09/30/2022                                           

Turning around towards the sound, I saw the shift’s Lead Slot Mechanic, Joe Burns. He was carrying a hopper for one of the dollar machines and his round face displayed anger and surprise now.

“What are you doing opening a machine showing winning sevens”, he continued as he tried to get around me to the open door.

“Well, the customer called me over because the jackpot didn’t payout. I hit the side of it to see if maybe one of the reels wasn’t locked into place. When nothing happened, I opened it up to look.”

“Well, I’m going to have to write you up…….”, he stopped when he saw my customer. It was Heidi, one of the girls from the strip club and she was well prepared. Her outfit wasn’t scandalous, but it showed her assets, and she finished him off with a sultry accent that was her calling card at work. She grabbed Joe’s arm and showed her ample cleavage as she leaned on him to get out of her seat.

“It was my fault, not his.” Heidi snuggled closer and whispered something into Joe’s ear.

Joe turned a deeper red and he waved me away with a stern warning, “I got this, we’ll talk later.”

He made a big show of buttoned the machine up and by the time the jackpot finished its payout, I was a forgotten man. Heidi had Joe in a big hug and screamed like like she had won a million dollars instead of three hundred.  She gave me the thumbs up as I walked away. I was sweating, but the incident reminded me of the risk I was taking. Every skim for the rest of the evening was checked and rechecked to ensure that we had eyes on the shift bosses, slot mechanics and security before we acted again. That evening Mel and I reviewed all our procedures after stuffing the night’s haul in the newly installed safe, hidden behind a large mirror. It was a well-timed wake-up call for the whole team. Joe had apologized for threatening me with a write up and making a big deal over the incident. I congratulated Mel again for bringing the girls onboard and I gave Heidi an extra fifty for rescuing me from Joe. It was time to push for a score that would pay off some of our larger bills and give us a cushion for any emergency expenses that might pop up. The perfect opportunity was coming up. Las Vegas, Nevada is the ultimate playground for adults. Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days out of the year, the town is open for grown-ups to act like adolescents, leaving responsibilities and inhibitions at the city entrances. Halloween is the perfect occasion for guests to add another level of anonymity by

dressing as their favorite characters. New Orleans has Mardi Gras, Vegas has Halloween. The holiday comes as summer fades and before the traditional winter holidays begin. The town is in the middle of the lull that occurs between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. Rooms are discounted and resorts increase benefits in order to increase traffic. Show tickets, rooms, and dining opportunities are heavily discounted and this year, Halloween falls on a Saturday. Resorts are booked starting the week before and last through the following week. The casinos and hotels hold special events, always featuring top prizes for costume contests, and the contestants pour money, time, and imagination into outfits that rival Hollywood productions and Elvis is everywhere. The only restrictions are on costumes that are combustible or produce other hazardous conditions to the public. Security and Law Enforcement costumes give a false sense of security as they mingle with normal public and private officers.

We began our planning and practice operations the month before Labor Day. The Circus-Circus was holding one of the larger costume contests with prizes that featured cash, dining, show tickets, and liberal cash advances to contestants, for gambling opportunities. We put aside concerns about machines holding winning percentages because results are normally skewed by the added volume in business. We called in additional help that gave us maximum cover on Friday and Saturday. The chaos that was a result of larger crowds, would enable us to maximize all our skimming operations. This was going to be our largest weekend by far. Fifty thousand was a conservative estimate and there was a possibility that number could double. This would be our last operation of the year. The team needed a break and Melissa and I made plans to take Suzy Q to California. Disneyland and other theme parks for her, Hollywood for me, and Rodeo Drive for Mel. Suzy and I had settled into a comfortable relationship that was somewhere between Uncle and Stepdad. I was the good cop and Mel the bad cop when it came to discipline, and Suzy began to confide in me in how she was coping with our growing relationship. I had met her paternal grandparents over lunch and while they obviously were skeptical about any long-term relationship, they could see that Suzy was genuinely comfortable with me and happy. I was growing fond of her, mainly because she resembled Melissa in so many ways, but with her own personality infused. Melissa continued to impress and amaze me. We enjoyed so many common interests and still allowed one another personal time as needed. She was an excellent bowler, swam like a fish, loved to hike and camp, and loved cuddling up to watch chick flicks at home. I introduced her to my favorite professional sports teams, and she became an instant fan. Our home and professional lives were running smoothly, and we were able to incorporate active college careers as well. Melissa had become an above average

student in math and our homework sessions were just as valuable to me because I had to learn subjects differently to accommodate her learning style. She learned from doing things hands on but enjoyed reading for pleasure, we were constantly introducing one another to new books and other learning opportunities that made education exciting in ways that conventional schooling could not. Mel also had an adventurous side that surfaced during intimacy. A few days later she surprised me by turning on an adult movie during foreplay. It featured interracial compilations that included threesomes of ffm and mmf scenes and we reached new heights while watching it. While lying in each other’s arms, she surprised me once again.

“Have you ever tried LSD? “, she asked.

“What?”

“LSD. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah, I did some blotter when I was in jail in Turkey.”, I said.

“I don’t recall that being in your story.”, she teased.

“I was saving it for the book.” I replied.

I gave her a quick account of the night in Turkey and asked her why she had brought the subject up.

“Hold on a sec.”

She went to a drawer in her bureau and brought a clear baggie that held two small pieces of colored paper.

“I got this last week from my old college roomie. We did blotter 3 or 4 times, and it was fantastic. Can we do a tab before work tomorrow?”

“You’re kidding,”

“No, I’m serious. Tomorrow’s Monday, which is usually boring and drags on forever. We’re working the same section. I checked. We can watch out for each other and be there if things go wrong.”

“I don’t.t know Mel. There are a lot of things going on that might overload our senses under LSD. If you think it will be ok. I’m in.”

“Great, we’ll time it so that it won’t hit us until an hour into the shift. “

“Let’s go for it then. “ I pulled her closer and went to sleep. The next day we prepped by going over different scenarios that might come up and took the drug after clocking in.

LSD attacks the central nervous system in a way that causes most users to see sounds and hear colors. The atmosphere in a casino is designed to assault customers with a variety of sounds and sights that cause excitement. I could feel the metallic taste starting in my mouth and could track the drug as it moved through my system. My vision blurred slightly as the sounds of coins falling and the bells and whistles signaling multiple jackpots, competed with the sounds coming from the live circus above to present sensory challenges, at the same time my ears were telling my brain that the shapes and colors in the air were the results of the sounds I was hearing. I went to check on Melissa and found she was enjoying her trip. She had a silly smile on her face that morphed into giggling as I approached. The rest of the night was comical but the dose we had was easily managed and there were no episodes. At the end of our shift, we stopped for dinner and a quick trip to see Heidi and Vanessa at the strip club. Suzy Q was spending the night with her friends, and we were able to slowly return to normalcy.

Unfortunately, this was the beginning of our end.

Barron Broomfield