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The rest of the table folded, and it was just the dealer and me. A confident middle-aged fellow who didn’t change his facial expression. “All in.”
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. I stood a chance. Haughtily, I revealed my cards, thinking I had already won.
I saw the dealer smirk for the first time that night, and it made my blood churn. It sent nausea to my head. He’s calling a bluff. But then, what reason did he have to do so? The time ticked by twice as slow when he laid his cards onto the table. My stomach sank. Tonight’s winnings and my initial one thousand dollars—gone.
Bastard got a royal flush.
That was nearly four months’ worth of rent.
It was only in my mind, but I could almost feel the condescending stares of everyone in the casino on my back.
Kristie threw a hand onto my shoulder. “Oh, no. How in the world did that happen?” She left her mouth gaping open in disbelief.
Still in mid-shock, I responded, “I don’t know.”
The smug woman sitting next to me let out a soft chortle. I eyeballed her, ready to punch her till her nose bled. I was in the worst mood I’d ever been in in my life. Strangling her till she choked nearly sounded like a valid option.
“Let’s get out of here,” Kristie said, pulling me away by my arm. “I think we’ve had enough gambling for the night.”
I had alloted one thousand dollars to spend, and with that gone, I had to go. “I thought I’d won.”
Kristie had burned her fingers at the slot machines, losing fifty dollars—a reasonable amount compared to my losses. “I know, sweetheart, but these things, you can’t control them. Try to play it safer next time.”
We walked to the parking lot with me practically dragging my feet against the ground. I was wrong about the Luck God after all. He, or she, hated me, and couldn’t wait to crush me like an insect. “Maybe this is all karma. Why the hell did I decide to steal my neighbor’s mangoes when I was younger?”
Kristie laughed. “Are you getting superstitious? I thought you weren’t into that crap.”
“First, the twins dump me for some stupid reason, and now I lose five thousand? What’s next? My apartment catches on fire? I’ve been down on my luck all this time.”
She patted my back. “Don’t think too much about it, sweetheart. Think about the five thousand as extra. It was really only one thousand, and that was money you were willing to spend.”
I scoffed, “Yeah, like that makes it any better.”
“The casino was a bad idea, wasn’t it?”
“Maybe. Alcohol?”
She frowned. “Not tonight, young lady. That’s enough destructive behavior for one day. Think about your baby. You’ve got to start taking care of yourself.”
“Probably. I can’t stop thinking about Ryan and Riley, you know? They’ve been stuck in my head all this time. I’m on a downward spiral, Kristie. I try to tell myself that if I get into enough shit they’ll start to care, and maybe if they love me enough, they’ll put those stupid pictures behind them.”
“That doesn’t sound…”
“It sounds stupid, that’s what. Irrational bullshit. But I can’t help it, you know? I’m an emotional train wreck now. It makes me want to keep making bad decisions over and over again.”
She sat me down on the sidewalk and wrapped a caring arm around my shoulder. “Let it out, girl.”
“I’m lost, damn it, so damn f**king lost. And I shouldn’t be. Aren’t the twins and I supposed to have a baby together? Shouldn’t they care more, instead of kicking me out without even talking it through? I trusted them more than that. They repeated ‘I love you’ so many times. I thought they actually meant it. Turns out it’s all a scam.” I clenched my fists. Rather than just getting sad again—I’d been drowning myself in that emotion way too much—I got angry and sad at the same time.
“It’s normal. You’ll get over it.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’m afraid I won’t. It’s like I’m cheated. Betrayed.”
“It’s a typical breakup, deary. Breakups suck and hurt like hell, especially if the relationship ended like the way yours did. You will forget them.” She stood up and offered a hand. “Let’s go. I’ll drive you home. I’ll even make you a smoothie.”
***
“Feeling better?” Kristie asked, walking me down the corridor. I’d die without a friend like her. Without her by my side, acting as a godsent angel and sticking it out with me every step of the way, getting through my thousand-and-one breakups would be ten times more painful.
