Chapter 2 - The turn

Still incredulous and surprised Alma Dulce goes to play those numbers. She has a brief chat with the girl playing her the numbers then pays and takes the receipt. Watching the numbers she feels a shiver – Uneasiness – she thinks she’s trying to convince herself – This situation seems to have something magical, BUT IT DOESN’T! – she repeats to herself loudly. She puts the receipt in her purse and goes, as usual, to the Police Department where she is a consultant psychologist. She attends the interviews with those arrested or people who have been stopped; sometimes she is assigned to a detective, some others she listens to people from behind a glass-mirror. She has a strong intuition which together with her studies makes her an esteemed professional good at seeing things others don’t.

Today it’s a hard day at work: complicated situations, family tragedies and so on. When Alma arrives at home, she is so tired that she falls asleep in the bed even before having dinner.

During the night all of a sudden she wakes up remembering the numbers she played and anxiously turns on the computer to check for them. She can’t explain why she feels so nervous, this is not the first time she’s played, even if she does it rarely. Her anxiety is so high that it seems her that the pc is taking a century to turn on. Operating system is still charging while she clicks on the icon of the browser. After some endless seconds the home page finally shows up and Alma can type the address of the lottery. When the page appears her eye goes straight to the circles with the numbers inside. She has all them very well fixed in her mind and when she starts reading the numbers drawn one after the other she is really close to having a heart attack. They are all listed there, all six. Upset she gaspingly searches for the receipt inside her purse. She lets out a sigh of relief when she finds it and then she reads once again the numbers written on it. She looks once again at the screen. They are those. – THEY’VE WON!!! – she yells, but with a low voice, it’s 4am. Her joy is so deep that she would go straight to wake up Bob to give him the good news but she doesn’t like to go out so late at night, too risky. For the first time in her life she has treasure in her hands.

But what upsets her the most is the memory of Bob’s words: - if we win, we will split it 50/50 – 80 million dollars are for her a staggering figure. But soon after she thinks – Maybe he was drunk and now he doesn’t even remember what he told me –

Anyway, she is so excited that can’t sleep again. So at 5am she has a quick shower and prepares the breakfast, even if she isn’t hungry; no matter the night before she hasn’t had dinner. Too excited about this event now.

She can’t stay at home anymore. She needs to show Bob that receipt but she doesn’t trust herself to take it with her. So she takes a photo with her smartphone, hides the receipt in a drawer, quickly dresses and goes out heading to see Bob.

When she arrives there it’s some minutes past six and the sky is still dark. It’s December, Christmas is very close and the streets are lightened by decorations. Probably she is feeling such profound happiness for the first time in her whole life. She trusts Bob and she is sure, despite everything, that all his words were true.

As she enters the alley Bob, lying in his new bed with the face well hidden under the covers for the cold, opens his eyes but stays motionless. It seems to him that those are Alma’s footsteps. – But how is this possible – he thinks – it’s still dark and she never shows up here so early –.

Bob – Alma calls him in a low voice approaching his bed.

And even before he can answer she calls him again.

Bob – she goes on in a low voice – wake up I need to talk to you.

Bob pushes the covers aside and watches her dazed. After his usual nocturnal drunkenness he didn’t remember for sure the story of the numbers.

Bob – she exclaims again smiling trying to find his eyes in the semi-darkness. – Are you alone? –

Yes, why, what’s happened? – he answers still dozing with an eye open and the other closed.

You remember the numbers you gave me to play? You remember, right? – she presses him, excited –

Bob suddenly remembers the scroll, the genius and all the rest. He stands up with a jump and, gasping, looks at her straight in her eyes.

Did they win? Tell me they won!? –Bob says trying to hide an immense joy.

Yes – Alma replies with weeping eyes – they won. Look. – And shows him the picture of the receipt on her smartphone.

We are rich, Bob! Rich! – she exclaims in a low voice crying for joy –.

Bob is astonished. He looks at her once again in her eyes bewildered and then they hug, both touched and happy.

Alma – starts saying Bob, try to keep calm – from now on my life will change. And yours too.

I want to be a detective again, I must find out if my son is alive or dead. I will open an investigative agency and I will need a partner. I want you by my side, I need your help.

Alma is observing him while talking and she is happy to see he is a totally different person.

With joy in her heart, looking at him in his eyes, she says:

Bob – I’m sure your dream of finding your son will come true. And I’ll be happy to help you –

Another close hug between the two and then Alma leaves. She returns back home, takes the receipt and heads to do all the necessary procedures to cash the money.

Their life will change shortly afterwards.