Childlike

Chapter 25 Amazing Luck

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Chapter 25

Amazing Luck

“Are you sure that you won’t join me?” I asked Mick for the tenth time, my jacket fully zipped up, a stocking hat on my head. I wore a down jacket over a red flannel shirt and new jeans that I got for Christmas.

“Nah, I’m warm and dry and I’ve no desire to get cold and wet again. Go ahead and lose all your money without me,” he said, referring to my desire to play the slot machines.

“All right, but don’t wait up for me,” I said, opening up the motel room door, frigid air pinching my face.

“It won’t take long for them to take your money. You’ll be back sooner than you think.”

“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “But don’t wait up for me. Who knows, I may get lucky!” With that I stepped into the cold outer darkness.

The sounds of cars sloshing through dirty slush attacked my ears as I headed towards Highway 50.  I could see a richly dressed couple walking hand in hand, warmly bundled against the cold. Their breath fogged out before them as they talked, walking towards the casinos. I watched as the lady, draped in a fur coat was suddenly assailed by two pudgy women throwing what looked like red blood all over her expensive garb. She screamed! The man she was with whipped out his cell phone and shouted into it. Within moments two police cars intervened between the rich lady and the weighty women. They took the attackers away in handcuffs as the casino employees helped the distraught woman and her cell phone-wielding buddy.

“Fur terrorists,” I thought to myself. Furthering their cause through cowardly attacks just for the sense of being accepted by another. I guess that the desire for acceptance is such a strong human trait that it will cause some to bring injury to others to attain it.

As I passed by the spot the attack took place I noticed the red liquid crystallizing on the icy concrete, nearly frozen for someone to slip on. I thought about scrapping at it with my shoe but saw that a lot of the sidewalk was steeped in ice. “I’m not going to de-ice the entire walkway!” I said aloud as I went up the outstretched steps of the casino.

The first thing to hit me was the heat; like that coming out of a blazing fire pit at a midnight camp fire. I let the warmth melt me as I observed the casino staff tending to the woman with the bloody fur listening to her wail and demand the lifeblood of her attackers. “I want them to rot in jail! I want them to have blood thrown in their faces. I hope they choke on it!” She shouted. “Just look at what they did to my fur. Just look at what they did!”

As the forced air heat infused the atmosphere around me to where I wanted to sit back, kick my shoes off and rest awhile, I felt invited to venture forth to the slot machines. The distant sounds of amusement, mixed with the ringing bells and dropping coins, was just like those in the movies, except here I was able to smell burning tobacco and harsh drinks next to sour bodies trying to eliminate the excesses gained through hours of nervous gambling.

I went over to the nearest slot machine and watched an elderly lady drop three quarters at a time into its narrow mouth then pull its arm back, pausing only to see if three of a kind would line-up before feeding the machine another three quarters. I walked over and sat down before the slot machine next to the old woman and pulled out my roll of quarters. I unrolled three coins and fed my machine then pulled on the handle. I watched the numbers and symbols slide by then settle on a banana, a swan and a jackpot. I lose! Undaunted, I unrolled three more quarters and tried again yielding the same losing results. I continued in this way twice more till I won a return of eight coins.