Lottery

by Patricia Wood

  “Hey, Perry, do you know where the teak cleaner is?” It would be right in front of them.

  “Hey, Perry, where are the LectraSan fuses?” They forgot we moved them to the front.

  If I look into people’s eyes deep down, I can almost tell what they are thinking. Their eyeballs sort of dart around like dropped screws on the floor. Before I won the lottery, they did not want to talk to me. Now they do, but their eyes look the same. It is spooky, but fun. I mean, I do not know how they really feel.

  Gary listens to me say things now. It is like he can’t help it. Even though he knows that I am the exact same person. When you have money, people listen to you.

  Keith laughs and says our customers will buy whatever I suggest. “That guy just bought two pairs of Sperrys. He probably doesn’t even have a boat. He just decided to buy the shoes from you, Per,” he says.

  “Those shoes are eighty dollars a pair. That’s a lot of money for shoes,” I say. I wear boat shoes, but I do not pay eighty dollars. I get an employee discount. I would not pay eighty dollars for shoes. That is stupid even for Top-Siders. “Besides, he told me he does not have a boat. He just wanted to wash his driveway. I told him you do not slip and fall in the wet when you wear boat shoes. He thought that was a good idea.”

  I tell Gary we need to have new things to buy in the store.

  “Ladies like to buy cards and water. They want cards like Hallmark and ask for that special water in green bottles.” Hallmark ads make me cry, especially the ones with dogs and old men that remind me of Gramp.

  Do you have any cards for people with boats? That is what all the ladies ask.

  Do you have Perrier?

  Or they will ask, Do you sell lattes?

  They say this as their husbands or boyfriends look at boat stuff.

  Keith always growls behind his hand to me. “Where do they think they are? Seattle?” That is funny, because we are in Everett.

  Running a store is easy. You just have to remember to get things other people want to buy. You have to listen. It helps if you are an auditor. People tell you what they want all the time.

  We eat our lunch on Keith’s boat to get away from all the people in the store. Diamond Girl is painted in blue on one side.

  “She’s named after the best song in the world,” that’s what Keith says. He first heard it the day he left Vietnam. He calls it ’Nam.

  When I left ’Nam.

  After I got back from ’Nam.

  I was on my way home from ’Nam when I first heard that song.

  If I shut my eyes and smell, I can pretend we are sailing, but we are just eating our sandwiches in the cockpit. Diamond Girl is tied to the dock, but I can still pretend.

  Gramp taught me to sail for the first time at Mukilteo Park. It was March and cold. I remember. I shut my eyes tight. A movie plays just for me in my head. I am eight or maybe nine years old.

  “Heads up, Perry!” Gramp cautioned. There was only room for the two of us. I wore a puffy orange life jacket and could not turn my neck.

  “Hold this line. Now pull! Harder! That’s right.” We flew. As we hit small waves, I felt lumps underneath. BUMP! Bump bump. BUMP! Bump bump. They pushed against my bottom and I laughed. Our sail was white with a long red stripe and the number twelve painted at the top. I do not know why.

  “Feel the wind, Perry! Feel it.” Gramp put a chilled hand to my face. It was as cold as the Popsicles I sucked on in July. I lifted up my head and hit the edge of my life preserver. The wind stung my cheeks. They were wet from the spray. I licked my lips. It was salt without french fries. My hands were warm in my gloves.

  “Pull, Perry! Pull the sheet. Quick now!” Gramp sat behind me working the tiller, guiding the boat.

  I was too slow. My line tangled. The boat jibed, tipped, and Gramp and I fell into the water. The cold squeezed my chest. My eyes opened to a blur and my throat was tight. I gulped frigid air as soon as my head broke the surface of the water and I yelled. “Help me! Help!” I couldn’t see Gramp anywhere. I was petrified.

  “Help! Help!” Then he was there right in front of me.

  “Stand up, Perry, for Pete’s sake!”

  The water was shallow. Gramp stood next to me and hung on to the collar of my jacket. I was shivering and wet, but I scrambled to my feet and cheered, “Yeah! Let’s do it again!”

  Gramp laughed and said. “You’re a sailor, Perry. A real sailor.”

  And we did it again. And again. And again.

  “Per?” a voice says.

  I open my eyes. Keith is waving his hand in front of my face. “Woo hoo! Perry?” He sounds just like Fritz Dias the repair guy, but Keith does not have a gold tooth and his voice is deeper.

  It is time for us to go back to work. When we sit on Keith’s boat for lunch it always seems like a little trip. I like that. A vacation in my head. It is a place where I can think of Gramp and miss him along with Gram. But it is a good miss. They come back into my head like they are here with me, and then they leave again. I just say good-bye to them. I know they will be back.

  Every day at Holsted’s, more people come in to see me. They smile and ask me questions about the lottery. They talk to me like they want to be friends and then we talk about boats. I know a lot about boats. People have a hard time finding things they want for their boats. They tell me this. I just listen. They come into Holsted’s to find out about the lottery and leave with what they need for their boat.

  We sell out of all the T-shirts that say Holsted’s Marine Supply. I fill out another catalogue order form.

  “Hey, Gary, look, we can put anything on the back we want.” I point to a blank space on the order form.

  “Go for it, Per. What do you want to put?” Gary is filling out time sheets.

  Keith comes over. “People are buying all sorts of crap now, Per. If you hand it to them, they’re buying it. Put whatever you want.”

  “Can I put my name?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Keith sets out more pens that say Holsted’s for Your Boating Needs. We used to give them away, but I accidentally dumped them into a box that was marked two dollars and we sold every one. Keith had to go into the back room and get more. We ran out of everything.

  I order more pens and key chains with floats. I mark RUSH ORDER on the form. If we order a lot, we can get it in three days. I also order T-shirts that say Holsted’s Marine Supply on one side and Perry L. Crandall works here on the other. That is so cool. Keith said I could put anything. I always wanted my name on a shirt. I get one hundred larges and extra-larges, fifty mediums, and fifty smalls. It costs extra, but Keith says it doesn’t matter.

  “This seems like a big order, but okay.” Gary initials my order form. It is the first one I have ever filled out. We had a good week and sold a lot of stuff. Gary tells me I am an excellent employee.

  Even though I won the lottery, I unpack all the boxes that come in on Saturday. It is my job.

  “This one is huge,” I say to Manny.

  “How come it’s so big?” he asks.

  “The key chain and pen company usually ships in smaller boxes,” I say.

  “No shit! Where’s the invoice?” Manny throws packing popcorn all over the floor while he looks.

  “Hey stop that!” I say. I know I will have to sweep it up later.

  He finds the paper and studies it closely. “Here’s the problem. Right here. An extra zero. It’s your name on the order sheet. It’s your fault. What are we going to do with five hundred key chains? Holy cow! They all have your name on them! Look! Right underneath Holsted’s Marine Supply! Gary’s gonna be pissed at you!” Manny walks away and leaves me to do the rest of the unpacking. He will probably tell on me.

  That’s okay.

  I take the key chains out and put them into a box next to the pens. They all say Holsted’s Marine Supply. I make a sign: Matching pen and key chain. Get both for five dollars. The number five is a good number. Most people have five-dollar bills and it is easier
to add up. Tons of people came in that morning and everything was gone by Sunday afternoon.

  Gary laughs. “Per, I don’t know about you. I think maybe you were holding out on us before.”

  I laugh with him and feel happy that he called me Per.

  When Keith hands Gary another order form on Monday, he passes it over to me. “This is your job now,” he says.

  We sell out of T-shirts again. The white pens and floating key chains now have Holsted’s Marine Supply Home of Perry L. Crandall Lottery Winner printed on the side in bright green letters. It is cool to have my name on things.

  “Don’t look at me!” Keith says to Gary as he unfolds more invoices. “Ask Perry. He seems to know what people want.”

  They want my name on stuff. I laugh again. It is so easy. I just ask the customers what they want. They always tell me.

  “What would you like to see in our store?” I say, and carry a yellow pad and write down everything they tell me.

  “It’s wonderful what you’re doing,” they say to Gary before they walk out of the store. “Just wonderful.”

  “What am I doing?” Gary looks at Keith and shrugs.

  Keith gets his cynical look and winks at me. “You’ve turned Per into a businessman, Gary. All he had to do was win the lottery and now he’s a businessman.” He slaps me so hard on the back that I cough.

  That is what I want to be most of all. A businessman.

  21

  On Wednesday morning, John comes over to my apartment.

  "I tried to call. Your phone is busy. It must be off the hook,” he says. His eyes move around like he is looking for something he lost.

  “No, that was Franklin. He says I can call him Frank,” I explain.

  “Frank? Who the hell’s Frank?” he asks.

  “I don’t know. He says he’s a friend of Elaine’s,” I say.

  Frank has a deep voice and says he is worried about me. He says he is my friend too, but I have never seen him. I am not sure you can be friends with someone you have never seen. Besides, he is not on my list.

  “What does he want?” John asks.

  “To help me with the money. To give me advice.”

  “You don’t need a stranger’s help. You don’t need their advice. That’s what David and I are here for,” he says.

  John, David, and Frank all want to help me with my money. Everybody wants to help me with the money.

  John’s gray coat is wet from the rain and drips all over my floor. He turns his head to look behind like he thinks someone is following.

  “We’re just trying to help you, Perry. You need to keep us in the loop,” he says.

  I do not know what in the loop means. I stare at his feet. They are bigger than mine.

  “Where’s your fat friend, Keith?” He peels off his black gloves one at a time. John looks just like Batman except he does not have a mask and I know his car is brown.

  “He’s not fat. Those are stomach muscles and he had to go to the vet hospital,” I say.

  Keith is a vet, which is not like a dog doctor. It has to do with the army, Vietnam, and a guy called Agent Orange, which I think is a spy.

  My dryer buzzes and John jumps, then looks around.

  “What’s that?” he asks.

  “My laundry.”

  “Where’s your boss?”

  “He’s downstairs working the register.”

  “Where’s your bank statement? I’d like to help with your accounting, check your numbers.” John is already shuffling through papers on my kitchen counter. He holds something up. “Are these all your papers? You have anything else?”

  “It’s not nice to look at other people’s stuff,” I say, but he ignores me.

  “What happened? Has Elaine been over here helping you? Where’s the rest? You seem to have spent a great deal of money already. What’s going on, Perry?” His voice gets louder, then he suddenly stops and takes a deep breath. “I’m just trying to watch out for you. To help you. We’re all concerned about you.” He is speaking softly. Like he is singing.

  Maybe he really wants to help me now.

  I try to think.

  I rock back and forth on the sofa. It is almost time for Judge Judy. I already missed Gilligan’s Island. I wonder when he will leave.

  “Perry, what have you done?” John brings a kitchen chair over and plops down. He will not sit on Gram’s couch. He says it smells like cat pee. It does not. Gram did not have a cat. He puts a hand on my shoulder. It is heavy. One of his fingernails is so short is has blood on the end.

  “Investments,” I tell him, and cover my ears, but he does not yell and this surprises me. Instead, he takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly. Like a balloon. He looks at his bloody finger.

  “You want a Band-Aid?” I ask him. “I got Band-Aids.” He shakes his head no.

  Gram told me not to tell them about my savings account, so I do not. Everett Federal has a special place for savers like me so my money can make money. Like music. CDs. I do not tell him this either. I put my special savings-account papers in Gram and Gramp’s cardboard box. I do not leave them out for anyone to see. They are private.

  "CeCe and I would really like you to come over for a visit, spend the night,” he says.

  “Why?” I ask.

  That makes him stare right through me and he licks his lips. He looks like a dog when you give it treats.

  Keith told me to ask why, if John or David or Louise wanted me to go somewhere. He said Gram would want me to.

  “Why?” I ask John again.

  He smiles and looks at his nails. I do not think there is any that is long enough to bite but I do not tell him this.

  “Well, Perry, we’d all like to get to know you better. Spend some time together. Plus it’s time for a Family Meeting.” John’s voice sounds like Mr. Thompson’s dog Dazy when there was a cat sneaking over the fence. Dazy was part firedog and did not like cats. She would growl and chase them.

  When someone invites you to their house, you say yes so you do not hurt their feelings. Hurting people’s feelings is rude. I go with John to his house. I do not have a suitcase, so John stuffs my clothes into a pillowcase. That is definitely not cool because I will have to fold them again when I unpack. They will be all wrinkled.

  I try to tell him, but he says, “Don’t worry about it, Perry.”

  But I do. I am the one who has to fold them.

  He looks out my front window and tells me to hurry, but I have to write a note to Keith. I leave it on the table. It says, “GONE TO JOHN’S HOUSE.”

  Keith and I were going to get pizza and watch a DVD tonight. He can always watch a DVD without me. I have to lock the door to my apartment so no one will go inside and steal my TV. It is good that Keith has his own key.

  “Your brother John lives in a big white house in Bellevue with all the other rich people.” That is what Gram said.

  It takes an hour to get there even though his car is faster than Yo. His front yard has green bushes with red flowers. There is a hot tub on the redwood deck behind the house and a tall stone wall around the backyard. He shows me around as he tells me the rules. I am not allowed to use the hot tub. I am not allowed to go outside. I am not allowed in the living room. There are many not alloweds at his house. John tells me to sit at the table and he goes to use his phone. I hear him from the kitchen.

  We’re having another Family Meeting tonight. Perry will be here.

  He’s here now. I’m sure we can get him to sign. I don’t think he’ll be any problem at all. He’s very suggestible.

  Eight o’clock tonight. Try to be on time would you?

  I had no trouble getting him away from those friends of his.

  We need to make some decisions.

  Everybody needs to be there. You need to let Mom know. It’s important.

  He means Louise. He calls Louise Mom.

  After he hangs up, he says, “I’ve got to go back to work. You have to amuse yourself until CeCe and I get home.”


  When people tell you to amuse yourself, it means you are bothering them.

  22

  John’s first wife was Lenore and his second wife was Grace. I do not know who three and four were. Number five is CeCe. She used to be his receptionist. That is what David said. Gram said they are all the same person, just different names. I did not meet the others, only CeCe, and her poodle, so I do not know if they are really the same. John bites his nails and does not eat Tums. He drinks Maalox straight out of a bottle. It makes white specks on his mustache. I do not tell him this. It would not be nice. People who bite their nails and drink Maalox are nervous, Gram said.

  He does not have any children. Neither does David.

  Gram always told me that was good. “Get them both out of the gene pool! That’s what I say.” The gene pool is something you want other people out of.

  I sit on the sofa in the family room with Gigi and watch bull riding, Animal Planet, and Jeopardy! If you do not scratch her just right, Gigi will bite you. She bit me twice already. You can get rabies from dogs if they are frothing at the mouth. I look carefully at Gigi’s spit. It does not look like froth. She does not like bull riding because of the buzzers and snaps at me three more times. Her teeth click in the air. I love dogs even when they bite.

  I decide to channel-hike. That is when you click the remote and go from channel 03 to channel 099 and back again. Gigi likes it when I channel-hike and growls at all the commercials.

  I hope I do not have to stay long. I need to go to work tomorrow. Gary has golf on Thursdays and I have to help Keith close up. I want to go home right after the Family Meeting. A Family Meeting is always about money or when someone has died. We had one for Gramp and another for Gram.

  I am by myself for the rest of the day. It is rude to leave guests alone in your house. John did not say I could open any cupboards, so I do not eat lunch. It is also rude not to feed your guests.

  No one gets home until after eight. I have not had dinner and I am hungry. I do not go into John’s refrigerator because you have to ask permission for that.

  I am happy but a little nervous when everyone arrives. My stomach grumbles loud.