Posted by gunsmoke on January 25, 1999 at 14:40:10:
Here's a story to celebrate the message board being back up.
My name is Charlie but everybody calls me the "Fixer" cause I "fix" things. If somebody need something done, they get me. But this story ain't about me. It's about luck. You know some people; if it weren't for bad luck would have no luck at all. This is about one of them.
Now I work outta A.C., that's Atlantic City for you guys on the West Coast. Everybody talks down A.C. They say it's a watered down Vegas. Not me. I love it here. You got the ocean, the boardwalk, the…. Sorry I kinda run on sometimes.
As I was sayin' this stores about luck.
It all started with a dame named Lisa. Everybody called her Pixie cause she was kinda short. But she was real classy. Had one of those cute English accents. I loved to listen to her talk. But anyways.
Lisa was a gambler. She'd bet on anything. The trouble is she was bad at it. If you flipped a coin and she bet $5 it would land on heads AND she bet $5 it would land on tails, the coin would land on it's side. That's how bad her luck was.
When your lucks that bad, you're bound to be on the bad side of some bookie. And Lisa was.
She was into a bookie named Juli, who everybody called Nbabe for 35G's. How Nbabe let her get that high up, I don't know. Some people say she liked to let some people get that much rope so they could hang themselves. Nbabe had a nasty reputation as a nasty person.
Well anyways, Lisa was into Nbabe for the 35 G's and she only had about $11.43 in her pocket. Her being a gambler, she thought she could raise all 35G's from that 11 bucks and change. Crazy huh? But gamblers are like that.
Anyway on her way to Ceasars, she meets up with Vito & Guido. They are Nbabe's what she calls "Account Managers". In plain English, they're leg breakers.
"Nbabe is looking for you," says Vito.
"I'm sure she is," says Lisa.
"Listen Pixie, you owe 35G's" snaps Guido.
"I know, I know. Listen give me to tomorrow. I got this sure thing.." says Lisa till Guido grabs her and pushes her against the wall.
"You got 3 seconds to come up with the dough or you'll be in 35 pieces" snarls Guido.
Now like I said Pixie was small. Vito and Guido they stand about 11' tall. So Lisa hauls off and punches Guido in his nuts and he goes down like a wet sack of feathers.
Vito turns and she pops him in the same place. Boom he's down too. Maybe Nbabe coulda used her as muscle. But anyways, she takes off like a bat outta hell. She knows Nbabe is serious. Lisa's been putting her off for two weeks and that makes Nbabe look bad. SO now she has to make an example outta Pixie.
This is where I come in. I'm walking down the boards and it's a nice spring night. The ocean breeze brings in that sea smell and the waves compete with the loud music for your attention. Like I said, I love it here.
Anyways, I see Lisa standin' on the boardwalk starin' at the ocean. She's wondering about walking back to England.
She's looking great. She's got on the little black dress. She dresses like that not to impress guys but to distract the dealer and other players. She could do that in that dress. She was a real nice lookin' dame.
"You look bummed," I says.
"You don't know the half of it," she said near tears.
"Don't cry," I said knowing I can't handle that kinda thing.
"I owe Nbabe 35G's and she's going to kill me. And it's not going to be easy" she continued.
"I'm just so desperate. I'd do anything to make it out of this" she said quivering.
"Do you mean that" I said all serious like.
"Yes" she said but I don't think she really understood what she just said.
"Are you really serious about doing anything for the money" I say trying to show how serious I am.
She turns to me and looks me in the eye and says "Yes".
This time I know she's serious.
"Come with me and I promise your money troubles will be over" I say and she just looks at me for a second.
I know she's thinkin' I'm trying to scam her, or do something to her.
"In all the years you know me, have I ever been anything but a square dealer" I asked.
"No, in fact you've always been nice to me" she said and smiled a bit that made her face light up.
"Then trust me" I tell her.
With that she takes my arm.
"Lead on" she says.
I take her to the new Crump casino. We go to the private entrance.
A guard there looks at me.
"Hey Fixer" he says.
"Hey Tony" I says.
"The boss in" I ask knowing he always is.
"I'll let him know you're coming" Tony tells me.
I can see Lisa is real impressed by all this. She is actually smiling. I look at her and smile back only my smile is kinda hollow as I know what is going to happen upstairs.
"You just may be a life saver" she leans over and says to me and kisses me on the cheek.
"You're sure you're desperate" I ask her again.
The joy leaves her face at once.
"Yes" she says sadly.
The penthouse elevator arrives.
We get in and silently go up 60 floors to the top.
The doors open and standing there is Daniel Crump himself.
"Hello! Good to see you" he says all happy.
"Hey boss. This is Lisa" I introduce.
"Call me Pixie" she says and smiles and shakes his hand.
"Come in, Come in" Crump says.
The place is huge. It's two stories tall and covered in art . It looks like to Philadelphia Museum only with furniture.
"Charles, get some drinks" Crump says to me. He calls me Charles cause he thinks his employees should have class. Even his employees like me.
He and Pixie sit down on the couch.
"Mind if I smoke" asks Pixie.
"Go right ahead make yourself at home" says Crump all friendly like.
Pixie takes out a cigarette and Crump lights it for her.
"A real gentleman" she says.
"Thank you" he says with a smile and a short nod of his head.
"So Pixie, has Charles said anything about why you're here" he asks.
"Not really. He said you'd fill me in" she said becoming a little nervous.
"Well I take it you're a gambler" he says.
"Yes" she answers taking a long drag of her cigarette.
"What's the biggest pot you've ever played for" he asked.
"Oh I don't know….I think it was Chicago. The pot was about 11G's" she said.
"Did you win" he asked with a smile.
"No" she answered sadly.
"Well how would you like to make one million dollars" he asks her.
"A million," she says more to herself than him.
"Yes" he says.
She looked at him.
"You're really cute and I haven't had any complaints from the bedroom but…" she tried to explain.
Crump begins to laugh.
"I'm sure you would be a new level of carnal delight, my dear but I'm not Robert Redford" he said still laughing.
"Then what.." she tried but he interrupted her again.
"Would you stake your life for a million dollars" he asked suddenly serious.
"Why don't you ask about something that's worth something" she tried to joke.
"I'm serious" he said.
"What's going on here" she said becoming uneasy.
"Don't worry. Let me explain" he said backing up to give her more breathing space.
He went over to the bar and produced a snub nosed .38 and a single die.
Lisa looked around the room to check the exits. Her eyes met mine and I nodded that everything was alright. Well as alright as it could be.
"Please come here, dear" he said calmly.
Lisa slowly got up and walked toward him, still not sure what was up.
"This die has six sides and this gun has six bullets" he said taking one in each of his hands.
"Maybe a coincidence" he joked.
"Now here is the game. You roll the die. Whatever number you roll, I'll shoot you in the belly. Two blocks from here is St. Ambrose Hospital. They have the best trauma care facility in New Jersey. If you make it there, you get the money. If you don't, well…." He explained.
Lisa started to laugh. She thought it was a joke. She noticed Crump and me weren't laughing. I handed her a drink that she drank straight down.
"You're nuts" she said and started to the door.
This is where I put things in the proper light.
"Pixie!" I call after her and she stops and looks at me. She gives me a look I hope I don't ever get again. It was anger, hatred with fear mixed in.
"Listen, Vito and Guido are still out there. How different is this then what they have planned?" I ask.
"At least here, you get a chance to go to the hospital and you're a million richer afterward" I explain.
She stands there and looks at me for a moment.
"Let me see that die" she asks Crump.
"I assure you only the gun is loaded, my dear" he says smiling.
She takes it and rolls it.
Six.
She gives Crump a hard look.
She rolls it again.
One.
She rolls it again.
Three.
She seems satisfied the die is honest.
"Will he pay" she asks me.
"Yes" I answer.
"Anybody ever collect" she asks me.
"No" I answer unable to look her in the eye.
"Give me a refill" she tells me holding up her glass. I pour and she downs that straight.
"OK. As I see it, I'm dead on the street. Here I still could be dead but there's a big payoff" she says more to herself then us.
"Who pays the hospital" she asks.
"I will" answers Crump suddenly eager and he likes that she's getting so involved.
"Provided that you tell the police you were mugged or Nbabes goons got you or Elvis shot you from a UFO. Whatever as long as I'm not involved" he continued with the rules.
"And you'll pay off the 35G's to Nbabe" she adds.
"Yes!" says Crump all excited.
"Are you ready" he asked her.
"Yes" she said softly.
She held the die in both hands and shook it wildly.
"Come on, come on, come on" she said almost as a chant.
She closed her eyes and let the die loose on the bar.
Two.
She began to sweat and her mouth went dry. She held up her glass again and took a drag on her cigarette.
I filled her glass and she again drank it down.
"Okay. Two's not a hard one. Better that 6 or 5 or 4." she said trying to brace herself.
Crump picked up the gun.
"This is your last chance to back out" he said.
"Just do it and wish me luck" she said softly trying to brace herself for the bullets.
"Good luck" he said.
Crump fired once. The noise rocked the room. The bullet ripped into Pixie's belly.
She was slammed into the bar. Her eyes flew open in pain and pleading. She looked at Crump. Silently begging him not to continue but holding back as she knew this was her only choice.
Crump fired again. The bullet went in almost where the second had.
Pixie felt weak in the knees and supported herself on the bar. She looked at Crump. The look of overwhelming pain and fear made me turn away.
"From those wounds, I'd say you have about twenty minutes to live" he said calmly.
"I'll b-b-be back" she rasped and headed for the elevator.
"Sorry dear. You'll have to take the stairs" he said stifling a grin.
She glared at him.
"You bastard. You never said.." she snarled but was cut off by the pain.
"You never asked. Nineteen minutes" he said.
Pixie staggered over to the fire exit.
Sixty floors and two blocks she thought to herself. Then a million bucks plus Nbabe off her back.
She was thinking this was no problem. The adrenaline was starting to build in her system. Shock was numbing the pain.
She was at thirtieth floor when she realized she should try the door.
Locked.
"Sorry, this is a private fire escape" came a voice from above.
She noticed the loud speaker and camera. He was watching her every move on every floor.
She gave him an unladylike one fingered salute and continued down the steps.
At the twentieth floor she slipped. She held on to the rail. She began to realize how serious her wounds were.
Twenty minutes to live doesn't mean anything till you start to feel your life flowing from your body.
Finally after 10 minutes she was at the bottom of the steps and saw the exit door.
She knew it would be locked but pushed anyway. It opened. Her luck was really changing.
She staggered into the street.
A passing couple turned their heads as not to see this poor wretch drunk or stoned staggering down the street.
Pixie saw a blue and white hospital sign and followed the arrow.
Inspite of the bullets and everything, she felt great. The money was driving her on. She really could feel her luck changing.
After a block, she saw a cop who saw her coming out of the darkness.
Great she thought, he'd get her to a hospital.
He looked at her.
"Hey you" he called out.
"What are you drunk" he said unable to see her bleeding in the darkness.
A call came over the radio. Report to the new Crump Casino at once.
Damn that Crump. He was till watching her struggle. I'll fix him. I'm going to survive this and take his damn money.
A new rush of strength fueled her push down the street.
She could see the hospital lights. She smiled a big smile as she staggered toward the emergency room.
On the steps of the hospital, she heard a car screech behind her.
Vito leaned out the open window.
"Wait. I got your money" she rasped.
Vito didn't listen as he aimed his 9mm at her.
"NO! Wait" she screamed.
BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG
Three slugs tore into Pixie's chest and two in her belly. She fell back on the hospital steps.
"B-b-but I hhhave the m-m-moneyy" she rasped as she died. Her luck never really changing.
"She was so close" I says to Crump.
"The closest yet, Charles" he said smiling.
"Maybe next time I says looking at the hospital monitor that Crump has tapped into at Pixie dead on the steps.
"Yes, indeed. Maybe next time" Crump says.
Well that's the story. I only think of it now cause I see another friend of mine, Vicky.
She's in the same place lookin' at the Atlantic like she'd wish it would swallow her.
I walk over to her and says "Hey Vicky, Still bettin' on those white heavy weight boxers".
I hope you liked this story. Please let me know if you did or didn't. Thanks again and till later, take care.