Aiden's Game

“C’mon,” said Daisy, opening the car door. They’d driven off the highway into the desert on a dirt road that wasn’t on the map. Pete decided to park near decayed trees. This is where they’d crash for the night. She found it funny: in mid-July, the desert could be so cold, then dangerously hot during the day. The night sky drew her attention. It was as if the galaxy had exploded with stars, more stars than she ever saw in Kentucky. They twinkled like diamonds on black velvet, so beautiful and clear. Daisy knew it was a good omen.

“It’s cold babe. Come back inside,” said Pete. Finally, he too left the backseat.

“Lookit there.” Daisy pointed at a constellation she didn’t know. “What is it, Pete?”
He walked around the back of the car. “Orion’s Belt.”

“Really?”

“Yep, that’s it.” Pete gave a one-shoulder shrug.

Daisy knew he wasn’t sure, but she liked making her guy feel like he was the smartest in the world. He had his ways of making her feel equally important. She hugged him and kissed him on the lips, rubbing her nose with his. “How about we snuggle out here for awhile, under the stars?”

“Get the blankets. I’ll fix a sandwich,” Pete smiled. He dug in his pocket when he spoke to her.

“You so greedy,” Daisy laughed.

Daisy rushed to the back of the car. She waited for him to come and unlock the trunk. She gathered two fleece blankets before slamming it down, hard. If she didn’t, the latch wouldn’t catch and it’d spring back up. She really hated his car. Pete called it Betsy. She had a different name: Piece Of Shit.

Her guy was inside again, rummaging through the cooler. He probably found bread and the ham to make him self, yet again, another sandwich. It was smart of her to stack up on cold cuts, chips, bottles of water and beer. Saved them money. Daisy went to the front of the car and snapped the blanket out flat to the hood. The Cadillac was longer than her full-size bed at home. And the warmth from the covered engine brought forth an unexpected comfort against the night-breeze. The desert was fragrant. The air filled with smells of soil and decaying cypress. She inhaled deeply, loving the tranquility and freedom of the outdoors.

“Pete, c’mon!”

Pete was out the car, stuffing his face. He plopped on the hood. The metal compressed as he gathered the blanket under his butt.

“Dang it!” Daisy cursed. She struggled to the crumbled fleece blanket. She hurried back to the car and got their pillows. When she climbed back on the hood with him, he had finished his sandwich and was polishing off his beer.

“You’re going to have gas eating that fast. I swear I’ll put you out of the car tonight if you do.”

Pete laughed. “You worry too much.”

“I love you. It’s my job to worry.” Daisy winked.

“Come here, sexy.”

Daisy climbed over him. Pete dropped back on the pillows propped against the windshield. Daisy found that she fit between his legs perfectly. She pulled the blanket over them. There was no other place she’d rather be. The stars flashed in the sky like Christmas lights. It was all so different from home. “We ‘gon’ do it, Pete. Get it all, huh?”

“You having doubts?”

“No, but Jessiemae said—”

“Fuck Jessiemae. I told you to not listen to that gossip-hound.”

“She’s my friend.”

“She’s a leech.”

Daisy bit down on the inside of her cheek. She wanted to tell him that it was Jessiemae that gave her the money to bail his crusty butt out of jail when he and Scooter got drunk and raced up and down Blackshear Drive. But she didn’t. It was Jessiemae that gave her the money for—for the one secret between them. The one secret that still made it hard for her to sleep at night. Pete had no idea how much of a friend Jessiemae was.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Okay? I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He gave her a squeeze. “I just don’t want you going and getting second thoughts. We stick to the plan. We get a thousand in Vegas and then we head to Washington. In Port Angeles I’ll get work, a good job. Hell, with the money I’ll be making with Ed, we’ll open your nail salon in no time.”

“What if we get more than a thousand?” she smirked.

“We stick to the plan.”

“But think about it, Pete. It’s Vegas. It’s not Hollow Creek. We could easily make ten times that amount with one pull. Or even more. I’m just saying we don’t have to think small. The sky’s the limit, you know?”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

Daisy yawned. “You call your mom to let her know we okay?”

Daisy squealed when Pete squeezed her hard, which meant ‘no’. It was 2008 and there was a black man running for president, but no one told the town of Hollow Creek. You’d think she was Satan himself with a horn out of her ass for how his mother hated her. And her parents felt the same way about him. In fact, everyone over thirty in their town regarded interracial couples with disdain. She and Pete were only out-hated by the feelings the county and its residents had against gays. It didn’t matter. Nothing could separate them. Many had tried. All had failed.

“We can call our folks when we get to Vegas. We might have some news.”

“News?” Daisy’s lids lowered, weighted with fatigue. “You mean if we win?”

“I’ve already won. I got the finest, sweetest gal in all of the Hollow. Open your eyes.”
Daisy’s lashes parted a fraction. She blinked away sleep. Pete wiggled his finger. A diamond rested on it. She shot up, grabbed his hand and gaped at the solitaire. “PETE!"

“Will you marry me?” he asked, rising behind her.

Daisy pulled the ring from his finger. She eyed the tiny gem.

“It’s half a carat,” he whispered in her ear. “Cost me a pretty penny at Wal-Mart but worth it. Now give me your hand.” She held it out. Pete rolled the ring in his palm and slipped it on her finger. “Daisy, will you be my wife?”

Daisy couldn’t swallow the knot in her throat. She struggled with the word but managed a hoarse reply. “YES.”

Pete touched her face. He kissed her, softly. He drew her tongue into his mouth, sucking it, possessing it. “I love you,” he moaned within their kiss. Daisy giggled, kissed him once more then turned in his arms, resting on his chest. Her hand went back up for the ring inspection. If he’d asked her in Hollow Creek, she would have certainly said no, just as she did at the thought of being barefoot and pregnant and living in a trailer with him like most young couples their age did after high-school. But now, on the road, headed to their fortune and future, the sky was the limit. She’d be his wife and live the life she knew she was destined to have. Hell, she might pop out a kid or two after they made their way.

“We win big in Vegas, the first thing I’m going to do is replace it with a bigger rock. Like the one those stars wear in those magazines you can’t stop reading.”

“For real? I love it, Pete, but I do want a bigger diamond. Something with dazzle!”
Pete smiled. “I know you do.”

Daisy grinned. She dropped her head on his chest. Things couldn’t be more perfect. It was another good omen. When her eyes opened, she saw light streak across the sky. Her head shot up.

“Pete! Did ya see it?” Daisy squealed.

“Yeah, I saw it.”

Daisy closed her eyes and wished hard, harder than she prayed before the time she sneaked out of the back screen door and ran through the Jefferson’s backyard to meet him on the street. Sure, she was legally an adult then, but her parents never got the memo. Instead of telling them her plans, she left a note and stole away.

“You wish?”

“I did, and part of it has already come true.” She turned and kissed his chin. “I’m so happy.”
Pete pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Me too.”

They laid in silence, heads turned up to the night sky. Together, they drifted in each other’s arms, just as they did on the prairie back at Hollow Creek. Dreams. They had their own and ones they shared. Both were ready for the world and all the adventure Las Vegas would bring.

***

“Mr. Keane, the poker room has opened. The banker needs your signature, sir.”
Aiden Keane sat in a large leather office chair facing a wall of monitors. People from all walks of life passed over the screens. Thousands of guests pulled levers, turned over cards, placed bets in hope for the pay-off that odds predicted were well beyond their reach. His private security room to the back of his suite was a duplicate of the one in the galleys of his casino. A coin of solid gold, dating back to the 1800s, rolled from his index finger over each digit until it reached the pinky. Then he began to roll it back. Finger play. It was a sign. Aiden was restless.

“Mr. Keane?”

“That will be all.” He scribbled his signature and answered in a discontented voice.
A silence fell over the room, disturbed only by the soft sound of the door closing with Carlene’s departure. Aiden’s eyes, like the green ice eyes of his father, darted from one monitor to the next. Boredom. It was eating away at him like a cancer. Maybe it was time to leave Las Vegas. But wherever he went, boredom was sure to follow.

Aiden Keane was a self made man—a man of means. He owned three of the major casinos on the strip. The Shamrock was his latest and greatest, a contemporary 50-story casino-resort, with a 70-foot man-made mountain and five waterfalls. The Shamrock had two shopping malls inside, a golf course where former presidents played, and the largest winning casino in all of Vegas.

What does a man who’s done it all, has it all, acquire next? As Aiden stared at the fortune-seekers milling around his slot machines and game tables—like mice in a maze—he chewed over that question. The gold coin flipped, dipped, and rolled from one finger to the next.

Boredom. There had to be a cure.