Chapter 3
Then inspiration struck. I threw myself across Dave’s body, wailing. “Baby, what are we going to do? If we don’t get you cremated before 11 AM, your soul won’t find peace!
The other families in the waiting room turned to stare.
1 dropped to my knees, clasping my hands. “In my grandmother’s culture, there’s a belief that cremation has to happen before 11 AM, or the soul can’t cross over. Please. I’m begging you could we possibly go ahead of you?”
Some looked sympathetic, others skeptical, most just uncomfortable.
I pulled out my phone. “I’ll send each family ,000 through Venmo right now.”
Money talks. They agreed immediately.
After transferring the cash, I wheeled Dave toward the cremation chamber.
I noticed his middle finger twitching. Still trying to flip me off, even at the end.
I leaned down and whispered, “Scared now, aren’t you? Should’ve thought about this before you
decided to screw me over.”
The crematorium technician asked me to wait in the lobby.
I pressed a thousand–dollar bill into his hand. “Please, let me stay with my husband until the very
end.”
“Rest in peace, darling,” I said sweetly as I helped slide him into the chamber and hit the ignition
button.
The flames roared to life.
Moments later, the doors burst open.
Carol and Mike had made it.
When Carol saw the flames through the chamber window, she collapsed in a dead faint.
Nightc
80.3%
“Shut it down! He’s not dead? Mike showed, rushing toward the control.
*Lacuse me?” I said sharply.
Yosve the one who pronounced him dead and signed the death coificate..
Now you’re saying he’s alive? Want to explain that to me?”
Mike froze, trembling
He never saw dds coming
*1…. 1 just meant…. he’ll always be alive in our hearts,” Mike backpedaled desperately
He knew he was looking at serious jail time if he admitted what he’d done.
His medical license would be toast.
“Lady, you had me worried there for a second,” the technician said.
“Though even if he was alive going in, he sure ain’t now.”
Suddenly, Dave’s arm shot up inside the chamber.
I jumped.
“Don’t worry about that,” the technician said casually.
“Just muscle contractions from the heat. Happens all the time.”
“Oh, thank goodness!”
Mike and I both knew better.
That was Dave’s final struggle.
Mike doubled over and threw up.
The guilt of being an accessory to murder was hitting him hard.
“You okay there, doc?” I asked innocently.
80.5%
“L. I can’t.” he gasped, collapsing to his knees.
Mike took Carel back to the hospital.
I collected Dave’s ashes and his belongings, then headed straight to my mom’s place in Henderson.
When I saw her. I broke down in tears and hangged her tight
In my previous life. Mom had sold her house to help me pay off Dave’s debts.
She worked herself to death, doing double shifts at the diner and cleaning houses.
I had failed her then. Never again.
“Mom, once everything’s settled, we’re going to live together.”
Dad had passed when I was young, and Mom had raised me solo, working three jobs to put me through college.
She made my favorite meatloaf with mac and cheese–comfort food she rarely splurged on anymore.
Over dinner, she mentioned something interesting.
She’d bought a Mega Millions jackpot ticket last week–just a quick pick with a 4x multiplier.
But the clerk had misheard and printed it as 40x.
She’d left it on the coffee table, but it had vanished.
Yesterday, she saw on the news that someone had won 0 million with a ticket from that same
store.
“Probably was my lucky ticket,” she chuckled sadly. “But what can you do? I’m just getting forgetful in my old age.”
My heart stopped. I pulled out the ticket and checked the store number. It matched the convenience store near Mom’s house.
“Mom, I found your ticket. We won.”
“We actually won 0 million.”
80.7%
side of Volvot Nights
Chapter 3
Mom put on her reading glasses with shaking hands.
“Are you serious? This is really happening?”
“It’s real, Mom.”
Now I remembered–Dave and I had been over for Sunday dinner.
While Mom and I were cooking, I’d heard Dave shout excitedly from the living room.
The bastard had stolen my mother’s winning lottery ticket.
Some people deserve what they get.
When I asked him what happened, he stammered and said he’d just landed a big client.
But now I realized–he must have seen my mom’s lottery ticket, checked the numbers, and realized it was the winning ticket.
That’s why he was so excited.
That bastard stole my mom’s ticket and left me drowning in debt.
“Mom, I can’t keep this money.”
“If I claim it, it’ll become marital property, and my mother–in–law will try to take a cut.”
“You should claim it instead. I’ll ask you for money when I need it.”
“Alright, I’ll do it,” my mom agreed.
After dinner, I went back to my house.
.
The front door was slightly ajar, and the lock had been broken.
“I can’t find it anywhere,” I heard a woman’s voice–it was David’s high school sweetheart, Sarah.
“Keep looking,” my mother–in–law said anxiously.
They were looking for the lottery ticket.
Cubot Nights