Saving Lucas

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“This can’t be real,” he told himself as he laughed manically. There was a line of people waiting for their turns behind him; every one of them looking at him like he was butt naked in public.

He couldn’t believe what he saw. He ran his hand along his hair and laughed. He tried to eject his card out and inserted it again for the second time, checking whether the machine was broken. But there it was, one million pesos staring right at him in the face. 

“Excuse me, are you done yet?” A man in a blue shirt asked, looking pissed. 

“Shut up, tweeb,” He answered.

He looked at the screen one more time, entered the amount of twenty thousand pesos, and hurriedly pushed the withdraw button with shaking hands. A bundle of five hundred peso bills amounting to twenty thousand pesos spilled from the ATM, and he scooped every piece up.

“See you later, losers!” He yelled as he laughed manically. 

The line of people behind him went wide-eyed. They were murmuring something that was inaudible; probably wondering how the man with the cheap shirt and pants got a hold of that much money. Anton looked at them with piercing brown eyes and laughed horrendously. He took ten pieces of five hundred bills and threw them in the air like confetti. The people hurriedly scrambled for the money and picked them up, arguing with each other as they did. Anton laughed at how his world turned instantly; how he went from the scrambling rat to the man throwing cash for the scrambling rats. He turned around and bowed like a conductor in a Sydney Opera show at the people lining up at the ATM machine. He then stuffed his cash in his pocket, making sure that his pocket bulged. He wanted everyone to see how rich he was. 

He walked like a celebrity along the streets, smiling broadly. He passed by a breakfast shack and remembered that he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before. He quickly entered the shack and found a seat near the cashier. The place was empty except for a man sitting on one of the stools. After a good ten minutes, the waitress came and gave him the menu. The man sitting on the stool eyed the waitress like he’d just seen her for the first time. Anton shrugged it off and ordered the most expensive dish available; eight layers of pancake with two Hungarian sausages, bacons, two eggs, a fruit salad siding and freshly squeezed orange juice. The waitress eyed him skeptically, wondering if he really had the money to pay. Anton feigned a cough, and ran his hand along his pocket showing off the bulging cash. The waitress smiled at him broadly and thanked him for his order. As the waitress turned to hand his order slip to the kitchen, he slapped her buttock, creating a smacking sound. The waitress then looked back at him, poised to complain, but he was already waving two five hundred peso bills in his hands. The waitress just smiled and took the cash, shoving them quickly in her breast pocket. Anton leaned back on the leather seat, put his hands behind his head and whistled with his eyes closed.