Queen of Hearts

Shaina sat at the kitchen table and threw the pen she was holding down. She had just written the last check for her monthly bills. Her bank account balance was $12.18. She sighed. Just once, she wanted to have enough left over, so she could take the girls to McDonald’s for dinner. That didn’t seem like a big deal, but it would have been for her family. It had been a long time since they had been able to afford even a simple treat like McDonald's.

Her loser ex-husband had left seven years ago, right after Katie was born. Hilde was just eighteen months old. Thank God her parents had helped her get back on her feet. They watched the girls while she looked for a job, but it was during an economic downturn. The best she could do was a job as a waitress at Ellen’s Diner. So far, with the tips, she got by. She could go to a bigger, fancier restaurant for bigger tips, but Ellen’s was close to home.

Hilde walked into the kitchen with the mail.

“Mom, the school registration forms are here.”

Great, just what she needed; back-to-school supplies, clothes, fees, and shoes. Looks like McDonald's is further on the back burner. 

“Put it in the basket. I’ll look at it tomorrow.”

“I hope I get Mrs. Solomon as my teacher. Becky’s sister had her last year, and she said she was a fun teacher.”

“She comes into the diner, and she is lovely to talk to. Virginia’s daughter had her too. Let’s not think about going back to school yet. Summer vacation is in full swing.”

“I can’t wait till we go to Grandma and Grandpa’s cabin. I want to swim in the lake all day.”

“You and Katie will have so much fun with your cousins.”

“Mom, why can’t you come with?”

“Oh honey, I wish I could go, but you know I have to work. When you and Katie are gone, I work twice as much, so I have extra money to buy you stuff for school. You won't even miss me. You’ll be too busy to miss me.”

“Sometimes at night, Katie gets scared and wants you. I get in her bed and hold her tight, and she feels better.”

“Hilde, you are a good big sister. I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m going to Becky’s. Katie can come too.”

“Fine. Tell Becky's mom you should leave at 5:00.”

“Ok,” Hilde shouted as she ran out the door.

Shaina shook her head. Life was so simple when you’re a kid. Well, no sense feeling sorry for herself. Someone had to do the adulting. Time to throw in a load of laundry, and then she was going out to weed her garden. Funny how her day off was never down time.

The next day at work was very slow. Penny, the other waitress, and her, didn’t have enough customers to keep them busy. Ellen said one of them could go home. Penny volunteered, which was great for Shaina. She needed all the tips she could get.

By mid afternoon, Shaina had refilled the salt and pepper shakers, re-supplied the jelly holders and wrapped enough silverware sets to last them till the end of the week. The construction workers should be off work soon and hopefully it would pick up.

Brett Morrison was the first to arrive.

“Hi Shaina.”

“Hey there, Brett. Sit wherever you want. Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’ll have an iced tea.”

Shaina brought a menu and the tea over.

“How was your day?” She asked.

“Hot! That sun was beating down on us. Of course we were roofing.”

“That sounds horrible.”

John Turner walked in and came over to join Brett.

“Hey, John. Can I get you something to drink?” Shaina asked.

“Lemonade, lots of ice.”

“Coming right up.”

While Shaina had her back to the door getting the lemonade, Tim Watson joined the guys.

“You guys going over to the Legion tonight? Tim asked. “The kitty is up to $800,000.”

“Sheila went yesterday and filled out $50 worth of tickets with her sister,” Brett said. “They’ve been doing it every week for at least three months. It would be nice to win some dough like that.”

“You don’t get it all, do you?” John asked.

“No, I think it’s sixty percent. The other forty is split by twenty for charity, and twenty to start the next pot.” Brett said.

Shaina walked up to take their order while they were talking.

“What are you guys talking about? I heard something about tickets.”

“The Queen of Hearts raffle at the American Legion,” Tim said.

“I think I’ve heard the name, but I know nothing about it. Are you guys ready to order?”

“I’ll have a BLT Club with the fries,” Brett said.

John and Tim both ordered cheeseburgers and fries.

After entering the order into the computer, Shaina grabbed the pitchers of iced tea and lemonade and went to refill their glasses.

“Shaina, you should come over to the Legion after work and buy some tickets. They’re six for $5, or $1.00 a piece. The jackpot this week is over $800,000,” Tim said.

“I never win anything. I would be better off just keeping my $5. How do you even play?”

“There is a standard deck of cards with both jokers. The board has fifty-four pockets, and one card is put into each pocket. When you buy your tickets, you write a number on the back from one to fifty-four. If your name is drawn, they look at your number and pull the card from the pocket. You want it to be the Queen of Hearts, then you win. Any of the other three queens, you win $10,000. Just for having your name drawn, you win $100.” Brett explained.

“And if the Joker is drawn, the deck is re-dealt, and it starts over, which is why the prize gets so high.” John added.

“There must be millions of tickets in the drum. The odds have to be horrible,” Shaina said.

“The tickets are dumped out after the drawing, and the next day, people start buying them again.” Brett said.

“You stand a better chance in this game than buying a Powerball, or Mega Millions ticket. Those are multi-state.” John said.

“I’m going to check on your food. Be right back,” Shaina said.

As she walked back to the kitchen, she thought about the Queen of Hearts raffle. She’d be thrilled if she just won the $100 prize. That would come in handy for back-to-school stuff, but she didn’t have the luxury to waste $1.00 on a ticket.

She gathered up the three plates of food and delivered them to the table.

“You guys enjoy. Holler if you need anything.”

More people had wandered in, and Shaina was kept busy. She didn’t have time to think about a silly raffle.

“See ya, Shaina,” the three men called out as they left the diner.

“Bye guys. Have a good evening.” She went to their table to clear it off. She was flabbergasted when she saw they had left her a $20 bill as a tip. A note on the napkin said, COME OUT AND ENJOY YOURSELF! YOU CAN BRING THE GIRLS TOO. A smiley face was at the end.

Shaina just shook her head. The $20 could really help her stretch her budget, but maybe a little fun for one night is just what she needed. The girls would think it was fun, too. 

When Shaina got to the American Legion, the lot was already full, and people were parking on the side streets. She had no idea it would be this crowded. After parking, she took each of the girls’ hands and walked about a block. Opening the door, she was greeted by a cacophony of noises.

“Well hello, Shaina, Katie, and Hilde. Decided to try your hand at winning the jackpot?” Shaina smiled at Mrs. Zimmerman. She had been the Principal when Shaina was in grade school.

“Hello, Mrs. Zimmerman. I’ve never been here. I’m not one to gamble, but I figured I try it out once.”

“How many tickets do you want? They’re six for $5.”

Shaina hesitated, doing the math in her head. 

“Mom, we should get six tickets each. That would be $15,” Hilde said.

“Very good, Hilde,” Mrs. Zimmerman said. Hilde beamed at the accolade.

“Okay, we’ll have eighteen tickets, please,” Shaina looked at Hilde and Katie and smiled.

She handed over the $20 to Mrs. Zimmerman. With her $5 in change, she steered the girls to a table. 

“Mommy, what do we do with the tickets?” Katie asked.

“I’m going to write my name on them, and then you and Katie are going to pick which number from that board over there. We want to put the number on the back of the ticket. You can only pick the numbers that have a card in them.”

Shaina started filling out the tickets, and Hilde and Katie discussed numbers. Shaina didn’t notice Tim Watson walk up to the table.

“So you took my advice from the napkin,” Tim said, smiling at Shaina.

“I did, and thank you. You guys didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, if it got you out here, then I say it was well worth it.”

“Katie, Hilde, this is Mr. Watson.”

“Hi girls. Are you having fun?” He asked.

Katie was shy and turned her head into Shaina’s side, but Hilde was her usual bubbly self. 

“Mr. Watson, Katie and I are picking the numbers for mom’s tickets. She said that if we pick a winning card, we could go to McDonald’s for dinner. We never get to go to McDonald's, so I want mom to win.”

“That sounds like a fun time. I hope your mom wins, too,” Tim said.

Shaina gave the tickets to Hilde, and she wrote the numbers on the back.

“Katie, let’s go put them in the drum,” Hilde said. 

While the girls walked off to drop the tickets in the drum, Tim asked Shaina if he could buy the girls a soda and some popcorn.

“Look girls, Mr. Watson bought you a treat. What do we say?”

“Thank-you Mr. Watson,” they said in unison.

“You’re welcome girls.”

Katie and Hilde dug into their popcorn with gusto.

“Shaina, umm, I wanted to ask you something,” Tim said hesitantly. “I know it’s just you and the girls. I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with the girls, of course. Maybe we could go to the zoo.”

Shaina was dumbfounded at Tim’s request. She just stared at him, which made Tim nervous.

“That’s okay. Uh, I’m sure you’re busy.

Shaina shook herself out of her stupor.

“No, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hesitated like that. You just took me by surprise. I think the girls would enjoy going to the zoo.” Shaina’s smile lit up her entire face.

“Oh, thank God. My heart is beating out of my chest, and I was afraid you were going to think I was stupid for asking.”

“Tim, I’m sure you’ve heard the stories about Danny splitting after Katie was born. He just disappeared, leaving me with two kids under two. It’s a small town and people gossip. I can’t remember when I last had any male attention, so that’s what took me by surprise. I’m sure the idea of having two little girls around is enough to send a guy running for the hills.”

“Shaina I’ve…”

Tim was interrupted by Steve Handsome on the microphone.

“Ok guys, let’s settle down,” Steve said.

“It’s time to get tonight’s drawing started.”

Cheers went up all around the room.

“The jackpot tonight is $835,000.” More cheering and clapping.

“Mom, I know they’re going to pull our ticket,” Hilde said excitedly.

Shaina and Tim both smiled at Hilde.

“Tonight’s guest emcee is Sargent Cliff Hartford.”

More cheering and clapping as Sargent Hartford came up to the mic.

“Thank you, Steve. Are we ready to get a winner tonight? Again, the cheers were deafening.

Sargent Hartford spun the drum. He unhooked the latch and stuck his hand inside. He grabbed a handful of tickets and then dropped them until he had one ticket in his hand.

“Tonight’s name is Shaina Dawson.”

Hilde and Katie started screaming.

“Mom, that’s you,” Hilde stated.

Shaina was in shock. Everyone was cheering for her.

“Quiet down. Her number is twenty-six. Let’s walk over to the board and pull the card out. Good luck, Shaina.”

It was like time had stopped. Shaina couldn’t breathe. She watched Cliff turn the card around.

“It’s the joker,” Cliff said. There were cheers and groans at the same time. Shaina felt deflated.

“So, we know the cards start over with the pulling of the Joker. Strap in everyone. This is going to get wild. Congratulations Shaina.”

Shaina smiled politely, but she couldn’t figure out why she was being congratulated. The guys didn’t say what happened when the joker was pulled.

“Shaina, this is so awesome,” Tim said to her. “You should give the $20 back to John, Brett, and myself.” Tim laughed and winked at her.

Something wasn’t adding up.

“Mom, what did you win?” Hilde asked her.

“Your mom just won enough money to take you to McDonald’s every week,” Tim said to Hilde.

“Wait, Tim. Do I get a $100? You guys didn’t say if the joker was the card, what, if anything, you win?”

“I guess that would have been useful information. You didn’t win $100, you won $50,000,” Tim said.

Shaina was trying to process what Tim had just said. Sargent Hartford walked up to her and asked her to join him and Steve in the main office.

“Go ahead, I’ll keep an eye on the girls,” Tim said.

Shaina joined them in the office. I won $50,000? This would change her and the girls’ life so much for the better. Steve directed her to sit down.

“We have some paperwork for you to sign. We take twenty percent out of your winnings for federal taxes. You will receive a 1099 to file your taxes next year. Most likely, you’ll have been charged too much, and you’ll get a nice refund come April. I just need you to sign these two release documents.”

Shaina skimmed over the forms, but what did she know about legalese? She signed where it was highlighted.

“Here you go, your check for $40,000. Congratulations again,” Steve said. He shook her hand. Shaina shook Cliff’s hand on the way out.

In the hallway, Tim, Hilde, and Katie were waiting for her, along with her parents. She was happily surprised.

“Mom, Dad, how did you find out?” Shaina asked. Her parents each gave her a big hug.

“Our phones started blowing up after you won. We came right over. You deserve this so much, honey,” her mom said.

“I can’t believe I won.”

“Mom, can we go to McDonald’s now to celebrate?” Hilde asked.

Everyone laughed. “I think we can do that. Tim, would you like to join us for a celebratory dinner?” Shaina asked. “Mom, Dad, this is Tim Watson. He’s the one who convinced me to come here tonight.”

Shaina’s parents cast a slight glance at each other with a knowing smile.

“Nice to meet you, Tim,” her dad said while shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you, sir.”

“Please, that makes me feel too old.” 

Shaina’s mom hugged Tim. “I’m happy you talked my stubborn daughter into trying the raffle.”

“Now, who’s ready for McDonald’s?” Shaina asked.

“Me!” Hilde and Katie said together.

“Girls, tomorrow we are going to go shopping for back-to-school clothes.”

“Yay!”

Shaina wasn’t rich by any means, but just having a little nest egg to fall back on was going to help her sleep better at night. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and for the first time in seven years, she felt a sense of peace. She wasn’t sure where Tim was going to fit into her life. She looked over at him as they walked to their cars. Tim was looking at her, too, and his smile sent a little flutter to her heart. Yeah, life was looking up.