The Little Black Book

As Ruby was pondering and praying for divine help for her two beloved sons and her seven grandchildren. The oldest and his three children had already been to court for eviction not for non-payment of rent but for a small trash pile from necessary repairs.

The landlord had harassed him as soon as he took possession of the little mobile home his grandma had left him, thankfully he failed but in due time they would have to move but it bought some time. Then there is the youngest son and his two children; after several breakups with his baby’s momma, they decided to work things out so they could be a family again. The Hurricane of 2018 displaced them as well as Ruby and her family. It had been two years, and no one was financially able to find affordable housing, the rent was too expensive, and the jobs did not pay enough to cover the cost. The pandemic was in full effect and no work was available, it was hard to get by.

Ruby always told her sons to take care of their children, they need their father in their lives and I have watched them both go through so much with their partners just to keep their children in their lives. Ruby had a lot on her shoulder, so many to take care of. Now her prayer was for them to find homes for their families. It was at the top of the list of priorities on her mind, her question was how and all she knew to do was pray. How it was going to happen again was a puzzle for Ruby.

Ruby often wondered to herself “what if I won the lottery” then I could get a couple acres of land put doublewides on them and her children and their families would have a home for the rest of their lives, it would be a place for all of them, her, and her husband. Heck she thought we could even build a small home for her mom who was getting older now and we could all be there to take care of her. It was her dream; but it was not a reality for her now.

One day Ruby and her little cousin Barb went shopping at the thrift stores; they both got a thrill out of thrift shops. They could find new stuff and they both loved finding old stuff; Ruby called them treasures from the past. While browsing Ruby came across a beautiful picture, it was a picture of a mother and her sons; in the background there was a beautiful scene of a flower garden, a huge house, a beautiful lake and the most beautiful weeping willow and wisteria trees you would ever want to see. It was like a scene out of a dream, Ruby’s dream. Ruby decided said” I am going to buy this picture because this is my reminder of what I will have one day, for me and my sons”. It cost her slim pockets quite a bit to purchase it, twenty-five dollars. To Ruby that was like the $150,000 it would cost to make her dream a reality.

It was a nice picture and exceptionally large, any larger and it would have been a little too big for the wall in her apartment, but she made a space for it. While putting the picture up Ruby saw something black tucked away in the corner of the frame, the paper on the back was so thin you could see through. Of course, curiosity killed the cat, Ruby laid the picture back on the chair, wondering what it could be. After carefully cutting the paper on the back of the picture she got it; it was a little black book. She looked through the book, whoever owned the picture owned this little black book. She found out the book belonged to a Carrie Mae Hankins. She had some scribbled writing in the book; it was a prayer on the first page and the mentioning of a dire situation that she needed help with and six numbers that were written on the last page. After a little reading Ruby found out the woman had the same situation she had and how she needed help for her sons and grandchildren.

Ruby thought about the numbers, they seemed to be Carrie Mae’s good fortune numbers or something. All Ruby knew was that the numbers brought Carrie Mae out of something because all she wrote repeatedly was “Thank You; written several times. A little voice in Ruby’s ear said, “play those numbers”. Ruby knew she played the lottery sometimes but for some reason she thought why not give it a try. Who knows this might help me get the money I need to help my sons have a home? Well Ruby started doubting herself and thought to herself this is crazy; with all the people in the world who play the lottery, what would make her so special to win and then she spoke to her thoughts and said why not! Nothing beats a failure but a try, Ruby decided she was going to go for it, something deep in her gut told to give it a try. The butterflies were overwhelming in her stomach; she was so nervous. Ruby kept saying to herself maybe just maybe as she was going into the store. She took out the little black book and filled the spaces for the lottery numbers; she paid for her ticket.

Oh, the agony of waiting to hear those numbers, she knew she needed a miracle because the court date for evictions was next week. All she kept thinking was where would her children and grandchildren live. The time for the lottery finally came. Ruby sat with excitement as they called out the numbers. She couldn’t believe it she didn’t hit all the numbers, but she did hit for three numbers and the bonus number; she was so excited dropping to her knees thanking her higher powers for blessing her to win. Ruby was excited she wanted to know how much did she win? She went to the internet and looked it up, she could not believe it she had won $500,000. Ruby was overwhelmed with thankfulness and gratitude. The next day she took the journey to the lottery payment center to get the money. First thing she did, was to find a realtor so she could bring her dream for her family to a reality.

The realtor happened to have something available, it was a beautiful piece of land big enough for Ruby, Carlos and her sons and their children to put homes, with plenty of space for all of them. It was beautiful like the home and the land in the picture with the little black book. Ruby bought the land and commenced picking out her home, while her sons picked out their homes. Ruby now understood that the lady in the picture must have gone through something similar and her life was changed by those numbers. Ruby decided that the picture would be in her beautiful new home and she neatly tucked the little black book where she had found it and hoped that one day when she was gone from this life that it would be a blessing to someone else as it had been to her and Carrie Mae.

While the movers were moving the furniture into their new home Ruby took a break and sat on the front porch with her husband Carlos while overlooking the lake; she started humming an old tune she use to hear her grandmother sing, “may not come when you want but always right on time” while deep in her heart she kept saying thank you.

THE END