The blackjack dealer scowls a little
I can’t tell if she is angry or confused
As she stares at my winning hand
I’m at the beginners table for the dealers
She’s been doing it for maybe three days
And she doesn’t have it down yet
I don’t care as long as the count is right
Or at least in my favor
But the dirty, drunk, foul old man
With the bad complexion and soupy eyes
Wants to punch her in the nose
Or maybe punch me I don’t know
I took the dealers bust card
It turns out and it was fine for me
But didn’t work out so well for Dirts Magee
As I have begun to call him in my head
Dirts and I have been at it for a while
And I don’t like him
Or the unsettled dealer
But I am winning
The hundred I sat down with is four hundred now
While Dirts’ is down and unless he has more money
On his way out the door if his luck doesn’t change
Which by the looks of him it never will
I’m dealt aces, split them, and come up with two blackjacks
The old man stares in disbelief as his nine turns to fourteen then busts
I am stealing his hands he mumbles and I think he’ll leave
But he reaches into his coat pocket
Pulls out a wadded twenty
And sticks around for more punishment
It’s time for a new deck and our hapless dealer
Accidentally sends a quarter-stack of cards to the floor
Prompting Dirts to curse in a language I’ve never heard
He yells for the waitress and when she reluctantly comes
He puts her hand on her ass while he orders a whisky and orange juice
She looks at me and I ask for Malibu and Coke
The old man rolls his eyes and mumbles
He catches a few hands
Not enough to start winning
Just enough to stick around
Glaring at me while I stack more chips
After I pass the five hundred mark
I cash out
Sure enough he does the same
He follows me out to the street and I don’t know
If he is planning to rob me
Or just punch me
But I turn around and look at him
Out here the difference is more apparent
Than it is at the table
Compared to him I am a giant
We stare each other down for a moment
But whatever fight there was has gone out of him
He turns around and heads back to the casino
I loosen the grip around my wallet
And head to my hotel
Waiting to be happy about winning