I think Gary T heard it correctly.

However my father used lack/like this way. He pronounced it "like" but he meant "lack." Or, as another way of putting it, he pronounced "like" and "lack" in exactly the same way.

My father grew up in western Kentucky. Roger Miller was from Texas. I don't know how widespread this usage is/was.

"I lack/like fourteen dollars" means "I'm fourteen dollars short."