The Gambler's Lucky Feather
By Mark D. Rogers

(continued)

The old man had me cornered, so I quickly nodded my head. His feather looked dusty and worn, however I didn't see anything special about it. At this point, I wasn't sure if he was right in the head. My main concern was leaving. I felt the old bastard penetrating my mind with his unblinking gaze. He wasn't a tall man, but from where I sat, he felt like a giant.

"Here's the deal," he said, removing a crisp five-dollar bill from his overflowing money clip. "Try it out on one of the machines. If it doesn't work, I will be here for a few more minutes so you can give the feather back, but if you want to keep the feather, it's yours forever." He flicked off the cherry at the end of the cigarette that dangled from my mouth and shoved the five bucks into my breast pocket. "Who knows? You could win enough to buy yourself a new pack of smokes, or even a carton." He sized me up and down. "You look like a man who could use some luck, but this kind of luck doesn't come without responsibility. Evil spirits are attracted to magic like this. They will seek you out," he said, pointing his gnarled fingernail at my eye. "You must keep this safe, because it will protect you. If you lose the feather, you're a dead man, Jack, got it?"

What the hell, I thought. He might have been a creep, but it wouldn't hurt to give the feather a try. The Gambler did give me five dollars to check it out. At random, I picked a video poker machine and bet the whole bill. Bam! Lights blinked and the sirens screamed. I cashed out with five hundred dollars and made my way to another machine. Bang! Two hundred dollars, a thousand, two thousand three hundred dollars, and I won on every credit.

At that point, I decided to have a few drinks at the bar so that no suspicion would be raised. It wasn't like I was cheating. I had a lucky fucking feather. It sounds impossible, but it was my pot of gold.

"What'll it be, handsome?" asked a blond waitress. Her unusually tanned face looked like buffalo hide, making her appear twice her age.

"Makers Mark on the rocks, babe."

"You got it." I chatted her up a bit, talking of the weather, her job, and such. Five minutes later I had her number written on a napkin. Without a doubt, this was the work of the feather. I don't get numbers from women. Perhaps my head was swollen a bit, but I had Viagra-like confidence. I talked with several other women at the bar with much success. I headed out into the casino again with a girl named Cathy hanging all over me. She couldn't have been a day over 21.

The old man must have taken off, because he was nowhere to be seen, but sure enough, his lucky feather worked. Not even a truck filled with unwashed gym socks and four-leaf clovers could stand next to this good luck charm. Later in the evening I won big at the dice and black jack tables, not to mention my first round victory in the bingo parlor. I couldn't begin to describe what I was feeling. I would never have to slave for the man again. Several scenarios involving quitting my job flickered with gory detail through my mind, but most of all I was thinking about Shari. The look on her face would be priceless.

It seemed time for another drink. To my surprise, the waitress who had given me her number was now totally ignoring me. Perhaps the younger girl that I was with made her jealous. I looked around, and saw that Cathy had returned to sit with her friends.

Out of spite, I went back to the "Adam's Family" nickel machine that had me an inch away from the gutters only an hour before. I put everything I had into that greedy little machine. I had an itching feeling that something was wrong before I placed my bet, but I did it anyway. Instantly, all my winnings were gone.

As game over flashed upon the screen, I almost swallowed my own tongue. Panic placed its blackened finger on my heart as I reached into my pocket. I pricked my thumb on my QFC nametag and realized that I no longer had the lucky feather. In my carelessness, I must have dropped it at the bar. Shit, I bet my bar tab was huge.