What Can You Not Buy With Money?

When we made it to the ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign, there was an explosion of applause and cheers that hurt my ears but filled me with enough euphoria to over dose on.

“The Eiffel Tower, anyone?” Walker pointed to the replica of the French monument, his eyes wide open from the overdose of caffeine we had fed him. He had driven for five hours, since late noon to the approach of six in the afternoon.

I looked eagerly at the replica, but my heart pounded as I recognized it and my mind wandered to my time at France. And then, of course, my brain would flash to Burgess.

“Everyone, get ready for the greatest night of sin. I call the blackjack!” Walker called out, raising his hand as he pulled up to a middle class hotel. But even looking at the building made my wallet throb in my bag, figuratively speaking. Vegas was expensive.

Walker stopped at the front of the hotel, handing his keys to the valet. “Here you are, my good man. Treat her the way you’d treat your mother… and hopefully you treat her well.” Walker smiled and stretched out as he walked to the sidewalk, waiting for everyone to climb out of his car. He was yawning, his face taut and tired.

“I call the strippers!” Lucy leaped out of the sliding doors, Vern super glued in her grip by the wrist. Vern had a large black digital camera wrapped around his neck, a high tech gadget that caught my eye. I never figured him to be a photographer.

“Come on, Mary,” Walker waved at me as he lead me into the hotel. When I joined his side, he put his palm against my shoulder, squeezing it as he guided me through the doors.

“Have you been here before?” As we entered, it resembled a casino. There were bright lights all around, noises galore of people winning chips and money.

“Yeah, whenever I go to Vegas I stay here.” Walker quickly dived to a bar, where he flashed his ID and ordered two ‘Mind Erasers’. When the drinks were poured, he handed me a glass.

“No, thanks.” I shook my hand and tried to push the alcohol away but Walker insisted.

“Come on,” He peer pressured me, bobbing his head to the side as he pulled his charm. There was a kind note in his voice as he added, “Getting over a heartbreak calls to drink it away for a night. It’s time to just have fun.”

Feeling like I was already the party pooper, I shrugged. “Sure…” And as I nodded my head I began to feel courage and a burning desire to just let loose. I was tired of being uptight and responsible. “Yeah, you’re right.” I took the shot and quickly downed it, instantly feeling the effects as I wobbled to the side. My tolerance was pathetic.

“All right!” Walker took a hearty sip then let out a sigh of satisfaction. Already my face felt warm and I giggled as he smiled at me lopsided. “Let’s try not to gamble away our hard earned savings.”

“I want to—play roulette,” I quipped as I turned to the green table where dealers and bystanders were surrounding the little red and black wheel. With Walker at my ankles I floated to my destination, taking a twenty dollar bill out. Normally, I’d never even think about giving up money like that, but I thought that I should try something new. “Ten’s a lucky number… don’t you think, Walker?” I turned to the boy who was taking my sudden change in personality in stride. “And I’m in a dark mood. Black ten, please.”

“Okay,” The man who controlled the wheel spun it. “Black ten.” After a pause he dropped the small ball onto the wheel, the sphere clattering in a rhythmic clack.

“Wasssup?!” Lucy came in, already buzzed. Vern looked sober and terrified out of his mind, his arm carefully around Lucy. She carried a small tray of ‘Mind Erasers’, offering them to Walker and I.

“Why do you both get the same drink?” I asked as I greedily took one and tasted it. The delicious coffee that was in the glass filled me with a wonderful caffeine rush. I felt great, like I could take on the world.

“Why do you think we go to Vegas?” Lucy kissed me on the cheek, and then went to kiss Walker as well. “Forget our troubles… and just have some fucking fun.”

As I took turns drinking from both glasses in my hands I watched dizzily as the roulette slowed down.

I was lucky that night. I watched in amazement as the ball landed on the black ten.

“Holy shit!” Walker yelled out as he threw his arms in the air and wrapped them around me. Lucy joined in the group hug, some of the remaining Mind Erasers splashing onto us. We were jumping up and down, eager to collect the winnings.

“Here is your money,” the man pulled the twenty back from the board along with a few chips. I took them and carefully pocketed the prize, too lazy to pull my wallet out again.

“I know who to stick with tonight!” Walker proclaimed and he pointed at me while slurring his words.

“Are we all drunk?” I joined in the mumbling and laughing. We were rambunctious, my heart beating out of rhythm and my posture unbalanced.

“Wait, hold still,” Vern held up his camera, taking a quick shot of Walker and I. “That was a perfect moment.”

“Come on, Mary,” Walker snickered as he pulled me away. “I need another drink.” His glass was empty, so I nodded and we headed back to the bar.

Despite that small victory at the roulette, I was bored with the casino. “I’ll check us in,” I volunteered, but Walker shook his head.

“Nah, Lucy said she’d take care of it. Relax… chill…” Walker slumped onto the bar stool, already unstable with liquor. “Why don’t we just…” He was moving his hands as he spoke, struggling to speak clearly. “…party. Over there,” He pointed lazily to a smaller room, dark and cozy. “There’s a small café. They’ve got the most—delicious—ice scream you ever tasted.”

“Ice scream?” I giggled and pulled him away. “I want some.” I had no control of my voice, but even drunk, I could tell I was verging onto flirting. But it didn’t seem to matter anymore, and so I decided to just let the alcohol take hold of my remote control. I was going on autopilot that night.

“Well, I’ll be more than happy to treat you. How can I resist such a sweet and pretty lady?”

“Come on,” I teased. “Before all the ice scream runs away.”

“Then we’ll just go hunting,” Walker changed his accent to thickly resemble an Australian, “Crikey, and we’re off to an expedition to capture the dangerous and elusive ice scream.”

As we laughed like a pair of idiots, we went into the much quieter and private room. Only a lone man at the bar was there, watching a football game on the television above the shelves of whiskey, wine, vodka, and other spirits.

We went to a corner, where we were well hidden in the shadows. Heavy and bold music played to protect our conversation from any eavesdroppers. A waitress came to take our order.

“Two of your biggest ice scream please.” Walker used his hands to emphasize on the ‘big’.

“Right,” The waitress shrugged his drunken slurs and my hyena giggles. She must have experienced shenanigans like ours on a regular basis. “What flavors?”

Walker turned so I would go first, and so I quickly asked, “You’ve got strawberry?”

“Yes.” The woman nodded, smiling in bemusement at my simplicity. “And what about for you?”

“Vanilla. With caramel sauce. And maraschino cherries please.”

When the waitress left, I felt my pants vibrate. I flinched, and Walker quickly reacted. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I giggled obnoxiously, taking out my cell phone that was ringing like an annoying wakeup call. The caller ID read Adelmo, so I shrugged and quickly went to answer.

“Hey, what’s up?” I let out a bellow like an immature teenager, my chest swelling at the feeling of accomplishment. Sadly, Adelmo wasn’t in a humorous mood.

“Mary? What happened? Where are you? Burgess just called me and offered me your job. What’s going on?” Sweet Adelmo was on the brink of explosion, his voice shrill and confused.

“You know,” I started pointing my finger blindly as though Adelmo was in front of me. I wanted to make a point. Pun intended. “Don’t mention that… that asshole to me anymore. He’s a l-loser. I’m glad he fired me. And dumped me. He’s so—stupid.”

“…Mary, what are you on?” Adelmo’s voice held concern and disbelief.

“I’m… I’m in Vegas with Walker… and Lucy… and… Vern. And we’re gonna party. And have fun. And party.” I was really spent, my language almost incomprehensible.

“What happened?” Adelmo stubbornly repeated his question.

“That bastard Burgess got these pictures of me fucking Walker and shit. And I—never—slept with him. Never.” I hiccupped and quickly belched, covering my mouth to try to suppress the sudden outburst of gas. “But he didn’t believe me. Hell, I almost didn’t believe me. Those pictures looked pretty real.”

“What pictures?”

“The ones that some prick gave to him. I don’t know. But Burgess doesn’t have them anymore, they’re gone for good. The way it should be. He didn’t deserve naked pictures of me. Or Walker. We're too good for him.”

“I still don’t understand…” Adelmo began. “Are you safe?”

“I’m fine,” I nodded and waved my hand to calm him down psychically. “We’re just going to be out of town for a little while. To just get away from it all. And if you’re calling for permission to take the job I give you my blessing. Just be careful. Burgess is selfish, mean, rude, and the biggest dick you’ll ever meet. Hell, he’s worse than your brother sometimes. At least your brother outwardly admits he’s a pig. Burgess is just in denial. The pay’s worth it though, if you’re looking for money—Okay, I got to go now,” I watched as the waitress came toward us with a tray of sundaes in her hands. “I’m going through a tunnel of ice scream now. Bye.”

“Wait, Mary—” Adelmo Bohr was hung up on.

When we were served our food, I was a glutton, feasting upon the frozen dairy like a starving man on a desert island. More like a dessert island. Yes, the joke isn’t funny now but when you’re a little tipsy you’d think I was the life of the party.

“You know, I think we should all turn our phones off.” Walker took his phone and shut it down, initiating the small pact. “If we want to really escape, we’ll have to cut contact with everyone.”

“You’re right,” I nodded, fired up from the phone call. “I don’t want anyone to call me.” As I was turning off my phone I knew I was the biggest liar around, but I pushed the whiny voice in my head off as well. Deep down, I had hoped that Burgess would call me and beg for forgiveness—say he’ll forgive me—anything. And I admit, I was desperate to not even know that Burgess existed. “How about another Mind Eraser?” I asked Walker as the Waitress waited for any more orders.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we need.” Walker was grinning ear to ear, his eyes out of focus but more sober than me still. “Two more of that fine drink, mademoiselle.”

When the waitress returned with more drinks, I quickly chugged it with enough force to cause me to choke and cough from swallowing too eagerly and too wrong. My throat was on fire. But I just smiled at Walker, feeling the effects deeper as I felt fuzzy and as though I was invincible. And it was so much fun.

The funny thing about alcohol is it makes a lot of the emotions you tried to suppress with it, instead, come out at full force. And I was feeling a pang of loneliness that I decided to suffocate.

My memory is very vague of the rest of the night, but from what Walker and Lucy had explained, everything went like a tornado. It’s not just when you mourn over the loss of a love, but to be able to just switch gears the way I did is something I’m not proud of. I couldn’t explain why I did it, but I was being impulsive. Walker was just there, his kindness had overwhelmed me since I met him. I wasn’t thinking, obviously, but what’s done is done. While Walker was bantering to me, my eyes had fallen to his lips. They looked sweet, and I noticed a slight remnant of the ice scream on the corner of his mouth. And he had offered to be used as a rebound.

I leaned over and kissed him, feeling the breath get caught in his lungs in surprise at my advance. And at first, he joined in the lip lock, his hand falling on my back and his other hand running across my temple and forehead. Surprise caught me, because I was half expecting him to pull away. The last time we kissed had been different, full of uncertainty and hesitance but he was completely there. He nipped my lower lip, and hugged me tightly to make sure I was really in his arms. But then his eyes snapped open and he quickly pulled back.

“What?” I breathlessly asked, not pleased by the sudden separation. My life was beginning to feel jumbled, my chest pounding from my hungry heart.

“We’re drunk.” Walker had a hurt in his eyes, his face full of many mixed emotions. He was as confused as I was. “There’s probably going to be a hangover tomorrow. And there’ll be regret on one side and…” Walker brushed the hair out of his face and shrugged. “It’s better if we just don’t do this. I don’t want you to get hurt. You're in no condition to make any decisions right now. This is supposed to be--just fun. Not hurt.”

“Walker, you haven’t hurt me at all,” I took his hand and squeezed it, hoping he’d reconsider. “We never had a real romance going on before. We hardly knew each other.”

“Mary,” Walker took out his wallet and dropped money on the table. “I think it’s time to take you to bed. I’m not going to take advantage of...” he paused as he tried to think of the right words to say, but instead he just settled with, “…you.”

I was disappointed, but I just shrugged. “Okay.” I cared a great deal, but I couldn't show it.

He led my unbalanced and cackling self to an elevator, where I clung to him flirtatiously. I had hoped he’d play along like he did before, but instead he just stood awkwardly as I ran my hand over his slender chest. His face showed he had sobered up well, his face bright red as he refused to look at my imploring face.

When we reached a certain floor he took me to our hotel suite, a lavishly set of fine furniture and artistic environment, Walker took me to one of the bedrooms. “All right, Mary,” He quietly coughed as he held the door open for me. “I’m going to be right outside. I just need to take a quick nebulizer treatment. Get ready for bed.”

“Are you sleeping with me?” I teased, and thinking back on it now I never knew how annoying I could be.

Walker shook his head, “Not after what just happened. I’ll be on the couch, but I’m going to check on you soon, okay? Just get ready for bed. You’re going to need as much rest as possible.”

“Yes, Mr. Walker,” I poshed as I flung myself on the large bed. I was already exhausted, but my body refused to shut down. I had an idea to just get up and fling myself on Walker like a needy kid, but thank God I still had some sense left in me. Instead I quickly took off my shirt, leaving myself in just a tank top and jeans. But too lazy to try to free myself from my clothes any longer, I just fell—in nausea—backwards on the pillows and blankets, passing out.