Charity

"You are late," Danny stated as Ace returned him his Buick's keys defending, "It's only seven oh five, I said I would be by seven, didn't I?" 

Despite his two-hour playtime stop with Emi on his way back, Ace managed to return to the Iron Valley ranch five minutes past seven in the evening to find impatient Danny waiting at the driveway. 

"I don't have time to argue with you," Danny said as he walked to his car, finding it spotlessly clean and shining. He turned to his cousin and asked, "Did you get the car washed?"

"Yes," Ace lied, he had used Emi's cleansing talisman to clean the car's exterior and interior as he neared the ranch to thank Danny for lending him the car. 

"Why don't I smell the chemicals?" Danny wondered as he sniffed his Buick, hoping to enjoy the refreshing scent of a newly washed car, but there was no trace of it.

"I drove with windows down to air out the car, those chemical smells can be harsh, don't you think?" Ace said the first thing that came to his mind.

"Nah, I like the chemical smell. Anyway, thanks man," Danny thanked as he entered the Buick preparing to leave. 

"Don't mention it," Ace said. Then, watching his cousin drive out of the driveway he head to the home to find his mother, Pam, and Mandy huddled up at the front patio. Seeing him arrive, his mother tore her eyes from Mandy's iPad screen and asked, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you after breakfast."

"I lost track of time, sorry," Ace immediately apologized, knowing there was no point in trying to argue with his mother. He would never win and only make her angrier. 

Meanwhile, Mandy winked at him subtly only to be elbowed in her ribs by Pam who caught her trying to flirt with her underage but handsome nephew.

"Have you had anything to eat? Do you want me to fix you a sandwich?" Unaware of Mandy's mischief, Mary asked her son seeing him immediately admit his mistake. 

"No, I'm not hungry," Ace replied, ignoring Pam and Mandy, who were now engaged in a glaring contest that Pam seemed to be winning. He glanced around, searching for his father. Unable to locate him, he asked his mother, "Mom, where's dad?" 

"He went to the shooting range with you uncle," Mary replied. Ace detected anger in his mother's tone. She did not like the idea of anyone in her family near a gun, let alone enjoying it as a hobby or owning one. So, he hurriedly asked, "What about my brokerage account?" before she went off topic complaining about his father and his fascination with guns. 

"Your father said if you are in a hurry you can use his old brokerage account, if not he will set one up for you after we return home," Mary repeated what her husband told her. 

"I am fine using his old brokerage account. I will call him and ask him to share its details with my phone," Ace felt this was for the best, this way it would be easier for him to show his father that he did not do anything illegal when makes his millions within a week. 

"It is good that you are excited but remember if you lose the $500 don't come asking for more," Mary warned her son, she still did not understand what came over her husband to let their unremarkable teenage son try his hand in the stock market. Pity, for $500 she could get a nice pair of earrings. 

"Yes, mom. I won't," Ace assured while Mandy gave him a knowing smile, understanding that he did not tell his parents about her investing $30,000 in his trading venture.

"Mary, what do you think about this one," Pam suddenly said showing her the iPad screen. As Mary was going through the screen, Pam added, "They are holding a Black tie evening party two days from now. Isn't that fancy?" 

"But it is in the city, too long of a commute for an evening party," Mary replied. Ace came next to his mother to see what they were talking about. The iPad screen showed a charity foundation website, seeing this he was further confused. So, he asked, "What are you guys talking about?" 

"I plan to donate ten percent of your lottery winnings. Might as well make an evening out of it," Mary informed going through the charity foundation's black-tie evening party itinerary and sighed, "This is perfect but it's too far." 

"Besides it is expensive, there is a minimum donation of $3000 per person to get entry to their black-tie evening party," Mandy read the fine print at the end of the website. Considering all seven of would be attending it, they would have to donate 21 grand. Now that was too pricy for a fun family evening. Not to mention she was not used to paying to enter a party. 

"Guess we are stuck with the raffle party two towns from here," Pam sighed, as she was looking forward to a fancy night with her husband. 

"I will leave you guys to it," Getting the gist of what his mother was up to with Pam and Mandy, Ace did not want to be a part of it. So, he prepared to leave as he had better things to do. 

"Where are you going? You just got back," Mary asked her son seeing he was not heading into the the house but to the fields. 

"Going for a run," Ace replied aloud running into the fields. 

"It's dark now, go in the morning," Mary yelled but Ace's figure had already vanished into the fields. 

"No wonder he has such a nice physique," Pam blurt. Getting a stink eye from Mary and a surprised look from Mandy, she coughed and assured, "Don't worry, just last week Dan and the neighboring farmers got together and took care of the pests in surrounding fields. You have nothing to worry about." 

Running through the field, Ace headed toward the auto salvage yard planning to deal with the Scavenger Spirit hiding in it. That thing was like a ticking time bomb. If curse masters were to learn about it, the entire town would be swarming with them. He had to do something about it before it became a nuisance.