Black Odds

Black Odds

The blinding glare from the early morning sun made his already sleep deprived eyes burn, as he staggered from the all-night gambling tavern.

His head was swimming from the many tequilas he had been pouring down his throat for more than twenty-four hours.

His eyes were already trying to restore themselves from the many hours of flashing colours from the gaming machines. His ears were ringing from the ding, ding of free spins and features. He was drained emotionally from the continuous highs and lows of winning and loosing and winning and the finally loosing it all.

Another five grand down the drain. Surely his run of bad luck would come to an end soon. He climbed into a waiting taxi and mumbled his address to the driver, who he recognised from having used him on previous nights.

Arman raised his eyebrows as his fare fell into the back seat of the car, he knew him well, he had picked him up quite a few times in the past. He didn’t know his name, nor did he want to. He tipped well sometimes, other times not. Arman found it was like that with most of the gamblers when they were winning, the tips were great and times like this morning, when they were losers, no tips would come. Many of them would be like the man slumped in the back seat looking sad, lost and broken. Gambler's hangover he had heard it called many times.

Arman could always guarantee fares outside the all-night Tavern. There were always all- night gamblers and drinkers stumbling out at sunrise. He worked hard, nights driving a taxi and days in his brother’s take away shop.

So he felt no pity for these money wasters, he considered them self indulgent swines. Some would sit in his taxi and cry; others would vomit in his taxi. Some would be angry, blaming the machines or blaming the world for just being against them. He thought them stupid, and he was glad to take their money.

He dropped the man at the laneway as he had done many times before, he didn’t know where he lived, and he didn’t care. The man paid his fare and as he expected with no tip and Arman drove away, with thoughts of breakfast and a few hours sleep before his workday began. The man forgotten before Arman had turned the corner.

The man’s name was Toby Thompson. He was a washed-out Real Estate agent who hadn’t sold a property in years. He worked for his father’s firm, this of course being the only real reason he still had a job.

He had too many days off made promises he had no intentions of keeping and was known around the office as a complete looser and waste of space. No one particularly liked Toby, truth be known he wasn’t very likeable. 

When on the odd occasion of late when he did turn up for work, he would spend most of the day on-line gambling and by lunchtime you could always find him in the local drinking and of course gambling. When his local closed around one in the morning he would head to the all-night tavern.

Toby Thompson a drunk and a gambler. In days gone by, he had been a nice caring successful family and businessman. Loved by his wife and two kids. That was until his addiction to gambling and drinking had taken control and cost him everything. It had taken their home and comfortable lifestyle, and they eventually they left him. His father had tried to help Toby in the past but without any success. He now pretty much had given up on him as had his wife and kids. Too many broken promises to forgive.Toby now lived alone in a unit in the most dingy, dangerous suburb of Sydney’s west. Junkies and sleaze bags doing drug deals on every corner. Crime rates through the roof.

Sometimes he made it into work but lately not so much. Lately he seemed to be on one long loosing streak, longer than ever before. He found himself money chasing every night, in debt to low life money lenders and falling into a depression that he was struggling with every day to climb out of. 

Over the years he had made attempts to stop gambling, he had been to groups,councillors and drs. He had taken their meds tried to stick to their plans, but he just couldn’t. Maybe he was weak, or maybe he was just broken. He couldn’t decide. Most days he had faith in his luck to win and was sure he could win it all back, make it all right. Get his house backand his wife and kids back.

Not today, today he was done, today he just couldn’t find the colourful rainbow.

Instead of heading to his home at the end of the laneway where Arman had let him out, he turned the opposite direction. With his head down he walked for what seemed like hours. He had never been in such a dark, sad place before. 

Eventually he found himself at the freeway overpass. The morning traffic was building up as it approached peak hour. The drone from the traffic below was kind of soothing he thought to himself.

He stopped and looked down at the cars below. It made him giddy from this height. Whirling thoughts ran through his already alcohol dazed mind. Should he just climb up onto the rail and swan dive down onto the road. What were the odds a semi trailer would come along just as he landed? He was sure it would all be over quick and easy. Would anyone care if he died. Did he care if he died. He looked to the sky and asked for a sign.

Overwhelmed with vertigo he grabbed the rail to steady himself, unstable the rail broke and down he sailed, falling in slow motion, landing on the roof of a semi trailer, finally odds were on.

Did Toby Thompson die there on the freeway, no he did not. He lays in a coma in critical condition. He was connected to a machine to keep him alive. Tubes connected throughout his entire body.

In this vegetation state his world is now an abundance of flashing lights and gaming machines

“Black, red, free spins, yes, yes, I’m winning, at last all his dreams were coming true. All his losses were coming back, ten thousand, twenty thousand, fifty thousand, come on Lady Luck!”

Another mother and her children sit at the bedside looking upon the face of the man they loved as he faded away. Taken by the demon addiction.

“Mummy can daddy hear us” 

“No baby he can’t”

‘Will he be in heaven soon with Grandpa”

The end