Lost and Found

I left the third-floor office in a rush, I was late for work. The doctor said it was a mood disorder characterized by feelings of sadness, emptiness, irritability or frustration, and even angry outbursts. She said it was common with everything going on right now. The world was facing a new challenge and something almost nobody in our lifetime had seen. Pandemic. The word hit me like death. This is something you only see in movies or read about in futuristic novels. The doctor said I should try to stay off social media and stop watching the news so often. Not so easy for a 20-something to do these days.

I was barely surviving. My savings account was dwindling down, I had already asked my parents for money and even now they were stretched thin. Mom was a professor at the University and Dad was retired from the local power company. At least they still had his pension coming in. My landlord gave our building a rent break the last few months, but he said he couldn’t do it anymore and that rent would be due next month. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it.

I worked as a bartender in a dive north of downtown Albuquerque, NM. The characters that came through that place were a dime a dozen, and pretty much what you would expect. The Turquoise Mine Tavern had been around since 1946. Before that it was a pharmacy. Guess the town knew it’s drug of choice, and it still does. People need something to get them through these days. Almost the whole town has shut down. The TMT is only allowed to be open until 9 PM, and only at ¼ capacity. I was one of the lucky ones to stay on. If you can call it luck.

I missed my friends. I missed my regulars. I was a part of these people’s lives for years; some saw me every day. The only recent contact I’ve had with most of them was through various social media apps but the older regulars don’t have that. I worried about them. Were they safe? Were they taking precautions?

The TMT was only open for about 6 hours each day, I chose to work every day this week to hopefully make enough money for my rent next month. Most days there isn’t a customer until 6 or 7. I usually bring a book or my drawing pad to pass the time. I’ve been working on lettering techniques and font creations, hoping to sell a few online. But today, a few minutes after we opened, a man came in and sat down at the bar. He had dark, short hair and wore thin gold frames with a star on each side, most of his face covered by a surgical mask. He must have been in his 50’s, maybe 60.

“Hi. What can I get you?” I asked

“Uhhh.” Looking behind me to see what was on tap, “I’ll take a Coors.”

I poured his beer. “So, what are you up to today?” Making small talk like I usually did.

“I’m just stopping by for a quick one. I’m on my way to a funeral. A close friend of mine recently passed, last Tuesday-COVID”

I apologized at I placed the beer in front of him.

“One day he was fine and the next”, he made a cutting motion, “gone.”

“Oh, geeze.” I solemnly responded.

He took a drink of his beer and then looked at his watch. With the suds almost falling out of his mouth he said, “I have to go!” He threw a ten-dollar bill on the bar. “Keep it.” He said as he rushed out the door.

I poured his almost full beer down the sink and set the glass to the side to be washed. I went around to push his bar stool in. As I put it against the kickboard, I saw it there. A little black book. I picked it up and thumbed through the pages. Looked like a bunch of numbers scribbled down.

“Shoot!” I went outside to see if he was still here. The parking lot was empty. I came back inside and put the little black book in our lost and found drawer. Maybe he would come back for it later.

The rest of the day drug on, Jeopardy! at 6, local news at 8, then closing time at 9. Only three customers the whole day. Cleaning duties were easy to say the least. I counted the drawer to $200, put the $36.25 in the bank bag for deposit and pocked $22. People were generous lately. I think they know we are all struggling.

I sat down at the end of the bar with my shift drink, rum and Diet Coke. I thought about the little black book I found earlier and pulled it out of the lost and found drawer. Neatly written in black ink on the inside cover was “Fortune Favors the Bold.”

“Okaaaay…” I mumbled. Most of the pages had sequences of numbers with descriptions of places and dates. This went on for about half of the 100 page book. There must have been over a thousand number combinations in here. About 10 to 15 were underlined in red ink, the dates next to them were a few years apart. On the last page was a set of numbers, underlined in red ink, with tomorrow’s date.

Lotto numbers? I was the type of person to play the numbers that came in my fortune cookie but this was weird. This was different. There was something eerie about this book that I couldn’t put my finger on. Nevertheless, I wrote down the numbers and put the slip in my pocket. I put the book back in the lost and found and finished my drink.

I made my way to my car after locking the bar door. By now it was dark and starting to cool down. I climbed in and started the engine. I scrolled through my phone to check my messages and my email since I had gotten quite a few that day. “Junk. Junk. Junk.” I said as I swiped right. Why the hell do I get so many junk e-mails? One caught my eye. “Fortune Favors the Bold” in the subject line. Whoa. That’s weird, I thought. I opened the email. It was from some self-help guru that I subscribed to months ago. I never read those e-mails, full of the same 5 paragraphs about the steps I needed to “Take control of my life!” or “Get back on track!” But this one was different. In the body of the email was the quote again “Fortune Favors the Bold.” Nothing else.

When I got home, I thought about that day and if there was anything special about that gentleman that came into the bar that day and left that notebook. I decided that tomorrow I would get a lottery ticket with those numbers. I could afford to spend $2.

The next day, before work, I stopped at the corner Gas ‘n Go. I filled out the lotto ticket, bubbling in those numbers scribbled on my scrap of paper. I purchased an energy drink as well, I’m sure it would be another slow night.

Jeopardy! local news, closing time. Same routine. I locked the doors to the bar and started walking to my car. I noticed a dark car in the parking lot across the street. It was usually empty at this time of night. I saw a person in the front seat but couldn’t make out who it was. I hurried to my car and locked the doors as soon as I got in, looking to see if the car was still there. It was gone. Normally I wouldn’t get so spooked but lately with everything going on in the world, my guard was up.

I started for home. I was passing the Gas ‘n Go and remembered my lottery ticket. The drawing was tonight, I should check my ticket when I get home, I thought. I put it on my to-do list.

I walked through the door around 10:30. I put my stuff away, showered and changed into my pajamas. I dug the lotto ticket out of my purse and got my phone. I googled “Albuquerque Lottery Numbers for Today.” There they were on the screen, underlined in red. My numbers. I couldn’t believe it. I double checked; I triple checked; I checked again after that.

I had just won $20,000.00. I turned on the late edition news to see if they would mention a winner at the Gas ‘n Go. I must have missed it because they were nearing the end of the broadcast.

“And to end the night, we held a celebration of life for a man who was recognized in the community as a beacon of light during these dark times. He passed away last Tuesday at the age of 58 from complications due to COVID.” the announcer said.

They had a picture of him. He had dark, short hair and wore thin gold frames with a star on each side. He had the most beautiful smile.