The Slot Machine

“Here’s the money for the Uber,” Amy attempted to hand me 7 American dollars as we headed through the airport to get to our terminal.

“No, I don’t want it,” I protested. I didn’t want to bring back any American money, I had just spent my last 5 dollars on a bag of chips. With the bank fees and exchange, that 7 dollars still wouldn’t even be 10 dollars Canadian. What for?

“Too bad,” she insisted, thrusting the bills at me. “I literally just got the money to pay you back.”

Reluctantly, I took the money. Some of our friends in our group stopped to use the bathroom, so my best friend Chloe and I wandered over to the airport penny slots. We decided to try our luck one more time. She put in 2 dollars and I put in my 7.

Chloe hit the spin button four times consistently losing each time. It had been this way all week. The two of us just lost unfailingly. At least when Amy played, she’d go up a couple of bucks before eventually going down to zero. Our friend Brian had even won a good amount in Blackjack one night. Definitely not me, though. I inevitably lost every game I’d played, and then some.

I pushed the “max spin” button on my slot machine.

Clink. Clink. Clink. Game over.

Push. Clink. Clink. Clink. Game over.

Push. Clink. Clink. Clink. Game over.

“Final boarding call for Flight E11 to Leafton.” Announced a voice overhead.

Push. Clink. Clink. Clink. Game over.

“Shit, that’s us!” Chloe exclaimed craning her neck over the short row of machines to look for our friends. They were exiting the washrooms and coming toward us now. I was down to my final dollar. One more max bet, and I’d be done.

Push. Clink. Clink. Clink. DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! A neon pink distorted line appeared across the flashing screen of my machine. After four days in Vegas, I’d finally won a few cents! The feeling was exhilarating. I scanned the screen to find out how much I’d won. The bottom read, “5000 credits.”

“That’s $50!” Chloe exclaimed. Our friends had passed us now, on their way to the gate where we could see the flight attendants waving us over impatiently. We were late.

I cashed out and slung my backpack over my shoulder. There was nowhere to cash in my voucher. Damnit.

“I’ll just give it away to someone,” I shrugged as we rushed to our gate. It’d be cool to take home an extra $50 American, but it wouldn’t be worth a new plane ticket.

Chloe gave me a look that meant, “like hell you will.” She glanced around at the signs and read, “you can redeem it at the gaming lounge. That’s right across from our gate!”

Chloe started heading opposite to where our friends were checking into the plane. We were going to miss the plane.

“Chloe..” Amy called out warily from our terminal.

But Chloe, my normally shy best friend, was on an unstoppable mission right now. She was determined to get my cash. She took the voucher from me and sped ahead.

“Excuse me,” she spoke to a random airport worker who just so happened to be walking by. I had to jog to keep up with her. “Where can she cash her voucher?”

“I can do it,” the lady said, taking it.

She opened up her drawer and handed me $50 USD! No strings. No more games. I’d actually won something! Feeling ecstatic, I took it and together we ran back to our gate and boarded our plane triumphantly. That excitement was unbelievable.

Las Vegas really is a fabulous place.

2019