Salted Caramel Mocha

Chapter 13 in Oh, For the Love of Coffee!
After the meeting with Artemis, I noticed our packs were heavier and the food disappeared slower, but it wasn’t enough. We were near the Eastern edge of South Dakota now, with five dollars, a couple of drachmas, and low supplies. At night, I started not only giving my offerings to my mom, but to all the gods. Please, I would pray, help us get out of this mess. Six more days had passed and it looked like my praying was doing a whole fat lot of nothing.

Natalie and I went to an old, beat up gas station to get what we could while the others stayed with our stuff. As we were walking in, Natalie stared thoughtfully at a lottery ticket machine behind the counter. “How much money do you think we need?” she asked.

“Uhh, about $500, at least. Why?”

“Because I think we should buy a lottery ticket.” She said with strong conviction.

“A lottery ticket?! Do you know what the odds against winning are? It’s just a scam to get money.”

“But someone wins.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s virtually impossible that it would be us.”

“Just trust me.”

“Fine, but don’t you have to be eighteen?”

“We’ll see.” She walked up to the counter. “Excuse me; I’d like to buy that lottery ticket”

“Well sure thing missy.” The guy behind it said, apparently unfazed by her age. “Here ya go.”

Natalie gave him the money and asked, “When do I know if I’ve won?”

“Well, for that one, I’ll be posting the winning numbers here later tonight.”

“Great, thank you.” We walked back outside to the others.

“Did you get food?” Seth asked excitedly.

“Uhhhh…” I said looking at Natalie.

“No.” she said shortly.

“No?” asked Seth.

“No. But I did get this.” She said, holding up the ticket, “and before you say anything,” she continued as Rebecca opened her mouth to protest, “I have a plan.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course she had a plan, typical Natalie.

We went back later that night to see if we had won. “What were the numbers again?” I asked her, looking at the bulletin board where the winners were posted.

She wasn’t paying attention. She had walked right past the board, straight up to the counter. “Excuse me, I believe I’ve won.” She said, holding out the ticket.

The man looked at it and said very nicely, “No, I’m sorry, you didn’t.”

Natalie didn’t look fazed. She snapped her fingers and a ripple of air flower from her hand as the mist was tampered with and said with a focused look on her face, “No, this is the winning ticket. I’ve won.”

“Yes you’re right. By golly, I’m sorry miss. Here ya go.” To my amazement, he handed her a thick stack of bills.

She walked over to me, a triumphant smile on her face, waving the money in front of her face like a fan. I gave her a huge hug. “You are an absolute genius!”

“And don’t you forget it!”

I laughed and we walked out, $550 dollars now in our possession.

Next Chapter ~ Chapter 14: Caffe Latte

Back to Chapter 12: White Hot Chocolate

Back to Oh, For the Love of Coffee!