Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
My family’s there, my entire world. I feel dizzy thinking of that. I can’t call up the aunties, can’t go to meet an uncle for fish and chips, can’t watch the footy matches or sing the songs I’ve always sung. Forget friends, forget warmth. Even if Dublin gets freezing, this place is much worse.
“Fallon!”
I barely hear my name over the noise.
“Fallon!”
I look around, frowning, until I squint through a pair of pillars holding up a big black fence. Inside the little courtyard it forms are more table games, all of them empty, the dealers looking bored. But one of those dealers is waving at me, and it takes a second to recognize Casey.
She looks different in her work clothes. A simple button-down, her hair pulled back. She’s grinning huge, sitting back on a tall stool while all the other employees are standing, looking bored. I approach, glancing around as if lightning might strike me down for passing over an invisible line and entering the special fenced-off region.
“How’s it going?” she asks.
“Alright,” I say, frowning at her table. “Holy shit. Is this a thousand minimum?”
“Oh, yeah,” she says, laughing. “It’s the high-rollers area.” She rolls her eyes and jerks her head to the side where three big men in suits are lingering with nasty scowls. “I’m allowed to deal, but only in here, only during the afternoon, and only with a bunch of muscle around. As if someone’s going to try something anyway.”
“He lets you work?” I blurt out, genuinely surprised. But it’s a rude question and I shouldn’t have asked.
“He didn’t want to, but I was very persuasive. After the kids were born, I took a year off for each, but now I’m getting some part-time dealing in. You know, for fun.”
“That’s… kind of amazing, actually.”
“Sit down and play!”
“Erm.” I shake my head, bewildered. “I don’t have money. And a thousand dollars per hand is a lot.”
“Sweetie, you’re a Costa now.” She waves at one of the three heavies. He comes over and she starts counting out chips. “I’m giving Jayson’s new wife ten thousand.”
“Sounds good.” The guy pokes at a nearby computer terminal and gives me a respectful nod before rejoining his pals.
I stare at the stack of chips. “Ten thousand… are you serious?”
Casey laughs again and looks seriously delighted. “I know it’s weird, but like I said, you’re a Costa now. Besides, the money basically just goes right back into your pockets whether you win or lose, right? If you ever want to play, just come find me, or ask up front at the cashier’s window. They’ll know you there.”
“Right. Okay. If I ever want unlimited money to gamble with… I guess I can do that now.” The idea’s astounding. How much could I get away with? If I asked for fifty grand in chips, I could run out of here, maybe cash it out in some other casino, and disappear with the money.
But then again, I could drain Jayson’s bank accounts dry if all I needed was money.
And if I did that, it would restart the war, which is the opposite of what I want.
“Do you know blackjack at all?”
“Sure, I mean, I know it generally.”
“Let’s play a few hands. I’m pretty bored. Nobody ever comes in here. I mean, sometimes, there are a bunch of rich guys from China that show up and flash around a lot of cash but mostly it’s quiet.”
She walks me through a few hands. I win once, lose five times, and suddenly I’ve burned through four grand in under two minutes. My stomach’s sick and I want to run the hell away, but Casey’s acting like it’s no big deal.
Because I suppose it isn’t. These chips mean nothing. I put up no cash, which means there’s nothing backing up these tokens. Losing one doesn’t matter, because I haven’t actually lost anything.
Once I realize that, it gets a little less stressful.
“Did Jayson give you a card yet?” Casey asks after some chit-chat about how strange it is living and raising children in a casino.
“Not yet, but it was mentioned.”
“You’ll get one. Once that happens, I’ll take you shopping, okay?”
“That would be really nice, actually.” I cough slightly and my ears turn pink. “Somewhere outside the casino though?”
“If you want reasonable, we’ll do reasonable, but it really doesn’t matter.”
“I know. I understand you all are very wealthy, it’s just—”
“I get it,” she says and puts her hand on mine. “I came from nothing. No money at all. This was a serious adjustment for me.”
“It’s not all that.” I pull my hand away, not sure why. I like her attention, how gentle she’s being, how she seems to really care about how I’m feeling. It’s a kindness I didn’t expect.
But she’s the enemy, and I can’t let myself start to pretend like I can be one of them.