“Numbers or corners?” I looked back at him.
He smiled and hefted a finger out to point. When he was finished, he had markers on seven, twenty-four, and the crossroad next to number eleven. Once the other people placed their markers, the hostess spun a little wheel built into the table and a ball danced from number to number until the thing came to rest on five.
“Fuck, let’s try again.” He laughed, before placing twice the markers for twice the coin.
His willingness to throw money at chance made me uneasy for him, even if I was enjoying myself.
I won a tiny haul at the Blackjack table and he pulled another five hundred off the slots before we ventured outside for some air.
“How much have you won?” he asked, while shuffling through little clips of receipts and trying to figure his own winning balance.
I didn’t need to do anything of the sort, I counted every dime I won as it was being hauled. I’d also inwardly warred with myself anytime I fed the machine a bill bigger than twenty.
“Nine hundred and seventy-three dollars.”
“How many nights of work is that equivalent to?”
I flubbed my lips and gave it to him as honestly as I could,“I work the dayshift. That’s three or four days of pay.”
“Almost a week? Get the fuck on. You make more than that.” He studied me like he thought I was telling a joke.
“Day shift isn’t all that busy. Once I get to Texas and get my tits, I’ll be raking in the dough.”
“There isn’t anything wrong with your tits now…” He stared at my chest, and I felt my cheeks color a bit.
“My roommate has a surgeon out of state. That is who did hers and they turned out great. It was a couple of thousand. Once I get back in Jay’s good graces at the club and get back on the schedule it will be an attainable goal.”
We walked along the river, our pace lazy, but the conversation freely flowed.
“So, you still live in Swanwick?” I asked as the sidewalk opened into an area with benches.
He saddled one and I sat in front of him.
“Yeah. That’s where I’ve been my whole life.”
I smiled and shifted my gaze. I didn’t hate Swanwick. I hated the memories and the life I’d left behind. There were still people inthat little town I cared a great deal for. Like my sister, and some of my high school friends.
“I left there when I was sixteen. I came here with nothing. A couple of dollars in my pocket and the will to escape. It got me through. I mean, it hasn’t been easy, but… Things weren’t so great for me in Swanwick, you know? It’s better for me here.”
“Your mom is tough to live with, huh?” he guessed.
Mom.
It was such a funny word.
It meant something to me once. When I was small and still thought of her as the almighty protector and provider of our little family of three.
“You know who my mom is,” I accused, if only to save myself from spelling it all out.
“I really don’t,” he denied.
I bit my lower lip and dropped my gaze. “My mother is Charelle Nance.
I knew by the way he stiffened that he knew exactly who she was.
He cleared his throat and slowly turned his head to study me.
“Hot-relle is my mom,” I confirmed.
