Chapter 8
7:11 AM EST New York - The Network Interview Studio
My sight line was being directed by a person standing a bit behind Brad Williams. I noticed that my attorney was ready with the portable web-enabled video unit and he was right by the camera. Everything said would be captured on the video. I only hoped the quality would be acceptable.
I looked back to the camera I was supposed to be looking at. The person there was counting down on his fingers: five, four, three, two, one, and then Brad started talking.
“Today, we have Mr. Jack South, winner of two jackpot lotteries: the Super Ball and the Multi Rich Millions. Mr. South used the exact same numbers in winning both lotteries and, in the same week. His net winnings are close to a half a billion dollars after taxes. That makes Mr. South the largest winner ever of a lottery in the history of lotteries. And,” he paused, “according to sources, his chances of winning both at the same time were zero. So Jack, how did you do it?” Brad asked as he turned to me.
“Simple, I bought two tickets in two different states and when they drew the numbers, I had won.”
“What did you do when you found out you had won?”
“I called my attorney, took the tickets over to his office, signed them in front of witnesses, and asked him to take care of it.”
Brad paused for a moment, and said, “Now Jack, since you have won both lotteries, a lot of controversy has come up as to how you could have possibly been lucky enough to win not one, but two lotteries back to back. In addition, it has come to our attention that you have retained the services of one of the largest criminal defense firms in the nation to the tune of twenty five million dollars. How do you explain that?”
It had not taken long for Brad to go for the throat to throw me off track, I thought to myself. It was time to tell him the truth and I knew he was not going to like it.
“Do you believe in messengers, Brad?”
“Messengers…what kind of messengers, Jack?”
“Biblical ones, Brad, you know, like the ones that come from nowhere and give you a mission. Like as in Abraham, for example, or Moses, Matthew, John, and Luke, to name a few.”
“Well, I know the Bible, if that’s what you mean. However, what does that have to do with you winning the lottery and getting a defense team together right afterwards? Are you saying God gave you the numbers? I don’t understand.”
“Okay Brad. Here is what happened, since you want to know. I had two messengers, by the names of Gabriel Massinger and Ariel Roberts give me an interview for a job based on an application I had sent in over the internet for a job posting. After two meetings, they hired me to do something for God, and I accepted the job. The job was to prove what the Bible said about God was true and to ensure that I had enough capital to see it through to completion. They gave me the numbers and I won the lotteries. And in addition, today, I am going to prove that through God’s power, I can see the future when He chooses that I do so.”
“Wow!” Brad said, seeming uncomfortable. “You are telling us God sent messengers to you, then you won the lotteries and they have hired you as an employee of God? That is a remarkable story. So how would you prove this?”
After I had said all this, I could see Brad was seething. I was sure that he did not like having people on the show that wanted to get out their own message. That is what good editing abilities and time delays are for, I assumed. Almost enjoying myself, I reached inside my pocket and said, “Let me read this to you.” I noted the time on my watch. It said 7:15.
“What is it?” he asked.
“It’s proof that I was visited by messengers. I assume you don’t want to believe what I told you.”
“Jack, do you really expect me or anyone else to believe what you are telling us? Are you trying to cover up the real truth of how you won the lotteries?” He watched as I unfolded the paper and saw that I was ignoring him completely.
Brad asked again, “Jack, why did you spend 35 million dollars for an attorney and a PR firm? Did you do something wrong?”
I looked up at Brad and could see the anger starting to show on his features. “Look Brad, if you let me read this it will help to explain what I am saying and that what I am telling you is the truth.”
Brad figured that in the worst case, they would not air it, so he asked begrudgingly, “What does it say Jack?”
I picked up the paper again, put on my reading glasses, perching them on the end of my nose and began to read the document. “At 7:59 Eastern Standard Time, originating from the fault known as ‘The Sierra Madre Fault’, there will be a major earthquake extending over an area of 400 square miles, centered in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. The magnitude will be exactly 7.9 on the Richter scale and will last an unprecedented four hundred and twenty-two seconds. Property damage will be estimated at one hundred billion dollars in damages to the infrastructure alone. And Brad,” I hesitated, looked directly into his eyes, then said, “If you do not air this and warn the people of California, what will happen is that the death toll will be exactly 83,125 people, and exactly 134,876 injuries. If you air what I just said and warn these people, the number will be only 9,124 people killed and injuries will be 15,232 people. Property damage will not change. These are the exact details with a map and knowledge only God would know.” I offered the document to him.
As he reluctantly took the document, he looked at me and retorted, “You are a frigging nut!” He looked over at his production crew and the camera operator and said, “We’re sorry people, please stop taping this now and kill the feed immediately. I’m not sure what is going on here.”
He turned back towards me and said, “You are insane and I don’t interview insane people that come and say God told them to do it.” He turned back to the camera people and the producer and said, “Have the Enquirer interview him. I will not.”
He stood, and then turned again to me. He was now standing directly over me as I sat on the couch. In a voice that seemed more like a high-pitched growl he said, “Jack, you’re a piece of crap who won’t tell the truth! Our news department will investigate everything about you and you will be destroyed. When we’re through, you’ll most likely end up in jail for a long time or in an asylum. I guarantee you, we will find the underlying cause of this; our investigators are the best in the world…earthquake predictions and messengers from God? You picked the wrong people to piss off.” With that, he turned and stormed out of the studio.
At that point, I was sure that with the built in tape delay, the bulk of the interview had been deleted. Therefore, no part of the interview was broadcasted. I looked over at Mark, who was still taping. I got his attention, gave him the high sign signal we had prearranged which meant, “Send it now.”
I looked at my watch. It was 7:16 a.m.; forty-three minutes to go.