Crooked G's

by S. K. Collins

  Her strategy was to take over the machine if the lady left without any winnings. Shakita inserted a hundred-dollar bill into the five-dollar play Triple Bonanza machine. She selected all three lines and pulled the lever. The reels started to spin and then quickly stopped on all odd symbols. Having no winnings on the first pull didn’t discourage her at all. She had enough money with her to potentially secure a big win.

  After an hour of senseless betting, Shakita had lost way more than she’d won. She was looking for a break that would end her losing streak and get her a big payout. Her opportunity finally came when the lady sitting next to her decided to leave, after her machine neglected to return any of her hard-earned money, or anybody else’s. Shakita didn’t even wait until the lady was out of sight before she started loading the machine up with bills. She pulled the reel down on the Mardi Gras Madness machine and waited to see what happened. The reels stopped spinning and Shakita was still not a winner.

  Shakita continued to play both machines simultaneously hoping to increase her winning probability. She pulled the lever down on the Mardi Gras Madness machine and waited for the reels to stop. Three babies lined up on the middle line, sending the sirens off. Shakita couldn’t believe her eyes as she stared at the loud and flashing digital screen. She pictured herself cracking the machine but didn’t think she would win like this.

  “All right. Here’s your money, ma’am. Come back and see us now,” the deep-voiced cashier said as he handed Shakita her payout.

  “I most certainly will.” Shakita smiled, pleased to do business with their establishment. She took the stacks of money and put them in her purse as she made her exit out of the casino. Shakita had won twenty thousand dollars from the same slot machine that was abandoned by the poor lady. If the older woman would have stayed a little longer and played, that would have been her jackpot to take home instead of Shakita doing so. Shakita had over thirty thousand dollars toward the money she owed to Bay. With the amount of money she was making at the spa, she would be guaranteed to have all of Bay’s money before he got out.

  The only problem was that Shakita didn’t plan on working at the spa any longer than she had to, which meant she was going to have to take another trip to Atlantic City. The casinos in Atlantic City had blackjack and roulette tables that would bring in the big bucks, giving her a jump start to riches. Shakita was feeling luckier than ever, and would be coming back this time from Atlantic City with all Bay’s money and more. Shakita was going to leave for Atlantic City right after she got off work. All she needed to do was run home real quick to gather up an overnight bag before she saw her first client. She had the whole thing figured out and now she was off to get some more Red Bulls.

  • • •

  Shakita was so tired after she had finished with her last client that she wanted to lay down and take a short nap. She didn’t want to go to sleep and risk not being able to wake up in time to leave for Atlantic City, so she stayed up, and drank another Red Bull to keep her energy level high. It was 4:30 a.m. when she got in her truck and was on her way to 295-N en route to Atlantic City. She drove with the music blasting loud and the windows rolled down, so the cool morning air could blow in her face to help keep her alert. Shakita was exhausted but was going off of pure adrenaline from being so eager to make it to Atlantic City in good time.

  Three-and-a-half hours later, Shakita was getting off the Atlantic City Expressway and could see the beautiful Atlantic City strip clearly. She loved Atlantic City and her heart started to race every time she came here. She could smell the salt from the ocean and felt like she was coming back home. She set her eyes on the beautiful Taj casino that always amazed her whenever she saw it. The Taj was the biggest and tallest hotel and casino on the whole entire strip and she only wanted to play in the best. The Taj was the color of pure white sand with gold domes that made it resemble a Hindu Temple. She couldn’t wait to get inside.

  Shakita walked onto the casino floor and was relieved that the casino wasn’t crowded at this time of morning like usual. She had every slot machine and gaming table at her disposal and didn’t know where she wanted to start first. She decided to get warmed up by playing slots, and later move on to some table games. Besides, she was hoping to collect all the money that patrons dropped in the machines on Friday and Saturday nights that hadn’t been recovered. She inserted a hundred-dollar bill in a five-dollar Triple Sevens machine and began to play. After a while, Shakita hadn’t found any luck from the Triple Sevens machine, so she started playing two other Black Cherry machines right beside it.

  As she continued to play all three machines at the same time, she realized she was losing money three times as fast. After dumping a thousand dollars in all three machines and seeing no returns, she decided the hell with them and wanted to try the roulette table. She went to the cashier booth so she could get five thousand dollars’ worth of chips. She put all her chips in a bucket and proceeded to the roulette tables.

  Shakita went over to a roulette table where the minimum bet was a hundred dollars for each game and the maximum was five hundred. She needed to pay to get into the game, and couldn’t use the same chips from the cashier booth. She had to use the different color chips the dealer had so they could know who was winning what. She paid two thousand dollars to get in the game and the dealer gave her twenty pink chips. Shakita was only going to do inside bets knowing that the odds of winning and payout were better than safer outside bets if she won.

  Shakita positioned four chips on space 23 and waited for the rest of the players to place their bets. When the dealer yelled “no more bets,” he tossed the ball on the wheel so it could spin around. She eagerly watched as the wheel went around and around hoping it would land in her pocket. The ball started to bounce around and then finally fell in the 35 black pocket. “Damn it,” Shakita said, as the dealer took away her chips. Shakita was pissed but wasn’t going to let that one loss make her quit. She’d come there to make money and that’s what she was going to do. She continued to play until tragedy struck again.

  Shakita was so fucking angry that she walked away from the table and straight out of the casino. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Shakita yelled outside of the Taj’s parking garage as she kicked the wall. She couldn’t believe she’d lost so much damn money and without even being there a whole day yet. She slid down the wall and tucked her head between her knees wanting to cry. Her phone suddenly started to ring while she still had her head down. She initially ignored the first couple of rings not wanting to deal with anybody, but then got irritated by the ringing so she looked at the phone to see who it was. It was Latrice calling and she became even more frustrated.

  “Leave me the fuck alone! I don’t have time for your shit right now!” Shakita screamed, slamming her phone back in her purse. She went back in her purse to retrieve a cigarette as her phone continued to ring. By the time she had her cigarette lit, her phone had silenced.

  Shakita was so upset that she’d lost all that money, and with Latrice calling at the wrong time again didn’t help much either.

  “I’m about to say fuck it and tell her ass. This shit is too much work,” Shakita shouted.

  Shakita’s nerves were wearing thin and her conscience was heavily weighing on her. Shakita was feeling defeated and was ready to give up. She was going to give Latrice whatever money she had left and deal with the consequences, even if that meant death. No matter what happened, she was ready to go home.

  She smashed her cigarette on the ground and grabbed her purse. As she was getting up, her purse bumped her bucket and knocked her chips over. Shakita looked at the spilled chips and started to get second thoughts about leaving. Shakita was about to turn her chips in so she could get her money back, but the sound that the chips made as they hit the concrete, gave her a rush. She couldn’t go home yet. There was no way in hell she was going to travel all that way to go back home to say she’d broke even.

  Shakita was a born hustler and gambling was in her blood. Gambling was her
addiction, and the only way she knew how to suppress it was by blowing everything she had, so she didn’t have anything else to risk. She was either going to leave Atlantic City richer or poorer. There was no room for in between. She was going to go back in the Taj and try to break the casino for everything it had. Shakita’s palm started to itch and she predicted that luck was coming back on her side again.

  CHAPTER 16

  Shakita walked back in the casino with her head held high and confidence in her stride. She walked to the far end of the casino to go where the high-rollers played. She was going to step up her shit and play a game that showed who had the biggest balls at the table. Shakita was going to play Texas Hold’em. Along with craps, she’d learned this style of poker from her Uncle Bunny that used to play with mobsters in Reno, and would always walk away with a large pot. If there was any game in the casino she could play well it would be this one.

  Shakita began to yawn as she looked for the right table. She was extremely tired but couldn’t afford to sleep right now. She had to get rich first. It was a little past noon, and the poker tables were filled with blood-sucking card sharks looking for the weakest fish at the table. She then noticed one of the high-stakes tables had an open seat with her name on it. She quickly made her move before it was taken. The table was full of men and she hoped they would be warm to her company. If they weren’t, then fuck’em. She was going to play anyway.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen. Do you mind if I join your game?” Shakita asked the three white men at the table.

  All three looked at Shakita and then at each other and started to laugh hysterically. Shakita didn’t see a damn thing funny but presumed they were laughing at her because she was a woman.

  “Did I say something funny?” Shakita asked as she placed her hand on her hip.

  “We don’t mean to laugh at cha, doll,” a country-talking man said as he tried to control his laughter. “But you sure you wanna play wit’ us?” He wiped the tears from his eyes and now rosy red cheeks.

  She looked hard at the chubby guy with the thick, fuzzy sideburns.

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “You know this is a high-stakes table, aye? If you’re looking for cheesesteaks, you’re in the wrong part of the casino, honey,” said the older, skinny man wearing a black cowboy hat and a brown suede sports jacket. Shakita thought the way he dressed was whack as hell and so were his corny-ass jokes.

  “I didn’t come here to eat. I came here to make money,” Shakita responded.

  “Well. It takes money to make money. Ya have any?” the chubby guy asked her.

  “Yeah, I have it. What’s y’all usual low bid?”

  “About a thousand,” the chubby guy answered.

  Shakita reached in her bucket and dug out ten chips and slammed them down on the table. “Does this sound like I have enough?” she asked as she swirled around her bucket so they would know she had a lot of chips in it.

  All three men looked at each other cunningly. The chubby guy then gave the skinny man with the hat a signal.

  “All right, sweet tits. I guess you can have a seat,” the skinny white man said. Shakita scooped up her chips as she smiled walking over to her seat.

  “So where are you boys from?” Shakita asked, trying to make small talk while the cards were being shuffled.

  “We’re from Upstate New York. Elmira, to be exact,” the third man said, making his presence known as he shuffled the cards. He was a young, rusty-haired kid with freckles. Shakita thought the trio seemed to be a son, dad, and grandfather group with each one closely resembling each other.

  “What ’bout yourself?” the young man asked with a slight grin on his face.

  “D.C.,” she said with pride.

  “Oh, you’re one of them ol’ city women, aye?” the man with the hat asked.

  “Yes I am, fella,” Shakita answered, mocking the way he talked.

  “Well. Don’t start crying like a baby when ya candy money get took. This is a man’s game and we play like men. There will be none of that sissy shit at this table,” the old man informed her.

  “After I win… And best believe, I will win. After I take all your money, I may find it in my heart to give you enough money so y’all can make it back to Upstate New York. Elmira, to be exact,” Shakita said, putting on her game face.

  The old man didn’t like her smart-ass comment but decided not to say anything about it. The rest of his shit-talking was going to be done with action.

  Shakita began to yawn again as the cards were being dealt. The young man dealt everyone two cards faced down and then they were able to do the first round of bidding. Since the initial bid was a thousand dollars, Shakita had to put that in the pot so she could play. The initial bids were always half of the regular bid, and were both forced bets that were put in the pot before the deal started, so that the players would have something to play for. Shakita peeked at her cards and saw she had two jacks. She was now ready to see the “flop,” or the three community cards that are placed face up for all players to see. These cards were matched with the cards in your hand to try and create a poker combination.

  The young man revealed the top card to show everyone he wasn’t cheating, and then turned over the community cards to let everyone see that there was a two of hearts, a queen of diamonds, and a ten of clubs. Since Shakita was sitting beside the player who put out the “big blind,” she was to start off the next round of betting. She felt good about her pair of jacks but looked at the other players to see how they felt about their hand. Shakita didn’t notice any cockiness so she assumed she had the better hand so far. She put in another thousand dollars as her bid for this round. The three men put in their bids and were now ready to see the next community card which was called “the turn.” The turn card was a six of spades.

  Shakita still felt confident about her two jacks and put in a bid for another thousand dollars. The three men bid the same amount as well. They all turned over their cards to reveal to each other what they had. Shakita put down her two jacks and the young man put down a six of hearts and a nine of spades. He ended up with a pair of sixes but wasn’t good enough to beat Shakita’s two jacks. The old man had a ten of diamonds and a four of hearts. He ended up with a pair of tens but wasn’t good enough to beat Shakita’s hand either. Shakita leaned over and swooped up the pile of chips in her hands. She’d won fourteen thousand dollars.

  The old man was the dealer in the second round and took the dealer button from the young man grandson, and placed it in front of him on the table. The old man dealt out everyone’s cards and was now ready to get the betting started. Shakita had a five of hearts and an ace of spades. She was the “high blind” and was prepared to put down her two grand to play. Everyone else put down their bets and was ready to see the community cards. The old man burnt the first card and then turned over an eight of clubs, a three of spades, and a two of hearts. Shakita thought she could be able to pull off a straight and was waiting for a four to do so. When it was her turn to bet, she raised her bet by a thousand.

  The other players raised one thousand also except for the old man. He had to fold and was pissed for doing so. He hated losing and getting put down by some little black woman was an insult to all his gaming experience. He was going to have to find a way to take her out of the game, but for now he was left frustrated with a weak hand. The old man turned over the second card, since he was still the dealer, and allowed everyone to see that “the turn” card was a king of clubs. Shakita couldn’t use a king with the cards she had, but still felt confident about her hand. She called her two thousand like the rest of them and waited for “the river” card to be revealed.

  “The river” card was turned over and Shakita saw that the four she needed wasn’t there. Instead, it was an ace of hearts. She didn’t get her straight she was looking for, but she did get a pair of aces. She didn’t know if it was enough to win, but she still was going to bet on it anyway. Whenever it was her turn to bet, she put in another t
wo grand to match the chubby man’s bet. The young man then folded not wanting to lose any more money, leaving Shakita and the chubby man to go one on one over the pot. They both revealed their hands and Shakita saw that the chubby man had only a pair of kings. Shakita’s face lit up with a grin. She pulled her forty-three thousand dollars pot closer to her and couldn’t believe she had won two times in a row. The next win would put her on a winning streak.

  After playing for two hours and some odd minutes, Shakita had over $250,000 in chips, and had enough money to give back to Latrice with a little left over for herself. This was going to be her last hand and wanted to get the men for as much money as she could before she split. She also wanted to get some real sleep since she’d been going on only a few hours of rest. She was yawning every ten seconds now, and her eyes felt extremely hard to keep open. A headache was starting to form and she wanted to get this hand over with as soon as possible, so she could climb into one of the queen-sized beds at the Taj, and dream about her money. Shakita hoped that the men wouldn’t try to take her tiredness for a weakness.

  “Shit. Shit. Shit” was the only thing Shakita could say to herself as the three men were continuing to raise the bet on her. She was overly confident with the king of diamonds and ace of hearts she had in her hand, and with the community cards being a ten of hearts, a king of hearts, and an ace of hearts, she had her two pairs already secured. All she needed now was to get another king or ace to appear from out of “the turn” or “the river” and then she would have a full house. If she was able to pull off a four of a kind somehow, that would be even better. She didn’t know whether any of the men were bluffing with their hands or not, but they were really starting to piss her off. She had $75,000 of her earnings in the pot already and they hadn’t even gotten to the second round of bidding yet. She had no idea where the game was going.

  “The turn” card was a four of spades, which did nothing to enhance Shakita’s hand at all. She put in her usual two thousand-dollar bet and it was matched and then raised $25,000 by the young man. Shakita looked at him funny wondering why he’d never taken a big risk the entire game until now. She tried to read the young man’s facial expressions but couldn’t get anything. The old man then matched the younger man’s bet and then raised it by $10,000. Shakita took her focus off of the young man to follow what was going on around the table. The betting was getting worse. The chubby man matched the $35,000 that the older man added to the pot and raised him another $15,000. Shakita couldn’t believe what the hell was going on. If she wanted to play this hand, she would have to put in another $50,000 or fold her hand.