Serendipity...?

Today my life completely changed, and all because of a little black book.

It’s not every day that a postal worker from Chicago, Illinois, comes into millions of dollars virtually overnight. That’s what makes this all so strange. But let me start from the beginning.

It all started 5 weeks ago. It was a regular day, like any other, as I was making my rounds delivering all the letters and packages to the houses on my route. The regulars stopped to chat and ask about my day. Others just said ‘thanks’ and closed the door. I don’t mind all that much, it makes the day go quicker. Though, I did get to meet Mrs. Albertson’s new dog, a gorgeous 6-month-old black Labrador that will be getting daily treats from me.

During my excursion down Michigan Avenue, my cart lost one of its wheels. I sighed knowing my shoulders and back would be aching by the end of the day. As I bent down to inspect the damage, I noticed a small black notebook lying in the street. It looked new, barely-used and in good condition. It wasn’t dirty, even though it had been lying in the street. I reached down to pick it up I saw that the pages inside were lightly creased and covered in scribbles and notes. There was no name inside the cover, but the scribblings inside looked like the book belonged to some sort of scientist. The notes were thorough but messy, almost analytical in their design.

I shoved the book into my pocket and carried on with my day. I’d find out who it belonged to later. The hours passed, so did the houses and soon I forgot about the small leather-bound wad of pages in my coat.

When I got home, tired and aching from the day of wandering the streets, I tossed my coat aside and heard a small thunk. I turned and saw the book lying next to my boots, that were now covered in a light layer of mud and dust, on the floor.

I scooped up the book and flung myself into the armchair in the corner of my apartment.

Turning pages carefully, I examined the information contained within. It must’ve been the third time I’d read it that I suddenly noticed the name Coby White a few pages in. I realised at that moment that this particular page was referring to the Chicago Bulls, but the game it was referring to hadn’t even happened yet. It was dated for two days later. Reading further, the whole book was filled with future sporting events, horse and motor races. All of which the owner seemed to have tried to predict the outcomes for.

I tried to put the book aside for the night, intending to just take it into the office tomorrow to figure out who it belongs to, but I just couldn’t put it out of my mind. Something about it seemed intriguing. It couldn’t hurt to place one small bet, just to see if whoever wrote this thing knew what they were on about. I found the game online and looked up the odds. To bet on the Chicago Bulls, it was 100/1 odds on them winning. And yet something told me to do it. I decided to go for it and place $100 on the Chicago Bulls, with Coby scoring the winning shot.

The next day was just the same as any other. I made my rounds, chatted to the regulars, made my deliveries, and headed home. I relaxed, had a beer, and watched the latest episode of Stranger Things. Once that was done I went to bed, ready for the following day. My usual routine.

When I awoke, something felt different, tense almost. I thought maybe because it was a Friday, I had tomorrow off, but no that wasn’t it. It was bigger than that. More important.

It was around quarter past two in the afternoon when I realised that I still had the book in my pocket, then I remembered. The bet. The game was today, in less than two hours. I practically sprinted the final three streets of the day. Eager to get home and watch the game. I raced home, threw my jacket across the room, kicked off my shoes, and leapt into my armchair, and it was there in that chair that I saw the winning point.

“Chicago Bulls take home the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy with an immaculate three-pointer from Coby White –“

I didn’t hear much of what they said after that. I was in shock. I figured it must’ve been a coincidence. That whoever wrote this, had just gotten lucky, and I just had the good sense to agree with it. I decided to put this to the test. The next entry was about a Chicago Bears game happening tomorrow. I don’t know much about football at all, so this was a real test of blind faith. Now this next game. This was where it was win or lose, because the odds of the Bears winning was 350/1. For this I took the view ‘go big or go home’, I’d already won $10,000 that I didn’t have yesterday, what would it hurt to bet $3,000 of it. If I lost I was still $7,000 better off than before, and if I won, I’d get over 1 million dollars.

Saturday couldn’t come soon enough. All day I tried to keep busy, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the game, waiting for the clock to tick down to the kick off. No matter what I did I couldn’t focus.

Eventually, the game started, it was going well enough, for the first 10 minutes. But then the Jacksonville Jaguars scored their first goal, then their second, and their third. By the halftime mark, they were up 17-0. Maybe it was just a one-time stroke of luck. With the hope I had all but gone, I went to tidy up.

I was in the kitchen doing the dishes when I heard the commentator, “The Chicago Bears are pulling it back at an amazing speed! This is amazing. If they keep this up they might just win this!”

Soap bubbles and water went everywhere as I sprinted back to the television, hurdling over the coffee table in the process. The thick rubber gloves dripping onto the carpet, creating a wet, soapy mark on the thick shag. Goal after goal the Bears closed the gap until both teams were level. The minutes were ticking away and no one had pulled into the lead, tensions were high in the crowd and among the commentators, but they were highest in this small apartment overlooking Millennium Park. In the final 30 seconds, quarterback, Nick Foles, threw one heck of a field goal, bringing the final score to 17-20 in favour of the Bears. I jumped up in excitement with such vigour that I knocked over the armchair and an end table. I had just won $1,050,000. As the realisation set in, I just stood in the middle of the room for, actually, I don’t know how long I was stood there in shock.

From that moment on I continued to bet on the events detailed in the book, every single one of them, and each one of them was a winner. I was betting big and winning even bigger. In just two short weeks I had amassed over $50,000,000.

I bought myself a big new house in River North with all new furniture, though I kept my trusty armchair, I bought a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and all the new tech I’d had my eye on but could never afford. I was also looking into buying my own company to keep the money flowing.

I’d quit my job as a postal worker once I’d accrued the first $7,000,000.

Life was amazing and I even had enough of an overflow that my mother and sister benefitted. I helped them upgrade their houses, and I invested in my sister’s home-grown company so that she could renovate and get it off the ground.

Just as I was getting everything in order and narrowing down my options, I found a note left under the wiper of my car:

You have something that belongs to us. Return it or face the consequences…

I figured this was just some scam from someone trying to blackmail some money out of me. I decided it was best to just ignore it.

Today, however, I got the feeling that someone was following me on my way to a meeting, but every time I turned around there was no one there, at least, no one who stood out to me. That’s when I found the second note under the wipers of my car:

We are giving you another chance to give back what doesn’t belong to you.

Follow our instructions and no one gets hurt.

Leave the package in a nondescript envelope under the bench on the west side of the Buckingham Fountain at 3 pm.

I looked at my watch. 2:14 pm. That meant I had 46 minutes to formulate a plan and get to the fountain.

I decided I was going to wait and confront my blackmailer to find out what they wanted.

It got to 3:08 pm and people were passing around me. Children playing in the fountain, couples and friends lounging on the grass in the sun, and people reading on the benches. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a rough, low voice behind me, “You were just supposed to leave it under the bench. Where is the package?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is it that you think I have?”

There was an exasperated sigh and I figured enough is enough. I turned around to face him. He was an unassuming man, dressed in black jeans, a white shirt with the top few buttons undone revealing a large gold chain, and a black leather jacket. “What do you want from me?” I probed. “The book!” He snarled, “You have our book. The boss is quite unhappy about this. And now, because you haven’t followed our instructions, you get to meet him.”

Thwack! Just then I got a blow to the head that knocked me out cold.

When I came to I was tied to a chair with a bag over my head. I thought this type of thing only happened in movies. As they removed the bag the light seared my eyes. As they began to adjust I saw three men standing in front of me, the one in the middle is who I spoke to in the park, and the other two could’ve been mistaken for clones. Suddenly, the chair spun around and I was face to face with an exceptionally large man. It was clear, this was the big boss.

“Alexander Carlton. My boys tell me you’ve got something that belongs to me, and have ignored our instructions to return it. Now, this leaves you with two options; the first is to return our book to us and all you have acquired from it, the second is to refuse. However, if you refuse, we will be forced to take action. That action will prove very… unpleasant, to your family. You see, we can’t have people taking advantage of us. It makes us look… weak. That can’t happen. If people think we’re weak, then that creates problems, lack of order. We have a reputation to maintain here. It’s what we do here in the Mafia. So, we’ll give you 24 hours to make your decision. Choose wisely.”

As he finished speaking I got another blow to the head.

I awoke back in my apartment, thinking that I’d had some strange dream. That is until I saw the note on my bedroom mirror.

‘Make your choice, or say goodbye to your family.’

Today my life completely changed, and all because of that little black book.