William chandler sat in the middle of four other players. He seemed the oldest at the table, somewhere in his mid eighties but at the game he was the closest to twenty one.
The dealer looked at him and smiled cordially, "You win again sir," he said. William spied at the men around him from the corner of his eyes, he could see the growing envy in their faces.
How does he keep winning? They wondered.
In blackjack they are no real opponents, everyone bets against the dealer. The goal is for the sum of your cards to be closest to twenty one.
There should be no competition whatsoever but still these were human beings and in a place of vice, like a casino, jealousy would surely find a home.
William didn't mind them; he had his mind full just watching the guards as they patrol arounds him. He hadn't done anything illegal, at least not yet.
'Damn it, why did I come here? it's illegal to win too much in this place.'
"Sir!" The young man by his side said. William turned and was a bit startled, more by the boy's youth than anything.
"Your chips are on the floors sir."
"Ah!" William said as he looked down and saw three red chips on the floor. He reached down to pick up the pieces and his coat moved revealing his bulging pockets.
William raised his head and caught the young man staring at his pocket in shock. The young man looked at his other pocket and his jaw dropped.
Williams pants were stuffed so full it looked like something out of a cartoon, like at any moment they would burst and send chips flying everywhere.
William smiled at him and said, "don't look at my bulge young man, you know they don't like swingers around here."
"What?"
"Sorry I said that, it's not your fault, I blame God really, he made you this way. You could have made many women very happy."
"What are you talking about?"
William looked at him and squinted his eyes like he was analyzing him, then suddenly he broke off his gaze and said, "let's get back to the game."
William turned and faced the dealer, he looked at the cards placed face up in front of him and at the dealer's card, as per blackjack rules the dealer had one card face down and concealed but the second one was faced up and revealed.
It was a ten of hearts.
William cards added to fourteen. 'Not a good,' he thought. 'That's my que.'
He tapped on the table and said to the dealer, "I withdraw."
The dealer nodded and William saw his eyes move towards the left for a moment.
'He must be checking for the guards at the door,he seems relaxed enough there must be there, looks like I'd have to use the bathroom window again.'
William gets up and the chips in his pockets jiggle and all the envious faces returned, but it was all a joke to him.
"You're leaving sir?" the young man said. "But you're on a roll."
"Yes, like a snowball down a mountain."
"I'm not sure I follow"
"It'll only end in disaster, kid. You've got to know when to call it quits, if you don't, then you're not gambling, you're just throwing your money away."
William grabbed his cane off the side of his chair, while the young man stared at him in awe. It wasn't his intention but he seemed more like a wise old sage than an avid gambler.
William wouldn't consider himself anyone worth looking at, in fact he felt the less eyes the better and especially now when the guards were talking about him.
"That's a bit of advice for you, from a veteran to a noob."
William tipped his hat at him and his pockets jiggled again as if to say it's own good bye to the young man.
William looked from left to right noting the positions of the guards, then suddenly he grabbed his crotch and squeezed his face, "I've gotta pee," he said to the young man.
He quickly took off his hat and dropped it with his cane on the man's lap.
"What?" The young man was stunned by the old man's sudden change in demeanor.
"Damn my age old bladder, it can't hold anything!"
William felt his coat hurriedly like he was looking for his keys or something, then he said, "I can't take this with me, when I pee it goes everywhere!"
"What! How do you pee?"
"Damn it. It's this old brain of mine. I've got no hand eye coordination, I can't aim, I can't aim my pipe."
"What's in the world?"
Then suddenly everyone around saw the strange old man expression change from discomfort to absolute fear and dread.
Everyone was watching, especially the guard as he was making a ruckus.
The old man touched his swollen pockets and everyone could hear all the pieces jiggling inside.
"I can't take the chips with me, I'll flush em*
"How would you do that!"
"I can't tell them apart, I'm colour blind! can't you tell!?"
"What!"
Suddenly the old man's eyes widened, his jaw dropped and his lips quivered, he had an odd expression on his face no one could understand and the young man could only wonder what would come next.
The old man slowly looked down and the young man followed his gaze like he was hypnotized and when he saw the old man's leather shoe he erupted in disgust.
"Oh my god!"
A yellow puddle was around the old man's foot, it was clear he had peed himself.
"It's coming, it's coming, I've got no time left." The old man quickly stuffed his hand in his pockets and pulled out a handful of chips and in a haphazard manner he threw all of them at the young man laps, before he could react, the old man already had another handful.
"Hey look at that! that man peed himself."
The whole room erupted in laughter and more urine spilled out of his trousers. The guards had begun phoning cleaners and had their attention elsewhere as it was getting too embarrassing to watch this bumbling old man.
"I'm an old man, an old man! " he said, pleading with the crowd as he tossed another handful of chips at the young man. "Don't you have compassion for the elderly."
His plea only made the crowd laugh even harder and he looked at them like a kid with stage fright with fear and embarrassment but the laughing only grew louder and his pants got wetter.
He seemed unable to bear it anymore, he stuck his hand in his pockets but they were empty he glanced at the young man and nodded at him and said,
"That's all"
With the shame and embarrassment still on his face, the feel of his expression touched the young man so much he screamed at the crowd.
"Shut up! Shut up all you! Damn it this is an old man, this could be your father or mother or you in sixty years!"
"Shut bozo! Can't you see it's getting to your shoe."
'Huh?' For a brief moment he was confused until he looked down and saw the yellow pool of urine creeping very close to his very expensive royal blue shoe.
He gasped and tried to jump back on his seat but only succeeded in causing the chair to fall over on its side and the crowd erupted again.
The young man was still a bit stunned by it all but as he lay on the floor he saw the old man running off to the bathroom then something peculiar happened, he saw a single red chip fall out of the bottom of old man pants.
'He must have a hole in his pocket,' he thought. 'I better go get that chip for him before someone steals it.'
As he tried to get up something caught his eye, they were golden letters, engraved on the handle of his cane.
He wondered what the words meant but weren't strangle letters, in fact he understood then clearly, they read boldly,
FOOLED YOU
For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that they meant something more.
*****
After ten minutes of waiting the young man grew tired of holding unto the old man's stuff. He didn't feel right holding so much money, many eyes were on him and for some reason the guards had kept their eyes on him too.
Using the old man coat, he carried all the chips safely to the bathroom and knocked on the door but soon realized it was open, it was for everyone after afterall.
He called for the old man but got no response. "Is he alright in there? i better go check."
Before he could go inside a couple guards stopped him on his tracks, they were three of them and they were all twice his size.
Two of them went in and one stay outside to key an eye on him but the men quickly returned with worried looks on their faces.
"He's not in there." one of them said.
"What!"
"Are you sure you were keeping watch the whole time?"
"Yes my eyes never left the door."
"Then he must have gone out through the window."
"But why would he leave his money?"
They all looked at the wrapped up coat in the young man's hand. The young man saw the look in their eyes, the he said,
"Just wait a minute, what do you mean his not in there."
The guards reached out to grab the coat off his hands but he tried to protect it.
"What are you trying to do?" he yelled but the guards already had their hands on it
"Is this how you treat your customers?"
He struggled with them and before they knew it the chips were scattered around the floor.
The leader of the two guards reached down to inspect the chips. He grabbed one after the other and another but before he could grabbed the next one he saw what he feared the most, written in bold letter at the back of a red chip,
FOOLED YOU
Chandler, he said in a whisper as he slowly realized what had happened, he screamed, "damn it! It's William Chandler again."
"William chandler?" The young man asked. "Where have I heard that name before?"
"These are all fakes"
"What do you mean they're all fakes!"
"Can't you see he tricked us, he left with the real ones"
"Yes! The con artist, I thought he was dead. How could he have done this, I don't understand."
******
"Has the money been wired?" William asked as he pulled off the wrinkled fake skin off his face.
"Yes boss," said a man seated in front of a computer at the far corner of the room.
"Now comes the hardest part of the job." William said.
"Yeah, what's that?"
"Getting this fake mustache off."
The man chuckled and said, "So you're really going away huh? You gonna leave this all behind?"
"Remind me what exactly I'm leaving behind, everyone here wants me dead."
"I thought you like being wanted."
"Yes by women and gullible snobs but it's gotten old, I want something real, I just needed the money this time, that's all. It's the only way I could afford to get her treated."
William sighed and pulled off the mustaches,his face contorted from the pain.
"I'm gonna miss you."
"Don't even start."
"So this girl, what's she like?"
"She's worth every moment and besides she's not your type, she's terminal, I know how you like to take your time with your women but she hasn't got much time left."
The man tried to hold back his laugh but still he chuckled. "You're wicked funny Mr Chandler, I'm gonna miss…."
"Shut up already, tell George I owe him one for starting that laugh, only he could get everyone laughing at a frail old man."
William took the last of his disguise off, his face was much younger now, he looked fresh in his middle age.
He put on a brown rain coat and took a last look at his old friend who had his eyes buried in his computer.
"If I ever see you again Oscar, you'd be trespassing."
Oscar chuckled but didn't turn, his eyes on the computers and William saw himself out the door.
*****
William bought chocolates and flowers and waited on a bench. The train wasn't leaving till eight, so he had enough time on his hands.
From his experience he knew it was far better to leave at the nick of time, that way whatever eyes were watching won't be certain of your goal until it was too late.
William knew she would be there waiting for him, he could see her every time he closed his eyes and he hated that, he hated to see her like that.
She had been so vibrant when they first met, so full of color but he couldn't remember what she looked like then as she had been sick for so long.
"One last time," William whispered to himself. He had gone six years without stealing or coning anyone, it had been quite a tough itch to scratch but she was worth it and she didn't want to be married to a thief, not even a master thief.
She didn't want to be married to a gambler either or master gambler. William was a rare breed; he had mastered both vices at such an early age.
They were his passion, they were his way but when he had done it all, he felt like he was lost.
After making a fool of everyone, he didn't even find it the least bit funny, he felt so empty then, so hollow until a fair actress sat across from him to fix her busted shoe.
He sat across from no one now but his heart was filled to the brim with more joy and purpose than ever before.
He didn't hear the footsteps, everything was drowned in the noise of traffic. A man in a black coat stopped in front of him, William glanced at both sides and realized they were all alone.
"Hey, the man said in a groggy voice."
"How did you find me?"
"Your friend spilled on you."
"Oscar?"
"No."
"George!" William dropped his head, he was pinned, he raised his head again and said,
"Wait I've got….."
Bang!
He felt a powerful punch hit his chest and all at once he felt his skin and his heart burn from the heat of the bullet.
Bang!
He get this one in his tongue, he slide down the bench and cough up more blood than he'd ever seen then he felt a cold touch on his forehead and for some reason he could see her again but this time she had her color and her vibrance but not for long,
Bang!
Everything faded to darkness he couldn't feel anything but at the same time he could feel himself falling like a disembodied consciousness falling into an endless abyss and this went on for a while until a blue screen filled his vision with large words that read,
[ HOW ABOUT A SECOND CHANCE? ]
[YES] [NO]