“I don’t drink that . . . What did you say, boy?”

“You got all five of the numbers! I kid you not! You hit the jackpot! It’s like two hundred fucking thousand dollars, Ma!”

“No shit,” Tiffany says.

“Damn,” Monique says. “It’s about fucking time.”

I thought I heard ’em all cuss. I know I just heard ’em all cuss, but I can’t believe this shit either until I walk over and grab that ticket outta Trevor’s hands and compare it to the numbers on the screen. He’s abso-fucking-lutely right! While everybody’s jumping up and down I flop down on the couch. “Y’all, relax, and let’s not get too excited till I find out how many people I might have to split it with.”

“Oh, yeah. We forgot about that,” Trevor says.

“Well, we’ll just cross our fingers,” Tiff says.

“Maybe we should pray harder tonight,” Monique says.

“Now, that’s a good idea,” I say, and rest my head on the back of the couch and close my eyes. I wanna call Mama so bad, but I better wait till the morning. I don’t wanna get her hopes up too high. Right now all I wanna do is thank God for answering my prayers. I promise to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife, a better sister—a better everything. ’Cause this is a sign. I guess the kids musta heard me say, “Thank you, God, for blessing me and everybody in this house,” because, the next thing I know, I hear Trevor say, “Oh Lord, Mama’s getting religion on us.”

I’m the first one up. After the kids leave for school, I do everything I can possibly think of around here to make that clock move a little faster. Just get to nine o’clock, please. When it finally gets here, and I call, it turns out that only two of us picked these numbers. But what the hell: I’m still $104,000 richer! All I gotta do now is be patient, because it takes four weeks to get the money. I can wait.

I dial Mama’s number, but she ain’t home. I get her answering machine. “Mama! Mama! Hi! This is Charlotte! I know you still mad at me and everything, but forget about that. Guess what? I got a present for you! Fifty thousand dollars! You heard me! Guess who hit Little Lotto for a hundred thousand bucks? Me! Yeah, me! Call me as soon as you get this message, and don’t worry, I won’t hang up in your face. I promise. They got any room left on that cruise you going on? I ain’t never been nowhere. I might wanna go. And when you moving? I wanna buy you something for your new condo. I do. I love you, Mama, and I’m sorry for being so nasty and hanging up in your face all them times. I swear I am. I’m sorry. Truly sorry. I love you again. I been waiting a long time to do something nice for you, and I’ll finally get a chance to do it. So call me as soon as you get this message! Byeeeeee. Oh, I’m quitting the post office and selling the Laundromats, and I’m probably gon’ start my own mail-order business where I sell nothing but desserts. I’ll tell you all about it when I talk to you, but, no, I won’t, ’cause . . .”