8, 4, 10, 2

Entering this place, she realized it smelled of smoke. 

For a country where smoking was frowned upon, and you could not find a public space, indoor or outdoor, to smoke at, this came as a shock. The smell was stained, it was that smell of a room that was smoked a lot in, but no one ever vented it. She spread her nostrils in disgust upon realizing, besides the stained smell, how filthy this place actually was. Chewing gums and food crumbs were now embroidered into the carpets over which everyone was walking. It would not have been so dirty if everyone from the outside would not walk over it a thousand times. She looked down at her shoes, and then put a reminder on her phone to not even enter the hallway of her house with these shoes on, she was to throw them immediately into the washer. 

Everyone was either smoking, drinking to get drunk, or were already drunk but wanted to get drunker, and some looked like they got lost. 

“This seems like the only, and the last place where people in this country get to smoke. I am absolutely disgusted” 

“This a place to take care of one’s vices” Her friend replied while being really excited to try out his luck. 

The half-working lights around this place sadly flashed CASINO

It was completely different from what she expected it to be. This was to blame on the American movies. They presented casinos as these big fancy places where fancy people waste their money, or average people dress up as fancy people to try and not waste their money. She tried to think of all the movies she watched that had casinos in them, but all these casinos were in Vegas, and not in the Midwest. I guess that makes sense.

He took her and her friend to experience something new, the American casino. 

A letdown. It was her friend’s birthday, and it was very obvious, that he was not doing this for them, but rather for himself. 

“The last time I was here was maybe eight or seven years ago” 

No one seemed to care for the revival of his memories, and they waited as he went to get the gambling permit/card. 

“Can you get us a lottery ticket?” 

Besides the gambling card, he gets them the ticket. They scratched the ticket, and before sitting down on the nearby couch, they put a few napkins in order to protect themselves from getting some undiscovered disease. An employee, who was about to sit down on the opposite couch, pushed a bunch of crap off of it with her shoe. 

When she sat, down she aggressively burned down one cigarette. 

Even the employees hated this place. Probably people who completely hated themselves could only search for a job here. Or maybe just people who did not have any luck.

That made her giggle. People who had no luck worked in a place that was based on this myth of luck, where people would come to search for luck. 

Her friend, Maya, asked what was so funny. She explained it to her, and they both laughed. 

When they scratched the ticket, not even knowing if they won, they went to the craps playing table. 

Maya looking at her whispers “I know you want to run away, but let's be here for him” 

“I do not feel like my role here should be emotional support in order for him to feel better about his level of manliness” 

Maya laughs out loud. 

“I cannot argue with that” 

He bet one hundred dollars. The girl that was working by the table, who also explained the rules, looked at them a few times. They looked back, and it seemed that without even speaking, they shared a common language. 

Each time the friend would say things such as Oh, do not go away, stay here, you are my lucky charm or whatever other act that made him the smart man who was playing big money games – big money games of one hundred dollars – and they were there just to stand and be pretty, the girl would roll her eyes at him, and give them a look of irritation. 

Not paying attention to the game, Vera looked around the room. 

I hope there is a robbery, or I will swallow a few dices, and that will be the end of it, she thought to herself with an unbearable feeling of boredom.

She had the urge to smoke to distract herself from this growing anxiety of being in this place. She only smoked with coffee, for those moments of tranquility, and this was definitely not the place to find tranquility. 

“How about we go drink?” Vera proposes

“But, Jeremy-” 

“I do not give a fuck about Jeremy. He can find someone else to help him boost his self-esteem” 

Maya laughs, and in the next few minutes, they were sipping cocktails from the bar. 

“Do you have the urge to smoke?” Maya asks.

“I have never smoked in a place like this. I only smoke when my aesthetic is in the right spot. This place, and these people, it just does not seem right to smoke here. I have a feeling I would become one of them” 

“You might get a better opinion of them once you would start smoking”

Vera rolls her eyes, and on the top floor amongst the crowd of people she notices the girl who worked by the craps table. She was on a phone call, looking over the casino, smoking, and tapping the ash over the rail she was leaning on. The employees, besides hating this place, worked collectively on destroying it.

She notices Vera looking, and waves to her. Vera waves back, and Maya turns around, the girl smilingly waves at her as well. 

After a few minutes of chatting with Maya, and feeling warmth travel through her body from alcohol, she notices the girl again. 

Walking through the crowd, smoking, and tapping the ash carelessly. She was still on her phone. 

Vera lost her in the crowd, and Maya whispered to Vera “The girl behind you, is that not the one who waved at us” 

Vera turns around. It was the girl. She was again smoking, but the cigarette now was in an ashtray. She sat there, and even though she was surrounded by endless crowds of people, she looked alone. She thoughtfully tapped the cigarette pack with her fingers. Vera wondered how could anyone think of anything meaningful in a place with such noises and smells. 

She continued staring at the cigarette pack, and let out thick smokes. 

“Hello” 

She did not hear Vera. “Be louder” Maya whispers into Vera’s ear. 

“Hello there” 

The girl picks up her gaze and looks at Vera. Her face acquires a smile. 

“Oh, hi. You guys finally ran away from that loser?”

Maya and Vera laugh.

“Yes, we did” 

“Good. You are not even aware how many of those I see each day” 

“How many insecure men you see each day?”

“Insecure men who want to prove to their spouses, or girlfriends, or hookers, that they are worth something, in order to hide whatever insecurity they might be suffering from. I just wonder what these women get, besides the big bucks, from being show ponies? That type of crap, that these women do, I think it ages them even faster, and the beauty” she lets out a smoke  “which is the main attribute that gets them the paycheck, is being diminished as price of doing these soul-suffocating type of jobs” 

She had overly meaningful thoughts for a place like this. How did she even end up here? 

“You are really interesting, Vernita” She got her name from the metal name tag.

Vernita smiles at that. “And your names are..?” 

“I am Vera, and this is Maya” 

Maya raises her glass. 

“How drunk are you girls?”

“Kinda half”

“I recommend that you do not drink any further. It will get crowded and dangerous in here” 

“Dangerous. What do you mean?”

“Bunch of low lives get themselves into this hellhole, and they tend to pickpocket, attack, and put crap into people’s drinks. I recommend a clear vision and a steady step from now on” 

She lets a smoke out, and opens the cigarette pack.

“You girls want a smoke?”

Maya looks curiously at Vera, and Vera is frustrated by the amount of playfulness she sees in Maya’s eyes. 

Vernita is also intrigued by this exchange of looks. 

“What is the meaning behind these little looks? Is it about me?”

“This one refuses to smoke in places that do not fit her aesthetic” Maya says. 

“Interesting. I kinda get that. But, if you are a smoker, I recommend you smoke one before this shit turns into real fucking mayhem” 

Vera takes one, and Maya does as well. In presence of such people, Vera inhaled every smoke as if it was the last one. 

“My shift should end in two hours, or better yet, it should end forever”

Vera wants to ask further, but Vernita does not give her the chance to do so as she gets up from the bar. She takes her pack, lighter, and phone and says “Girls, if you do not leave in the next ten to fifteen minutes, please move away from the checkout counters, or at least stay away from them. That is where they keep the money, and people get into fights and stuff. If we do not see each other, all the best” 

She waves at them, and merges into the crowd, disappearing in a few minutes.

“She is one interesting woman. Come let's keep away from the counters, find Jeremy, and get the fuck away from here” 

Half drunk, Maya and Vera hold each other by the hand as they crawl through the crowd. 

Blunt noises of something hitting metal. 

Maya stops Vera “Do you hear that?” 

The sounds repeat, but now they were more clear. Screams in the distance. Everyone turns toward the direction of the sounds and screams. 

As sounds became louder and clearer, they were coming out to be gunshots. 

Panic arises within seconds.

Through the mayhem, Maya is able to say “Come we have to grab onto something before they we die in the upcoming stampede” 

Grabbing onto a nearby bench, the shots were not directed toward people but towards the air. Shots of warning. 

They hear someone say over the speakers “Everybody get down! Get down, do not make me repeat!” 

Looking up, they see people dressed in black, with their rifles pointing at the crowd. 

Some people did not listen to their instructions. As they continued running, they shoot shots of warning. 

“I said get down!!! We will shoot for your body next time” 

Some fall to the ground from fear, and some continue running. They get shot. 

In a few minutes, a crowd of people was whimpering, and laying on the ground. The riflemen were positioned on both floors. 

Vera hears Maya praying “He will not help us now” 

She started laughing silently. Now they got themselves into a robbery, and they might get killed. The great casinos of the midwest, one of the peaks of the American experience. She would be willing to get shot to see the face of Jeremy at this very moment.

“Are you high? What is wrong with you?! Where is Jeremy?” 

“Imagine his face now” She continues laughing, sort of silently, and Maya, besides being in utter shock from witnessing people getting shot, was absolutely confused by Vera’s behavior. 

Vera feels warm metal touching the back of her head.

“Get up, or I will blow your brains out!”

One of the riflemen. 

Maya panics and grabs her hand.

“Let her go, or you are going with me as well!” 

Vera, without resisting, gets up. 

They bring her to the leader of the riflemen. 

“Who is this?”

“She was laughing a lot. She might be on some drugs, but I thought we could use her as a hostage”

“What hostage, you idiot?” He growls at him. 

“We will not be taking any hostages. We will take what we came for, and we will leave this stinky place without any other casualties”

He comes over to her. He had a cap, sunglasses, and black surgery mask. No parts of his eyes or skin could be seen. 

“Laugh one more time, or act out of the ordinary, I will kill you myself. Now go back with him” 

He turns to the angry rifleman. 

“Now, loser, bring her back, and do not ever think or make decisions by yourself” 

As Vera goes back with him, he turns around and shoots the leader. 

He falls dead, and the screams explode. 

He shoots in the air, and Vera covers her ears. 

“No more screaming! If anyone screams, I will start killing without hesitating!” 

The riflemen that were rushing the employees to take out the money point their rifles at him. 

He turns to them and says “You know you need me. Now lower those rifles, get the money, and we leave. With him dead, each of us will get a bigger share. Now go back to work” That was the first time he did not say something through yelling.

He points the rifle at Vera. 

“You, pretty girl who likes to laugh, come with me” 

He pushes Vera towards the playing table. 

“Now I” He points his right hand to himself and continues “want to play. Who works over at this table?!”

It was the same craps table where they first played with Jeremy. 

“Do not make me ask again!” 

“I do” 

A familiar voice. Vernita raised her hand while she lay on the floor. 

“Oh, shit” For the first time, she hears confusion in his voice. 

He regains his confidence “Get over here!” 

Vernita was standing beside the table. 

“Okay” He takes a deep breath in. Vera can see that his black mask was soaked in sweat.

“I want to play” 

Vernita, without any confusion, asks “What do you want to play?”

“The dice. The roll of the dice” 

“What do you mean?”

“You know… Uhm… I will throw the dice, and if I get the number I win”

“What kind of game is that?”

“Is not that what you do, all night? The people throw the dice, and then you see if it is the number that was set or something, and if it is, you win, and if it is not, the house takes it”

Vernita keep looking at him as if she saw an alien. 

“There is no such game”

He shoots in the air. 

He points the rifle at her. His hands were shaking. 

“You will call the number, and I will throw the dices, and if it is the number you say, I win, and if it is not, I will not be as pleasant”

Vera felt her knees shaking, but no trace of fear could be seen on Vernita’s face. She looked him straight in the eyes, and without any tremble in her voice, she said

“Eight!” 

Talking to Vera, he says “You will stand here, and be pretty, while I roll the dices. You will be my lucky charm” 

Vernita looks at her, and murmurs son of a bitch. 

He rolls the dices. Two and a three.

Vernita yells as if it was an actual game “Five!” 

“Fuck!”

“Try a different number!” 

“Four!” 

He rolls the dices. One and three. 

“Four!”

“Woooo!”

Upon realizing that no one else shared his joy, he yells “Every time I win, I want applause! Now applaud!” 

Mild applause “Now what the fuck is that?!”

He gets up on the standing table “I want standing ovations, without you standing! Clap harder! And I want whistles!” The casino echoes in the loudest clap and whistles it ever received for the most bizarre reason ever. 

He dances on the table. 

Vernita gives Vera the same look she gave her a few hours ago. 

“Thank you! Call the number again” 

“Ten!” 

He rolls the dices. 

“Six!”

“NO! You are cheating!”

“The house has to win sometimes” Vernita replies to him as if he were another customer. 

He turns to Vera “You are not doing much, aren't you pretty face? Where is your pretty girl magic? Next time, I throw the dices, if I do not win, you get shot” 

Vernita breathes in and out. 

“Number! Say a number!” 

Vernita is silent. He puts the rifle on her head “SAY A NUMBER!”

“Two!” 

“Here we go! If it is not two, you are no lucky charm, and I am killing you off” 

He throws the dices. The first lands as one, and the second one keeps rolling. Vernita had her eyes on the dice, and Vera closes hers. 

The dice rolls, and with each roll, it slows down, rolls over one more time, and somehow catching its balance, it slams one last time showing… four. 

“Okay, now you go down” Putting the rifle on her head, Vera hears a shot, but nothing happens. Opening her eyes, she sees the guy laying dead, and Vernita holding a gun, which was still pointed at his body.

Vernita disappointingly looks at her, and says “You should have left” 

One of the riflemen comes over to Vernita. Whispering “We will have to take you as a fake hostage now, to cover ourselves up…Vernita”

Vera with tears in her eyes says “I am so sorry”

Vernita smiles at her. 

Out of her butt pocket, Vernita takes out a cigarette pack and gives it to Vera. The rifleman pushes Vernita toward the exit. 

*** 

Smoking, Vera's face is covered back and forth in shades of red and blue by the nearby flashing police siren. On the sidewalk near where the face-off took place, covered in specs of blood, lay a metal name tag that said Vernita.