It was a casual place for family and friends to eat pizza, the atmosphere inside was full of the smell of oregano. Rose and Clara were seated in the middle of the shop because they were afraid Sam would miss them somehow.
"Are you ready to order?"
A beautiful young waitress came to them, and Rose and Clara looked at each other. Sam was sure taking his time parking the car.
"We are actually waiting for a friend before ordering."
Clara, with an apologetic look, said the waitress smiled as she understood their situation, there were few tables open, so it was not necessary for them to move or anything.
"Gotcha, I can give you guys some black coffee as you wait."
"No, it's alright."
Clara replied, and the waitress, with a smile, left. Rose grabbed her phone to call Sam, but Clara just shook her head, she asked her to wait for a few more minutes.
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"What have you got? Pfufff, $1?"
The old bikers joined Sam in his lottery reveal session. Sam just scratched his #305 one and got $1 in return, the total winnings so far were $1. The bikers were enjoying the misery of Sam while they also grabbed a pack of chips.
Damn! These old misers can't even shoo them now.
Sam, shaking his head, focused more on the last one, as it was really the one, the one that would determine if he was hallucinating or if SYSTEM was real.
The employee on the counter kept glancing at Sam from time to time, he was really hoping Sam wouldn't get anything but would find himself rooting for him somehow. Sam, with one scratch, peeled half of the silver, and he could see 500 inside.
"Damn! There's a number inside, wipe it off the whole "
The biker with the long beard asked, he was too into the scratch thing now. The counter guy also tiptoed to see what was happening with Sam.
Sam didn't wait anymore, he peeled the whole thing off. Seeing the price on it, even his eyebrow raised. He would have jumped with joy if this was random, but it was not, but a small laugh escaped from his mouth.
"Goddammit, kid, you pulled a fucking jackpot?"
The biker, with his excitement, slapped Sam's shoulder hard, his friends laughed out loud. He never expected to see such a thing today, even the counter employee had his mouth dropped as low as he could.
"Jackpot?"
"Damn! Lucky "
"Hey, Bro, which horoscope was it again?"
The bikers hugged Sam like he was their nephew, and the counter employee was crying tears of joy. Because of the biker's presence, nobody else dared to come towards Sam, but they were shocked to hear the amount he won.
The manager of the store came running as the chaos was too much for him to ignore, and hearing what just happened, he was shocked. He then looked at the scratchers on the shelf with a smile, this will be gone in no time once this gets out.
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"What is happening?"
Rose looked confused, while Clara, who has a little experience in a town like this, was also looking around for a clue. People were raising their voices nearby, and even employees in the pizza joint were going out with happy faces.
"Excuse me, what happened?"
Rose grabbed the waitress's hand, who was covering her mouth with a half smile and half shocking expression, she was also running out to see something.
"Someone next door won $50,000 in a scratcher, can you believe that? I would have paid my college tuition in full with it."
The waitress replied she was immersed in her own fantasy. Rose let her hand go, and she walked outside the shop. Rose and Clara were not sure if they wanted to see this person, they were comfortable here in the shop. What if Sam comes in as they leave?
"Damn! That boy is handsome."
"Yeah, do you think I have a chance with him?"
"I don't think so, he would date some supermodel or something with that height and blue eyes."
The waitresses gossiped as they returned to their position, Rose and Clara looked at each other with big eyes because Sam fits this description almost.
"Neh! He's not a lottery guy."
"I know, right?"
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"Hey kid, you are not going to cash it in?"
The atmosphere returned to normal as the long-bearded biker asked Sam with a confused tone because he saw Sam putting it in his pocket.
"I am not eighteen yet."
Sam replied with glee. Both bikers were shocked hearing that, and then they laughed out loud.
"What's your name? Family name, I mean "
Long Bearded Biker asked, his friend was also interested in Sam's name because he just won a huge amount of money.
"Sam Callahan"
"Callahan? What are you to Edward Callahan?"
"He is or was my grandfather."
Sam was shocked because these people knew his grandfather. Biker's first did the cross sign to pay respect to the dead, then smiled because they didn't think they would meet a familiar face in this town.
"He died? Old man Callahan from Burrton, Hartmann from Zimmerdale—we used to ride together sometime. My name is Micheal Kinsley, and this is my friend Andrew Garfield. We had done a lot of business together. Sadly, I sold my farm last year. Hey kid, you know what! I have a great deal for you."
"How about you give me your ticket, and I write you my big John Deere S660 2015 combine harvester? It's worth about 80 to 90 grand. I want the cash fast, so it's a win-win."
[Ding!!]
[You have just been deceived. Reward: Exchange the old John Deere S660 with a new John Deere X9 1100 Combine from Jericho Implement Co. (Wichita, Kansas, the owner is desperately seeking the exact model).]
[Deception: 'It's worth about 80 to 90 grand.' (Real worth $65,000 after minor repair)]
Micheal looked happy as he saw Sam's eye sparkle as soon as he said "combine harvester."
Damn! This kid is a farmer at heart, I will give him $2000 as to not cheat a fellow farmer. Sigh! Kids like this are rare these days. Wait, I have a daughter.