Alice 1 (2 page)

Linda, Molly and Johnny also sent crystals to
gently tap mine. The shining crystals began to dance back and
forth, around and around, kissing mine and ringing the fairy bells.
Such powerful surges of love and joy, feelings I haven’t felt in a
long, long ago.

Then I saw my mother smiling down at me, and the
pain hit hard. They held me a long time, and the pain slowly went
away.

“We have a room ready if you’d like to stay
tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to Tahoe to get back a little of the
loot the casinos take from tourists. Our van has room if you’d like
to come.”

“Sure. Thanks Greg.”

I’ve never gambled but roulette is easy. Use a
Shadow hand to nudge the white ball onto your color but don’t get
greedy. There are sharp eyes in a little room watching the action
from cameras in the ceiling. If you get too lucky, or nudge the
ball a little too far from where it would normally drop, some very
unpleasant people come running. Be cool.

Oh yeah, not to worry. I’m cool.

CHAPTER 3

We started climbing into the Sierras just east
of Sacramento, past the dusty, digger pines of the hot foothills to
the dark-green sugar pine, spruce and cedar of the cool mountains.
Then over Donner Pass and down to that long, gorgeous lake. Johnny
said Lake Tahoe was formed by an ancient lava flow across the
Truckee River.

On the way he explained the most important trick
casinos use to take people’s money and bring them back again and
again to lose some more. Intermittent reinforcement. There’s a ton
of research on the relationship between percentage of random reward
and how long rats continue to press a bar, and humans continue to
drop their chips in the little circle, and pull the handle of a
slot machine.

And casinos create wonderful excitement! The
slots blast cheerful sounds and flashing lights when somebody hits
something, even a lousy two cherries. The place goes ballistic when
somebody hits a jackpot. There are shouts of winners at the crap
table. Losers leave quietly. So many winners and the next winner
will be you. Don’t miss out! And there are excellent buffets and
free drinks to keep people happy, believing they are getting value
for their money.

As I walked into Harvey’s the world shifted from
reasonably sane to a colorful, noisy madhouse. A swirling
kaleidoscope of lights, noise, and people. Energy! Excitement!
Drama! I people watch and found paradise.

Click
Tahoe casinos
, and take a look.

Rows of old ladies at the slots, feeding those
one-armed bandits from buckets of coin between their legs. Bet they
haven’t had anything else there in a long, long time. Macho guys
and gals at the crap tables muscling the dice, and quiet, brainy
types at the blackjack tables. Gotta know the odds to play the
game. At the roulette tables? Mostly newcomers to gambling, and
lazy people who can’t be bothered throwing those heavy dice, or
learning the odds.

A loud speaker blasted the wonderful news that
Ms. Janis Hoffman, a dedicated, hard working ranger from Glacier
National Park, just won $20,000. I suddenly felt very homesick for
those wild, rugged mountains in Northern Montana. Don’t know why.
Never been there. Hughie and Kanti popped into my head. Wonder who
they are.

Johnny warned me to be careful, people catch
Gambler’s Fever. They win. They double down and win again. Joy!
Life is wonderful! Can’t lose. Then hyperventilate and go crazy

Sooner or later, mostly sooner, they begin to
lose. Oh no, gotta get it back! They double down. And lose. They
triple down. Lose. Hopelessness! Despair!

Then the long, long drive home, broke. Never
going back there again. Nope.

A plain clothes cop with a big nose and fat
belly ordered me to hand over my ID. He grinned when I acted scared
and confused. Caught an underage kid for sure.

“Why do you want to see my ID? I’m not sure I
have it with me.”

“You better have it with you, little girl. You
gotta be 21 to be in here and you sure as hell don’t look 21 to me.
And don’t you lie!”

Oh how I love playing with big, dumb
bullies.

“Please. I don’t know who you are. Why are you
bothering me?”

“I’m casino security and you’re in big
trouble.”

“Please sir, I don’t want to get in trouble,”
and my lower lip began to quiver. Works great.

“Too late for that little girl!” and grabbed for
my arm but I jerked away.

“I’m scared you’re going to hurt me.”

“I told you damn it, I’m casino security!”

“Please sir, how do I know?” He reached in his
back pocket, flipped open his wallet, and shook a badge in my
face.

“But sir, last week a man showed a badge like
that to a little girl, and then
raped her
.” I said that last
part kinda loud. People were watching and starting to get angry at
this big guy hitting on a sweet, innocent, little girl.

Then he made a fatal mistake. He got mad and
grabbed for my arm again, but I pivoted quick and he grabbed my
breast instead. I screamed and a couple of big guys jumped him. I
faded into the crowd and watched the gotcha moment of a delightful
game of Let’s You and Him Fight.

Yeah, I’ve read Eric Berne’s
Games People
Play
. Nobody reads that old book anymore, so people are easy
marks. Uproar is the game I played in the courtroom.

Wonderful drama for a while, and then everybody
calmed down and the nice casino manager politely asked for my ID. I
have a very good ID, made by Patty the Pro. All I had to do was be
a little nice to him. He was pretty good so I didn’t mind. I never
understood why it’s so bad to trade a little fun for something I
want.

Maybe you can explain.

The manager apologized big time, gave a comp to
a show, three meal tickets, and a 100-dollar chip. My gratefulness
assured him I wasn’t going to sue.

“You just let me know anytime you’re in town and
we’ll see what we can do for you. Here’s my card.”

“Thank you, Sir. You are a very nice man,” and
gave him a thrill as I brushed past his lips on my way to a tiny
kiss on his cheek. Can you believe it, he blushed. You males are so
simple.

My new family was not so pleased, but I’m pretty
sure Skinny Santa was amused. I understand. We want to fade into
the crowd and almost causing a riot is not good. They were ahead
about two grand and after lunch we went across the street to
Harrah’s to practice some more.

“Just watch and be cool. Ok? Please.”

“Not to worry. I’m cool.”

A guy at the door checked my ID. No problem. The
same bright lights, wild noise, and crowds of people.

Went to the cashier, got two rolls of quarters
and change for my 100-dollar chip, and began my gambling career.
You put a quarter in the little slot. You pull the handle. Three
wheels whirl around and around and stop, one after the other. You
win or you lose. You put a quarter in the little slot. You pull the
handle. Oh my God, such mindlessness. What could go wrong?

A little old lady in tennis shoes was playing
the slot next to mine. Nope, I didn’t make that up. She’s wearing
ugly, green tennis shoes and they’ve seen plenty of miles. Probably
blows her pension check on slots.

I asked if I could watch, “I’m all new to this
gambling stuff.” Sure, she’s a little lonely.

I was right. As soon as she gets her monthly
check she jumps on Harrah’s free bus from Oakland. Casinos are so
kindly, so generous.

Wonder if I can help her out. The third wheel
slows down and hesitates just before it comes to a stop. Yeah, I
can help. After the second wheel stops I’ll know if there’s a
chance for a payoff. Like if the first two are plums, I’ll wait for
the third wheel to slow down. If there’s a plum nearby my Shadow
hands can speed up or slow down the wheel for a nice payoff.

Worked great and she even got a $200. jackpot,
but then I caught gambler’s fever. We were flying high, screeching
it up with the best of them, and when I saw a chance for a second
jackpot I took it. Unfortunately the third jackpot bar was too far
from where it would normally stop, and I had to push too hard.
Alarms went off and people came running.

The technician looked very puzzled when he
opened the front of the machine, “never saw that before.” The third
wheel was smoking. Oh well, she did real good and the third wheel
stopped at the jackpot bar so they had to pay her another $200. She
was so happy.

My new family was not so happy. They were
seriously concerned I didn’t know the definition of the word cool.
Ok, ok, I deserve a little sarcasm and vowed to be good. After a
while everybody was cool, and we had dinner at a great, little
place just west of Sacramento.

CHAPTER 4

The next morning Molly, Linda and I went out to
the veranda with our tea and coffee, and watched waves crash
against the rocks, and seagulls swirl and squawk.

I never had any female friends. The girls in
those foster homes were stupid, wacked out and a pain in the ass.
And that description fits me pretty good, except for stupid. I have
many, many faults, but stupid isn’t one of them. Humility isn’t up
there either.

Now maybe I’ll get some girl talk.

Yes, there really is girl talk! Santa’s been
kind of weird lately. He’s friendly and helpful but holding
something back, like he has a big secret. Johnny’s an open book and
usually a nice guy, but a little macho. They were a pain when we
were young. Now so easy. Males are not too bright, not even a
psychologist like Johnny.

I pointed out Linda’s awful lipstick and Molly
laughed. “Yeah I told her, but Linda’s stubborn as hell. Let’s grab
her, wipe that crap off, and put on some good stuff.”

We wrestled on the ground, laughing and
shrieking like a bunch of school girls. Hot tears splashed down my
cheeks. All those years in all those foster homes.
Gone!

They’re going shopping tomorrow if I want to
come. Going up to Marin where the super rich, super elegant live.
The fancy women wear designers a few times and throw ‘em away. All
that expensive stuff ends up in a Tiburon or Sausalito second-hand
store. Of course they don’t call them second-hand stores up there.
They have names like Twice Blessed and Daphnia’s Delight.

____________________

Up early, hit 101, and got to Sausalito
mid-morning.

So much fun prancing around, modeling stuff,
talking colors, style, prices.

“No! No! No! Makes you look like a pregnant
pig.”

“Well sure, go for it if you want to look lumpy
and dumpy.”

“Oh yeah, that’s nice. Turn around.”

“How can that cheesy little purse be so
expensive?”

We got great stuff and great bargains. Yeah,
yeah, I know. I have lots, I mean lots and lots of money. Doesn’t
matter. A bargain’s a bargain no matter how rich you are. Anyway, I
like playing poor little waif. You learn a lot about people when
you look naïve and easily taken.

Kinda weird though. Sometimes I flash to a
dirty, smelly little village on a bluff, high above a big city. Up
there I really am a poor little waif. The Krazy Kid. It’s so
real.

VILLAGE ON THE BLUFF

As we left Dorothy’s Dowry, a middle-aged
woman wearing a funny hat waved from across the street, and Molly
and Linda waved back. She gives me the creeps, twisted in some
really bad way. When we went into Matilda’s Treats I asked who she
was, but they don’t want to talk about her in the store.

We were tired and happy with packages under both
arms when we went into The Purple Onion for mid-afternoon whatever
it’s called.

Linda explained, “Betty Bradenton is the head of
a coven here in Sausalito and visits her mother in Carmel every
other week. Yeah she’s weird, but sometimes we aren’t too bright
and thought it was a good weird. So we spent a week-end with her
coven. They’re into the ‘female power’, ‘we can do anything’
trip.

“They were Raising-the-Shield to protect a
member from a black magic attack. I decided to help out a little.
So at the critical moment when the Cone-of-Power was cast into the
little shield on the table, up it went. They just stared, and then
Betty shrieked, ‘We have the Power.’ She raised her hand and up it
went. She lowered her hand and down it went. That was probably the
happiest moment in her life. Given the almighty power of the
placebo effect, we figured there wouldn’t be any more black magic
attacks.”

Betty came through the door and plopped down at
our table. “We figured out we need you two to raise the
Cone-of-Power. Who is she?”

“She’s a close friend,” Molly said, not too
politely. “We’re just finishing.”

“Stop, just for a second. Please. Don’t you
realize how important this is? We’ve found the combination that
raises the Cone-of-Power. Are you sure she’s ok? She looks like a
little twit.”