Devil's Arcade by Robert Bucchianeri

Author:Robert Bucchianeri [Bucchianeri, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-28T16:00:00+00:00

We sat in Selma’s car, parked beneath the shade of a dying elm tree bordering the casino, just beyond the chain-link fence enclosing a small parking lot for customers.

We were safely out of sight of the casino’s potential prying eyes.

I’d left the casino almost forty minutes before she did and waited in a nearby Portuguese cafe, sipping black coffee and nibbling on a sweet roll.

Selma was puffing nervously on a cigarette. I tolerated it but had my window open. She told me about Jewel, rushing her words as if she had only a limited time. Her break was just fifteen minutes, and you had to punch in and out, and if you were late even five minutes, you got docked a half hour’s pay.

Fred’s Flapjack Casino was a blast from the past in more ways than one.

“I guess I wasn’t level with you last time. I knew Bobby, mainly in terms of his relationship with Jewel, but I didn’t know who you were really, and things have been paranoid there lately.”

“But I thought you liked me.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ve liked a lot of guys that screwed me.”

“I can imagine.”

She shook her head. “C’ mon, I didn’t mean that way.”

“Sorry. I know what you meant. And there’s no reason you should trust me, especially if Randy has been giving you such a hard time.”

Two young boys on skateboards approached the car, jumping from the curb to the street. One of them, a shaggy redhead, slammed shoulder first into the car, his board skittering underneath. I moved to open the passenger door to check on him, but he bounced up with a laugh as his friend called him a moron, and he slithered under the car to retrieve the skateboard. A moment later, they disappeared around the corner. I thought of Frankie and her love and skill at skateboarding and realized I hadn’t seen her for three days, that she was staying with Dao and Meiying thinking Alexandra and me were in Hawaii without her. I knew it made her sad and now it made me the same to think about it.

“Karin told me what happened to Bobby and his daughter. That’s so horrible. That’s why I’m here, despite Randy. I want to help if I can. I didn’t know him well at all, but Bobby was nice. Naïve maybe. But not a mean bone in his body.”

“What did you think of Jewel?”

“She was one of those women. Had a spark. Men loved her. She was pretty, sure, but she had something. And she knew what made men tick. Some women do and use it to help men out. Others, like Jewel, use it to their own advantage. Me, I’ve never been able to figure men out so much. I just like ‘em.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“Well, it’s gotten me into more trouble than it’s worth sometimes.”

I nodded.

“Anyway, Bobby was no match for Jewel. It was like a cat playing with a mouse. I don’t know exactly what went on between them, but I wondered why she was with him at all.

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