Gambling with Scratchers (Part 3)

Things had become tense, as all eyes were now on me. A sea of people had formed a circle around both Scotty and I.

“I don’t really like him, but my money’s on the reigning champ.” A guy in the audience remarked, while making a side bet.

“Yeah same, that kid just got lucky.” Someone else added.

Judging from the audience's sentiment, it seemed like most people had their money on Scotty, despite not particularly being fond of him.

Balliam held the already scratched winning ticket in his hand. “Alight, I want both of you to start by backing up ten feet from each other.”

We did as he said and each went to our designated sides.

“I’ll give you the opportunity to forfeit now before you embarrass yourself in front of all these people.” Scotty sneered at me.

“Nah, I’m good.” I retorted with a smirk.

Balliam Stood at the half way point between the two of us. “This tie breaker will be simple. The ticket will be placed right here between you two. When I ring the bell, the first person to place their hand on the ticket will be crowned this year's winner.”

Rollnaldo came over to my corner with a water bottle in hand. “This is do or die!” He grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dumped the bottle over my head. “Focus, this isn’t a game of probability, so your gambling sorcery will be useless. The only solution in a time like this is to play dirty.”

“Will the finalists please take their marks?” Balliam announced.

Scotty removed his cloak made from scratcher tickets and tossed it over his shoulder into the crowd. “I’m looking forward to scratching the giant ticket for a sixth time.” He said while he cracked his neck.

I took a deep breath, knowing exactly what I had to do…

A ding rang out from Balliam striking his bell. Scotty dashed forward with his arms behind his back like an anime character. At the same time, I ran forward in a full sprint, pumping my arms with everything I had. Just as both of us were inches from our target, Scotty reached out his hand, the ticket nearly in his grasp…

“Sorry about this.” I murmured.

Unlike him, I wasn’t aiming directly for the ticket. There was a different target I had in mind...

“Oof!” Scotty gasped in pain, as he froze before he managed to touch the ticket.

At the moment he reached out, I kicked my leg up and planted my foot right between his legs.

He stood motionless, as tears streamed out of his eyes. Biting his lip, he attempted to hold in his whimpers of pain. The crowd of spectators stared on in silence, seeming more shocked than they were a few minutes ago when the gamble goblins crawled out of that knight armor.

Seizing the opportunity, I pulled my foot back and casually bent over and picked up the scratcher ticket. I held it up in the air where I was greeted by silence from the crowd. Scotty fell forward onto his face while holding his injured crotch.

The dead noise was broken by Rollnaldo who started to slowly clap. One by one more and more people joined in until I was surrounded by a thunderous applause.

“H-how is that even allowed!?” Scotty protested, the pitch of his voice now an octave higher.

Balliam shook his head at him. “It might have been a cheap shot, but there is no rule that forbids low blows.”

A group suddenly rushed over to me and lifted me up as they tossed me up in the air. It seemed like people were happy to see me wipe the smug grin off of Scotty’s face.

Scotty laid on the ground curled up in the fetal position. “But I’m Scotty the Scratcher, I always win.” He sobbed to himself.

“Scotty the Scratcher, more like Scotty the loser.” Rollnaldo, who was now a lot less tense, felt the need to go over and mock him.

It may not have been the most ethical win, but a win was a win and that was all that mattered.

🎲🎲🎲

As dusk hit, It was now nearing the end of the scratcher festival. Balliam, Rollnaldo, and I stood on the platform in front of the giant scratcher, as all the festival goers gathered.

“As we close out another year’s scratcher festival, I'd like to give the newly crowned scratcher competition champion a moment to say a few words.” Balliam handed me his oversized cone to speak into.

“Uh…” Not anticipating having to publicly speak, I stared out like a deer in a headlight, completely taken off guard.

“Pst, say something.” Rollnoldo nudged me.

Ah shoot…

Letting my stage fright get the best of me, I subconsciously started chanting the first thing that popped into my head outloud. “U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A…”

Everyone just gazed at me, unsure of what the heck I was talking about.

Well…I’m already in too deep to stop now.

“U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A…” I continued nonstop for five minutes straight.

“Okay then…thank you, Lucky” Balliam with a confused look on his face, interjected before I went on all night long. “As this festival draws to a close. It is tradition to end things by scratching the giant ticket…” He lifted up a giant golden coin that had been laying on the ground. “Would you please do the honors, Lucky?”

I grabbed the tire sized coin. Unfortunately, it appeared to only be a prop made from fiberglass and not actual gold.

I stared up at the giant ticket. “So is there a ladder of something that's going to get set up?”

“Actually we have something even better.” He snapped his fingers and a rope dropped down from the top of the ticket. “Go ahead and tie that around your waist.”

“Is this even safe?” I hesitantly looped the rope around me.

“Of course it is…probably.” Balliam whispered that last part under his breath.

“Wait, what do you-.”

Before I could voice any more of my concerns, a couple of slotomatons hoisted me up. The giant Scratcher that I was now hovering in front of had the words, ‘Da Big Ticket’ printed in a dollar bill font across it. Beneath the text was a green grid with a 3x3 grid of gray boxes. In the center of each box was a dollar sign.

I really hope these prizes were worth all this trouble…

With my legs dangling beneath me, I held onto the large coin as tightly as I could, while I began to use my momentum to swing back and forth. Swingling like a pendulum from one side of the ticket to the other, I swiped the coin across the first row of boxes, revealing… ‘$0, $0, Free T-Shirt.’

So far the prizes absolutely sucked. Hopefully I won some actual cash or Rollnaldo would be out of luck.

Being lowered down to the next row, I ran the coin across the next three boxes… ‘$0, $10 off a regular sized sub from Cousin Clubs (With purchase of a drink, some exceptions apply.), $0’

The prizes only seemed to be getting worse.

The last row was Rollnaldo’s last hope. Looking down toward him, I noticed he had both his fingers crossed as he nervously watched me.

I wasn’t sure if it would actually work in this scenario, but it couldn’t hurt to try. Holding out my hand, I activated my gambling sorcery. Then, I took a deep breath as I proceeded to scratch the last three boxes… ‘$500, $0, $0’

Rollanldo fell backwards as he let out a sigh of relief, as we just so happened to win the exact amount he needed to cover his ticket.

After getting lowered down to the ground, Balliam presented me with prizes. “Congratulations on being this year's winner!” He exclaimed as he excitedly handed me over a white t-shirt that had, ‘I Scratched Da Big Ticket 2025’ written across the front of it in bold black letters, along with my Cousin Clubs coupon and five hundred dollars worth of casino chips.

After a final round of claps and cheers, the festival goers dispersed. After a while it was just Rollnaldo and I remaining.

I stared blankly at the items in my hands. “I can’t believe I went through all that for just five hundred bucks.”

“Not true, you got a t-shirt and a coupon too. Look on the bright side, at least we can pay off my ticket now.” He attempted to spin the situation into a positive light.

I sighed. “I guess you have a point. My hoodie’s been chafing my nipples, so I’ve been needing an undershirt.” Removing my hoodie, I slipped the t-shirt on.

“Well, since you got that coupon and I’m sure you've racked up some reward points after that match, I say let’s go get something to eat.”

As he said that, my stomach let out a growl. I shrugged. “Its not like we have anything better to do.”

With that, the two of us spend the remainder of the night eating sub sandwiches and paying Rolando's ticket at the police station. Come morning, we would be heading out, as we continued on our journey…