Lakeshiya Williams stood at the cash register, eyeing the freshly printed random numbers on her two lottery tickets.
There was a 68. A 62. A 59.
“Ugh, all of these numbers are too high,” she said. And with that, the dream slowly started to slip away.
The 42-year-old Dallas woman rarely buys lottery tickets. She doesn’t have that kind of extra money. She’s a single parent to a teenage daughter, and recently quit her full-time job at a health care company.
But on Monday morning, she was chasing a dream at a 7-Eleven — Tuesday's record Mega Millions $1.6 billion jackpot — just like millions of others across the country.
Money has always been her biggest worry. She filed for bankruptcy in 2015 after getting laid off from a transaction processing job at a bank. She pays the late fee on rent. She cooks at home. She just started her new full-time job as an Instacart shopper and is looking for seasonal part-time work, all in the hopes of creating more savings.
She’s rarely had money for luxuries. And now, she’s trying to reverse the trend for her daughter.
With enough money, they could have spa days together, and finally buy those plane tickets to visit relatives in Minnesota. With enough money, they could take a cruise to somewhere tropical, or eat out every now and then, like dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steak House or The Cheesecake Factory.
With enough money, Williams could create an organization for single parents like her, a place that provides free shelter and food, allowing them to focus on finding better jobs or education without fear of living on the streets.
She folded the tickets in her hand and tucked them in her pocket.
Her dreams are attainable. But with the right numbers, they can happen overnight.
