"You're just going to give me this money?"
He looked at me with a face of certainty. A chiseled jaw as solid as rock and eyes unflinching until he smiled.
"Thats our job. You're our future."
"Right but...you don't even know anything about me now?!"
"It doesn't matter."
Random. I didn't ask any questions. I took the money and ran. I tucked the check in my pocket and looked over my shoulder approximately every 1.5 seconds until I reached the Chase Bank in Flagstaff, or wherever. $165000. Way more than I needed. Grad school only costs 25. Grand, not dollars. (Are you fucking kidding me). I'll go to the school right here in town. Evenings, online, whatever. Just give me the degree.
I hadn't seen him in ten years. No, eleven. Since New Orleans. I almost didn't even recognize him. I'm surprised he recognized me; enough to give me over 150 grand. He worked in Las Vegas somewhere. For Hugh Hefner or something. Promoting social welfare. I didn't ask.
Then I woke up, thinking, God this could make a damn good Short Story.
In Mother Russia The Dreams Have You....
