I wake up the next day to the sound of someone screaming. As the noise slowly took me out of the REM
portion of sleep, I was able to turn my head and find it’s source. Adam had begun the night tucked in his
crib, but Maggie had moved him to our queen-sized bed shortly after our lovemaking was finished. She
had lost a son to crib death and was afraid of it happening again. She weas already in the kitchen getting
his breakfast which had allowed him to roll until his mouth nearly covered my ear. The boy had lungs,
that’s for sure. I was not sure if I should try to comfort him or just wait. Maggie rushed into the room
and saved me from making a decision. She swept the baby up into her arms, peppering him with kisses
before putting the bottle in his mouth. Adam grabbed it in both hands, and I was shocked when it was
emptied in a few minutes. She picked him up and burped him over her shoulder, resulting in a satisfying
belch and a broad smile. She tried to apologize for him disturbing my rest, but I stopped her and asked if
I could hold him. As soon as I picked him up he grabbed my face and worked his way up to my hair,
entwining his little fingers in my bushy locks and screaming excitedly. I looked at his mom for help and
she was doubled over with laughter at the scene before her. I joined them in laughter and fell back on
the bed still holding onto Adam and rolling around, much to his delight. It was a great beginning to the
morning.
After showering we ate a breakfast of Chorizo with eggs and homemade tortillas, with hot coffee and
orange juice. Adam was in a bouncing sleeper, but was wide awake, watching as we ate and she told me
about her trip to Roswell. The rest of the morning I spent explaining my meeting with Mr. Joseph and
what he needed from me, starting with this afternoon’s polygraph.
“What is it, this polygraph thing?”, Maggie asked.
“It’s a test to see if someone is telling the truth.”
“What about all the stealing we did?”, she continued anxiously.
“I have a plan to overcome that, I think.”

I got dressed and left for my appointment after giving her a hug and kiss to reassure her that everything
was going to be fine.
I arrived 15 minutes before the test and sat in the car trying to devise a plan. I had heard of instances
where people would put a tack in the shoe and push against it, hoping the pain would prevent the
machine from detecting false answers. I dismissed it, mainly because I didn’t have access to any tacks.
Maybe the chants I tried in college would work, I thought. No, it hadn’t helped with my exams. I spent
the next ten minutes telling myself I wasn’t a liar, before heading to the Surveillance Room. The
examination was held in a different room that held a comfortable armchair and a desk holding the lie
detector and a chair for the operator. The machine was an intimidating collection of wires and stick -on
pads that George began connecting to different parts of my body. As he worked he explained how the
machine functioned and encouraged me to relax. He started with questions that were obviously true,
which would give the machine a baseline of physiological responses. As he went on, I realized that some
of the questions were repeated with slight changes and made an effort to keep track of them. My mind
continued to tell me that my answers were truthful, especially when I weas asked if I had ever cheated
at anything or taken something that was not mine. The test lasted nearly two hours including set-up,
machine calibration, and giving instructions to the testee, in addition to the time spent hooked up to the
running machine (15-20 mins). I watched as the arms on the machine made jagged lines on paper
moving through it. When it was over and George had disconnected me from the lie detector, I was sure I
had failed. George was going over the results and began to smile.
He handed me the sheets of paper saying, “Well, congratulations, you passed with flying colors.”,
reaching out to shake my hand.
“Were you nervous at all.”, he added.
“I have great respect for electricity, so I’m always nervous around it.”, I deadpanned , shaking his hand
and surprised my palms weren’t sweaty.
“Lets get you started on your new schedule. The first two weeks you will report to dealer’s school for
four hours in the morning and then come here and work a four-hour shift on the cameras. Take
advantage of the guys you will be working with and don’t be afraid to ask questions. They have a lot of
knowledge and experience and will help you get settled in.”
Candace came in and handed me some paperwork for enrolling at the school and offered her
congratulations.

“Welcome to the team.”, she said.
“Thank you very much.”, I replied, I hope that I don’t disappoint you.”
I left the Dunes on cloud nine. I had made it to the top of the food chain and couldn’t wait to start my
new job. I hurried home and told Maggie the good news. We made plans to go out to eat and celebrate
that night.
“Have you talked to Nola.”, Maggie asked.
“Nola, geez I forgot to tell her what happened at the first meeting. She was the one that opened the
letter because I was afraid to. Maybe she and her husband can join us?”
“That would be nice, I missed her. Do you think her sitter can watch Adam?.”
“Let’s go over to her place and see.”, I said.
Nola answered the door and squealed with joy at seeing Maggie carrying her newborn.
“Oh, he’s just adorable, so handsome and growing like a weed. He’s only six months and he looks as big
as my youngest.”
She pulled Adam from the carrier and told us to follow her inside.
“The kids are out with their dad and should be back any minute.”, she said. Then she turned on me as
she sat down.
“You fucker, where the hell have you been. I asked everybody and no one knew what was going on. I
thought you were in jail or buried out in the desert. Why haven’t you called or come to tell me anything?
I’m here aren’t I, and I ‘m not supposed to have contact with anyone in the casino.
“What the hell are you talking about, did they fire you, and what about the rest of us that were involved
in skimming?
She didn’t appreciate my laughing at her questions, so I quickly jumped in.
“Relax, they didn’t fire me and in fact I got a promotion.”
She sat in silence, holding Adam while I filled her in on the last two days
‘So, you’re going to be watching us steal and will be able to let us know when management gets suspicious?

“I’m afraid those days are over, with this new position and the free schooling I’m going to get on table
games, I can get into casino management and someday run my own casino. But, like I said, I have to cut
ties with the casino floor, so don’t get upset when I don’t talk to you at work.”
“What about Maggie?”
“They didn’t say anything, but they did know a lot about me, so we’ll find out soon I guess. We dropped
by to see if you and the hubby wanted to go celebrate tonight. We’ll start with dinner and then get
wasted, all on me of course. Do you think your sitter can handle another kiddo?”
“She’s going to love this one.”, she replied. “Thank you for letting us be a part of your celebration, it
means a lot to me that you thought of us.”
Tony and the kids burst in and we gave him a shorter version of the story and he too thanked us for
including them. We let the ladies pick the place for dinner and contact the sitter while we went outside
to smoke. Maggie did not want her baby breathing in secondhand smoke, so we sat by the deserted
pool area and made small talk. By the time we finished our smokes, the arrangements were done and
we agreed to meet back at their apartment at six, to start the evening. On the way home Maggie asked
if she was going to lose her job and I assured her that if that were to happen, I would take care of her.
We had a great time that evening and I was pleased to see that Maggie nursed her drinks and became our designated driver.

To be continued……………

Barron Broomfield