Take off your hat, I want to stand up.

Chapter 31: My phone rang.

My phone rang, it was Ev.

Way back when Ev phoned me and said, how would you like to go to Las Vegas with your brother and me? This was outstanding news. My life-script had hit a major hitch in its get along and I could really use a time out. It was 1977, we all packed off to the air port and within three or four hours we were in the desert.

Ev walked off the plane, her deep, brown rimmed glasses hung around her neck, she told us she would like to try the slots in the air port baggage area. We had been in town for five minutes and the quarters were dropping into the one- armed bandit like Al Capone liked to load his machine gun. Ca-Ching, she hit a jack pot, bing, bing, bang, bang, whoops and yippies cried out of her smiling face. See, she said.

Alright, I thought. You are lucky, now let's go to the hotel and unpack.

Ev whistled down a cab in the rotunda area, she could pierce the air with a shrill, high C, for about ten seconds. Lucky, we are in Vegas, the city that does not sleep, no one noticed. The cab stopped we piled in and headed to our hotel, The Fabulous Dunes, Casino and Country Club.

Once we had check in everyone had a different agenda in mind, I wanted to watch football, My brother wanted to eat, Ev wanted to ride her hot streak with the slots. He ordered room service, I added my menu selection, the t.v. was tuned to the game, while Ev said she would be back in ten minutes. The plan was in motion.

We had a super cool room it looked out onto the tenth hole of the Dunes golf course.

A fountain sprayed in the midst of a Roman scene. Small birds pecked around the grassy edges. The view was spectacular, there was a gentle knock at the door our food had arrived. We ate and watched t.v. until the game had signalled a final score. I read the newspaper, my brother looked at the shows and club ads. What time is it? Where did Ev go?

Nine turned to eleven, then two a.m., we were not worried about Ev, we just wanted to go to sleep in peace. Finally at five in the morning there was a beefy knock at the door. I swung out of bed, ruffled my hair, took a quick look at the clock, four something, as I opened the door there was a very large man standing in the doorway. He cut a gigantic frame blotting out the entrance at six four or five, two fifty, he stood quietly.

Ev's head swung out to the side, oh thank goodness you found them. Lady the fellow responded in a deep baritone voice, you know these people? Yes, they are my sons, this is my room, thank you so much. She flashed a seriously inebriated grin, wobbled slightly and handed the kind gentleman a handful of cash, thanks again. He guided her into the room and passed her off to us. I am going to go to sleep for a couple of hours and then we will cruise the strip, just give me an hour.

At nine o'clock We tried to wake Ev, no chance of that happening anytime soon. We went to the restaurant for breakfast. Two hours later we walked back to the room, Ev was dead to the world. She slept all that day and into the next day. Finally her reality came back to normal, she related the story.

She was just going down to the lobby to play for ten minutes.

She said the slots were cold. Then, she went to the larger Dunes casino to try her luck. Ten minutes turned into two hours, the cocktail waitresses had burned a path to her slot location. She was not feeling any pain and had won enough to keep her interested. She was having fun. Her mistake began when she left the property.  The next casino feel into the next and after several looks here and there she was lost. Not only had she become seriously lost in Vegas, she was very loaded.

Customer service, security guard and general all round nice guy, Dave found her in the Flamingo Casino. She was almost non- understandable by this time. She did not know where she was. She did not know where her hotel was located. She had no idea what airline or airplane carrier she had arrived on to the city of lights. She had no Identification, all of her touch stone items were back at the hotel, in the room. Dave corralled her and began the process to find out who this person was and where she belonged. It became a full time job.

First, he narrowed the field down to three air lines that fly into Vegas from Canada. He arranged to check the flight manifests under Ev's name. Once he had the airline he found the cabbie that picked us up in the arrival area. He called the same cab, put her in it and escorted her to the Dunes. He found the night clerk to be more than helpful. Together they cross referenced her room, found it and gave them a pass key. He slowly marched her down the Corridor to room 1817. He thought this was the correct room, but he was not sure until I answered the door. Yes, I said that is my mom.