The Day I Saw My Maid Become A Millionaire

When I was about twelve years old, my aunt separated from my uncle and temporarily lived in my house with two of my cousins. In July, another cousin of mine came from Curitiba to spend the holidays here in São Paulo. Simultaneously, a new housekeeper, a gorgeous and lively woman, had started working at home. She had moved from the countryside, left her son raised by her grandmother, came to try to improve her life.

This woman quickly won everyone’s heart, she was delightful and efficient, and we, kids, loved her. She got attached to my family too. He said that he considered my mother as his own mother, me as a younger brother, anyway.

One afternoon, with the house full, she came to us and declared:

SHE — Next week, I’ll do Lotto’s “quina” (five numbers in a row)! I want to know what each one of you wants to get as a gift!

At the time, there was only Loto (whose top prize was the “quina”) and Sports Lottery, so as the prize she said was already hers was the biggest, she would become a millionaire! Ok. She insisted that we choose gifts — she even gave us parameters, asking that we shouldn’t choose absurdly expensive things like a car, which she wouldn’t give us— we all choose (I asked for a digital Casio watch with a game, the iPhone of the time). We don’t forget the subject because, every day until the draw, she repeated that she would win at Lotto.

And the day came.