With Help from Michael O'Leary Pt. 06

"A personal meeting with the loan committee," Michael rubbed his chin, "I'm impressed."

"I figure that I need an initial bank loan of, at least, five hundred thousand, one million if I can get it, to pay the salaries of the techno-heads who will write, develop, and debug the software."

"That's great but you are digging a deep hole with a bank loan, especially if your company fails."

"I know but there's always bankruptcy."

"Yeah, but to ruin your credit at such a young age makes me wonder if the risk is worth taking."

"Oh, it is, Michael, it is."

Suddenly, Michael felt like his mother when she was playing Devil's advocate in not wanting a dog before he convinced her to allow him to get Angel, the demon dog. He hoped that this Internet startup was not Ralphie's Angel.

"Well, you be careful with them. They are vulture like. Don't sign anything unless you have legal representation and your lawyer reads the fine print first."

"Okay, I can do that."

"Still, even a million dollars may not be enough money. That's why I want to show the bank that I have money behind me from other investors. That's where you come in."

Michael felt the lottery ticket in his pocket and thought about the big payoff, two million, three hundred fifty thousand dollars. He knew Ralphie and if he said that this was big, then it was. He believed in him.

Michael got up from the kitchen table, went into the living room, and walked over to his desk. He sat down, opened his desk drawer, and took out his combination checking and savings account book. He wrote a check payable to Ralphie for almost his entire life savings of $35,000. Soon, he would have the two million, three hundred fifty thousand dollars. Why should he care about a measly thirty-five thousand? He got up, walked over to Ralphie, and handed him the check.

"This is how much I believe in you."

Ralphie looked at the check, stood, and hugged him.

"I won't let you down, Michael. You'll see. I'll make you proud."

"You've already done that, Ralphie. I could not be more proud of you, if you were my own son."

Michael figured that he was a lottery winner. What did he have to lose? It wasn't like it was his hard earned money that he was risking. It was someone else's; someone else's stolen lottery ticket, no doubt. For the next twenty-five years, he'd be getting a yearly check of two million, three hundred fifty thousand dollars. That is, he stopped to calculate the total amount in his head, $58,750,000, more than he could spend. He did not feel bad about handing Ralphie $35,000, most of his life savings.

Tomorrow, he would cash the ticket and join the lifestyle of the idle rich. Still, he could not allow himself to get too excited because there was always the possibility that something could go wrong. The police could be waiting to arrest anyone who cashed that lottery ticket.

He wondered whom the ticket originally belonged to before Shannon got it and whom she worked for as a mule. Did they murder the original owner and gave the ticket to Shannon to cash disguised as Mrs. Enunzio? What happened to Shannon to make her turn her life to crime? What did she mean when she said to the bank robber that your father killed my babies and what did the bank robber mean when he said that she had his mother and father murdered? What else did Flaherty know that he was not telling him? He could not wait for the day when he could stop wondering and tell Gabriella and Ralphie about the lottery money.