaust wafted from her tail pipe in the coolness of the March morning as she pulled toward the exit.

“Hey lady!” I called out as I hurried over to see what she’d dropped. The wind trapped the scrap of paper against another gas pump. I reached down to pick it up and noticed an orange ribbon of ink along one side and a logo at the top. I recognized it as a ticket for the Mega Millions lottery. Instead of the familiar purple L and the block letters from the Louisiana Lottery Commission, this ticket carried the logo of the Texas Lotto.

Of course it would. Mom and I had been in Texarkana for the past week. Not on the shitty Arkansas side, but the equally shitty Texas side.

Holding the slip of paper, I looked up, trying to see the lady’s Buick, but she was long gone. Ignoring the logo and the computer-generated numbers, I noticed the draw for the same day. Then I saw the jackpot. It was up to three-hundred-fifty million dollars. It must have been a while since anyone had won.

I shoved the ticket into my jeans pocket and headed toward the car. I’d seen plenty of lottery tickets. Earl played the Mega Million twice a week. Most of the time, the tickets ended up under the ashtray next to his old La-Z-Boy recliner. But the older tickets could be found just about anywhere. I swear, we could have wall papered the living room of drafty single-wide in those things.

The car was just where I’d left it, parked behind an old, boarded up store, next to a couple of empty dumpsters. I looked down into the car, Mom was asleep, reclining all the way back in the driver’s seat. Despite the yellowed bruises under her eyes, even I could tell that she was pretty. Her hair, which was messy and tangled, was a golden blond, the shade of a wheat field. Only slightly darker than my own messy hair.

She looked young. Too young to be the mother of a tween. My friend Jeremy was always telling me how hot my mom was. Of course, as a preteen boy, I’d just tell him he was gross. But standing there, looking down on her, alone with my thoughts, I couldn’t help but agree with him. Despite the dark circles under her closed eyes and the unhealthy pallor of her skin, her youthful beauty was easy to see.

As I went around to the passenger side door, I understood better why Earl had taken my mom in after my father was murdered.

I knocked on the door until she popped the lock, “Hey I got some food,” I said as I opened the paper back and pulled out a tin of Dinty Moore.

Mom reached over and squeezed my shoulder, “Thanks, Pooh Bear. I didn’t realize we still had money left.”

I didn’t want to worry her, so I shrugged, “This was the last of it.”

When I handed her a Red Bull, she smiled, and for a moment I found myself agreeing with Jeremy. Mom’s smile was positively radiant. She looked a lot younger than her twenty-seven years when she smiled like that.

“Oh, Thank God,” she said as she popped the top and took a long drink.

We split a can of stew, using plastic spoons from an earlier trip to Sonic. The hunger was still there when we’d finished, but I was used to that.

After licking the last of the congealed juice from the inside of the can, I said, “We can’t stay here, Mom. Why don’t we go over to the Salvation Army? They’ve got a place for us to stay.”

She shook her head, “Hell no. Not after what happened in Natchez.”

I sighed, grabbed a paperback from my backpack on the floorboard, and leaned back to read. I didn’t blame her. I couldn’t. Not after everything we’d gone through since leaving Earl. The first night, we had stopped in Natchez, on the Mississippi River. While there wasn’t a shelter for women, they did have a wing for men and another for women and children. The matron who ran the women’s wing came into the little sectioned off space where Mom and I were sleeping in cots. She must have thought I was sleeping, because she slipped inside the blue divider and woke Mom up at some ungodly hour. Even though she whispered, I heard every word, lying there as I was with my eyes closed.

“Ms. Lambert. Samantha, are you awake, dear?”

Mom was groggy but awake, “Huh?”

“I’ve got a place for you and your boy, if you want it.”

Mom woke up more, “A place?”

“Yeah. I seen you’ve been beat up something awful. You need someone who won’t hurt you. Show you some kindness.”

Even tired, Mom’s voice was guarded, “You know someone like that?”

The woman’s voice was barely above a whisper, “Yeah. You could come stay with me. I’d take good care of you, and you could raise your boy here in Natchez. You’d learn to like it here.”

Mom said, “Why? Why’d you do something like that for me?”

“You’re a peach, Samantha, young thing like yourself. I think you’ve been treated as badly by men as I have. And they can’t give you what I can.”

I opened my eyes at those words, only to watch the lady lean forward as if for a kiss. Mom pushed her away and stood up. “Robin, get your shoes on. We’re leaving. Now.”

I had to grab my shoes as I followed Mom into the parking lot. After that, she didn’t want any part of going to any shelter.

But now, with our money gone and barely any gas in the tank, we were running low on options.

“Mom, we can’t stay here much longer. We’re lucky no cops have come back here since we arrived. If you don’t want to try the Salvation Army shelter, maybe we can try another one. There’s got to be more than one.”

Mom shuddered, no doubt remembering Natchez. “I… I can’t Pooh Bear. Once the bruises are gone, I’ll get a job waitressing. Won’t have to wait until payday. Between the tips and food we can get from the job, we’ll be fine until I can afford an apartment.”

I didn’t blame her for not wanting to go job hunting until the bruising healed. How could I? After all, her bruises were my fault.

I closed the book. I just couldn’t focus on the words. I closed my eyes, hating that I couldn’t let go of the memory.

Jeremy and I were in my little room at one end of Earl’s single-wide. Like Earl, Jeremy’s dad worked at the prison. Unlike Earl, his dad worked in the accounting office, offsite. Jeremy and I had known each other for several years and were best friends. And now that we were both on the cusp of our teenage years, we’d started noticing the girls in our class at school.

That night, I’d stolen one of Earl’s Penthouse magazines, which he had stolen from some inmate, and we looked at pictures of naked women. Jeremy said, “Shit, Rob, we should have spent the night at my place. I found some better pictures online.”

That didn’t stop him from adjusting his pants where there was a pronounced bulge. After a bit, he said, “God, I need some relief.”

As I mentioned, Jeremy and I have known each other for a long time. This wasn’t the first time we’d looked at porn. So, when he pulled his pants and underwear down, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen his dick. You’d think a boy just under five foot would be small down below. Not hardly. He waved his five thick inches toward me, “Come on, Rob. Your turn.”

Maybe if this had been our first time, I’d have been really embarrassed, because physically Jeremy and I were polar opposites. I was tall for my age. Already several inches over five feet, even though I was still months away from turning thirteen. But apart from my height, Jeremy was ahead of me in every other way. When I stripped myself from the waist down, my dick pointed toward the ceiling, lacking both the girth and length of my best friend. Also, and I knew this because I checked it almost daily, I didn’t have hair number one, not even on my balls, which were barely the size of small marbles.

Of course, that night in my room hadn’t been our first time. Not by a long shot. I thought nothing of it when Jeremy grabbed my dick and started jerking me off, and I willingly returned the favor. We hadn’t been beating each other’s meat for long when he pushed me down on my bed and said, “Let’s suck each other.”

Right after discovering mutual masturbation, we discovered blowjobs. So, Jeremy tugging his shirt off and laying down opposite of me wasn’t anything new. I tugged my shirt off and lay with my face pushed against his curly dark brown pubes. As we sucked on each other I felt the tingling building up inside me.

And that was when Earl opened the door. He stood there for a long moment before screaming, “What the fuck are you two faggots doing?

It startled both me and Jeremy as we pulled back from each other. Then Earl was on us. He yanked my friend by the arm and pushed him toward the door, “Get out of here, you queer faggot. Just wait until I tell your daddy what the fuck you were doing.”

Then he turned to me. Before I knew what he was doing, my ears rang as his fist slammed into the side of my head. Before Earl could hit me again, Mom raced into the room and jumped onto his back, clawing at his face, screaming.

Earl was a bully. I’d always known that. When I’d been younger, it had started with snide remarks. By the time I was in junior high, it was slaps against the back or side of the head, just to remind me who was boss. But I had not seen him hit Mom before that night. He threw her off his back before turning on her. After a few hits left Mom crumpled on the floor of my room, Earl, sweat pouring down his red face, stood in the doorway, “Sam, if you ever touch me again, I’ll fucking kill you. And Robin, if you ever have that little faggot boy here again, I’ll beat the ever-living shit out of you. I won’t have queer shit going on under my roof.”

With that, he stormed out of the house. Once the roar of his pickup receded into the night, Mom climbed to her feet. By this time, I’d pulled on my pants and I came over to her. Blood ran down her nose and her eyes were swelling. We clung to each other, crying. When Mom’s tears stopped, she said, “Pooh Bear, I don’t know what you and Jeremy were doing in here, I guess it don’t matter much. But pack your shit into your backpack. I can’t live like this anymore.”

As we drove away in mom’s old Celica, she admitted it wasn’t the first time Earl hit her. Even though I’d never known, Earl’s abuse had started a while back.

I blinked away a tear as I pushed the memory away. Yeah. I’m the dill-hole who caused Mom to get the shit beat out of her, and leaning back in my seat, I still felt guilty as hell. I had never thought of myself as gay when Jeremy and I had fooled around. It was just something sexy and fun. And given the way he loved looking at big tits on the women online, I was pretty sure he wasn’t either. But Earl’s hateful words were hard to shake off. After all, Jeremy and I had done lots of stuff over the past year, almost every weekend. We’d even put our dicks in each other’s ass once. Maybe, despite liking to look at girls, I was gay; I wasn’t sure what to think. Part of me wanted to ask Mom about the sex stuff, but even though we’d always been close, she’d never talked to me about my body, puberty, or anything about sex. I guess she’d hoped Earl might behave in a fatherly way about that, but that wasn’t who he was. I wanted to ask her about it, but seeing the bruises on her face and feeling the shame of knowing it was my fault they were there, I just couldn’t bring myself to bring it up.

The rest of the day passed like several others before. After locking the car, we hiked over to a city park, where we threw a frisbee back and forth and enjoyed the feel of the warm sun against our faces and the cool March breeze.

Dinner was no different from lunch, and we didn’t stay up late. Within an hour of sunset, the car was dark, and we both tried to sleep. But it’s hard to do that when your stomach protests. Still, somehow or another, we managed.

Copyright 2021 – Caliboy1991
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