No Skin Pt. 1

No Skin Pt. 1 by: M. R, Vega


Yaretzi had two hundred to her name, it was left to burn a hole through the Vegas strip not teaching her a thing but to try again. The original three grand she flew into the city with had quickly been slapped against the green tables of the random casino after casino after bar and buffet. Now she found herself nearly broke, tear-soaked with a drunkenness and lingering flavor of something vile and bile ridden. The little she had won before finding herself looking at two solitary hundred dollar bills were quickly flushed away to glasses of overpriced liquor and buttered shellfish. ‘Of course, you were right’ she thought to herself acknowledging the argument she had with a disappointed father before heading to the airport. The echoing of his warning and how the idea of her solution after the breakup being ill thought was coming back and she scratched at her ears with intentions of striking away the talk four days ago away but nothing is ever that easy. She had already canceled the return trip with the idea of riches coming to her after winning a decent pull at a solitary slot machine shortly after landing in Vegas.

‘It was all a rouse wasn’t it?’ she thought with a scoff and looked around unaware of how close or far she was to a possible car, not sure of how’d she’d make it back to Pueblo. The year 2023 was too much to have made the impulsive move and she found herself kicking her own ass with shame and knowing she was a fool. She couldn’t imagine what pulling a trick would do to her, though she respected the ladies for doing so, she knew she’d never be able to look at herself nor be near her father after something like that and thought of any other way to get back…the phone she came with was lost on day two. Knowing that’d never pop up again, she took to walking, gazing at the nearby casinos, assuming one of these sites had to have a fluke to her winning and would grab big enough she’d be able to make it back home. But which one? she thought to herself. Which casino could offer a win big enough without the call and overly enticing solutions that offered more riches that she recently and stupidly fell for the day before? Her mind spinning, her idea of how casinos talked to each other, sharing the suckers of the strip and passing out pics like pokemon cards. She laughed aloud at the thought and shook it away with a wave of her head.

Whichever casino she chose had to have limited flashing signs, a lack of cars without people waltzing in and out so lackadaisical. The one in front of her had lights too bright, the blinding effect of its strobes and security had her thinking it was a place of too many ripoffs that’d end up placing her in a desert hole. The other two she mozied by were nearly the same just with minor color differences and too much Elvis blaring from the speakers near the valet stops. The last wasn’t even a casino, least she didn’t think it was and she skipped the option of looking in and instead turned around to look at the Pyramid and see if she could still see the rollercoaster atop one of the popular casinos but had lost direction and turned back around.

Upon that near immediate turnabout, the lame building she thought was shuttered looked to have a sheen, a glimmer or sparkle, one could say. She looked around, unsure if her eyes were tricking her, and thought she couldn’t be that wrecked with the liquor and headed to the door. Its doors slid open silently and she was astonished to see people inside. She quickly took a double take to the parking lot, able to count the few cars outside, and hesitated on going in any further but there was a call within her feet that carried her to the counter. Whether the drink was quickly shedding from her or helping her choice, she’d think about it later. No, instead she pulled out the last of her cash and asked for two hundred in chips, waited for the solemn clerk to tally up the amount and slide her back what was asked for. The smile came, quickly wiped away by her hand, trying to show more confidence and she slowly went about looking at the game options, deciding to stay clear of the slots and figured she’d likely be able to pull in close to five hundred before morning at one of the tables. Blackjack was out of the question, as was craps. Instead, she saw the spinning wheel, heard the clik-clak and cheer of “Come on Red!” and plopped down in the only remaining chair at the roulette table and crossed a finger.