Life after the Lottery Ch. 83

"But I have not and cannot see all this, Grandmother," I replied.

"No, you haven't...at this time. What you will see and hear are pieces from each of you and your children. You have the knowledge to put it all together in a way that each and all can understand as you explain it with help from Ahyoka. As I told you earlier, she will help you interpret. You'll understand what is to come. You can accept it. You will need to help all accept it. It will take time for even all of you to believe this can happen. Through your studies...you are the one that can help...help keep it from being a burden to any of you...any of the seven. That is your job now."

Enolia looked at me as I took all this in.

*****

Everyone took a deep breath for a while and absorbed what Enolia had said. Dawn, most of all, appeared to be deep in thought as she sat. I would have to let Linda and Rachel see the recordings. I had no way to fully explain it to them. As Enolia said, things would get lost in translation.'

"Are the three of you still wanting to go to the car giveaway this evening?" I asked just before 5:00.

"Of course. We can stay in the limo if we need to," Dawn said.

"Oh, honey. You shouldn't have the babies out in this cool air," my mom moaned.

"It won't hurt them," Grandmother said. "The air is good for them. They are strong."

"You all go. I'll be here taking care of them," Sylvia said. "You need to get out."

"I'll be here too," Ann said. My mom, Claire, and Enolia said they would all be there.

"Okay then."

"You four need to stay as long as you want and get used to trusting me with them," Sylvia said.

"All right then. I need to call Sherri and Brenda and see how things are going," I replied.

I went to my study and called Brenda. It went to her voicemail, and I asked her to call me. I had the same results when I called Sherri. I called Sam because he was there printing out the remaining raffle tickets as they were generated by sales.

"Hey, Sam. How is it going there?"

"Busy. Olivia is here helping me. All the raffle tickets are boxed up and ready to go. We are keeping up with the new ones."

"Good. Dawn and the girls still want to be there this evening."

"Oh?"

"Sylvia and our parents told us to get out and come, so we are."

"I'll see you later then."

After I hung up, I called Linda.

"Are you two going to the raffle this evening?"

"We were told to get out for a while, so we are going for a bit."

"Good. Our parents are staying here with Syliva to babysit. If I can make a suggestion...why don't you two drop off your babies and nanny so they can all get to know each other."

"That may be a good idea."

"And...when we get back...we all have some things to discuss."

"Would they have anything to do with the dreams Rachel and I had last night, James?"

"Don't know what your dreams were about...but I am going to guess it does. Grandmother explained a lot this afternoon. You two will need to watch the recordings...probably more than once. I will burn a copy and bring it."

"I sure hope it explains a lot. Rachel and I are very confused."

"You will be in good company then. We all still have a lot of questions. You will, too."

"We'll see you all by 6:00."

Before I left my study, I started a DVD to burn the last hour or so for Linda and Rachel.

*****

I walked out of my study and went to the kitchen for a glass of wine before I sat with Dawn and everyone.

"Linda said they were going, and I suggested they drop off their nanny and their babies here."

"Why?" Dawn asked.

"I told her that we had some things to discuss. She wanted to know if they had anything to do with dreams she and Rachel had last night."

"...oh..."

"I told her I didn't know what they dreamed about, but probably. I also told her I would make her a DVD of the last few hours."

"Good idea, but I am sure it will lead to more questions."

"You think!"

Brenda finally called me back, and we talked for a few minutes.

"That was Brenda. She said they are covered up on all floors. They have lines of people checking out, and she thought there must be five hundred people in the store," I told everyone.

"Dang," came from Samantha.

"They roped off most of the parking lot, but it is full, and people are having to walk over from the mall."

"At least it is not cold and wet," my mom said. "Usually is this time of year."

"We are having a warm Christmas. It is about 50 right now and will be in the 40's tonight."

"What time is the drawing?" Dad asked.

"We had planned on 8:00, but they said they are not sure they can get everyone checked out by then."

"Hmmm. I hope people don't get pissed having to stand around and wait," Dad said.

"I have an idea," Amy said and picked up her cell phone, and dialed.

"Hey, Bob! It's Amy. Yes! We are home! No, we don't need a pizza. How busy are you today..."

"Not very busy then? Do you want to be?"

She explained about the crowd that was at the store hanging around. The stores were only about five minutes from the pizza place. As she laughed, she told them to start cooking pizzas as fast as they could and keep driving them and water and sodas to the stores and giving them away and keep doing it until everyone was gone, and we would pay for all of it. She and Bob talked for a while until she finally hung up.

"I just put Bob in charge of keeping everyone happy!"

"What did you do?" I asked.

"They are going to start cooking pizzas as fast as they can and delivering them to the store and parking lot. He also knows six people who have food trucks and is going to call them and see if they will go and supply food and drinks. I told him we would pay for all of it."

"Great idea, honey!"

"He also knows two wedding planners in town. He will call them and see if we could hire them to go and set up chairs and tables like they do for outdoor weddings so people can sit and eat. He thought they would get plenty of good PR for all of them."

"Better!"

"I have an idea!" Samantha exclaimed and, grabbed her cell phone, and called someone.

"Hey, Lori! Yes! We are home with four babies! I know! How busy are you?"

"Slow day? Great! Thanks. No! We have an idea. You know the car giveaway is tonight out at the stores..."

"Right. There are a few thousand people gathering around the stores...you got the idea! Great! We'll see you there. Yes, we will be there. Look for our new long white Escalade!"

"Okay! Great idea! Them too."

Samantha laughed and hung up.

"Great idea, honey," Dawn said, and Samantha smiled big.

"She said they only had five runs this evening, and two of them were to the giveaway! The other three were for people to look at the Christmas lights. She is going to see who can come in, and they will move all the limos to the stores so people can see them and have a place to sit out of the cold air! They will put the magnetic signs on everything and take plenty of brochures and cards!"

"Are they taking the small buses, too?" I asked.

"Everything! Plenty of brochures and business cards! The buses will provide at least a few more bathrooms."

"I think that should help. Sam said the big fish bowl was ready for them to start dumping the boxes of raffle tickets in when the media gets there at 5:45, and they will keep taking more out as people buy more."

"Who is going to draw the ticket?" Dad asked.

"Sherri has a nephew about five years old. They are going to lower him into the fish bowl to toss all the tickets around, then pick one."

"Big fish bowl!"

"It is. When she told him he would be blindfolded, he thought that was very funny. If the drawing was to be at 8:00 and they think they are going to be running late...we need another way to keep everyone happy," Samantha said.

"I think I have an idea for that. Let me call Linda," I said.

I took my cell phone and called.

"Have you talked to Brenda or Sherri?"

"Nope."

"They are swamped. Brenda said there were at least five hundred people in the store..."

"Fuck!"

"And at least a thousand more showing up and hanging out in the other stores and outside."

"Great!"

"Well, we had some concerns about them getting pissed if it is 9:00 or 10:00 before they get everyone cleared out of the stores. But we had some ideas that will help that. They will drive all the vehicles for next year around at 6:30. That will keep them interested in that."

"What ideas did you have?" Linda asked.

"We came up with a few to help feed and water them."

"Good."

"But, just in case, I have an idea to keep them enthusiastic."

"Like what?"

"Well, it is almost 5:30 now. It is a long time until 9:00 or later. Brenda said people were walking back and forth between the mall because they had to park over there. As soon as the media gets set up, Sam will start dumping all the boxes of tickets in the fishbowl."

"Are there that many?"

"Around 14,000, but I had them print each one on an 8 1/2 by 11-inch paper so they would be big. I have an idea. As they dump the tickets in the fishbowl, let's give away gift certificates hourly until the drawing by selecting a raffle ticket."

"We don't want them spending their Christmas money at the mall!" Linda exclaimed and laughed.

"My thoughts, too! Let me run an idea past you. I can get Sam to create the gift certificates...but what do you think about it?"

"Great idea! But make them good at any of the stores in our strip. I'll call each one before we leave."

"Even better. How much should they be worth?"

"Let's keep them really interested, James!"

"A $1,000 each hour?" I asked.

"You are cheap! That is only $4,000! How about $1,000 every 30 minutes!"

"That would be 8 $1,000 tickets. Since I am so cheap, let's mix in some $100 tickets and have a drawing every few minutes!"

"Even better. But make the $1,000 drawings separate to guarantee them on the half hours."

"I like that! I'll get Sam busy printing the gift certificates. The press will eat it up at 6:00! They can draw from the raffle tickets as they dump them in the fish bowl, then put it back."

"What about the employees' car?" Linda asked.

"We are giving it away last. There is another fishbowl for that."

"What about people that may show up after it makes the news at 6:00?" Linda asked. "They would be left out if they hadn't spent any money with us this year."

"They can go in and spend $100!" I exclaimed.

"Okay. We'll stick with what we have already. No more raffle tickets for spending the gift certificates, though. Let me make some calls and get more press there before 6:00 and tell them what to ask," Linda said.

"Do you think we could get away with them shooting a news video in the lingerie section of the store?"

"I'll ask. But in the swimsuit area, it wouldn't be a problem if we can get three or four of the ladies to change into swimsuits."

"I'll call Brenda and Sherri. You let me know what you can set up with the media."

"I think I have some ideas on that! We have a couple of young marketing interns. You start on your end, James! I am going to get these young interns to start a Facebook and Twitter campaign! I'll see if one of them can run to the store and take pictures with their phone and post them!"

"Great idea! I'll tell Samantha about the idea."

I hung up.

"What idea?" Samantha asked.

"Linda is going to get a couple of her interns to start a Facebook and Twitter immediately about the store and raffle. Whatever that is?"

"Great idea! I already have plenty of photos on my phone from trips to the store! You help me, sis!"

"Text Linda and tell her you have photos. She'll hook you up with her people. You can explain it to me later."

I called Sam and put him on the speaker phone. He said he didn't need any more work, but he and Olivia would have it ready by 6:00.

"Print a few $1,000 gift certificates for Olivia!" Dawn yelled.

"Good! It will save me money. Are you all coming?"

"Thank you!" We heard from Olivia in the background.

"We will be there soon."

"See you then."

I hung up and called Sherri. I was lucky and got her.

"Hey, James!"

"I hear it is crazy there. We are going to take advantage of it. Talk to Sam and Olivia. Also, we are going to try and get the news people to come into the store to shoot a story. I wanted them to do it in the lingerie section, but Linda said the swimsuit section. Can you get some salesladies in swimsuits for the story?"

"No problem! They are already in swimwear and lingerie! I even have on a thong bikini!"

"Perfect! You know what to do! We will be there around 6:00."

"Great! We could use the help!"

"If you don't see the newspeople coming in the store, go out and find them. It is not that cold!"

"Will do!"

I hung up laughing.

"What are the gift certificates going to cost us?" Amy asked.

"Who cares! It is free publicity!" I exclaimed and laughed. "Maybe $15,000."

"That's no big deal," Samantha said as she worked on her phone. We looked at her and smiled because she was usually tight with money.

"All the free publicity we get on the news will be great," Amy added.

"Have you and Linda decided about giving away cars next year?" Dawn asked.

"Yep..."

"And?"

"Well...we came up with some ideas. We didn't want to worry you three," I said with a big smile.

"Uh oh," came from Samantha as she looked up from her phone.

"What did you two do?" Amy asked.

"When the news people are covering the drawing tonight when they start dumping the tickets in....we will make a little announcement. The web pages are ready to turn on at 6:00."

"How little?" My dad asked.

"We spent about $320,000 this year for all the cars. It has been such a big hit, Linda and I decided to change things up some."

"More money?" Amy asked.

"About the same amount. But...we are going to give away a Corvette convertible every three months..."

"What!"

"It's not the Z, it's the $50,000 one. So, at the end of March, we will give away the first one, then at the end of June and September. Then, like this year, the day after Christmas, we will give away a Corvette to one of our employees and a Lamborghini for the year-end customer car."

"What will that cost us?" Amy asked.

"For the four Corvettes, about $175,000. The dealer is making us a great deal because they got so much free publicity from the one sitting in the store. Each one will be a different color. He is loaning us four tonight. Linda told the Lambo dealer she would buy a Spyder, too, when she got her new one if he would make her a good deal on it. The Lambo Spyder was about $130,000. She already has it in town in storage. It's yellow. It will be driven there tonight also."

"$300,000 for all?"

"About that. Linda is paying some, don't forget."

"That is less than this year."

"And a hell of tax write-off!" Charlie exclaimed.

"But you all had the Escalade for Linda's staff and the other stores this year?" Dad said.

"They wanted a Corvette next year. So, Linda is buying a nice base one for about $55,000, so five Corvettes total."

"There is not that much room in the stores," Samantha said.

"Only like this year. One at a time."

"Can I mention that on my Facebook page!"

"I guess...whatever that is."

"You know, son, since the husbands and boyfriends buy all this lingerie, you should have something for them," Dad said.

"You would think that, but surprisingly, 75% of purchases for lady's wear were by the ladies."

"Still...men buy a lot."

"Linda and I discussed that with Brenda and Sherri. Brenda and Sherri had an idea that if we gave something away when the men paid for it, we could get more men in to buy. And in the men's department."

"Well...it would give us another excuse to buy lingerie and suits!" Charlie said and laughed.

"But would it be enough to justify a giveaway just for men?" Amy asked.

"We are going to gamble it will be," I replied.

"What have you got for them?" Dad asked.

"Be right back."

I got up and went to my study, and grabbed a folder, and went back and sat.

"We have this!"

I pulled out an 11 X 14 I had mocked up and handed it to my Dad.

"Oh! That will do it!" He exclaimed and showed everyone the photo.

"What!" Samantha asked. "Let me get a photo of that!"

After she took a photo, I held it up. We had decided on a Range Rover towing a new fishing boat.

"Oh wow!" Amy exclaimed.

"If that doesn't work, nothing will!" Dawn exclaimed.

"We better sell a lot more men's suits!" Amy exclaimed and laughed.

"What is that costing us?" Samantha asked.

"Range Rover and Boat...about $105,000."

"So, we are spending $400,000 of our profit!" Samantha exclaimed, and we all laughed at her.

"Just for next year. And that is split between Linda and us and some from the other strip stores. After that, we are going to just give one car away for customers and one for staff each year."

"That is still a lot next year!"

"Honey...we are projecting over $65,000,000 in sales for all the stores in the strip next year," I told her.

"Still!"

"With over $35,000,000 for us with nearly $7,000,000 profit!"

"Still!"

"Cheapskate!" Dawn called her.

"Takes money to make money, honey," I told her. "And, we can share in what we make."

"How much were sales this year?" Charlie asked.

"Our lingerie and bikini store did over $29,000,000. The men's store, around $9,000,000."

"Not bad."

"I think Linda is having more fun with the stores than the profit!" Dawn said and laughed.

"Never underestimate Linda," I said.

*****

Linda and Rachel dropped off their babies and nanny, and we all drove to the stores. Linda and Rachel were out and talking to the press by 6:30. Amy and Samantha were hanging out around all the cars we had to give away next year after they drove them in at 7:00. People were looking them over. Dawn was sitting with me in the back of our bus, and we had the doors open so we could sit back and watch.

"Have you told me all that Great-grandfather told you?" Dawn asked as she leaned into my shoulder, and I held her.

"Everything I understand right now. What will all this mean to us?"

"For me, it means I will be spending a lot of time talking to my Ancestors."

"Do you need to be at the reservation to do that?"

"Not right now. I think they have more to tell me than I will be asking questions about for a while."

"Great-grandfather told me the same things Enolia said. The babies need to be on the reservation as soon as they can be."

"It will be important. I'm not sure how much Linda and Rachel are going to agree with that."

"I was told they will come to understand the importance."

"Honey? That has a lot of implications? Who told you that?"

"Great-grandfather."

"Oh, my. The two of them must be in for a visit."

"I think it will be Linda for now. Then, she will explain it to Rachel. It may have started with the dream they want to discuss."

"Oh. I am not sure how much Linda and Rachel will be willing to commit to this," Dawn said.

"We can't transport seven babies at once in the helicopter," I said.

"Four at most."

"We'll have to work some things out. Will they all need to be there at the same time?"

"I don't know yet. I will soon," Dawn said.

"Honey, I am going to need some help understanding all this."

"I know. I will be talking to the babies a lot in Cherokee from now on. I hope that will not be a problem."

"Of course not, honey."

"Maybe it is time for you three to learn my language!"

"I know enough about developmental psychology to know that the babies need to hear their language."

"It is important..."

"I know. What else is going to be important?"

"We need to talk to Great-grandfather and the Elders about the house. That project needs to be moved up quickly. Great-grandfather's house only has that one extra bedroom. All of us can't stay in it. Sylvia will need to be there, and if Linda and Rachel and their babies are there...her nanny. I'm not sure what to do about that if it is going to take a year to build the big house?" Dawn added.