Ragged Company

Digger describes his routine: For years, he has spent nights at a small space at the back of a building, waking up early to go digging for scrap to sell at secondhand and pawn shops. He makes enough by noon every day to buy himself what he needs. Digger reflects on how ultimately one needs to do whatever it takes to survive; no one wants to hear someone else’s sob story: “Bitching and moaning don’t change nothing, it just pisses people off” (77).

One day, however, changes everything for Digger. On the way to meet the others, Digger finds a half-full box of cigarettes with $60 and a piece of yellow paper inside; thrilled, he shows the others his find. The group decides to watch Field of Dreams together. Before they set out, however, Timber identifies the yellow paper as a lottery ticket, and the group checks the numbers on the way to the theater. They discover that the ticket has won $13.5 million.

The conversation between the two unnamed people moves on to the different ways in which change arrives in life, and they reminisce about the change brought about by the lottery ticket. As they discuss the events that followed this change, they note how memory transports one across time and distance.