He was born without a right hand. He built his first prosthesis from blocks at the age of nine. Working!

Frank and Mom go to the cafe to celebrate. It’s a cold summer, it’s windy and raining.

– Don’t smile like that – says Mom.

But she also smiles.

Three teenagers in jackets are sitting at the next table. It’s often chilly in the cafe, so many people stay in their jackets until the food is served.

– To think that maybe we know the woman who won – says the girl. He has a pimple made of metal on his nose.

– We don’t know if she’s from here. Only a coupon was sent from here, says the boy.

– She’s probably an old woman who has everything she needs – says the third teenager. – He will buy new slippers and give the rest to children living far away.

Mom sits with her back to them. That’s why he may smile slyly while reading the card.

– Think about it, twenty-four million crowns! – adds the girl.

Teenagers talk loudly, maybe because they are wearing jackets. When they walk outside in jackets, they tend to be noisy. They only lower their voices when they take off their jackets.

Frank and Mom order what they usually order.

– With extra cheese? – asks Frank.

“With extra cheese,” Mom says to the waiter, quietly, as if she was afraid that the extra cheese would betray their wealth.

“I heard about one foreign player,” Frank begins as they wait. – He only puts on each panty once. I don’t wash them. It just throws it away.

“I feel sick,” says Mom.

Frank probably has ten or twelve pairs of panties to spare. When a lot of them are line-dried at once, the house looks like it’s full of boys.

The waiter brings glasses and drinks. Mom swirls the glass and whispers:

– They could replace it. Look how scratched it is. More scratches than glass.

While eating, Frank and Mom listen to the teenagers. One of them says:

– I once read about a garbage collector from England. He won some huge amount of money in the lottery, probably a hundred million. And he blew it all on cars, women and private planes. Once he was broke, he never got his position as garbage collector back. Now he works in a cookie factory.

The others laugh.

Frank and Mom eat in silence. Teenagers talk about people who squandered their money. A wrinkle appears on Mom’s forehead. Frank enjoys the extra cheese. He has a pineapple on his half. The pieces of fruit look like the short, fat rays of sunshine he drew in the corner of the paper when he was in first grade.

Mom and Frank can’t eat it all. Mom asks the teenagers if they want change. They didn’t expect this. Their faces light up.

– Thank you very much, that’s nice – says the girl with the metal pimple.

Mom looks in her wallet for a tip. He must choose between a paper fifty or a five-crown coin. He leaves a five-crown coin.

“Maybe this is the last time,” he says.

– What last time? – asks Frank.

– I’ll give you a small tip.

In the car, on the way home, Mom notices:

– I think it’s best to live as before.

Frank looks at her.

– As before?

– Yes, we will not waste money.

– NO?

– We don’t need a big house. We don’t need a new car, jewelry or watches.

Frank thinks it sounds like a quote from the Ten Commandments. Or like eleven.

“We have twenty-four million,” he protests.

Mom clenches her fists on the steering wheel. It’s hard to talk to people with clenched fists.

– We don’t have to mention this to anyone. This may be a secret. Your share will wait in the bank until you are eighteen.

– Eighteen?! – Frank shouts. She might as well have told him to go to another planet for the money.

– You still have to finish school first. I won’t let you become a spoiled child.

– Why?

Other children in the class are spoiled by their grandparents. To the core. Frank feels rather abandoned by his people.

– And I will work. I’m not going to wander around the house in a bathrobe.

– You wash the floors.

– And tables, chairs and stairs – adds Mom. – And I still talk to people!

Life made of blocks – cover promotional materials of Agora Publishing House