The Blonde and the Bootlegger: A Percy Jackson story

Chateau Frontenac

Leo P.O.V
I made my way to the Ogygia after the war council. Luckily for me, a certain pretty waitress was on the job.
"I finish my shift in an hour," Calypso whispered to me as I walked by her.
"See you then, Sunshine," I replied.
To pass the time, I joined a blackjack game to get money to pay for my drinks since my cut of the profits from the run-up to Canada had gone to my parents. Though I usually did most of the hard work, my cut was smaller than the rest of the guys. Zeus took half the money to pay off my debt.
"A few more runs and everything's square," I said to the old man at the war council, "Then you're free of me."
"You're not going to get out that easily, Valdez," Zeus answered with a chuckle and an oily smile.
Perhaps I was stupid to think that after Zeus got all the money I owed him, I would be done with the Olympians.
Paying attention was never my strong suit but it's a difference when I'm playing cards. Sitting down at the blackjack table with two other players and the dealer, I took a good long look at the cards being dealt and did the sum in my head to see what my odds of winning were. Cards with a value of two through six, you add one point. Seven through nine have a value of zero. If you get a ten or a face card, you subtract one point.
The cards on the table were an ace and a two (0), an eight and a nine (0), a queen and a king (-2), and a five and another eight (+1). So the total value of the round is -1. If the number is negative, then the hand is in the dealer's favor, so a player should bet low.
The point of blackjack is to get as close to twenty-one without going over or "busting." The value of my hand (the five and the eight) was thirteen and was the lowest on the table, tied with the dealer who had an ace and a two. The other two players had seventeen (an eight and nine) and twenty (a queen and a king).
I decided to play it safe and stand (not ask for another card). The player with the queen and king (being the closest to twenty-one) won that round. I hadn't bet much, so it wasn't much of a loss.
Blackjack is a lot like life. The deck is at best, fickle and unfair and at worst, rigged against you. More often than not, you get a shitty hand which you have to make the most of. You have to be smart and keep on your toes to keep from busting.
When Calypso was done with work, I had won enough money to buy us a round of drinks.
"I heard that you and your friends got stranded in some little town upstate," Calypso said, taking a sip of her moonlace cocktail.
She had changed out of her uniform and into a sleeveless white frock tied with a gold belt and a gold headband in her hair.