As Bob walked down one of Jersey City’s streets, he couldn’t help think about how different things are here compared to the rest of America he’d visited, but then again those were touristy places and that was his problem. Bob dreamt about coming to America and winning big at Las Vegas with a few clever hands at poker but Lady Luck wasn’t a friend to the man people affectionately called “Nutter”. He quit his quit as a doorman and with his savings got on a plane from Heathrow Airport and flew non-stop to Las Vegas. When he arrived in Vegas he realised he had a huge problem…… He couldn’t gamble for shit, he lost money on the sports because he didn’t understand any of the games rules, he lost on the Poker because he could never keep a straight face when that big hand came up and he lost at Blackjack because he kept asking for another card just to get closer to 21, even if he already had 20.
So here the man was, he had the American Dream in his heart, a few dollars in his pocket and not a lot of sense in his head, but he felt people had achieved greater and more difficult things with higher odds stacked against them. With this in mind he looks round for a bar to spend a few dollars and a couple hours in.
Bob stops outside a rough looking bar declaring its name as “The Boardwalk”, somewhere deep inside he knows this is the type of place he’s looking for, so with a slight smile on his face he enters the bar. Inside “The Boardwalk” it is quite dark and dingy but to “Nutter” it feels just like home, he wanders over to the bar and orders a bottle of whatever generic brand of beer the bar serves, pays for it and with bottle in hand wanders over to the pool table. As he takes a swig of his beer, he takes note of the three men round the pool table having a game, all three men we’re going for the generic “Classic Rocker” look, the first one was wearing a faded Van Halen shirt, a shaved head and a small van-dyke style goatee, the second wore a heavily faded AC/DC shirt and was cleanly shaven but had long dark hair. The last wore a new looking Motorhead shirt, had long dark hair and a large grizzly beard, just to double check Bob looked down at himself and yes he fit the bill, with his well worn jeans, his generic shirt and leather coat, so without any hesitation he pulled out his last $300 (not counting the $150 or so he kept in his socks) and spoke to the three men.
“Hi, you one of you guys fancy a game of pool with $300 as a bet. Just to make things interesting?” said Bob in a slightly sleazy way that even he was surprised he could achieve, then suddenly he had the feeling he’d had the past weekend at Vegas, the feeling everything was going down the shitter.
The skinhead rocker, shifted his weight slightly and spoke ”Nah, but if you don’t mind Mr. Limey, we’ll take that money from you anyways” he said just before he swung for Bob. He cursed himself for rushing it, he brought out the money too soon, leaving himself open to a mugging. He barely dodged the punch from the skinhead, but while he was concentrated on the skinhead, the Motorhead guy had swung the pool cue in his hands at Bob and it thudded into his ribs, knocking some of the wind from him. Rolling with the blow, Bob threw a punch at the man’s stomach and then grabbed him by the shoulders and headbutted the guy square in the face, breaking his nose with a sickening crunch. As the Motorhead guy drops to the floor, Bob turns to see two pool cues being swung at his face and with no time to react they strike him with a force that knocks him to the ground, over the next few minutes or so while they kick and hit him, Bob realises he’s lost the fight. Soon after they grab “Nutter” and dump him outside the bar, leaving him with a parting present of a swift kick before they re-enter the bar.
Laying on the sidewalk Bob takes his shoe off and fishes around for the cash he keeps down their and after he finds it, he sets off in search for a way to even up the odds.
|