One Hustle

by Cortney Gee

  "Alcohol dulls the senses and gambling inebriated is like handing over your hard-earned money." Everything was a distraction with purpose, he continuously told me. From the half-nude waitresses, to the music being played, and the chiming of the slot machines...all these things gave the house the advantage.

  His sermon of how you can't beat the house, but you could shake the foundation on which it was built rang from his North Hollywood home to the High Heavens. I was his dice disciple and now all of my tutoring was done. After all my practicing, I was about to pit my knowledge against the odds and show just how good a student I actually was.

  We checked into our rooms and caught the elevator to the 10th floor. When Anna and I entered our room, we were both disappointed with the Spartan accommodations. Anna was still looking around the room in disbelief when I called Lance. "Hey, our room is plain as fuck, is yours too?"

  "Yep, but don't worry. After we mash them on that table tonight, we'll be upgraded," he replied confidently.

  Lance directed us to hurry so that we could begin the first phase of our take-down of the three hundred and twenty thousand dollars that rested in the girl’s accounts.

  When Anna and I met Lance and Gwen in their room, Gwen wasn't ready to go.

  "Lance baby, I'm burning up. Can't we go swimming first and lounge by the pool?" Gwen pleaded.

  "Fuck a pool and lounging, bitch, we're here to work," he spat with no sound of love in his voice.

  It was then that I realized how serious Lance was about getting cheddar. I mean, it was one thing to be black-hearted about a drug addicted AIDs riddled white dude he barely knew, but snapping on a super fine broad he was banging made me realize Lance wasn't black-hearted at all -- he was heartless.

  Anna dared not say a word. I sensed she feared the same harsh treatment.

  I respected Lance's gangsta, I knew that if our trip was going to be a success, we needed fierce leadership and he was our leader. I was quiet while we headed down ten stories, not out of fear, but to make sure the girls knew exactly who was running shit.

  We exited the elevator and walked in the direction of the cashier's cage. Lance made sure the girls understood what they were to do and told him to meet us at the crap table. While we walked toward the gaming area, Lance must've really been feeling himself.

  "Look, just do what I say and we will make out like fat cats, ya’ mean?"

  "Lance, I'm not one of those bitches; you don't have to drill me, I got this." I told him that just in case he forgot I was good with my hands and didn't take kindly to being barked at.

  Lance felt the sting in my reply. "You cool, you want a drink?"

  "Not while I'm working, brother, I told you I'm ready," I said, feeling like I had grasped the pebble from my master's palm.

  "Yes sir, you are ready. I'm just glad Vegas isn't ready for us."

  We went to the table that was already filled with cheering attendees. Lance and I put small wages on the point, which was six and we played the hard way. I watched the burly white man in the ten-gallon cowboy hat hold the dice in the complete opposite position of how I'd been taught -- a sure sign of an amateur.

  "Do you see how he's playing on pure luck and is being controlled by the dice and not vice versa?" Lance asked me in a hushed tone.

  "Yeah, that's why I'm not going all ziggity boo on my bets."

  No sooner than we spoke the words, the cowboy rolled a seven and the house raked in all the cash, including Lance's and mine.

  We had one person before our turn to roll. Lance offered the young lady named Terri one hundred dollars to buy the dice from her.

  "Just follow me on the bets," he told the both of us.

  On the come-out roll, Lance threw six sevens in a row. Lance was dominating the table so well, our initial bet of one hundred dollars had already become thirty-two hundred dollars. Finally, Lance threw the number five.

  "Cameron, I'm feeling it, put sixteen hundred on Little Joe," he said instructing me to place a large bet on double two.

  Lance was in that special place referred to as the zone. Everyone, no matter what their trade, had experienced the euphoria of everything they touched was golden.

  Like when Tiger hit three eagles in a row and pumped his fist or when Michael Jordan shrugged his shoulders after every shot going in, no matter the difficulty.

  Lance gently tossed the crimson bones across the sea of casino chips and the green felt that covered the table. The dice glided through the air without rotation, banged against the table's wall, and landed.

  "Come on, Little Joe from Kokomo!" Lance demanded of the dice.

  The table went wild when the numbers came as commanded. Terri, the young lady whom Lance bought the dice from was so overwhelmed with her winnings of fourteen thousand dollars, that she kissed him flush on the mouth. I was excited for my fourteen thousand, too, but wasn't moved to swap spit with my boy.

  Luckily for him, the kiss came before our girls found us. I was sure Gwen would have whipped some serious ass had she witnessed it.

  "Cameron, I bet you won't put that fourteen thousand on the boxcar with me," Lance challenged.

  "Fuck if I won't, this money ain't mine. We playing with the house's loot." I moved my all my black chips to the double six one time bet.

  The dealer took his time getting Lance the dice, much like an opposing coach calls for a timeout to put a free throw shooter on ice.

  Lance told me, "Match my hundred and let's place a bet for the dealer." He coolly let the casino employee know he wasn't fazed.

  I put up the black chip and waited to see if Lance was the crap expert he proclaimed to be, or if I was about to lose what we had skillfully stripped from the house.

  Lance set the dice to the two and the three and picked them up. The table was quiet enough to hear a rat pissing on cotton as the other players trusted Lance's hot hand and waged generous bets following our lead.

  The dice glided smoothly without spinning, then hit the wall and on two rolls of the crimson bones, one dice landed on six and the other followed suit.

  It was pure pandemonium at the table as the ballsy play was paid out. I didn't know what the house had lost, but Lance, Terri, and I raked in four hundred thirty-four thousand dollars each. The patrons who had rode the ride with Lance, tipped him from their earnings and the dealer even gave us dap as he won sixty-two hundred dollars.

  The pit boss was furious and ordered new dice. After clearing off our winnings, Lance, just for shits and giggles, wanted to see if he could hit the point.

  The girls and I followed his lead and we each placed one thousand dollars on the boxcar bet. Can you believe this motherfucker shot a double six again?

  After collecting another thirty-one thousand dollars and more chilling stares from the pit boss, Lance signaled to me that it was time to split. I wasn't even mad that I hadn't been afforded the opportunity to try my hand at shooting. I was up almost a half a million dollars due to the good courtesy of my hot-handed partner.

  We said our goodbyes to the table and were on our way to the cashier’s cage to turn in our winning chips, when the evil-eyed pit boss offered us a security detail and asked for our room numbers. Just as Lance had told us earlier, the Stratosphere was upgrading our rooms, offering us complimentary dinner and giving us show tickets. Boxcar Lance had rolled us from obscurity into VIP status.

  After cashing in our chips and filling out forms, we were escorted to our new rooms. When Anna and I walked into ours, it was like going from a pauper to a prince.

  The living room alone was double the size of our previous accommodations. The bathroom was no mere bathroom -- it was a monument to cleanliness, boasting a sunken Jacuzzi the size of a small pool. And our bedroom had a bed that could have made Shaq feel like a midget.

  This was living large in Vegas and this was what the fuck I was talking about. After marveling at our digs, I put our earnings inside the safe the hotel provided.

  "If I wasn't so hungry I would tell you to come
and get it," Anna told me lying on the bed, hiking up her skirt and flashing her fleshy mound to me.

  "I tell you what. You keep that thought until after the free surf and turf dinner and I'll have that for dessert."

  Excited by the promise of sexual joy and great food, immediately Anna hopped out of the bed, straightened her dress and followed me to join Lance and Gwen whom I hoped had finished putting their money away.

  When we opened the door to leave, Lance and Gwen were already outside. I didn't know why it surprised me since Lance's track record about being ready ahead of time was legendary.

  "So Cameron, how do you like your new lodging that my skills have afforded you?" he gloated.

  "I have to admit, you were on a hot streak. Why didn't we parlay the boxcar bet? Man, we could have shut the table down for $1 million."

  "I believe in leaving the game on top. You're from Cleveland so you should know this... I call it the Jim Brown."

  "And what exactly would that be?" I asked shrugging my shoulders.

  "Retire in your prime, and then, even years later people will talk about what else you could have done, instead of how you fell apart."

  We entered the elevator and went downstairs so that we could cross from the lodging portion of the Stratosphere to The Top of The World restaurant. Gamblers applauded Lance and I as we walked through the casino.

  Anna and Gwen were getting along like old buddies. I chalked it up to the money they earned hustling and betting at the crap table along with us; that was their bonding agent. I still couldn't believe it. I never thought that Gwen had it in her to be so sociable. It almost made me feel bad that I had told Anna how rotten of a bitch she was. Now I knew for sure that I would let the past be the past between us and embrace the new and improved Gwen.

  "This whole VIP treatment has a girl sprung. Lance, I could get used to this," Gwen said before tasting her glass of Pinot Grigio.

  "Don't be fooled by all this, like it's a kind gesture, it’s all game," Lance replied glumly.

  "What you mean by that?" asked Anna who was on the same page as Gwen; I knew she was thinking that she could get used to this life, too

  "What I mean is these people are holding us hostage, trying to get their money back."

  "Holding us hostage?" I questioned after tasting my succulent porterhouse steak cooked medium rare to perfection.

  "They give you a bomb room, great food and the best in entertainment for free. One would be a fool to leave and take their money to another casino. These casino folks are smart. They know once you hit them you feel invincible; hell they are banking on it."

  "So are you saying that we are through gambling?" I asked.

  "I'm saying that we aren't giving that money back. Tomorrow we play the same two hundred we played today and if you shoot like I know you will, we'll make money. If we lose, we only lose the two hundred dollars that has almost made us millionaires."

  "So can we get in on you guys playing, too? Anna and I could use some new Gucci shit," Gwen said slapping high-five with my Mexican beauty.

  "That’s right, girl. I could stand a day of shopping my damn self!"

  Lance and I agreed to let them make some money but only if they followed the same two-hundred-dollar limit. The girls were elated about their inclusion.

  Anna proposed a toast.

  Lance, being a non-drinker joined us with his iced tea.

  "Cameron, baby do you mind ordering another round? I have to go to the little ladies’ room," Anna said excusing herself from the table.

  Gwen followed her as well.

  It always tickled me how women found the need to go to the bathroom together. I couldn't imagine me having to piss and inviting Lance to come with.

  Lance was happy the girls had left; he wanted to have a conversation without them being audience to it.

  "Peep this, Cameron, I'm going to need you to keep Gwen busy for me. I need a few hours to handle some business," he told me.

  "Why, what's up?"

  "Because the white girl that we won all the money with invited me to celebrate with her," he answered.

  "Oh yeah, I can handle that." I said, offering the pound.

  "Good 'cause I'm going to go over to Circus Circus Casino and let the monkey out on her ass."

  I thought Lance was mad for ditching Gwen's double stacked ass for the moderately attractive Terri. Obviously, the chance of getting a shot of strange was too tempting to walk away from.

  I said, "Well at least go over to the Motown Revue with us. Use some lame excuse to dip and I'll handle it from there."

  The girls returned from the toilet, giggling. I had to admit I was pleased they were hitting it off. If we were going to be working together, they might as well be chummy.

  We all finished our delicious meals. The girls were in a festive mood and couldn't wait to enjoy their first Vegas show. Because both Lance and I had both played Vegas before, we weren't equally moved.

  Right now, what I really wanted to do was go upstairs and ravage Anna but I realized that my friend needed me to play wingman, so I played along like I was enthused to watch the performance. My sense of loyalty overruled my own desires.

  After leaving a generous tip, we exited The Top of the World and headed to The Stratosphere Theatre. A long line awaited us when we arrived, but our VIP tickets afforded us quick entry and a front row table.

  Lance sat with us while we enjoyed The Miracles minus Smokey Robinson. Though the person in Smokey's stead owned a fantastic falsetto, it couldn't substitute for the green-eyed musical genius of Motown.

  After the performance Lance excused himself to handle a real estate venture he had in place. Gwen was feeling too good from her third Pinot to put up a fight for him to stay.

  "I don't think I'll be out all night, but here's five hundred dollars; y'all have some fun on me." He pulled off five crisp one hundred dollar bills from the knot of cash he had in his pocket.

  I was no longer guessing what Lance had in mind. After dropping off the loot on me, I knew he intended for me to babysit Gwen until he drained all the fluids from his body into Terri. We wished him well on his endeavors and he peeled out.

  When Lance left, the ladies ordered more wine and we watched the rest of the show headlined by Dennis Edwards and his incarnation of The Temptations.

  After the performance, I escorted the ladies to The Level 107 Lounge. House music blared through the state of the art sound system. Gwen and Anna let the music take control of their bodies as they took turns dancing with me sensually and with each other as I tired.

  While they danced, I bought a bottle of Moet, which awaited them when they returned from the dance floor. We drank champagne, smoked cigars, and boogied for two hours. The girls were tiring and told me that they were ready to go upstairs. On cue, I escorted the two beauties from the club to our tower.

  "You two go ahead, I have to make a quick phone call." I hoped Anna wouldn't be upset that I had to check in at home.

  "Okay, Papa, but don't keep me waiting long. You know I need my chocolate fix," she exclaimed through drunken lips as they entered the elevator.

  I stood by the gift shop; for some strange reason it was where I had the best reception and I called Karen.

  "Hello?" Karen answered the phone like I had disturbed her slumber.

  "Hey, Darkness, sorry to wake you, baby, but I wanted to let you know how I was doing."

  "It's okay, Cameron, I just fell asleep watching TV, well more like the TV was watching me. Is everything okay? Are you enjoying Vegas?"

  "I'm doing great, so great that we're going to need to buy a bigger safe."

  "Oh my goodness how much did you win?" she asked fully awake now.

  "Lance was on a hot streak and we both won over four hundred thousand dollars apiece."

  "Shit, four hundred thousand dollars! Cameron, that's insane. Congratulations."

  "Thanks and because when I win you win, baby, take fifty thousand from the safe and have a shopping spree on me
." I was trying to be right toward her even though I was headed upstairs to do her so wrong.

  "Really? You don't have to do that."

  "You're right, what am I thinking? Take fifty for you and fifty for the boys and go burn the mall down."

  "Thanks baby, when you get home it's going to be so on. So don't have too much fun in Vegas. Because when you get home Sin City is going to be what you call our bedroom."

  Had I not been brown skinned I would have blushed after that statement. When Karen wanted to be sassy she sure was sassy.

  We talked for a few more minutes and even though I had just given her two years’ salary in two minutes, her yawns signaled she was truly tuckered out.

  We said our goodbyes and I headed upstairs to the guilty pleasure that had just cost me a hundred grand.

  When I entered my hotel room, I was surprised to see not only Anna's dress and hat thrown to the floor, but Gwen's dress as well. Maybe it was all the champagne I had that didn't make what I saw, then heard in my bedroom register.

  Anna was laying on her back with her legs splayed while Gwen was in front of her on all fours, lapping away. In between coos and moans, Anna realized I was in the room.

  "Well, it's about time you joined us, Papa. We waited as long as we could, but you took so long we started without you," Anna said between gasps.

  Gwen lifted her face from Anna's nether region.

  "I have this part handled, feel free to get in where you fit in," she told me with a girlish giggle, then offered her firm round ass for me to do whatever I desired.

  Even though I was disrobing and about to join in on the fray, I couldn't help but to feel a tinge of guilt.

  "This is so fucked up, Lance is my friend," I managed to say as I guided my heat-seeking missile into her moistened silo.

  Gwen grunted as the helmet of my manhood spread her to accommodate my girth. "Don't worry, ain't no friends when you are hustling."

  Her words made me realize that Lance's creed had been his undoing as Gwen had fully accepted his dog-eat-dog mentality. I chalked it up to the game and lost myself in the flesh of my two companions.

  When we were done, Gwen freshened up in our oversized bathroom. She gathered up and put on her clothes. She returned to our bedroom and kneeled over the bed where Anna and I were still wrapped in an embrace. She kissed us on our foreheads and put her finger to her lips.