The Investment Club

by Cooper, Doug

  Penny touched her glass to Crystal’s. “I’ll drink to that. I could use a night out.”

  Crystal picked up her drink, forced a smile at Penny, and took a sip, still continuing to play the machine with her left. After five glasses of champagne, the stiff taste and watery texture of the vodka were a welcome change. She wasn’t 100 percent sold on Penny, but outside of the club, she didn’t really have any friends, and she didn’t exactly consider the girls at the club friends. She couldn’t. Because if she did, it meant she was one of them. She still liked to tell herself that it was only temporary, even though she didn’t really have a plan for what was next. Her castmates from Beached were long gone. They had either moved away for a job, were traveling with a show, or had landed a new gig in town, which meant they had a new set of friends. People tried to stay in touch with Crystal, but she thought it was just a waste of time.

  Friendship to her was usually about one of two things: convenience or guilt. People stayed connected because it was easy or because they felt bad if they didn’t. Even as a young girl in school, Crystal didn’t have many long-standing friendships. She was popular and friendly in class, but she knew at the end of the year she was going to move to the next grade and would make new friends. Another big part of the reason she didn’t get too attached to her school friends was that her mom was her best friend. She didn’t need anyone else. After her mom passed, Crystal had sealed up that part of herself. She didn’t want to let go of her mom, and she didn’t want to share that space with anyone else.

  Penny sat quietly, trying to follow the blur of images on the screen. She finally asked, “Why do you go so fast? How do you even enjoy it?”

  Crystal said, “It’s not sex. I’m playing to win. The sooner I plow through the losing hands, the sooner I’ll get to the winning ones. It’s nice to just get into a rhythm. Everything else fades away. It’s just you and the machine.”

  “But look,” Penny said, pointing at the number of credits. “You’re already down to almost twelve hundred from over two thousand. That’s like two hundred and fifty bucks. You could have had a lot of fun with that.”

  “Like I said, things run in streaks. Most people play right into the casino’s hands. They get conservative when they’re up and aggressive when they’re down. I’m not here to grind out a fifty to a hundred profit every night. I want to win big or lose and move on.” As she spoke, three threes, a king, and an ace popped up on the screen. Crystal slowed down so Penny could follow. She kept the threes. “Need another three and an ace through four to win eight hundred.”

  Penny pointed at the screen. “But you have an ace there. Why not keep that one?”

  “Getting another three is most important,” Crystal said. “Discarding both cards gives me better odds because I’m drawing two, not just one. Getting an ace through four with the threes is just a kicker that doubles the winnings. Nice to have but not absolutely necessary.” She moved her hand toward the button then hesitated. “Go ahead, you push it.”

  Penny shakes her head. “No, I’m not very lucky. I’ll lose for sure.”

  “Luck has nothing to do with it.” Crystal sat back in her chair and slugged her drink. “It’s either going to hit or it isn’t. Go ahead.”

  Penny reached over, put her hand on the button, and closed her eyes. She mumbled something and pushed down. Crystal saw the new cards come up but didn’t say anything. Penny opened her left eye and peeked down at the screen, which showed four threes and a four. Her right eye popped open. “That’s good, right? We won?”

  “I don’t know about we,” Crystal said. “But that’s two hundred bucks. Back up to almost two thousand credits.”

  Penny scooted her stool over closer. For the next several hours, Birdie kept the vodkas coming, Moneta had the karaoke flowing again, and the two of them played video poker, with Crystal teaching Penny the strategy of what hands to go for, what to hold, and what to discard. Together, they ran the total to over three thousand credits.

  Drawing two sixes, two eights, and a four, Crystal quizzed Penny on what the next move should be. There was no answer. Crystal repeated the question, looking over at Penny, who was gazing pensively back at her. Crystal said, “You OK? What’s wrong with you?”

  Penny reached over and took off Crystal’s usual green cap. “You’re so beautiful.” She touched the side of Crystal’s face. “And with that voice, why are you hiding it?”

  Crystal snatched her hat back and put it on, pulling the brim low. “You’re drunk. Maybe it’s time to cash out.”

  “No, I’m serious,” Penny said. “You have a gift. You should be sharing it…and I don’t mean at a strip club or karaoke. People should be paying to hear you sing.”

  Any bit of openness and warmth fostered in Crystal throughout the night disappeared in an instant. She pressed the cash out button and motioned to Birdie to close her tab while she waited for the machine to print her ticket. “Those days are behind me. I had my shot. It didn’t work out. Now I sing for me.”

  “It doesn’t have to be that way,” Penny said. “My agent is based in LA. Let me introduce you. I’m sure he can get you auditions.”

  “I already have an agent. I’m done with LA,” Crystal said. “There’s nothing for me there.”

  Birdie came over. “You ladies are good. You played the whole time so all the drinks are comped.” Crystal took two twenties from her pile of money and set them on the edge of the bar for Birdie. Birdie snagged the money and dropped it in his tip jar. “Not necessary but appreciated. So what’s next on the agenda? You off to work?”

  Not comfortable with Penny and the direction of their conversation, Crystal stuffed the remaining money from the bar in her pocket and just spoke to Birdie. “Nah, I’ll probably cash this ticket, play some blackjack or just grab some food and call it a night.”

  Penny didn’t give up, never taking her eyes off Crystal. “It doesn’t have to be LA. He has connections all over.” Birdie recognized they were in the middle of something and diverted his attention to washing glasses. Penny said, “My agent is coming here in a few weeks. You don’t even have to meet him. Just let him come hear you sing. You won’t even know he’s there. If you want to meet him after, you can. What’s the harm in that?”

  “Why do you care so much?” Crystal eyed the exit, planning her escape. “Just leave me alone and mind your own damn business. If I wanted to perform somewhere, I would. You’re so busy poking your nose in my life; focus on your own.”

  Penny reached for Crystal’s hand. “Don’t be like that. You can’t compare your talent to mine. I read news and interview jocks. Nothing too special there. There’s about a five-year window in my business for women. It lasts from your mid-twenties to your early thirties. If you don’t make it national by then, you might as well just give up and settle on a local job or raise a family, because every year there’s a whole new group younger and more determined. I screwed up my chance, but you don’t have to. Let me help.”

  Crystal pulled her hand from Penny’s. “You want to help someone, help yourself. If this agent is so great, why aren’t you working?”

  Penny scowled, her compassion and understanding disappearing. “I’m not working because I don’t have to. Thank you very much. I might’ve struck out with my job and my marriage, but I got paid for both, so now I have options. I’m just waiting for the right opportunity.”

  “Good for you. It sounds like you really earned that money.” Crystal tucked her purse under her arm and stormed off.

  Penny trailed after her, out of the Parlour and across the casino floor, winding through the maze of slot machines toward the door. She hurried up alongside Crystal. “Will you just hang on a sec and talk to me?”

  “Just drop it. I don’t need your charity. I can take care of myself.” Crystal slowed, waiting for the sliding door to open, and walked out onto the sidewalk toward her bicycle chained to a parking
sign.

  Penny stood next to her, while Crystal fiddled with the lock. Slightly out of breath from the chase, Penny said, “It’s not charity. I know talent when I see it. I’d be helping my agent as much as you. Will you at least consider it?”

  Crystal freed the bike and tossed the lock in the basket. “If I say yes, will you leave me alone and not pester me about it?”

  “Yes, I swear.” Penny traced an x on her chest with her finger. “Cross my heart.”

  Crystal hesitated, staring at the brief imprint left on Penny’s chest, remembering that her mom used to make promises to her the same way. She softened. “OK, I’ll think about it. But no guarantees.”

  Dow Jones Close: 16,580.84

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Date: Tuesday, August 27, 2013

  Dow Jones Open: 14,939.25

  While neither Bill nor Hughie were prepared for Bill’s first call inviting Hughie to the wedding, Hughie was ready for the second call. There were still the breaks in speech, but they were filled with sadness rather than resentment. Darlene had just called Hughie the day before. She was barely strong enough to speak except to express her love and say good-bye. Hughie had offered to fly out to be with her, but she told him that she wanted him to remember her as she was the day of the wedding. The real reason was that there wasn’t enough time.

  After the ceremony, Darlene’s condition improved, encouraging them all. Her appetite came back, and she wanted to get out of their apartment more and more. On the past Sunday, she and Bill had even been able to continue their Fremont Street ritual with breakfast at Du-Par’s and an afternoon of gambling, during which she won sixteen hundred quarters with three sevens on an old Red, White, and Blue slot machine in the Vintage Vegas section upstairs at the D Casino on Fremont. She loved going there because the machines still accepted and paid out actual quarters. It reminded her of when they used to visit before everything went digital and before her insides started turning to mush. Over the years she had always worried about something happening to Bill at work, that she would be left alone. After the diagnosis she worried about him, because it was her that would actually be leaving first, and he would be all by himself. She pressured Bill about this on several occasions and no longer hid her desires and intentions for him and Hughie to reconcile. If she was going to be gone, she wanted to know the two most important people to her would have each other. Bill wasn’t ready to deal with that though. Twisted by grief and guilt, he believed taking action on the latter would bring the former even sooner. Besides, after the ceremony, everything seemed to be looking up. Even her doctor shared the optimism and thought that she might make it closer to the six-month mark or maybe even longer.

  But that all changed when Bill woke up in the middle of the night and found her on the bathroom floor. He rushed her to the hospital, but all the doctor could do was manage the pain. Darlene drifted in and out of consciousness. The doctor ran the imaging tests again. The cancer had spread further into the lungs. He changed his prognosis to days. Bill stayed by her bedside, surrounding her with pictures of their life together. He put some on the stand next to the bed and on the traystand over the bed where they served her meals, the ones she was never able to eat. He wanted them all around her so that if she awoke even for a second, she would see a reason to hang on and keep fighting.

  Later that first day in the hospital, Bill was sleeping in the chair. He heard Darlene’s voice. Thinking it was a dream, he searched for a face to go with the sound. He couldn’t find one. He realized it was actually her. He jarred himself from sleep. Her head was tilted in his direction on the pillow. The smile that had been missing since he found her in the bathroom stretched across her face. She said, “Boy, you were really zonked out. Sorry to wake you.”

  Bill sprang up. “That’s OK. Do you need something?”

  “I’m just so thirsty. Can you get me some water?”

  Bill filled her water cup from the pitcher on the traystand. Elevating her bed with the remote, he handed her the cup with the straw angled for easy access. “Here you go. Remember, the doctor said to just sip.”

  She pulled water slowly through the straw, scanning the pictures around her. “When did these get here?”

  “I ran home earlier,” Bill said. “I thought it would be nicer to wake up to these memories rather than just my ugly mug.”

  Her mouth, still tight-lipped around the straw, flattened and curved upward. She picked up the picture of her, Bill, and Hughie at the chapel. She stared at it in silence until the slurping noise from the cup indicated she needed more water. Handing Bill the cup, she said, “Did you call Hughie?”

  Bill had thought about calling him. He even picked up the phone several times and pulled the number up on the screen, but he couldn’t bring himself to make the call. Bill knew Hughie would have a lot of the same questions that Bill had asked the doctor. The answers were tough enough to hear the first time. To tell another would make it all that more real. “I was going to,” Bill said, “but I thought it best to wait until you woke up. Do you feel up to it now?” Bill extended the phone toward her.

  She traded him the water cup for the phone. “Probably best to do it while I have the strength.” She dialed the number. On the call, they followed the usual script of conversation about Grace, the kids, Hughie’s job, the heat in Vegas, everything except the obvious question: How are you feeling? The longer the conversation danced around the topic, the more apparent it was that the answer would not be a favorable one. Darlene finally said, “I’m in the hospital again… Since last night… No, it’s not necessary for you to come out… Who knows with these things? Probably a few days, maybe more, maybe less… There’s nothing that can be done… But I don’t want you to see me like this… Remember me how I was when we last saw each other… OK, put her on.” She went on to have a similar call with Grace, then with the children, who, Bill could tell based on Darlene’s remarks, didn’t understand what was going on. They were talking about school and what was happening in their lives. All Bill could do was listen and watch as each sentence depleted Darlene a little more than the previous one. It was one of those conversations that you want desperately to end but keep finding ways to prolong. The phone finally made its way back to Hughie. Tears flowed from Darlene’s bloodshot and swollen eyes. Bill remained next to her bed the entire time, holding her hand while she finished the call. “You know I love you more than anything,” she said. “I’m so proud of everything you have achieved and the family you have. I’ll be with you always…I love you too. Good-bye, son.” She lowered the phone, her eyes focused on Bill, filled with sadness and pleading.

  Bill said, “Do you need anything? Want me to get the doctor?”

  She squeezed his hand, which consisted of several pulses more than prolonged tension due to her weakened state. “Are you finally ready to talk about it?”

  “Why don’t you get some rest? We’ll talk about this later.”

  “No. We need to talk about what happens after–”

  “Let me go get you another pillow.” Bill let go of her hand and poked at her pillow. “Looks like you could use a fresh one.”

  “After I’m gone.” She lifted her withered arm and patted his hand, which was still fidgeting with the pillow. “We can’t put it off any longer.”

  Bill sat in the chair next to the bed and stared at the floor to hide his tears. She had seen him cry only twice in their lives. The first, when they got married, and the second, when Hughie was born. “Of course. Just let me know what you want me to do.” Bill knew what she would want—the same she had wanted for so many years. He just didn’t know if he could follow through. So many years had passed and so much had happened. He wouldn’t even know where to start and he didn’t want his last oath to her to be a broken one. He flexed his hand in hers. “I’ll do my best.”

  Darlene said, “It’s more about what I don’t want.” Bill looked up surprised
. She said, “I don’t want a funeral. I just want to be cremated and stay with you. Hughie and Grace and the kids should remember me as I was the last time we were together.”

  Bill’s surprise transformed to confusion. “Are you sure that’s it?

  “Of course that’s not it.” Bill braced himself. She said, “I want you to hold onto my ashes and have both of ours disposed of together on one of those cliffs we used to hike to in Red Rock in our younger days.”

  Bill stood and leaned over, kissing her forehead. “We’ll be together forever. I promise.”

  Dow Jones Close: 14,776.13

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Date: Saturday, April 28, 2012

  Dow Jones Open: Closed

  As a reporter, Penny had learned how to compartmentalize. Once the camera turned on, she could become whatever the story required her to be. And it didn’t stop there. Until Alec confronted her back in December in their kitchen, she had been managing her personal life the same way. She had been the empty housewife with Alec at home, the clandestine cheat sneaking around town with Fritjof, and the on-air sweetheart of the St. Louis sports scene in the public eye. Each role had complemented the other and created a balanced whole. As long as she kept the worlds separate, all coexisted quite nicely, and she had a sense of balance in her life.

  After the interview with Fritjof for the bachelor charity contest had aired, however, and Alec had confronted her about the affair, she knew she had gotten greedy. It was one thing to meet with Fritjof privately but to do an extended segment with him for all to see, and more specifically for Alec, was too much. With Alec knowing both of them independently, she should’ve known that he would be able to tell something more was going on. Maybe that was her point all along; she wanted to get caught. She wanted to hurt Alec as much as he hurt her when he left her alone in the examination room and subsequently withdrew from their relationship.