“That was interesting,” JJ said to himself. He had just stepped out of Arnies place after having his first lesson on magic, and it was more than he had expected. He headed to the closest bus stop to head north on the strip.
JJ didn’t quite know where he was going yet. He knew he wasn’t going to go back to his apartment. The thought of sitting in his small, drab flat and watching a mindless TV program had no appeal to him. He had just sat down on the bench when his pager went off, revealing an unfamiliar number.
“Well, I guess I’ll go back to Arnie’s place and use his phone,” JJ said.
JJ was walking back to Arnie’s place when he saw a short, slim man walking into the door. He slowed his pace so that he wouldn’t interrupt Arnie’s spiel. He made it to the sidewalk in front of Arnie’s place, and still, the guy had not come out. Trying to buy time, he walked down a couple of doors to a t-shirt shop with lots of ridiculous examples of bad taste and poor decisions hanging in the window.
“My wife went to Vegas without me, and all I got was this t-shirt,” “The bail bondsman said I had a good time in Vegas,” some of the t-shirts read.
JJ read a few more when he finally heard Arnie’s door. He looked over to see the man just walking out. The guy turned and walked down the sidewalk away from JJ. He watched him for a moment and then lost sight of him in a heat shimmer.
“Wait, what? It's only about seventy degrees, and there is no heat to shimmer.” JJ said, then shook his head and walked to Arnie’s door.
“Hey, Arnie, it’s me again,” JJ said as he walked in the door.
Arnie was standing with a weird look on his face.
“Earth to Arnie,” JJ said, walking up to him.
“Uh yeah. Hey, your back. is it 11 am already?” Arnie asked.
“No. It's only been a few minutes since I left,” JJ said.
“Oh really?” Arnie blinked a few times and then shook his head. “I could have sworn it had been a day since you were here.”
“Go into the break room and have a seat. I think you either need some water or a whiskey. I’ll put up the closed sign and lock the door,” JJ said as he gave Arnie a gentle push toward the back.
JJ turned off the open sign, turned the lock on the door, and then went back to Arnie.
Arnie was sitting on one of the chairs in the breakroom, looking at nothing.
“Here, have some water,” JJ said as he handed Arnie a bottle of water from the fridge.
“Thank you,” Arnie said after he took a big swig.
“What happened? There was only one customer since I left the shop,” JJ asked.
“Really, only one person?” Arnie asked.
“Yes, one customer. He was a short, thin man with wild hair,” JJ said.
“Oh, right,” Arnie’s eyes lost focus as he remembered what had happened.
“Nothing was disturbed, and I don’t see any signs of you being in a fight. What happened for you to be so stunned?” JJ asked.
Arnie took a big swig of water. “This won’t do it. I think I need a whiskey,” Arnie said.
“Coming right up,” JJ said as he got up to fetch the bottle and glasses.
“Thank you, JJ,” Arnie said.
“Here you go, neat,” JJ said as he set the glass down in front of him. “I made it a double.”
Instead of a response, Arnie picked up the glass and took a big swig. He put the glass down and then closed his eyes, feeling the burn of the whiskey going down his throat.
“Better?” JJ said after Arnie opened his eyes.
“Yes, much better,” Arnie said. He took a deep breath and then started to talk. “I decided to look at my store with the enhanced vision spell you taught me. I was looking at my crystals so that I could put the drained ones back into my workshop to recharge them. I had just started to look at them when the stranger walked in. Do not use your vision without me there!”
“I get it. I won’t.” JJ said.
“No, I don’t think you do. The person that walked in was the messenger again,” Arnie said.
“That guy that was looking for the master?” JJ interjected.
“Yes. But this time. I saw his true form, thanks to your spell.” Arnie stopped and took another drink of the whiskey. He again savored the flavor and feeling for a moment. “I knew there were creatures that pretended to be human, but I have never seen them. I’ve read about them and seen the pictures,” Arnie stopped again and sat for a moment. “What I saw looked like a giant bear. I think it was a guardian spirit of some kind. It again mentioned Aku Aku.” Arnie stopped and shook his head. “I am very confused. The last time I talked to them, they didn’t mention anything about a master or a guarding spirit as a messenger. In fact, they said he was a menehune.” Arnie stopped talking and then went silent, thinking about his conversations with Aku Aku.
“It looks like the whiskey is working,” JJ said, trying to get Arnie talking again.
“Yes, I’m feeling better. I think the fact that I knew what I was looking at kept me from going mad,” Arnie said.
“That’s interesting,” JJ said, not really believing that what Arnie saw was real or even that bad. Just then, his pager went off. “Oh yeah, that’s right, I came back to use your phone. I didn’t recognize the number and need to call it.”
“Of course, I’m doing better; you need … wait, you’re not a cooler anymore. What are you going to do at the casinos now?” Arnie asked.
“Nothing, I’m going to call them and tell them I can’t help anymore,” JJ said.
“The phone is behind the register in the front,” Arnie said.
“Thanks,” JJ said as he walked out.
“Riviera table games,” A voice on the phone said when the JJ made the call.
“This is JJ; I received a page from this number,” JJ said.
“Oh, you're the cooler. Get down here fast. We need your services,” the man said.
“I’m not …” JJ started to say, but the man at the Riviera had already hung up.
“I’m going to head up to the Riviera and tell them I can’t help,” JJ said to Arnie when he walked back into the break room.
“You didn’t tell them you couldn’t help?” Arnie asked.
“I didn’t get a chance. The guy hung up before I could say anything,” JJ said.
“Hmm, give me a few moments before you go. I might have a solution, “ Arnie said. He walked out of the door that led to Arnie’s back room with the cot. “I remember a spell on that page that Aku Aku told me how to translate,” Arnie said from the other room.
Arnie came back in carrying the book. “One second, I need to find the text, and then we can see if it will work.” The empty glasses rattled when Arnie put the book down on the table. He opened it and pulled out a sheet that was in between the pages. “Let me see, I translated part of the page and took notes here.”
Arnie was mumbling as he was reading down his sheet of notes. “Ahh, here it is,” Arnie tapped the passage that he had been looking for. “I need to get something to absorb the luck, and then we can see if we can say this spell correctly.” Arnie went back again into his study room and then came back with a large crystal.
He set the crystal down on the table next to JJ. “Let me see,” Arnie looked again at his notes. “A rr e ggr,” Arnie was trying to sound out the words of the spell. “Oh, I almost forgot. Wish me luck.”
“You said not to do that,” JJ said.
“I know, but we need something for the spell to drain,” Arnie said.
“Good luck,” JJ said. The room seemed to be a little brighter, and the colors on everything were a little more vibrant.
“Ok, repeat these words, Argury pdtami telamm. Shoot, that's not right,” Arnie said.
“Argery pudtami teladmani predenti,” JJ said and then pointed at Arnie while he put his hand on the crystal.
“What that's not,” Arnie started to say when he felt the luck that JJ had just embued upon him quickly drain away. “How did you know what to say?” Arnie asked while he just started at JJ.
“I don’t know. What you said just triggered a memory, and I repeated the words,” JJ said.
“A memory?” Arnie asked.
“No, not a memory … wait, yes, it was a memory. I can almost see those words on a page of a book,” JJ said with a strange expression on his face.
“Ok, that’s interesting,” Arnie said. “How do you remember something that didn’t happen? You said you’ve never practiced magic, and now you have a memory of looking at a spell? I am very confused, and I think we need to explore it.”
“We will, but this will still let me be cooler. Right now, I need to get to the Riviera,” JJ said.
“So you are just going to ignore that memory?” Arnie asked with his voice rising in concern.
“Yes, I’m going to ignore it. We will deal with it later; right now, I need to be a cooler again,” JJ said.
“Ok,” Arnie said, shaking his head. “One sec. I need to go get something. I can’t tell you I’m not happy about ignoring things, but next time you're here, we will deal with it,” Arnie walked out.
“Oh, look at the crystal with your vision,” Arnie yelled from the other room.
“Ok, I will,” JJ replied and then activated his magical vision.
“Wow, It’s so bright,” JJ said when he looked at it. He quickly deactivated his vision.
“I know it’s somewhere …” Arnie’s voice was muted like he had his head in a closet.
“Here it is,” Arnie said as he walked back into the break room. “Here, hold this.” Arnie handed JJ what looked like a crumpled ball of aluminum foil.
“Woah,” JJ said when it hit his hand. It obviously was not aluminum; it was a lot heavier than any ball of foil would be. “This is not a ball of aluminum foil. What is it?”
“It’s silver. Silver is the best conductor of wild magic, luck.” Arnie said.
“Why does it look like it’s crumpled foil?” JJ asked.
“The more surface area it has, the more wild magic it can hold. So, all those bits that look like crumpled sheets of foil help it hold a lot of magic.” Arnie said, then opened the refrigerator and grabbed a water bottle. “Should I copy down the spell for you?”
“Nope, I’ve got it. I need to run before a lucky gambler cleans out the Riviera.” JJ said, getting up to head out.
“Get back here soon; we need to deal with things,” Arnie said to JJ. “You can take my car.”
JJ stopped and turned. “Really, I can take your car? Didn’t I tell you about the last car I had?”
“Yes, you did, but that was before the curse was broken. I think it will be safe.” Arnie tossed JJ the keys.
“Thanks, I’ll try not to let it catch fire,” JJ said and then went out to Arnie’s car.
* * *
The first thing JJ did after he started Arnie’s car was to turn up the air conditioning to max.
“Oh, that’s nice,” JJ said. He sat for a few moments with his eyes closed, letting the cold air wash over him.
“Ok, that settles it. I am getting a car.” JJ said. “I think this is the first time I’ve been cold since I got into town. Well, time to get going before I suffer frostbite.” JJ turned the fan down and then headed to the Riviera.
He headed the backway via paradise. When he got close to the convention center, he realized he should have taken Industrial instead. He had heard about a new convention in town called deaf con. He thought it was a convention of audiologists, but on the news the night before, it sounded more like it was something about computers and phones. Now, the lights at the corner near the convention center were doing weird things. All the signal lights were blinking to some loud music playing from a boom box. There were three lanes of traffic, all honking their displeasure with the choice of music.
“Wow, I took the wrong way,” JJ said. “Well, at least the air conditioning works.”
It took a few moments, and then the cars started to treat the disco light as a stop sign.
JJ had almost gotten to the front of the line when he could see a group of young men in one corner. One of the guys was waving a big red flag; the rest were doing chest bumps interspersed with some kind of random dancing. All of them had complexions that indicated they hadn’t seen the sun in months. If any of the drivers decided to deal with the kids themselves, it wouldn’t go well for the miscreants; it didn’t look like they could handle more than one punch from a blue-haired little old lady.
He finally made it to the front of the line when three cop cars came roaring in, lights and sirens blaring.
“Oh great, now I have to wait for them to assume control,” JJ said.
One officer went to the center of the intersection to start directing traffic while the rest went and started detaining the dangerous individuals.
The officer directing traffic flagged JJ to go through the intersection. He was halfway through it when he saw a flash of light from the corner where the officers were arresting the terrorists.
“What was that?” JJ turned to look at the corner and saw the cops just standing there while the guys started to run in all directions.
“Hey! Stop!” The traffic directing officer yelled when he saw the activity on the corner. He adjusted his priorities and left the cars to take care of themselves.
“Time to get out of here,” JJ sped up to get away from whatever was happening. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw the cops still standing there, not moving.
“That is very weird,” JJ said.
He drove the short half-city block and then turned into the back parking lot for the Riviera.
He walked into the back entrance and walked through slot machines. The Riviera kept their table games up near the front so that people coming in the front could take their pick of games.
When he arrived at the pit, he looked around and saw the table that was the problem. It was a blackjack table with a large group of people around it. There was only a lone woman seated at the table.
“Can I speak to the floor manager or pit boss and tell him JJ is asking for him,” JJ said to a dealer standing at an unoccupied table.
“Floor,” the dealer yelled out over his shoulder.
“What do you need,” a large man in a suit said as he walked up behind the dealer. JJ recognized his voice from the phone call earlier.
“He wanted to speak to you,” the dealer said.
The man in the suit looked at JJ with a frown. “What can I do for you,” he said.
“I’m JJ. I talked to you a bit ago,” JJ said.
“About time you got here. We need that run broken,” the pit boss said, pointing to the table with all the fans around. “I understand from my contact at the Stardust it’s one percent of the returns and then one and a half for anything else,”
“Yeah, that's okay for better than low limits,” JJ said.
“Ok, then take care of that run,” the pit boss said. He then turned and returned to his station at the center, where he could watch everything.
“Wow, you're a cooler,” the dealer said after the boss walked away.
“That's what they tell me. Thank you for getting the boss,” JJ said, then walked away to see what he could do.
“This will be interesting,” JJ said to himself. “I’m not sure how close I have to be to affect the player.”
The crowd watching the action was at least four people deep and very boisterous. Every time the player won, there was a loud cheer and clapping.
JJ walked to the outskirts of the cluster and tried to push his way in.
“Hey, don’t push,” a guy in front of JJ said.
“Sorry, I was just trying to see what was so interesting,” JJ said. “What's going on?”
“I’m not sure. I just got here, but from what I saw, there is some really hot Hawaiian chick that can’t lose. She is playing with 500-dollar chips, and her stacks just keep getting bigger and bigger.” The guy said.
Looking around, JJ couldn’t see any way to get close through the crowd. He quickly walked back to a spot nearest to where he could get the pit boss’s attention.
“I need to get closer to the player for me to be able to affect them,” JJ said.
“I’ll see what I can do,” the pit boss said and then turned to the phone near him. He was on the phone for a few moments. “Go back over there. They should be clearing out in a few minutes.”
“Ok,” JJ said, then went back to the back of the crowd, which was still getting bigger.
“We are offering free buffets for the first fifty people that join the Riviera rewards program.” A voice over the resort speakers. “Just make your way over to the rewards desk and get a free buffet.”
“Wow, free buffet. Have you ever tried it?” A woman just in front of JJ asked a woman beside her.
“It's really good and well worth the ten dollars they charge,” JJ said, offering unsolicited advice.
“They are carving award-winning prime rib at the carving station,” the announcement continued.
That last seemed to do the trick and enough people decided to take up the offer that JJ could get close enough to see the player.
JJ grabbed the charm that Arnie had given him and then repeated the spell while he looked at the back of the player.
When JJ said the last word of the spell, the player turned and looked at him and said, “Oh, there you are JJ.”
When JJ cast the spell at Arnie's, the charm got warm; this time, nothing happened.
“Stop trying to steal my power. Come on over here and have a seat,” she said. JJ now recognized her from the hospital.
JJ was about ready to say something in response about the crowd being in the way when, everyone who had been surrounding the woman walked away.
Seeing he could obey the request, he went over to the table and sat next to her.
“Here, play some for me,” she said, handing JJ half of her chips. There must have been a hundred dollars, at least.
“Uhm, I can’t play blackjack,” JJ said, not knowing how to respond to her.
“It doesn’t really matter; you will win every hand with how bright you shine.” She said.
“Are you really a nurse?” JJ asked, not knowing where to start.
“Really that's the question you ask me?” She asked.
“Well, I don’t know what else to ask you except maybe your name?” JJ asked.
“I’m surprised you don’t remember. Its Kapo,” Kapo said.
“Sir, are you going to bet? You have to bet if you are going to sit,” the dealer said, interrupting their conversation.
“Oh, right, JJ said and put out one of the chips.
“The table max is one hundred dollars. Would you like me to change that?” The dealer asked.
“Yes,” JJ said and then started to grab more chips to make enough to play at the table. “How many more … “ JJ was interrupted by the dealer.
“Changing five thousand,” the dealer said over her shoulder.
“I don’t have that much to change,” JJ said, thinking the dealer wanted him to get more chips.
“You don’t want to change the five thousand chip?” The dealer asked.
“Uhm, ohhh,” JJ was stunned into silence. He realized that the chip he thought was a five-dollar chip was a five-thousand-dollar chip. He looked down again at the stack of chips and just stared. There must be close to a hundred thousand dollars in front of him. The chips were five and ten thousand dollars, not five and ten dollars.
“Sir, do you want change or not?” The dealer asked, breaking into his thoughts.
“Uhh yeah, I guess so,” JJ responded.
The dealer changed the five thousand dollar chip for hundred dollar chips and some twenty dollar chips.
“Place your bet in the circle,” the dealer said after pushing the chips to JJ.
“Ok, thank you,” JJ pushed a twenty-dollar chip into the betting circle.
“So what are you going to bet?” JJ asked the woman.
“I think I’ll let you play a few hands,” Kapo said.
“Dealer busts,” The dealer said.
“What? I didn’t do anything, and what about her? Doesn’t she have to play,” JJ said.
“Who do you mean, sir?” The dealer asked JJ.
“Her,” JJ said, looking at Kapo.
“Be careful; they might call the men in white coats. They don’t like people that talk to imaginary friends.” Kapo said.
“Sir, if you would like to play two hands, you will have to put a bet down for both hands,” the dealer said, trying to give JJ an out and not accuse him of being a lunatic.
“Imaginary?” JJ asked Kapo.
“I prefer not to be seen,” Kapo said.
“You don’t need to pretend there is someone there. You can play hands at any empty seats,” the dealer said.
“Ok,” JJ said.
“Would you like to play another hand, sir?” The dealer asked, indicating the empty bet circle.
“No, thank you. I think I’m good with just the one hand.” JJ said.
“Ok, good luck,” the dealer said, then dealt a hand.
“So what do I do?” JJ asked Kapo while he looked at the two cards.
“Nothing you will win no matter what,” Kapo said.
“Tell me if you want to stand or get a card,” The dealer said.
“I think I’m good,” JJ said.
“You're going to stand on a nine? Ok, just make a motion like this over the cards so the camera can see,” the dealer made a sideways waving motion with her hand.
“Should I get a card?” JJ asked.
“No need,” Kapo said.
“Most people would take a card to get closer to twenty-one,” the dealer said.
“Ok I think I’m good,” JJ said, then made the motion over his cards.
“Well, while the dealer is busy busting, we should talk,” Kapo said.
“What do we have to talk about?” JJ said.
“Excuse me,” the dealer responded to JJ's statement.
“Sorry, I’m just talking to myself,” JJ said.
“This will not do. You can play a few hands and then meet me at the beer bar back towards the rear entrance,” Kapo said, then got up and walked away.
JJ looked down where she had been sitting. The chips that had been stacked in front of her were now in a plastic chip rack sitting to the side of JJ's chips.
“Dealer busts,” the dealer said.
“Can I cash out?” JJ said after the dealer put another twenty-dollar chip next to the one he had bet.
“Certainly,” the dealer said to JJ. “Floor,” she said over her shoulder.
The dealer stood for a moment, watching the customers wandering the floor of the casino.
“What can I do for you?” the pit boss asked. He was the same one who had greeted JJ when he first walked in.
“The gentleman here would like to cash out; he will need some racks,” the dealer said.
“Looks like you did very well.” The pit boss said. “Can I offer you a comped room? What's your name? I’m surprised I wasn’t made aware when you bought in with that much. I would have directed you to our high roller tables so we could offer you the best of our amenities.”
“I’m JJ. I talked to you when I first came in. I’m the cooler you called,” JJ said.
“I apologize. I don’t recall calling you or talking to you. We do not employ such superstitious practices as hiring coolers,” the pit boss said. “That's a pretty big stack of chips for being a cooler.”
“The woman who was sitting here when I sat down gave it to me,” JJ said.
“There was no woman here,” the dealer said. The table was empty until he sat down with his stack of chips.” JJ just looked at the dealer in disbelief.
“Well, you can cash out at the cashier's cage. Next time you would like to play, talk to any floor personnel first so we can set you up on the high roller tables where random invisible women won’t bother you,” the pit boss said and signaled for a security guard to walk JJ over to the cage.