Winning the Lottery

Terry's uncle leaned over to Marty. "I still wish you'd reconsider. There's no need to give up all your winnings. Hell, you could buy out Louise's interest in the house and still have a pot full of money left over."

Marty shook his head stubbornly. "I've thought a lot about this, and this is what I want to do."

In the other conference room, Louise was objecting loudly. "I ain't gonna sign nothin' like that. If I did, my Daddy would tan my hide after what I told him about Marty!"

Before her attorney could speak, Bobby grabbed her arm. "Who cares, Lou-Lou?" Bobby wheedled. "Who cares what your Daddy or anyone else thinks? You and me are gonna leave this town anyway. Besides, everybody'll know what happened sooner or later. What's important is that if you agree we get all the money -- not just half -- to spend any way we want to."

Louise was only somewhat mollified. "Well, what about the house? You said I'd get half the house, and now he's trying to weasel out of it."

Bobby quickly spoke up, "Baby, don't you see? This is even better. In effect Marty is buying your half of the house for $5 million. You can buy a bunch of houses for $10 million!"

The attorney cleared his throat, "Technically, it isn't really $10 million . . ."

"Yeah, yeah," Bobby cut him off, "we know -- Uncle Sam has to get his cut. But the point is, it's a shitload of money, and if Marty is crazy enough to give it up, you'd be crazy not to take it."

"I have to agree," the attorney spoke up, "this is a far better outcome than anything you'd be likely to get in court. A forced sale of your house in its current unfinished state would bring you next to nothing compared to getting the rest of the lottery winnings. And as for the admission of extramarital activity, that is irrelevant from a legal perspective. This is a no-fault state; the court doesn't care who did what with whom in a case like this."

Louise's face brightened. "Well, if it don't mean anything and we get the whole $10 million out of the deal, then I guess my only other question is where do I sign?"

The trio walked back into the main conference room, and Louise ostentatiously signed the agreement that Marty's attorney had prepared. When Marty had his copy back, he asked, "O.K., now when can I have my house back?"

Louise looked at Bobby, who nodded. "We're gonna go down to the lottery office on Monday and claim the money. We'll be moving out the next day, so you can have the key back that evening."

As Bobby and Louise got up to leave the room, Bobby leaned over and gave Louise a high-five. "We hit the jackpot, Lou-Lou!" he gloated. Then he looked back at Marty and made a point of grabbing Louise's ass.

When Marty got back to his parent's home, he went looking for his mother. Finding his parents seated in front of the tv, he went over and handed her a copy of the agreement that Louise had just signed. "You want to know why Louise left me? Well, read this," he said, pointing to the appropriate section. "What it says in plain English is that she left me because she was carrying on behind my back with Bobby Womack. It was all her idea -- I didn't do anything to give her cause to leave."

While his mother had finished reading, she looked up at her son apologetically. "I'm sorry I doubted you, son. Who would have thought that Louise would act like such a tramp?"

Meanwhile, his father had been reading the agreement, and he suddenly exclaimed, "Have you lost your marbles, Marty? This says that you gave Louise the whole $10 million! Why in hell would you do that?"

"Dad, you always told me that nothing was more important than my good name. Well, I've got my good name back now."

The old man looked at him oddly. "That's a hell of a price to pay, son."

"It's worth it, Dad," Marty said adamantly, "every penny of it."

That Sunday, Marty got up early and put on his best church clothes, but he waited until just before the service started to go inside. When he walked into the chapel and took a seat in the front pew, a murmur swept over the congregation, but Marty ignored it.

When the service had ended, Marty stood up and asked to address the congregation. Standing before them nervously, he cleared his throat before he started. "I know that a lot of you have a pretty low opinion of me right now. But I've got something here I'd like to read to you. It's a statement that Louise, my soon-to-be ex-wife made this past Friday in front of witnesses. If any of you want to see it, I pinned a copy on the bulletin board by the door. I'm gonna read it to you now.

I, Louise Luttrell Goodpasture, hereby acknowledge that I am divorcing my husband, Martin Goodpasture, to pursue a relationship with Bobby Womack. I began this relationship with Bobby in secret while Marty and I were married, without my husband's knowledge or approval. The break-up of our marriage is entirely at my instigation; Marty did nothing to cause it.

I declare this to be a true statement, made of my own free will, without pressure or coercion.

Louise Luttrell Goodpasture

As the congregation began to mutter excitedly, Bobby walked down the center aisle till he came to the pew where the Luttrells were seated. "Mr. Luttrell, you made some mighty harsh accusations about me the other day. You didn't believe me, but maybe you'll believe your own daughter." With that he thrust another copy of Louise's statement into her father's hands.

The old man looked at the signature and his face turned pale. He handed it to his wife, who had begun to cry. "That damned Bobby Womack!" he swore.

Marty looked at the two of them and felt a wave of pity. "It looks like she fooled all of us, Mr. Luttrell," he said quietly. With that he turned and walked out of the building, his head held high.

The evening shift was relatively normal on Monday, except that Marty's appearance in church was a big topic of conversation. But the next night brought a new diversion. The tv in the break room was tuned to the local station, and the big news of the day was a feature on the local lottery winner. There was some hooting and hollering in the break room when a jubilant Louise collected a giant check from the Georgia State Lottery and promptly embraced Bobby Womack, whom the newscaster referred to as her "fiancé."

Terry did his best to keep the nosy and obnoxious away from his friend, but Marty still had to listen to more razzing about losing both the lottery money and his wife to another man. The only thing that enabled Marty to endure the evening was the knowledge that he would be able to move back into his own home after work. He had his clothes and personal items all packed in his truck, and after the shift ended he headed straight to the house.

As she had promised, Louise had left the keys to the new locks in the mailbox. When he opened the door and turned on the lights, he found the place a mess. Debris from the move was scattered around the house, food had been left out on the counter and dirty plates filled the sink. "I bet that woman didn't clean the house once since the time I moved out," he thought bitterly.

The bedroom was even worse. Not only was the bed unmade but the sheets were all crusty and stained. It was so bad that Marty decided not only to throw out the linens but also the mattress and box springs. He wound up sleeping on the couch that night -- after he had brushed off all the crumbs.

After an uncomfortable night's sleep, Marty awoke early on Wednesday and began to clean the place, starting with the kitchen. When he had the sink and dishes washed up to his satisfaction, he started a pot of coffee and went out to get the newspaper. To his dismay, he found a photo of himself along with a story under the headline "The World's Unluckiest Lottery Winner." The story detailed how Marty had won and subsequently lost the $10 million jackpot to his soon-to-be ex-wife. The writer seemed to find the situation humorous; Marty did not.

If the newspaper article hadn't soured his stomach sufficiently, the phone call Marty got from his sister an hour later certainly did the trick. "Is the story in the paper true?" she demanded angrily.

When he conceded that it was basically accurate, his sister snapped at him, "Can't you do anything right, Marty? We were going to borrow the money from you for a down payment on a house. You sure screwed up our plans!" Then she hung up on him.

"I guess I shouldn't count on a Christmas card from her this year," he thought, trying to make light of it. But the truth was that he felt bad about not being able to help out his big sister. She and her husband had suffered a financial setback in the recession, and he would have been glad to lend her some money if he could.

The humiliation of being the source of endless gossip combined with the loneliness of living without Louise after being married for so long sank Marty into a monastic lifestyle in the months that followed. Except for the occasional visit to see his parents or Terry and Sally, Marty devoted most of his spare time to working on the house that he had regained at such a cost. He continued to remodel and refurbish the existing structure, and then undertook an ambitious expansion.

One of the few bright spots for Marty was the pleasant discovery that the money problems he had experienced before winning the lottery soon faded away. His simple lifestyle combined with no longer having to pay for Louise's extravagances not only balanced his budget but also provided the additional funds he needed for his renovation.

From time to time his friends and family tried to set Marty up with an available female, but although Marty didn't refuse, none of the dates led to anything. After a while it became obvious that he wasn't ready to get involved with another woman, and his friends eventually decided to let him alone until he was.

It was almost a year later when Terry called him one Saturday. "Can you lend me a hand, buddy? My little sister is moving to town, and I could use some help getting her stuff into her new apartment."

Marty drove over to Terry's house to meet his friend, and as the two of them rode over to his sister's new apartment, Terry explained the situation. "Nancy's trying to get away from an abusive situation. The last time her husband John hit her, she reported him to the police and then called me. She's started divorce proceedings, but she's afraid of that bastard and is trying to get as far away from him as she can."

"I hate a man who'll hit a woman," Marty replied. Then he looked around and saw where Terry was heading. "Are you sure this is the right address? This isn't the best area for a single woman to live."

"I know," Terry said, "but it's all she can afford right now. I'd take her in at our place but we don't have any room. Besides, it's not just her, she's got a four-year-old daughter too."

Just then they reached the run-down apartment complex and spotted the rental van parked out front. After Marty parked his truck, Terry got out and went over to give his sister and niece a hug. When Terry introduced Marty, Nancy shook his hand, but Marty noticed she didn't look directly at him. The other thing he noticed was the remains of the black-eye she had, and he felt his anger rise.

The little girl wasn't as skittish as her mother. She came over to where he was standing and looked up at him. "I'm Lilly," she said. "Are you a nice man?"

Marty couldn't help but smile. "I guess I'm a pretty nice man," he said.

"O.K., then you can be my friend," she said, and stuck out her hand to him.

Marty laughed and shook her hand. "O.K., Lilly, let's you and me be friends." Then he turned and began to help Terry unload the truck.

After the two of them had finished, Nancy offered them a soft drink along with her thanks for their help. "Don't let Lilly bother you," she said quietly to Marty. "She's just kind of lonely."

"Oh, she's no bother at all," Marty replied. "I like kids anyway."

Nancy smiled gratefully.

From that point on, Marty would usually see the pair of them whenever Terry and Sally invited him for dinner. He learned that while Nancy went to work at the Walmart in town, Sally would keep Lilly with her girls. Given what Nancy was likely to be earning at Walmart, Marty figured that Terry and Sally were also helping her financially, but Terry never said anything about it.

Terry was helping Marty with some plumbing one weekend a month later when Terry's cell phone went off. When he answered it, the look on his face told Marty that something bad had happened. "We'll be right there," Terry yelled and snapped the phone shut.

"That was Nancy," Terry said yelled. "She thought she saw John looking in the window of their apartment!"

"Come on," Marty said, "my truck is right out front."

The two men sped over to Nancy's apartment complex. Marty grabbed a pipe wrench from the tool chest and ran towards Nancy's unit, with Terry right on his heels. They saw a tall man angrily kicking at the door, and Marty yelled, "Hey, you, get away from there!" When the man saw Marty and Terry running towards him, he quickly ducked around the side of the building and disappeared.

While Terry went to see if he had gone, Marty knocked on Nancy's door. "Nancy, it's me, Marty. He's gone now. Open up."

After a minute's hesitation, Nancy cracked open the door and peeked out. When she recognized Marty, she opened the door and let him in. "Are you O.K.?" Marty asked urgently. "I'm pretty shook up, but I'm not hurt," she said tearily.

"Where's Lilly," he asked.

"I sent her back to the bedroom," Nancy replied, and Marty quickly strode down the hall to check on her. At first he didn't see the little girl anywhere, but just as he was about to panic he spotted a sock-clad foot sticking out from under the bed. Getting down on his hands and knees he peeked under the bed.

"Hi, Lilly, it's me, Marty. You can come out now."

When the little girl crawled out from under the bed, she jumped into Marty's arms, and he carried her back out to the front of the apartment, where Terry was comforting Nancy.

"Why was my Daddy yelling at us?" Lilly wanted to know. "Why did he hurt Mommy?"

"I don't know, Lilly," Marty said, "but he's gone now" -- a nod from Terry confirmed that -- "and we won't let him hurt you or Mommy any more."

"That's right," Terry chimed in, "and we're all going back to my house for tonight." Nancy looked at him gratefully and, after locking the apartment, all four of them squeezed into the cab of Marty's truck.

Terry called his wife as they drove back, and Sally was waiting for them at the door. She hugged Nancy and then bent down to hug Lilly. "I know," she told the little girl, "let's have a sleepover tonight." Lilly brightened at the idea and went off to play with Sally's children.

The four adults sat down in the living room. Terry turned to his sister and said firmly, "That settles it: you are not going back to that apartment again. Now that John knows where you're living, there's a chance he might come back."

"But I can't impose on you like that," Nancy protested. "There's just no room for the two of us in your house. I'll be alright over at the apartment -- John wouldn't dare come back after today."

"You're just not safe there. We'll make it work somehow, Sis," Terry stubbornly replied.

The three of them continued to argue while Marty sat there listening. Finally he spoke up. "Maybe there's another option," Marty said, and the others turned toward him. "I've got a big old house that's empty except for me. You could stay with me, if you want." Then he blushed as he realized what he'd just said.

"What I mean is, you could stay in the new bedroom I added. It has its own bathroom, and it doesn't even have any furniture in it, so we could put your stuff there. Besides, I work the evening shift, so you'd hardly ever see me anyway. . ." His voice tailed off as he thought about how what he was offering might sound to Nancy.

"Maybe it's not such a good idea after all," he went on in embarrassment, but Terry interceded. "No, it's a great idea if you're willing, Marty." He turned to his sister. "Listen, Marty's been my best friend for a long time, and Sally and I will both vouch for him. John wouldn't know where to find you, so you'd be safe over there. At least it would give us time to figure out something else for the long term."

Nancy hesitated, not wanting to intrude, but Sally and Terry convinced her, and Terry and Marty went off in Marty's truck to begin hauling Nancy's meager possessions to Marty's house. Once they were done, Sally brought Nancy and Lilly over so they could see the place. Nancy was thankful, but Lilly wasn't impressed. "Where's your swingset?" she asked, looking out the back window.

Marty smiled. "I don't have one of those, Lilly, but there's a park near here and your mommy can take you to play there."

"Well, I guess that's O.K.," the little girl said, and the matter was settled.

The first few days of the new arrangement were a little awkward as Marty and Nancy each tried to avoid intruding on the other as much as possible. During the week this proved to be no problem, since Nancy worked during the day and Marty left for work before she got home. But the weekend was a different matter.

On Saturday morning Marty woke to the smell of cooking coming from the kitchen. When he got showered and dressed, he found that Nancy and Lilly had prepared a big breakfast of bacon and eggs.

"This is really good. You didn't have to go to all that trouble," Marty told Nancy gratefully as he sipped his coffee.

"You've been so nice to Lilly and me -- it's the least I could do," Nancy smiled.

Lilly looked at him across her plate. "You snore," she said, and her mother gasped.

Marty just laughed. "You're right, Lilly. "That's what . . ." He stopped and his expression darkened. But he regained his smile quickly and went on. "I've been told that before."

After breakfast Marty went out back to do his calisthenics, and Lilly wandered out to watch him. "Whatcha doing?" she asked curiously.

"I'm doing my exercises," Marty answered.

"Oh. What are 'exercises'?" Lilly demanded.

"They're sort of a game that grown-ups play," Marty answered. "Do you want to try some?"

When the little girl nodded, he had her stand with her hands on her waist. "Now, reach up high, then touch your shoulders. Next, you bend over and touch your toes," he told her, demonstrating what to do.

"That's not very fun," she said petulantly.

A childhood memory came to Marty's mind. "That's because I didn't tell you the other part: you have to sing along." With that, Marty began to sing, "Head and shoulders, knees and toes," all the while performing the routine. Lilly quickly picked up the simple melody and began to repeat the motions along with him.

Nancy came out on the back porch to watch. "Now don't be bothering Mr. Goodpasture, Lilly," she called out.

"It's no bother," Marty quickly spoke up, "we're just playing a game." He proceeded to show Lilly a series of warm-up exercises before it was time for him to go for his morning run. "If you want, Lilly, we can do that again tomorrow," he told the little girl before he left.

From that point on, any time the little girl was up when Marty went out to do his exercises, she wanted to do them with him. She couldn't do all the exercises, or perform them for as long as Marty, but she loved to play "Head and Shoulders," as she called it, with him.

At first Nancy only watched the two of them to make sure Lily didn't cause a problem, but after a while she began to join in the calisthenics as well. Initially she had little stamina, but soon she began to keep up without difficulty. As she went through the routines, Marty couldn't help noticing how good she looked in the shorts and t-shirt she wore.