Free Dumb Luck by Lesley Choyce

But I’d come to the end of Mr. Carver’s list and didn’t want to dig further.

chapter fifteen
    My head was spinning when I went to bed and I had another night of not being able to sleep. I was a little ticked off at Carver for wanting to rain on my parade. None of that bad stuff would happen to me. I wouldn’t let it happen.
    But it was starting to sink in. I was going to have to use my head. I’d been coasting most of my life. I had never had to look out for my back. And I also had never tried too hard at anything. Never really put my full brain to work.
    And I’d been okay with that.
    But maybe it wasn’t going to work like that anymore.
    Maybe having a pile of money was itself like some kind of job. Maybe even a difficult job that you had to work at.
    I had a free period in the morning and dropped by Mr. Carver’s office. I owed him that for cutting me some slack.
    â€œHow’s the life of the rich and famous?” he asked.
    â€œI’m learning the ropes.”
    â€œGood. You look up those names?”
    â€œOh, yeah. Man, those people had some bad luck.”
    â€œMaybe it was bad decisions.”
    â€œI don’t know. It didn’t seem that way. Some of those people were trying very hard to do the right thing. Even they got screwed.”
    â€œYou got a plan for avoiding the pitfalls?”
    â€œNo plan. But I’m getting a few theories.”
    â€œLike?”
    â€œLike going slow.”
    â€œBrilliant. I agree.”
    â€œLike using my head.”
    â€œI like it even better.”
    â€œTrouble is, I’m starting to see how every good thing I might want to do could go wrong. Every smart thing I could do might come back and bite me in the ass. So maybe why not just go with the flow and see what happens?”
    â€œGo with the flow,” Carver said sarcastically. “Now there’s a plan.” And he just stared at me.
    I didn’t particularly like the way that made me feel. “What would you do with the money?” I tossed back at him.
    â€œI can’t answer that. I wouldn’t have bought the lottery ticket in the first place.”
    â€œWhat if someone had bought it and given it to you—like a birthday present—and then you won?”
    â€œI would have burned the ticket and told no one that I’d won.”
    â€œI don’t believe it,” I said. He had to be bullshitting me.
    He laughed. “Okay. You got me. I don’t know what I’d do. Maybe I’d be tempted to take it.”
    â€œAnd you really wouldn’t quit your job?”
    â€œNope. I like my job. I told you that. Anyway, this is not about me. It’s about you.”
    Mr. Carver was back to being a little too cocky. I was feeling devilish. “Suppose I decide to start giving money away to people—anyone I want to. Just for the hell of it?”
    â€œWhy do that?”
    â€œJust because I can. Maybe it’ll do some good.”
    â€œOr harm. You read about Jackson and Stermer. I’m sure there were others.”
    â€œWhat if I wanted to give you $20,000? Just for the hell of it?”
    â€œWhy would you do that?”
    â€œâ€™Cause I wanted to. Would you accept it?”
    â€œNo. I have principles.”
    â€œI’m not sure I believe you.”
    â€œBrandon, I can see that, in one way, this whole thing has got your brain engaged. I don’t know you really well, but it seems to me like you’ve been sleepwalking through school the whole time you’ve been here.”
    I felt a chill run down my spine because that was so true. That was exactly the way school had felt to me.
    â€œBut now you’re awake. You are fully aware. You’re just a tad confused.”
    â€œYeah, I know that. But maybe it’s something in the stars. Maybe I was supposed to win the money. Maybe it’s just the beginning of a lucky streak.”
    â€œAin’t no such thing as a lucky