JJ started walking north from the Crystal Palace since most of the calls had been from that end of the strip. He had just crossed Flamingo and decided that it was too hot to walk the two long blocks up to Silver City.
Stepping up onto the sidewalk, a wonderfully cool bit of air made him stop and think about his choices, maybe not his life choices, but at least the decision to walk in the Vegas heat. He followed the cool air to its source, the Barbary Coast. He stepped down into the casino and stood for a moment, enjoying the cool air and the surroundings accented by dark wood. Once he stopped dripping sweat, he went back to the lobby area to get a cab.
Outside, there was no one in line for rides, and a driver was idling, waiting for a fare. JJ was able to hop right in.
“Where to,” the driver asked as JJ sat down.
“Silver City,” JJ said.
“Hmm,” the driver said and pulled the flag down. Fares that were going to Silver City would not be prone to being big tippers, so the driver took the faster backway to get rid of JJ as fast as possible.
“You know the Mirage has really good air filtration,” the driver said when they arrived at the destination. “You don’t have to go to a place like Silver City to not breathe cigarette smoke,”
“Thank you, I’ll remember that,” JJ said, getting out of the cab after paying the driver and including a decent tip.
He looked around, trying to decide where he wanted to go while he waited for the inevitable page. “Hmm, it’s been a bit since I’ve been to the Riviera,” JJ said to himself. He started the short walk to the Riviera and only took a few steps towards his new destination when he got a page.
“Well, that’s a new number,” JJ said to himself as he looked down at the pager’s screen.
He looked around to see where the closest pay phone was to return the page.
“Great, when you need one, there are none there,” JJ said.
JJ walked back to Silver City to use one of the payphones just inside the front doors.
“Hi, I’m JJ; I received a page from this number,” JJ said when the call was answered.
“This is the table games area in Stardust. I got your number from the pit boss in Big Top. He said you are a cooler,” the voice on the other end of the call said.
“Yeah, that’s right, what is your name? “ JJ asked.
“I’m Randy. Can you get over quickly?” Randy asked.
“Yes. I’ll be there in about 10 minutes,” JJ said.
“Good. Ask for me when you get here, and we can finalize our arrangement,” Randy said.
JJ hung up and then headed out to cross the strip to the Stardust.
“Man, this city needs to do something about these lights. It is tough to get across the street without getting hit,” JJ said to himself while he stood waiting to cross the Vegas Strip.
“Yeah, and this isn’t California, so pedestrians don’t have the right of way,” another person waiting at the light commented, after having seen a homeless man step off the sidewalk across the street.
The man was dressed in torn-up, heavily soiled layers of clothing that had all become the same shade of grey-brown. As he walked, he made erratic, jerky hand motions and mumbled. Every few words were punctuated with loud swearing, telling some unknown person to partake in physical imposibilities. By now, the group of pedestrians had grown from two to about six; every eye was on the man crossing, waiting to see if he would become the next object lesson on what not to do in Vegas. When he got close to the sidewalk, the watchers suddenly found something more interesting to look at. Some were looking at the light trying to will it to change. Some were looking at their watches or empty wrists where a watch would be, but none were making eye contact with the j-walker.
He stepped up onto the curb and shoved his way into the cluster of pedestrians with a loud “Get out of my way; I have a right to walk here. You can’t keep me from the sidewalk, you useless interlopers.” His attention seemed to be drawn to JJ, who was still watching him out of curiosity. “What are you looking at?”
Now, all of the other people decided that they could cross at another intersection or maybe see what all the fuss was about with a casino that was smoke-free.
“Nothing,” JJ replied to the question.
“Are you calling me nothing? I am not nothing,” the man said. His hands stopped moving and dropped to his side. His mouth snapped shut, and his eyes rolled up into his head. It looked like he was starting a seizure. JJ reached out to catch him.
The man stood for a few seconds like that, then said in a different voice, “Your tricks can’t hide you forever, Simon. I will find you.”
“What? Who is Simon?” JJ asked.
The man’s eyes returned to normal, and his hands started moving again in their random, chaotic manner. “I’m not Simon; leave me alone. Don’t touch me. Stranger Danger!!!” The man yelled and then shoved by JJ. He continued to shout “Stranger Danger” as he went south down the strip.
“Ok, that was unusual,” JJ said. The light finally changed, and he headed across the street.
Entering the Stardust, he stopped to let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting and figure out where he needed to go. A walkway away from the front door through the slot machines full of people manically hitting the spin button with one hand and holding a cigarette with the other.
“Cocktails, cocktails,” women in typical skimpy outfits called out as they followed a path they only knew through the machines like a live-action game of PacMan. The casino was a little darker than some of the others JJ had been in, but it seemed to be one of the more elegant ones.
Once his eyes finally adjusted, he headed through the machines to the table-games
Stepping up to the pit, JJ could hear the dealers bantering with the players.
“Wow, this is a friendly casino,” JJ said to himself. Most dealers in the other casinos are polite but don’t talk to players except to keep the game moving along.
“Can I talk to Randy?” JJ asked the first person he saw in the pit area wearing a suit.
“He’s over near the craps table on the other side,” the floor man said.
“Ok, thank you,” JJ said.
JJ negotiated his way around the pit, trying not to get too close to any tables or the slot machines that lined the walkway.
“Seven out,” the boxman said as soon as JJ walked up to the table.
“Awww, what a run!” One of the players said in response.
“Randy?” JJ asked the boxman over the disappointed vocalizations.
“At the end over there,” The boxman said.
The person the boxman pointed out was a trim, distinguished-looking man in an expensive suit watching the craps table very carefully.
“Randy?” JJ asked of him.
“Yes, who’s asking,” Randy asked.
“I’m JJ,” he said.
“Oh, good. Come on over here so we can talk,” Randy said, pointing to an empty blackjack table.
“So, how does this work?” Randy asked when he sat down next to JJ at the table.
“You tell me who I need to cool, and then you pay me a percentage of the amount they give back and a higher percentage of anything they lose after that,” JJ said.
“Well, I’m not sure what you do is real, but if you can change the player's luck at the craps table. I will pay one percent of the stack in front of him and one and a half of anything past that.” Randy said.
“That’s a bit lower than my normal percentage,” JJ said.
“Yeah, but our table stakes are higher than the casinos I heard you normally work at. The one percent of a stack here will pay almost double what you normally get,” Randy said as he looked over at the table. “Actually, it doesn’t look like I need your voodoo after all.” The craps table was now very quiet with loss after loss.
“One second,” JJ said as he got up and walked over to a blackjack table a few over from the empty one, and now he was a good twenty feet from the craps.
The table he was standing next to started to lose every hand, and the craps table suddenly started to have a run of good luck.
“Let me give you another example,” JJ said, then walked over to another table while Randy followed him.
Again, the table he walked up to started to lose, and the table he walked away from went back to normal. The craps table was having the beginning of an epic run.
“Now let me finish proving it to you,” JJ said. He walked back to the craps table, and the run of winnings was stopped cold while the other table again went back to normal.
“That is why they pay me,” JJ said.
“Ok, point made,” Randy said. He turned around and walked back into the pit.
“He’s a bit abrupt,” JJ said to himself.
He stood there and watched the players lose roll after roll.
“Man, I need to head back to the palace to change my luck,” the lucky player said. His stack was getting very small now. " Okay, I’m done,” he said and picked up the last of his chips. “Time to head back to the IP.”
Once the lucky player was out of sight, Randy walked out from behind the tables. “That was impressive. The old guys talk about coolers and breaking runs, but I never believed them. I believe now.” Randy shook his head and then bent over a table to fill out a pay voucher from a book. ”Here you go,” Randy said as he handed JJ the completed form. “Any of the cashiers will honor this. I would suggest going to that one there behind you.”
“Thank you, sir. I hope I will see you again soon,” JJ said.
“I hope I do not. I would rather that whatever caused that guy to be so lucky doesn’t happen again. He gave back most of what he won, but other players took their winnings.” Randy was silent for a moment as he thought about what he had just witnessed. ”Well, I have your pager number. Have a good day.” He turned back to his normal duties, dismissing JJ.
* * *
“Elvis is in the building,” the cashier quipped.
JJ had walked to the cage Randy had told him to go to.
“Are you related?” she asked.
“Funny. No, I’m not related to him,” JJ said.
“I don’t know. I can see some features that some of his relatives have. You have the dark black hair and that slight lift of one side of your mouth.” The cashier said.
“Are you an Elvis fan,” JJ asked.
“Everyone is an Elvis fan; it’s just a matter of how much. And I am a huge fan. With a last name like that, you must be a huge fan, too,” the Cashier said.
“Well, I know some of his songs, but I can’t say I’m a fan; he’s just a really good singer,” JJ said. “You know my name, what's yours? Your badge is covered by your jacket.”
“Yeah, I do that on purpose. My boss doesn’t really like me doing it because they consider everyone family, even the customers. I end up with too many creepy uncles talking to me,” she said, looking back down at the receipt she was filling out. “2 pm on August 15th, 1993, 450 dollars for customer relations. That’s a funny one.”
“Well, I guess I’m one of the creepy uncles,” JJ said under his breath.
“Here you go, four hundred fifty dollars. Just sign here.” She put a receipt book up on the counter next to a stack of bills.
“Thank you,” JJ said after he signed the receipt. “Have a good day.”
“You too, Mr Presley. And it’s Sarah.” Sarah said after JJ had turned around.
JJ stopped and turned back to the cashier. “Thank you, Sarah,” JJ said with a smile, then turned back around to head out.
“Oh, before I leave, do you know where the I P is?” JJ asked.
“That’s a funny way to ask where the bathroom is. It’s over there,” Sarah said, pointing to the “Mens” sign, then looked down at a rolodex she had pulled out.
“Thank you,” JJ said and then headed towards the door. “I guess I could have misunderstood the player. He was facing the other way when he got up to leave. Maybe he was just saying he had to find the bathroom. Well, I think I’ll go see if there is any music at the Trop.”
JJ headed out to the bus stop for the few-minute wait.
“I’m glad the busses on the strip come so often; it is too hot out here to wait in the sun very long,” JJ said to himself.
The bus arrived after just a few moments. “That was faster than I expected,” JJ said to himself as he got up to board.
He climbed aboard and, after paying his fare, he started walking down the aisle.
“Oh look, it’s Stranger Danger. How’s it going, Stranger Danger?” The transient JJ had encountered earlier in the day asked him.
JJ quickly looked to the other side of the bus, hoping to see an empty seat. The bus was packed, with the only empty seat next to the very pungent passenger.
“Sit down, John, I won’t bite,” the man seemed more coherent than he was earlier.
JJ was taken aback by being addressed by name. He brushed the nonexistent dirt off the seat and then sat down.
“How do you know my name?” JJ asked.
“I hear things.” The transient said, then started laughing uncontrollably.
“That’s interesting,” JJ said, then stood up to get away from the smell and any potentially contagious diseases.
“Please take a seat while the bus is in motion,” The driver said over the intercom.
“Ok,” JJ said as he sat on the edge of the seat.
“You paid for the whole seat, but you're only using the edge,” the transient said in between laughing fits.
The bus continued until it reached a stop in front of the Mirage.
“This is your stop,” the man said, pushing JJ out of his seat.
“Ooof,” the air was knocked out of him when he hit the floor. “I’m getting off. I’m getting off.” JJ yelled to keep the driver from driving off before he could get off the bus and away from the smell.
JJ stepped off the bus and back into the oven. “Wow, it’s hot. I think it’s worse when you come out of air conditioning. I guess the heat is better than the smell. Maybe I should find a cab; it’s still a long walk to the Trop.” JJ stood looking around; in front of him was the Mirage volcano. “Well, I have a few hours before the volcano erupts.” Turning around, JJ could see the transient on the bus getting more boisterous. The bus pulled away and was no longer blocking JJ’s view of the east side of the strip. First, he could see the Sands with his favorite buffet. Then, the Casino Royale, “I need to remember to go in there and take a look.” Next to be revealed was Harrahs. Then, in quick succession was the Imperial Palace, O’Sheas, the Flamingo, and finally Barbary Coast. “Hmm, I think I will have the best chance of getting a cab at the Mirage.” JJ turned around to walk to the entrance.
“The strip is filling up fast. I saw pictures of it way back in the fifties; there were only a few places. The Flamingo and the Sands were the only ones on that side of the street. All the others like Harrahs and the Imperial Palace …” JJ was talking to himself when he trailed off. “The IP the Imperial Palace. That’s what that guy was saying. That is the second time one of the lucky players mentioned the Imperial Palace. I think I need to make a stop over there.” JJ continued to walk north to the corner with the light, but now, instead of turning left to go to the Mirage entrance, he waited at the light to cross.
It didn’t take long to get across the strip. The light changed almost as soon as he hit the button.
“Another casino recycled,” JJ said as he reached the other side of the strip to stand next to the recently rebranded Harrah’s. “This town is such a contradiction. I hear people all the time saying I only play at a specific casino, but if the casino doesn’t change things often, then the known becomes boring, and the gambler will go somewhere else. Well, time to go see what’s so special about the Imperial Palace.”
JJ walked the short distance to the entrance and then stepped up to the automatic doors. For a moment, his head seemed a little foggy; shaking to clear it, he reached down for the door handle to open it and walked in.
“Wow, no cigarette smoke. The filters here must be really good … wait, this is the Silver City!?!”
“Oh good, I was just about to page you,” the pit boss said as he walked out from behind the tables. “That heat can really get to you,” he said when he walked up to JJ and extended his hand to shake.
“Uhmm, Hi,” JJ was a little dazed from the unexpected change in location. He looked down to shake and noticed that his bare arm was soaked with sweat.
“Why don’t you go dry off again and come find me afterward?” Javie said. “You really need to get a car or start using cabs.”
“I will, Javie; what time is it?” JJ asked.
“Oh, it's quarter after 6,” Javie said.
“Thank you,” JJ said as he walked over to the bathroom.
* * *
JJ was standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom. “Ok, that is weird. I left the Stardust at around 2 pm, and the receipt says so.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet with the receipt and cash from Stardust. In his wallet were two receipts and just 440 dollars. “What happened to the other 30 dollars?” He pulled out the other receipt and saw it was a receipt from a cab ride with a little over 20 miles. “What? When did I take a cab and go twenty miles.” JJ studied the receipt, but it only showed the pickup time, dropoff time, and distance. The pickup time was 2:23 pm, and the drop-off time was 4:40 pm. “That is weird. Over two hours to go 20 miles, and I was dropped off almost two hours ago.”
“Did you die in there?” Javie asked as he poked his head in the bathroom.
“No, I’m on my way out now.” JJ quickly dried his face and arms but couldn’t do anything about the soaked shirt.
He exited the bathroom and headed over to the pit to see who Javie needed him to cool.
It ended up being a woman dressed in a few layers of dirty clothes. She looked like she was one of the many homeless people who lived off the generosity and guilt of the tourists.
“Hit me, Hit me, Hit me,” She was saying.
“Please make a motion for the camera,” The dealer said.
“Fine, fine,” She said. She kept looking around with jerky motions. Her hands could not stay still. They kept fluttering down to her lap, and then they went flying around like moths, looking for someplace to land.
“Is that your motion for a hit?” the dealer asked as the woman waved in the air. “Please make your motion over the table.”
“Ok, ok. Hit me, hit me.” She said, slapping the table, making the drinks of the other two players jump and almost spill.
The two players grabbed their drinks, and one of them got up, trying to grab their chips, but just ended up knocking the stacks over. “Could I get a rack,” He said in frustration when it was obvious he couldn’t juggle his chips and drink at the same time.
“As soon as we finish this hand, sir,” the dealer said to him.
The floor man had been watching the table closely and immediately came over with a couple of racks when the player asked. “Here you go, sir,” The floor man started helping him rack up his chips while the dealer finished the hand. “Can I move you to another table?”
“No, I think it’s time to go get an early dinner. I think I will head back to the Imperial Palace. Thank you.” The player said.
“Hmm, that’s the third person to talk about the IP,” JJ said to himself.
Once the player was gone, the other two players started to lose almost every hand. “It could be me, or that player that just left, or the combination of the two has changed their luck.”
The player that left didn’t have a huge stack. He was very careful and kept his bets at the table to a minimum. The two players he left at the table were less cautious with their bets. Once he was gone, they started to lose nonstop.
“What did you do?” The transient woman asked. “You’re cheating me. I want to talk to the boss. I want to talk to the boss! I want to talk to the boss!” She continued to shout that until the floor man came over.
“Ma’am, you need to calm down.” The floor man said.
“He’s cheating me out of my winnings. I want my money back! I want my money back! I want my money!” The woman yelled.
“Ma’am.” The floor man tried to make himself heard over the woman’s yelling.
“I want my money!”
“Maam! I need you to calm down,”
“I want my money! I want my money!”
“Security! The floor man said, even though security was already running over to the table to try to calm the situation.
The security personnel assisted, rather forcefully, the woman to a back room somewhere while the floor man racked up the chips.
“I think I’m ready to cash out, too,” the only other player left at the table said.
After the lone player left the area, the pit boss came over to JJ with a slip.
“Well, that was a cluster f…” the pit boss said. “Sorry, it’s not much, but that … that … child of God broke up the table.” Javie quickly corrected his description of the woman.
JJ looked down at the slip. It was for ten dollars. “It looks like you padded this a little. I don’t think there were five hundred won back by the casino.”
“You’re probably right, but we can’t make a pay slip for less than ten dollars,” Javie said.
“Well, thank you,” JJ said and then turned to head to the cashier's cage.
It didn’t take long for JJ to finish his business with the cashier. “Oh, can you call a cab for me?” JJ said after he finished signing the receipt and collected the ten-dollar bill.
“Certainly, sir. They will pick you up out front,” the cashier said.
“Thank you,” JJ said and then walked out.
“Where to?” The cab driver asked when JJ got in.
“I need a drink and to sit a while. The Trop.” JJ told the driver.
“All right,” The driver said, “Do you like music? Or were you going to have a drink and watch the cocktail waitresses? Do you go to the trop regularly? Where are you from? I’m a Vegas native, born and raised. This town has grown so much. I can’t believe how much it’s changed. Now we have everything on the strip. You can get food from everywhere and even see knights joust. I can’t believe more people haven’t moved here.” The driver continued to drone on about the wonders of Vegas. Eventually, he got around to the “I miss the old days” line of thought. JJ just let the driver talk; he didn’t seem to need anyone to respond to keep talking, and the noise helped JJ not think about the most recent events. The driver took Paradise to avoid the strip traffic and tourist gawking.
“Did you hear that they will have an amusement park there,” the driver said as they passed by the construction site for the new MGM. “Hopefully, they will have better fire prevention devices than they did at the old MGM. Have you ever been there? I won’t go in. I swear I can hear the ghosts of the fire victims screaming.” Amazingly, the driver was quiet for a moment, with only the rhythm of the turn signal to break the silence. They were at the light to turn into the entrance for the Tropicana. Something about describing the MGM fire got to the driver.
“Did you know any of the victims of the fire?” JJ asked.
“Yeah, I did,” the driver said and then was silent again for a few moments.”There was a nice old lady who lived a few houses down from where I grew up. She would watch me occasionally when my mom had to go to work for a late shift and couldn’t find a sitter. Well, here you go.”
“Thank you, sir. I learned a lot about Vegas from you,” JJ said, getting out of the car.
JJ went in and found his way to the piano bar.
“What can I get you,” the cocktail waitress asked when she made it over to JJ. He had just sat when the waitress saw him and made her way over.
“A boulevardier,” JJ said.
“You got it,” she said, turning to head to the bar.
“Oh, make it with rye,” JJ yelled at the waitress.
The boulevardier did its job and relaxed JJ enough that he could think about the last couple of days without emotions getting in the way.
“So somehow, when I tried to go into the Imperial Palace, I blacked out and ended up about a mile away and hours later. I took a cab, but it didn’t seem that I took the cab to Silver City. As sweaty as I was, I must have walked most of the strip.” JJ took a drink and then pulled out the cab receipt from the lost time.
“So the pay receipt from the Stardust was at 2 pm, and then less than 30 minutes later, I was in a cab. I had to have been picked up at the Imperial Palace. That doesn’t help me understand where I went during that lost couple of hours.” JJ looked closer at the receipt. The paper had a watermark, but it was too light to see it in a darkened piano bar.
“I’ll have to look at this more in the daylight. Maybe I can find out what cab company picked me up. Hmm, that might not help me. I don’t know for sure where I was picked up, and there is no cab number on the receipt. If this is from one of the big cab companies, they could have a few cabs doing pickups at the Imperial Palace and more nearby at Harrahs and the Flamingo. What is interesting and confusing to me is what I did for two-plus hours. How was I acting in the back of the cab? I can’t imagine I was coherent. Why didn’t the driver take me directly to the hospital? What was I doing in a cab?” JJ stopped and took another drink.
“Do you need a refill?” The waitress asked.
“Yes, thank you. I think another one will help the singer stay in tune,” JJ said.
The waitress smiled and said, “Coming right up.”
“ I’m just thinking in circles, and I’m missing the good music … well, the acceptable music,” JJ said and sat back to enjoy the music and his drinks.