Life After the Lottery

I am trying to work faster, I promise! Hang in there, more to come. Copyright LATL, 2019

Life after the Lottery, CH. 63

We go look at limos

Lori and I were having dinner in town on Wednesday night discussing our upcoming trip on Friday.

"You want to come and stay at the house tomorrow, so you don't have to drive in so early?" I asked.

"Since we are leaving at 4:30 in the morning that may be a good idea," Lori said. "Is Samantha still going?"

"She can't wait."

"Good."

"Next week plan on staying at the house since we have to be at the airport at 6:00 Friday morning."

"James, last week when I was at the house, I heard Samantha talking to Dawn about the four of you being married now. What is going on?"

"Well, the four of us married each other Labor Day."

"How does that work?"

"Dawn and I consider Amy and Samantha our wives now. It's working out very well."

"I see. How does that work with Dawn?"

"Lori, I think you know how it works. We all have sex with each other."

"Dawn...and the girls...?"

"Yes, they have sex with each other."

"I see. Sounds interesting."

"Lori, we all love each other very much. And, we all know that we can have some fun too."

"Hmmm."

We discussed our plans for the coming weekend and the next when we would be going to California. About 8:00 we finished and Lori went home while I headed back to the house. When I got there, I found the girls out back in the pool.

"Did you two get everything set up?" Dawn asked.

"Yes, she is going to spend the night tomorrow so we can leave early."

"Great," Samantha said.

"We will be getting up very early, Samantha, so make sure you get some sleep."

"I'll go to bed when I get home from my lab."

"Uh, huh."

"Join us."

I took my clothes off and got in the pool with them until about 9:30.

*****

Dawn and I were showering before we went to bed.

"Sam said she told you that Lori is probably more into girls," Dawn said.

"That's what she said."

"I don't think she is totally into women."

"We have a busy weekend ahead of us."

We had dried off and gotten in the bed, and I turned the lights off.

"Wait!" I heard Amy yell from the hall.

I turned the lights back on, and she came in with Samantha, and they got in bed with us.

"Okay," Amy said.

I turned the lights off, and Samantha rolled toward me and laid her arm over my chest.

"Do you two want to sleep in here all the time?" Dawn asked.

"Not all the time," Amy said.

*****

Thursday morning we were up, and Amy was heading out to school after breakfast. Sherri and Brenda were still meeting with Linda all week.

"Is it okay if we sleep with you every night?" Samantha asked.

"Of course, it is," I said. "The bed is big enough."

"Dawn?"

"Sure, you know it is, but, I think we should respect that one of us may want some alone time with each other," Dawn said.

"Okay," Samantha replied.

"What do you need to have ready for next week?" I asked Samantha.

"I'm good. I have a biology test Wednesday."

"What about Monday?"

"My afternoon class, but I can skip it."

"We will be back by then," I told her.

"How long of a drive is it?"

"About five hours," I said.

*****

Amy came in about noon.

"This Anatomy class is killing me," she said as she sat at the bar.

"You have a whole year of it," Dawn told her.

"I know, but looking at pictures and trying to learn all the muscles and things is hard."

"I thought your class was going to spend time in the cadaver lab?"

"We were supposed to, but they said it was full of med students."

"Oh...really," Dawn said.

"That is what they said."

Dawn picked up her cell phone and called someone.

"Hi, President Wells, this is Dawn Smith..."

"I'm doing fine, thank you. I just found out that my graduate nurses are being bumped from the cadaver lab by the med students..."

"I see...so what you are telling me is my nurses are not a priority? I see..."

"So get some more dead bodies..."

"I don't need your doctors to cut them up...I'll do it..."

"Oh, I believe I can..."

"The cadavers cost too much?...oh...I don't think they cost $100,000,000 do they, President Wells?"

"Yes, I would..."

"Send the bill to the med school..."

"That will be fine as long as my nurses have their own cadavers by next week. Yes, I think two will be enough. Thank you, President Wells." Dawn hung up.

"Fucking, dick head."

"Did you just hold Linda's money over his head?" I asked.

"No, actually, I held him by his balls."

Amy snickered.

"Dawn..."

"It wasn't him, he said they got two cadavers in, and the med students commandeered them. He didn't want to buy two more," Dawn said.

"Are you going to carve them up?" I asked.

"Sure, why not. I don't need a doctor to do it."

"Yuk," came from Amy.

"Yuk, my ass, young lady! You and the rest of the nurses will be doing most of the cutting," Dawn told her. "I'll just be pointing."

"What if the med students steal these?" Amy asked.

"Then we will have some fresh bodies to practice on!"

Amy laughed.

"It won't happen, I'll make sure of that," Dawn said. "Tell your class and teacher you will have a real lab from now on. If they want to catch up some nights, let me know if your teacher can't make it."

The washing machine buzzed and Dawn went to check on it.

"Does she really know how to cut up a dead body?" Amy asked.

"Oh, yes. She used to go to labs in the summer where they did that."

"Yuk."

"You better be careful, or I know where you and your sister will be spending your summers."

"Sam would love it."

"You better learn to like it."

"I don't have a problem with a live body."

I started fixing us some sandwiches when Samantha came in.

"Good, you can eat with us," I said.

She came and sat at the bar with us. Dawn came back from the laundry room and sat.

"Did you really spend your summers cutting up dead bodies?" Amy asked.

"Sure did," Dawn said. "I even worked part-time in the Medical Examiner's office."

"That sounds cool!" Samantha exclaimed.

"You would say that," Amy said.

"Dawn, why didn't you just become a doctor?" Samantha asked.

"Economics. If we hadn't won the lottery, I would still be paying off nursing school."

"Oh."

"But, Sam, if that is something you want to do, then do it. Money is not a problem," I said.

"Okay. Where did you go to cut up bodies in the summer?" Samantha asked.

"The university has labs in the summer for med students that are falling behind."

"Can I go to one!?"

"After you have had your year of Anatomy and Physiology."

"Rats!"

"You're sick," Amy said.

"Or...you can convince me you would know what you were doing," Dawn told her.

"Deal!" Samantha exclaimed. Amy frowned at her sister.

We all ate lunch for a while and talked.

"I'll be home early tonight, we have a lab test," Samantha said.

"Take your time," Dawn said.

"They let me and Rick start first, so we don't have to wait on everyone."

"I remember those days," Dawn said.

"Did you fuck up the curve too?" Samantha asked.

"Yes!" Dawn said, and they laughed.

Amy and Samantha sat in the den and talked and studied until Samantha left at 5:30 to get an early start. Dawn and I had been washing clothes all afternoon.

Dawn dropped a load of clothes on the sofa next to Amy.

"You better be studying since I am washing your clothes," Dawn told her.

"I am. I have a test tomorrow."

"Come by my office after your class in the morning," Dawn told her.

"Are you going in early?"

"Yes, I need to put the word out that nobody touches my bodies," Dawn said. "Oh, if you want some advice, where some long underwear under your scrubs when you go to the cadaver lab, it's cold in there."

"I don't have any."

"Stop tomorrow and pick up some. Get a pair for your sister too."

"Where can I get them in the summer?"

"Go to the place you get your scrubs, they will have some. A lot of nurses wear them in the operating rooms."

*****

After the three of us ate dinner, Amy took her computer and went upstairs.

"She seems to be having to study hard," I said.

"She is just getting back into the swing of things. Her instructors say she is doing very well."

"Are you checking up on her?"

"Yes. It's hard starting graduate school."

"I talked to John yesterday, he wanted to make sure Samantha was keeping up in school since she has been in several of his surgeries," I told Dawn.

"Sam is fine...she is so smart."

"She reminds me of someone," I said.

"Who?"

"You. Do you regret not going to med school?"

"No. If I had, I couldn't be doing what I am doing now. Everything works out for a reason."

"I guess, but I don't have ancestors to tell me that," I said.

"Do you have regrets?" Dawn asked.

"I wish I could still have a clinical practice, though I had one for a few years, now I can teach more effectively."

"Is that what you want to do now?"

"As soon as things settle down I want to get back to teaching and counseling students."

"Any other regrets?" Dawn asked.

"I don't guess so."

"Are things going to settle down soon, James?"

"By spring the new businesses should be up and running themselves."

"I hope so."

"I'm sorry I have been so busy. I started too many projects."

"That's okay, they just came up. What about the men's store?"

"As soon as we get back from the limo visits, Linda and I are going to get that underway. I think she is wanting to get involved in it."

"I thought you and Sam were going to go in with that guy from New York?"

"We are, but Linda wants to make sure it is upscale like her store. I'll let her run with it if that is what she wants to do."

"Good. I don't want you tied up with that next year."

"Have you got plans for next year?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"You don't know because you are waiting for an answer to something?"

"Maybe. I don't know what this change is that is coming."

"Honey, is it something big?"

"I don't know yet."

"I'm sure whatever it is we can handle," I said.

"I hope so."

Later, Dawn went upstairs and came back with her portable and sat on the sofa while I did some reading. She was quiet as she typed until Samantha came in about 7:30.

"How did you do?" I asked.

"I'm sure I aced it. I didn't see Lori's car?"

"She will be here about 9:00," I said.

Samantha sat down next to Dawn and looked over her shoulder.

"What are looking at?" She asked Dawn.

"Just some research," Dawn said and closed her computer. "How did you do on the test?"

Samantha looked at Dawn for a moment.

"I did fine."

"Good. Get some sleep tonight."

Dawn put her computer on the table and got up and went to the kitchen and got a glass of wine and came back a few minutes later.

"How did you do on your test?" She asked Samantha as she sat down.

"I did fine..."

Dawn sat and sipped her wine as Samantha looked up at me. I looked at Dawn and knew her mind was someplace else.

A bit later Dawn picked up her computer and went upstairs.

"Is she okay?" Samantha asked.

"I think her head is someplace else."

"It must be."

Amy came down about 8:30 and joined us.

"What's Dawn doing?" Amy asked. "She is in her study upstairs with a bunch of books out going through them. I stopped and asked, but she acted like she didn't hear me."

"You two, Dawn told me her ancestors told her a change is coming. She doesn't know what it is, and I think it is troubling her."

"What does a change mean?" Amy asked.

"One time when she said they told her a change was coming, we won the lottery a few months later."

"Did she know that was what it would be?" Samantha asked.

"No. She told me that a few months before...before you two came into our lives, but she said that is not what it was."

"Is that why she needs to go back to the reservation?" Amy asked.

"I guess. Her great-grandmother knows something."

"What is it?"

"Dawn has to find that out herself. Listen, don't quiz her about this, she has enough on her mind right now," I said.

Just before 9:00, Lori buzzed herself through the gate. Samantha went to the door and waited for her.

"Hi, Lori," Amy said when she came in.

"You want some wine?" Samantha asked.

"Sure."

Samantha got her some wine, and we all talked until about 10:00.

"Lori, I need to get Samantha and me to bed," I said.

"No problem."

"Let me show you to the bedroom down here," Amy said and got up and led Lori to the big bedroom.

Samantha and I headed upstairs. Dawn was still in her study when I walked into it.

"What are you working on?" I asked.

"Doing some research," she said as she closed her books. "Is it time for bed?"

"It's 10:00. I thought I would get Samantha to bed early."

"You too."

"Are you coming?"

"Yes, I need to be at the school early before the med students have their morning lab."

Dawn got up from her desk and walked out of her study, and I followed her to our bedroom. Samantha was sitting on the bed, waiting. Dawn and I got undressed and got in the bed. Samantha got in next to Dawn. Amy came in a few minutes later and got in next to me, and I turned off the lights.

About 15 minutes later...

"Sam, what are you doing?" Dawn asked.

"Nothing."

"I know you mean well, but that is not polite," Dawn said.

"Sorry."

"Honey, being concerned about how I feel is one thing, but trying to dig deep into my feelings...you shouldn't be doing," Dawn said.

"Sorry."

"Go to sleep," Dawn said.

*****

"Time to get up," I heard Dawn say.

I hadn't heard the alarm go off.

"I turned the alarm off so it wouldn't wake Amy," Dawn said.

"Were you up all night?"

"No. Let me wake Sam up, and you can get out on this side. Sam, wake up."

I heard Samantha groan.

"Up."

Samantha finally set up as I turned the lights up a little.

"Take a quick shower and wake up," Dawn said as she got out of the bed.

"Come on," I told Samantha as I got up.

The two of us took a quick shower and were drying off.

"What were you doing last night?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Sam..."

"I was trying to see if I could tell what was going on in Dawn's head."

"Don't do that. I don't even do that."

"Sorry."

Samantha headed to her room to get some clothes while I got dressed.

"I went and checked on Lori, she is up," Dawn said as she stood there naked.

"When we get back, make sure you talk to Samantha. She is concerned about you."

"I will. Be careful." Dawn kissed me and got back in bed with Amy.

I got dressed and turned off the lights on my way out of the bedroom.

When I got downstairs, the light was on in the big bedroom. I walked to the door, and Lori was packing her bag.

"You want some breakfast?" I asked.

"Not this early."

"Okay, we will grab something on the road. Samantha doesn't like eating early either."

Samantha came down a few minutes later.

"I forgot to pack my makeup bag," she said as she held it in her hand.

"Grab Lori's bag and take it to the Escalade."

"Good morning, Samantha," Lori said as she came out.

"Let me take your bag."

Samantha went out the front door.

"We'll get some coffee," I said. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes, that bed is huge, and I love the silk sheets."

"Did you bring your computer?"

"I need to get it out of my car."

"We are packed," Samantha said, coming back in.

"Do you have your computer?"

"Do I need it?"

"Yes."

Samantha grabbed her computer and stuck it in her computer bag.

"Let's go," I said as I grabbed my computer bag.

"I'll sit in the back so you two can talk," Samantha said.

We all got in the Escalade and headed out and stopped at the gas station before we got on the interstate and filled up and grabbed some coffee.

*****

About 6:00, we went through a McDonald's and grabbed some breakfast and got back on the interstate.

"Samantha, look in the back, there are some rolled up papers," I said.

"This long roll?"

"Yes. Hand it to Lori."

Samantha passed the roll up to Lori.

"Lori, unroll that, it is a drawing of a stretch limo."

She worked at unrolling the drawing.

"I got that back from Sam, and he should have made some notes on it about where he thinks cameras should go. See what you think."

Lori looked at the drawing while Samantha looked over her shoulder.

"On this eight-passenger, he has a camera marked above the driver's glass, and one above the backseat. Are they wide angle enough to get everything?" Lori asked.

"Yes. Where did he put the microphones?"

"It looks like he has them next to the cameras."

"What is this upfront?" Samantha asked, pointing.

"We are going to have them mount a small LCD monitor up front."

"So, you can watch?" Samantha asked.

"Sure," I said.

"I hope the driver keeps his eyes on the road," Lori said.

"Once the screen is split and has both cameras showing on it, it will be pretty small. It is just to make sure the cameras are working," I said.

"Where is the recorder?" Lori asked.

"In the trunk. We think the one we are going to use is a little too big to put up front. I have one in the back so we can get some ideas."

"James, what is the cost for the video setup?" Lori asked.

"Sam is suggesting some high-end cameras and recorders. It will be less than $3,000 per limo. More for the party buses because they will have more cameras."

"Are you planning on putting a system in every vehicle?" Lori asked.

"What's your opinion?"

"I don't think we need it in the eight town cars."

"Probably not," I said.

"Yes for the four, eight, and stretch Hummers," she said.

"We need to make sure we can get blueprints for each vehicle for Sam. Make sure we tell them that several times, so they know if they are selected, we can get them."

"Are we planning on the manufacturer installing the video systems?" Lori asked.

"That is something we will need to decide. If we don't think they can do it, Sam can go see them and teach them how to install the wire, and he can finish the installations here."

"That will take time, James. Will, it put us behind schedule?"

"That is my concern. We need to factor into our decision how competent we think they are to do the install."

"Maybe Sam can teach them to install everything," Lori said.

"That may be best."

"The company in St. Louis seemed to think installing the cameras and equipment wouldn't be a problem."

"Good."

"I'm already leaning toward the St. Louis company. They have Cadillac, Lincoln, Chryslers, and Benzs for limos. The California company doesn't have Lincolns. I like the Lincoln Town Cars."

"I do, too, but we will need to look over the big Benzs and the Cadillacs."

"How big are the party buses?" Samantha asked.

"They have a ten, fifteen, and twenty passenger ones. We will get at least one of each."

"Cool."

"James, where are your plans on getting an up-armored limo?" Lori asked.

"That will come later. Next month we have a meeting with a security company that can provide armed drivers and security," I said.

"What does it cost to have an armed driver and security guard?" Samantha asked.

"To have both, at least $2,500 for every eight hours."

"Wow."

"That's cheap," Lori said.

"It starts at that price. If a trailing van is needed, add about $10,000 for every eight hours."

"Are we just getting one van?" Lori asked.

"For now."

We discussed other things as we drove for a few more hours.

"James, can we stop for a break?" Samantha asked.

"Sure."

We pulled off at the next exit and took a break and got some munchies and drinks.

"This company also does an executive Escalade," Lori said as she got back in ours.

"I saw that. They put in two sets of facing seats."

"Maybe we should swap one of the town cars for one of those," Lori said.