No, not some $20,000,000.00 jackpot. I won $500.00 on the daily three.
Saw my numbers in the paper this morning.
939.
I went to the store and collected my earnings.
There were two things I needed to do with my winnings.
One was to get a good breakfast and the second was to make a down payment to Dealerman.
I had the Eggs Benedict and some joe. It was wonderful.
After breakfast I made some calls.
"Hello?"
"Fran." I said.
"Do you know what happened to me while you were out of town?"
"Hugo told me. I'm taking care of it today."
"You better."
"I will."
Click.
I dialed Dealerman's number and set up a meeting time.
This guy is too Hollywood for me.
Meet me in an alley, in the seediest part of town at midnight, and come alone.
What am I? Sam Spade?
I stood there and practiced twitching my lip.
Headlights blinded me as a car came down the alley.
They stopped about twenty feet from me.
A BMW door opened. I squinted to see who it was.
"Is that you, Mikey?"
It was Dealerman.
"You were expecting Humphrey Bogart?"
"Funny man. You got the money?"
"Yes."
"All of it?"
I nodded no. "Down payment."
"To stop me from kicking your ass?"
I stared him down. Another door opened and two goons approached me.
They were wearing black suits, white shirts and black ties.
"You guys have watched 'Pulp Fiction' one too many times."
They moved like they had one brain between them.
I handed over the money. "This should be enough to leave my friends alone. I'll get the rest to you soon."
"We could hurt you."
"Whatever."
They walked back to the car, got in, and peeled away.
I walked the other way.
I heard a car and saw the lights glowing behind me.
I stopped. So, did the car.
What the hell did they want? Was I short a dollar? Were the bills not all looking face up? Did they want to play tough guys?
I turned around.
It wasn't Dealerman.
It was Friday and Gannon.
"What do you guys want?"
Gannon walked up to me. "I told you I'd be back."
He punched me in the gut. I dropped to my knees.
He bent down next to me. "How does it feel, little man? In this big town."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vile of coke. "Lookie, lookie. You're mine."
Friday came up next to us. "He carrying?"
Gannon handed him the vile.
"Hey, you just planted that-"
"So."
They beat the crap out of me.
