Knock, knock, knock”

C’mon in, door’s not locked,” Floyd hollered. “Oh, it’s you, should have known, well, now that you’re in get a cup a joe and find a chair.”

Where’s the damned day old doughnuts, I know you hid them somewhere I couldn’t find them,” Russ said.

You know, Russ, you’re just like a bear, can smell the doughnuts from outside. Left side of the microwave, before you ransack the house,” Floyd replied. “Haven’t seen you for a few days, what’s up?”

Oh, I’ve been staying pretty close to home, remember that cough I had a few days ago? Well, it got worse and I stopped by the clinic, doc recommended an x-ray and said I had pneumonia. Gave me some antibiotics and a couple days rest and now I’m back to training to take Muhammad Ali,” Russ boasted.

With that Floyd spit his coffee all over the keyboard and almost choked from the contained laughter. “Yeah right,” when Floyd could talk again.

I guess now that you are the big time lottery winner and property owner you’ll be looking at a new F-150,” Russ remarked.

Floyd said, “Well, there’s a little more to it than that, pardner. Here’s where we’re at. Rather than transfer the deed to the church and retransfer it to me, Chuck, the preacher and I decided to just transfer it from Chuck to me and eliminate the church. Church got the money anyway so they were happy.”

Russ agreed, “Sounds like a simple way, save some time and probably some money.”

Well, that’s where things kind of broke down,” Floyd said. “We’re at the county courthouse and it seems that the taxes have to brought up to date by the seller. No big problem, right? Only the taxes are $300 and Chuck doesn’t have any money. Chuck complains about how high they are and the clerk explains they haven’t been paid for 3 years, a $100 a year.”

Whoa,” says Chuck, “my wife always took care of our business stuff, she would have paid them.” Chuck looks at Floyd for help.

Well, now we see a problem, I’m in for a grand,” says Floyd, looking at Russ. “If I pay the $300 I have $1300 invested but it looks like I have no choice. I pony up the three big ones so we can get on with the transaction. Mission accomplished.

Then the registrar says, There’s also a lien on the property for $1500 that will have to be released or satisified before we can make the transfer.”

Now Chuck is livid and Floyd is getting concerned, what’s up with that? Who has a lien on the property, Chuck wants to know. Floyd too is curious as well. The registrar checks the files, tells them it’s Antonio [redacted]. Floyd asks, “Who is that? Do you know him, Chuck? Do I know him?”

Chuck sheepishly hangs his head, “That’s the pawn broker, I know him ’cause I’d take things when customers couldn’t pay their bills and sell them to Tony?”

But why would Tony have a lien on your property?” Floyd asks. ”Let’s go find out”

Anyway, at the pawn shop Tony explains that Martha, Chuck’s wife, would bring in jewelry and pawn the stuff, telling Tony she’d needed a little cash for groceries, etc, and often not redeem it. Then one day she brought in the deed to the 5 acre property, borrowed $1500 and never came back, Tony put a lien on the property and had it registered,” Floyd tells Russ.

Now Floyd has a real problem. Tony wants the money, Floyd wants to get his 5 acres, Chuck can’t pay Tony to get a release on the lien. Russ asks “OK, Big Guy, what’s your plan? You’re in for $1300 now and farther than ever from your property?”

Well,” Floyd says, ”It looks like I’ll pay the $1500 to Tony, I’ll be in for $2800 but still will make a few bucks on the deal. It’s way more than I wanted to pay though. It just seemed so easy to buy all the lottery tickets, win the property and go on with life with a little more change in my pocket.”

Then Russ asked, “Why did Martha need the money? The bar always seemed to be busy. Why would she be running to Tony’s for cash?”

Floyd said, “Remember I told you that Gus said he was unlucky at the poker table? Well, it seems Martha was also unlucky, she was in the same group of players that Gus traveled in. I know the other guys too, they are business people and I doubt that they were cheating but rather just better players. Poker is a game of skill, some think. They would tell stories of Gus staying to try to fill in the middle of an inside straight, looking around the table to see how many 6s were showing. And Martha would stay, needing 2 cards of a suit for a flush, things like that. That’s not bad luck, Russ.”

Russ decided it was time for his nap, just following doctor’s orders to rest. As he started to leave he walked by the doughnuts and he hollered, “Hey Floyd, time to get some more doughnuts, try those Krispy Kreme, those babies are really good. See you in few days.”