The Syndicate
By Len Morgan
She didn’t really
want a job but they needed the money. Unemployment benefit barely
paid the rent it didn’t stretch to putting food on the table. She
was a good mother to her two-year-old Geoffrey and his six-month-old sister
Allyson and their well-being was her prime concern. Money had been
tight since Des got laid off when the call centre moved two months
earlier. His job went to India
Mum had promised to help
out by minding the kids while Des was attending
interviews. Her mum was a gem, they would have starved long
ago without the money and groceries she provided.
“I was just passing and I
thought you might need something from the shops,” she’d say, but she’d never
ask for or accepted any payment.
The job
wasn’t demanding, she was a computer input clerk, dealing with customers and
suppliers. It was a relief from changing nappies and clinic
visits, and mum always helped out in any way she could.
‘Same-Day
Deliveries’ was a small but successful distribution
company. Good work was rewarded so the employees were loyal
and committed. She had been there for three months and proved to
be an asset to the business. So, when a mature colleague announced she was due
for retirement, and another was promoted, in her place, Tina received an offer
of a job in Sales. It would pay more money but with it came
more responsibility. With little hesitation, she decided to take it!
“Hi Tina, I’ll be the new
Team manager starting from Monday, and you will be taking over my
responsibilities here,” Janice smiled, “don’t worry you’ll soon get into the
swing of things. Oh by the way as the newest member of the sales
team you will be responsible for running the departments’ lottery
syndicate. It’s £2 a week plus you get 10% of any winnings for
doing the job. You will need to collect the money from the
girls each week and buy the tickets on Saturday morning. There
are five members and these are our regular numbers,” Janice handed over the
list. “I’m off home now, see you tomorrow.”
It was Friday evening,
when she went to look she found all her colleagues had
gone. She was unable to collect the money for the lottery
tickets. She ran out into the car park in time to watch Janice
drive away. She wondered, should she use her own money, money
she could ill afford, to buy the lottery ticket, or should she hope they didn’t
win anything? She checked her purse; she had just enough money
to cover the cost. She didn’t want to alienate her fellow
workers before she’d even joined the team so she paid the £10 and stayed home
on Saturday.
At 6pm she sat in front
of the TV and wrote down the numbers. One by one she checked
them against the syndicate tickets. Five – yes, eleven – no,
twenty-one – yes, twenty-nine – yes, ten pounds she
thought. Thirty-seven – yes, seventy-five
pounds, forty-three – yes! Bonus number seventeen –
no. Five numbers, how much would that be she wondered? If
it’s £500 that would be £50 for her, if the winnings are £5000 10% would be
£500. She began to think about what she could do with that kind of
money. A new TV would be nice but the kids needed new shoes
for school, Des needed new tyres for his bike, and it would be really nice to
buy mum something for a change. There may even be enough over to reduce
their credit card debt, she thought.
She arrived at work
on Monday, and all her colleagues were ecstatic. Thank goodness she’d had the
foresight to buy the tickets if she hadn’t done so her name really would have
been mud!
“Hi Tina,” said Tracy
At the first
opportunity Tina slipped away to her coat and took out the Loto tickets she’d
bought. She checked the numbers again for the hundredth time
kissed them and gave herself a little hug; thinking of all the things she could
do with her winnings.
Copyright
Len Morgan
Enjoyed this. Thought it was a good, well rounded story.
ReplyDeleteShe deserved it for making an unselfish decision. Never my luck though!!
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