Twisted Family Holidays Collection

by JR Wirth

  “Hello,” the woman said, now ten feet away.

  “What’s up?” the man added. “Great night to be out.”

  Then the perky woman, shouted, “Happy Fourth of July!”

  Instead of responding in my usual, friendly manner, I got flustered. I kept my head lowered and mumbled an inaudible, “Happy Fourth.”

  I shook my head in shame and looked back to see the couple’s reaction. They, in turn, were watching my reaction and waved back at me. At least I can hide my shame behind my sunglasses, I reassured myself, while the anxiety settled into my stomach.

  “Folks here must think I’m some weird dude,” I whispered. Then I looked around to see if anyone witnessed my one-man dialogue. I caught a glimpse of an elderly couple, turning away from me and stuffing money in a purse. They looked back at me, and then quickly scampered inside the casino. I snickered. “They must think I’m nuts.”

  Maybe coming out wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  When I entered the floor, I saw a tall gentleman headed my way. He held a wad of bills in his hand, counting his winnings. He had dark hair and sunglasses, and wore a ten-gallon hat and a Texas-sized smile. The smile was infectious and caused me to smile, even though I had no tangible reason to smile at the time.

  From fifteen feet away, he nodded his head at me―at least I thought it was to me―so, I nodded back. Despite my best efforts to avoid his eyes, contact was made and lasted more than two seconds. I couldn’t help but stare at the happy gambler.

  I nodded and smiled back. Hmm, I thought. I didn’t get the mind-changing reaction. Maybe it’s because of the glasses? Or, with any luck, I’m cured of this freakish affliction.

  No such luck, it was a delayed reaction. When our bodies were parallel, my mind went black. When it came into focus, I saw the gambler in a swollen rage, fighting to keep himself controlled. He stood chip-less, staring at the craps dealer, as if he’d just been swindled out of his life savings.

  Somebody bumped me from behind, and my mind returned to the casino floor where the sounds of musical, twirling Ferris Wheels suspended within slot machines, invited even the most stingy of visitors. I also heard the nervous chatter of anxious patrons huddled around every corner.

  I turned and saw the cowboy heading for the craps tables. I hustled toward him. “Hey mister!” I shouted, trying to catch him before he got to a table.

  No response.

  I then yelled, “Hey cowboy!”

  He turned along with several others.

  “Wait up.”

  The cowboy stopped and waited until I caught up. “What can I do for you, young man?” he asked with a smile.

  “Well, this might sound very strange coming from a stranger, but…” I paused to check my words. I looked down at my black dress shoes and shook my head, then looked up at the cowboy, who stood well over six-foot and resembled Johnny Cash, who was also large in stature. “I think you should stay away from the craps table. I have a feeling you’ll lose all of your winnings.”

  He smirked. “I appreciate your concern, young man, but this is certainly not my first rodeo.”

  “Well then, have a nice day, sir,” I said, not wanting to force the issue.

  “I shall young man, I shall.” He smiled and flagged a cocktail waitress walking by. “Give this kind man a drink of whatever he desires.” He laid a ten dollar-bill on her tray and walked away.

  I shrugged. “I guess I’ll have Miller Lite, thanks. I’ll be at the blackjack tables.”

  “I’ll find you.” The waitress smiled.

  Chapter Eight

  I searched the tables and it didn’t take long to find the only two-dollar table in all of Las Vegas, and in the most unlikely place. To my surprise, there were three empty chairs to the right of the dealer, where I like to sit. From the end I can see how the others are betting and what cards have been thrown. I sat and pulled out a twenty, laying it on the table.

  “Changing twenty!” the dealer shouted.

  “Change twenty,” was the return call.

  I watched him while he retrieved the chips and prepared. I try to get a feel for the dealer’s craftiness in taking other people’s money. The stare lasted longer than I realized and my mind, again, went blank. When it focused, I saw the dealer taking the last of the chips from the last person at the table. He’d run them all away, penniless.

  “Bets up!” he shouted, in my direction.

  I returned from the vision, I took the chips and laid them against the edge of the table. “I’ll wait.”

  The dealer glanced behind and got a nod to continue.

  My beer arrived just before the dealer pulled a Blackjack, with two sets of double twenties on the table.

  “Whoa…” My eyes opened in amazement, and I asked, “When are you going to take a break?”

  The dealer looked at his watch. “Well look at the time.” He glanced back at the boss. She came up and gave him the okay. The dealer wiped his hands and picked up his few measly tips. In a ritualistic manner, he tapped them on the table three times, and said, “Thank you all. I wish you better luck with the next dealer.”

  As soon as he left, a thirty-something woman sat to my left. “I’m glad you got rid of that guy,” she said with a noticeable smirk. “I didn’t know how much longer I could stand there and wait.”

  “You saw it too, huh?” I gave a return smirk.

  “That’s a peculiar thing to say, ‘saw it too,’” she replied.

  “It’s been a peculiar couple of days.” I shook my head in disbelief that any of it really happened. I took a peek at her. She was a very attractive blonde, with short hair pulled back in a ponytail. She had hazel eyes, from what I could tell. I didn’t want to stare at her for too long. Seeing something bad might ruin a perfectly good time. I smirked, thinking, You do a pretty good job of that yourself there, Jess.

  She leaned forward. I could tell she was looking into my eyes, but I resisted a return stare. She smiled and nudged me. “Loosen up there, soldier. I’m Lauralee. But you can call me Lee.”

  “Okay, Lee,” I responded a bit sheepishly. I must seem like a pretty odd dude to her.

  The new dealer soon rescued me from my awkwardness. “Bets up!” she said with a controlled-shout in our direction.

  I played my first two dollars. I was dealt two nines and the dealer had a three showing. When it came to me, with the entire table still in play, I split the nines. And what do you know? I hit two jacks.

  “Nice,” Lee whispered, for my ears only. Then she turned over a five and six. “One card please.” Sure enough, she hit a queen. I could tell the others were nervous since three consecutive face-cards had been dealt. Nevertheless, Lee and I shared a smile and a nudge. Then, when the dealer showed a two to go with her three, she had to hit. She drew a six, and we both moaned.

  “That’s not supposed to happen,” Lee whimpered.

  “I know, right?”

  The others at the table took a collective breath, and a middle-aged woman who sat at the first chair shouted, “Oh, shit. Not again.”

  The dealer pulled a five, causing all the players to lean in. Like me they appeared anxious with anticipation. The dealer delayed her next card, seeming to increase the intensity of the moment. She slowly lifted the edge of the card. She leaned and peeked at the card. The dealer then smiled and flipped over a seven.

  “Did you see that?” the middle-aged woman yelled, just before she jumped off of her chair, having won her first hand in several attempts.

  Lee and I gave high-fives, as did the rest of the beleaguered table.

  Lee and I shared several more high-fives, and small talk, while we amassed a couple of hundred dollars apiece. The rest of the grateful table―those who stayed―got their losses back with interest. But when the new dealer was mysteriously
whisked away, Lee and I eyed the new dealer with much interest. Nearly simultaneously, we said, “Nah, time to go.” Then we looked at each other and gave another high-five. The look lasted longer than I’d hoped. Expecting to go into blackout mode, I closed my eyes.

  After a few moments, she laughed and said, “You can open your eyes now, nothing bad happened.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you see any evil demons?” she asked. “Any disasters?”

  “As a matter of fact,” I responded. “No, I didn’t.” Lee was now extremely interesting to me. She had already captured my heart, and without a whole lot of man-gawking. Now my mind was held hostage as well.

  Still smiling at me, she touched my hand and said, “Why don’t we get a drink and you can tell me all about your peculiar trip?”

  Chapter Nine

  Having found a somewhat quiet, small bar off of the main floor, we sat enjoying each other’s company. Soon after, the cowboy approached us.

  “Good call young man!” he shouted. “I left the craps table after one loss, and moved to the poker tables.” He smiled wide. “I doubled my winnings.” He called the bartender over and threw a hundred dollar bill on the table. “Anything they want, and split the change.”

  “Wow, good call indeed,” Lee said with a chuckle. “Impressive.”

  As we got to know each other a bit I discovered that Lee was from Rancho Cucamonga, California, ten minutes down the freeway. She was single and had been so for a while, following a bad break-up from an increasingly abusive relationship. The talk was comfortably gentle, yet flirty. It was a natural interaction that seemed equally pleasing to both. And we had more than a few values in common. And no blackouts; no matter how long we stared into each other’s eyes, there were no unwanted visions. Furthermore, I was able to avoid the conversation about the weird beginning to the long weekend.

  Finally she asked the question, “Are you going to tell me about the peculiar weekend?”

  “I’d hoped we could avoid this one.”

  “I’m pretty sure you wanted to talk about it earlier.”

  “Well…” I paused and gave careful consideration to my next words. Finally I smirked and thought, Just go for it, time to let the cat out. “To start, I wasn’t expecting to be blindsided by the blonde on my left.”

  “I see.” Lee sat up and looked into the mirror that ran the length of the bar, then looked at her beer and shook her head. “Meeting someone was the farthest thing from my mind too.” She again, shook her head, smiled, and then looked back. She gave a flirty wink, and continued, “But, you’re not off the hook, just yet. I need to make sure you’re not totally insane. You know what I mean?”

  “I think so,” I replied. “But I can’t promise this isn’t going to sound totally insane.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that.”

  “Okay.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, on our way into Nevada, we hit a thunderstorm. My girl had her hand out the window, just as lightning hit the car.”

  Lee’s look was riveted to my very word. “Oh my, what happened?”

  “We blacked out. When we came to, we were in a ditch and people were all around us, banging on the windows.”

  “That must have been spooky.” Lee chuckled. “The Night of the Living Dead.”

  “I know, right? Well, that’s not even the weird part.”

  “There’s more?” Lee smiled and motioned to the bartender. “We’ll need another,” she said and then drank the last of her Michelob Light. “And another, I imagine.” She looked at me. “Well?”

  “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  “You bet.”

  “Ever since then, I can see tragedy.”

  “How so?”

  “If I look into someone’s eyes for too long, I can see the bad things that are about to happen to them. Like the family that was hit in the crosswalk, I saw that before it happened though, at the time, I didn’t know what I was seeing, or the impact it would have.” I took a drink of my beer briefly delaying the next thought. “The boy that I saw, that created the thought, lived, along with the infant in the carriage. The boy told the reported that he saw the ‘Seer’—me. And he told the reporter that I knew it was going to happen.”

  The telling of the story brought goosebumps to my forearms. When I showed it to Lee, she reached out and lightly rubbed my arms.

  “Were there any marks left on your car, or anywhere else?”

  “Yeah!” I puffed excitedly. “What do you know about this?”

  Lee swiveled on her barstool and lowered her shirt off the left shoulder. I immediately noticed the red-lacy bra, but ignored the thousand impulses. Starting at the top of the shoulder blade and running down her covered triceps was a burn mark, which looked more like smoke residue that an actual scar. Near the top of the scar was a smaller scar that intersected and formed a cross.

  “Oh wow,” I whispered. “Jade has that identical mark. So you are a…” I stopped and formed finger quotation marks. “Seer. You’re a seer too?”

  “I am.”

  “So when I said, ‘You saw that too,’ you did?”

  “I did.” Lee chuckled

  I took off my coat and rolled up my sleeve, exposing the burn on my arm. “Yet, you looked into my eyes. Why didn’t you see anything with me?”

  With a look of wonderment, Lee ran her fingers along the scar. “Why didn’t you see anything with me?” she whispered with a shrug. “I think we’re psychically, or spiritually, connected somehow.”

  “So we can’t see each other’s thoughts?”

  Lee shrugged again and took a long drink of her beer.

  “Wow.”

  “Wow is right. I was jogging in Laughlin when a storm quickly formed. I tried to run for shelter, but before I could make it, I was hit by a strike. The lightening was like a white light overwhelming me. And get this; I thought I saw the face of an angel.”

  “So did Jade,” I whispered. Silence set in while we considered the ramifications and the odds of us meeting, of all the people in the world.

  After several moments in reflective silence, Lee forced a smile. “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight,” she whispered, with a flirty wink. “What about you?”

  “I haven’t’ wanted to sleep alone in”―I coughed and gave a boyish smile―“Well, let’s just say a long time.”

  Lee leaned in and, with her soft, full-lips, gave me a gentle kiss. The kiss was soft, yet electric and lit up my senses.

  I pulled back. “Did you feel that?”

  Lee giggled. “I did, and I think I could get used to it.”

  I pulled out my cell phone and noticed I had two texts, one from Bree and one from Jim. Instead of reading them, I called Bree.

  “Hey Uncle Jess, why aren’t you answering your texts?” she asked with a playful snarl.

  “I’ve been busy.” I looked at Lee and smiled. “I’m not coming back tonight.”

  “Is everything okay, Uncle Jess?”

  I winked at Lee. “Yes, everything is perfect, just perfect.” I smiled. “Listen, I want you to tell Jade she was right. I got lucky, really lucky.” I reached out and touched Lee’s arm. “Very lucky indeed.”

  Chapter Ten

  Saturday morning: July 4.

  With the comfort and ease of pleasure, the love-making was as natural as the talk. It was something I’d never experienced before. I’m pretty sure she felt it too. And, to my delight, the electric kiss was but a well of spring water, compared to the lake of electricity our bodies created.

  With little sleep, we lay in bed, caressing each other and enjoying our whispered thoughts. Finally I asked, “What are you doing the rest of the weekend...and the rest of your life?”

  “Well that all depends
on what you have planned. I’m not sure I know what the rest of my life has in store, but I’m sensing that you are going to be a big part of it.” Lee smiled and gave me another gentle, electric kiss.

  It didn’t take much convincing to get breakfast together. Then we headed back to Jim’s for the Fourth of July festivities. I called Jim ahead of time so he could prepare the others―particularly Brandy and Jade―for a woman in my arms. Both were a bit protective of me and would be very concerned. I, in turn, prepared Lee for the family she was about to encounter. She was not deterred and, in fact, said she was excited to spend the holiday with a close family.

  They were all waiting for the arrival of Uncle Jess and the mystery woman who’d captured my imagination. The usual fifty-question deluge to get the scoop was quickly employed. But the ease of Lee’s answers, and her natural sense of humor, disarmed the clan. Within minutes, Lee was not only a member of the family, but she had been catapulted to one of the favorite family members of all time.

  Noticeably not present at the inquisition, was Jade. She had been in the shower, taking her time, making herself look just right. And, I suppose, getting up the courage to meet the next woman in her Pa’s life. When she made her long-awaited entrance, Jade and Lee made immediate eye contact. Both smiled.

  Lee approached Jade and knelt to get to eye-level. “Why, who is this little beauty?”

  Jade curtseyed and said, “I’m Jade,” and held out her hand for a ‘grown-up’ handshake.

  “Why, it is so nice to meet you, Jade. I’ve heard so much about you.” Lee shook Jade’s hand, looked back, smiled and winked at me. “She’s adorable.”