Spaceland by Rudy Rucker Page B

for Jena.
    I found her and Spazz in a bar off the main room, deep in conversation. Their hearts going pitter-pat.
    â€œHi guys,” I said. “It’s the Vegas whale.”
    â€œHow much have you won?” asked Jena, not smiling at me. She’d had a few drinks by now. She looked unhappy.
    â€œA hundred large,” I said.
    This didn’t seem to impress her as much as I’d thought it would. Again I lost my temper, again in front of Spazz.
    â€œAre you still mad at me, Jena? Coming here was your idea in the first place, so for Christ’s sake you ought to be happy.”
    â€œYou called me a bitch and said I was bad luck,” said Jena, staring down at her margarita. She began chewing on her thumbnail, “Fine. I’m staying away from you. I don’t want to be hurt again. I’m sick of being your keeper and your scapegoat.”
    â€œI’m sorry I snapped at you, Jena. was uptight. Maybe woe should call it a night.”
    Spazz interrupted with a loud cough. “I thought you said you were going to win a million,” he insisted. “Jena needs that much for the PR campaign.”
    â€œThe what?” I was losing track of why we were doing this. Gambling wasn’t fun, it was just some kind of weird and stressful work. And meanwhile this freak was doing his best to get it on with may wife.
    â€œLet me talk to him alone,” said Jena, still not looking up, still nibbling her nails.
    â€œI’ll be back,” said Spazz in the Terminator voice, and headed for the bathroom.
    â€œShow me the chips,” said Jena with a flicker of interest.
    I see my little Nero’s carrying sack on the bar next to Jena’s drink
and she peered into it. “Not nearly enough for a house,” said Jena after a minute. “With a million, we’d have enough for a decent house and a little left over for the PR campaign. I think you should win a million tonight. We can keep most of it.”
    â€œCareful,” I said. “Momo’s probably watching us. This might be some kind of test.”
    â€œWho cares?” said Jena. “It’s our money. We’re the ones who live here. You and me, Joe, chained together.”
    â€œNot chained, Jen,” I snapped. “If you’re sick of me, you’re free to leave. And vice versa.” Why was I talking like this? I rubbed my face and took a deep breath. “This is all messed up, Jena. I hate it here. Let’s go home.”
    She looked up for the first time. She touched my cheek with her hand, her clear hazel eyes searching my face. Like she was saying good-bye. “Win the million, Joe. We’ve come this far. No matter what happens, a million’s a good thing to have. Do you promise to split it with me? Fifty-fifty?”
    â€œAll right,” I said, hoping to see her smile. Why was this turning into such a bummer? Here came Spazz walking back across the room, fingering his nose ring. “Don’t get too tight with him,” I cautioned Jena.
    â€œI like Spazz. He makes me feel young again. Can I come watch you play?”
    â€œWell—better not. I think maybe you really are bad luck. If I’m gonna do this, I have to focus. Will you wait here?”
    A long pause. “I guess so,” said Jena finally. “If you don’t see me later on, that means I got tired and went back to the room. Give me the key just in case.”
    Back to work. By midnight I had two hundred thousand dollars; I’d switched over to ten-thousand-dollar chips. They changed the dealer and table two more times on me, but pretty soon I had eight hundred thousand. There was a big crowd of people standing behind
me watching me play. I was still drinking coffee. Gus had gone to take a leak, and for the moment it was just the dealer and me—which was great, as now I could look ahead into the deck and really see what was coming so I could tune the sizes of my bets accordingly. I