Traveller - L.W. Samuelson (free e books to read online TXT) 📗

he thought.
He had just made a two dollar bet expecting to lose when Willy touched his elbow and whispered, “You best come with me.” When Traveller won, Willy handed him two coin buckets and helped gather him the chips up from the table.
“Lord almighty, let’s be counting that,” Willy suggested drawing him over to a table. “Man, you be lucky tonight.”
“There’s no luck to it. I just bet two dollars on a losing hand and more when I’m going to win,” Traveller replied.
“How you know you gonna win?”
“I watch the cards and pay attention.”
“You mean you count cards?”
“I guess you could call it that.”
“Man, you a cash cow tonight.”
They had just finished counting the $3725.00 in chips when the cocktail waitress came over to the table. “Another Jack Daniels?” she asked.
“Make it a double, hold the rocks, make it ice this time,” he smiled at her and she laughed. When she brought the drink back, Traveller gave her a hundred dollar chip and said, “You have a nice smile.”
When she smiled again with her eyes sparkling, he apologized, “I’m sorry. You’re smile is worth more than that.” He gave her another hundred dollar chip.
The overjoyed waitress hugged him about the head. “God bless you! My kids need new clothes. It’s been so long since anyone has shown me any kindness.” She walked away with a lighter smile and a spring in her step.
“Bro’, I’m going to go cash some of this in before Jesse finds you wantin’ a new car or somthin’. Y’all come with me. We’ll walk to Cactus Pete’s before they kick you outta here.”

Willy ushered Traveller across the highway to the other casino by the arm. He found a no limit twenty-one table with two vacant seats and sat Traveller at one of them.
Again, the alien bet two dollars a hand until he was able to place the cards. When he felt good about his chances, a hundred dollars was placed on the table. He won, doubled down and won again.
Traveller was up four thousand dollars before the manager came over with another dealer. The supervisor stood and watched as the new guy dealt several hands with a new deck of cards.
Willy saw what was happening. “You feel like you gonna win, bet a thousand,” he whispered.
The cards aligned, the alien bet a thousand and won. He received two aces on the next hand, split them and won two more hands betting a thousand on each. He was now up another three thousand dollars.
“We all better go get somthin’ to eat,” Willy said when the manager left to get the security guards. “They gonna kick you outta here.”
Traveller put his two dollar bet on the table. With the authority of several shots of whiskey, he said, “This is America. I’ve done nothing wrong. I will not leave.” The game had stopped; the dealer quit shuffling the cards.
“Come on Bro’,” Willy pleaded as the two guards approached.
Traveller was shaking his head no when Jesse cut in front of the guards and pulled the alien off of his seat. “Lori’s here. She wants to see you,” he said.
Traveller forgot about twenty-one allowing himself to be ushered away by Jesse. Willy gathered the winnings and followed them outside.
“Where’s Lori?” Traveller asked.
“I said that to get you out of there. What are you thinking? You’re underage. What’re we going to do if you get arrested?” Jesse asked.
“I’m an American citizen,” Traveller said stubbornly. “They can’t touch me.”
“Damn,” Willy said looking at Jesse, “I knew he be ‘round you long enough, you’d rub off on’im.”
“He’ll be all right. He’s just had a little too much whiskey. I’ll walk him around for a minute while you cash his chips in,” Jesse said. “We’ll sneak back in when they start the smorgasbord.”
“I want Lori,” Traveller slurred.

Tim found Jesse walking Traveller around the parking lot. “What happened?” he asked.
“It looks like Travis got attacked by free drinks. I don’t know what he did, but the security guards were just coming for him when I grabbed him away. You win any money?”
“Yeah right. If you think you’re going to lose, you lose, and I lost. I’m broker than a newborn baby. How ‘bout you?”
“I’m about even. I think Travis won some money. Maybe he’ll buy dinner.”
“I’ll buy dinner. I’m an American citizen. I can buy anything I want. It’s a free country,” he replied with the twisted logic of a drunk. “Don’t you tell me what I can buy, I’m a Benwarian.”

Twenty minutes later, the group was waiting in line to eat. Traveller stood in front with his friends behind. He was wearing a new cowboy hat with Jesse’s Levi jacket on. The collar was pulled up to his ears so he looked like James Dean. No one could tell he was a card counting alien.
When they got to the cashier’s, Willy moved to the front and paid the $7.95 for all you could eat prime rib out of the wad of cash in his pocket. A waiter showed them to a table and asked if anyone wanted a cocktail. “Ain’t no way,” Willy answered for all of them. “Least not till Travis gets some food in ’im.”
“I’ll fix you a plate Travis,” Jesse offered. “You wait here.”
A few minutes later, he returned with a plate piled high with prime rib, scalloped potatoes, oysters, shrimp, and coleslaw. The rib was smothered in horseradish sauce.
Willy and Tim sat down with plates overflowing with the various meats offered in the serving line. Jesse came back several minutes later with two plates for himself. One was overflowing with shrimp, the other with prime rib and twice baked potatoes.
“Damned if this don’t beat being shot at by a jet,” Willy remarked.
“And whose idea was it? Whose idea was it?”
“Yours Jesse,” Tim finally answered. “You’re the man.”
Traveller’s hyper appetite, stimulated by whiskey, kept him quiet and shoveling food. The prime rib rocked but the oysters were his favorite. Having eaten little most of the day, three of them looked like participants in a food eating contest as they devoured everything in front of them.
Only Tim maintained some modicum of decorum. While they were waiting for him to finish, Jesse came up with an idea. “Guys listen to this. There’s no way we’re going home tomorrow. Let’s disguise Travis and get him back on the tables.” He looked at Traveller and continued, “This time don’t be so obvious. Make more varied bets at first. Lose some of the big bets but overall keep winning? What do you say?”
“If that’s what you want,” he answered.
“Let’s go back to the hotel room and get some rest,” Tim suggested.
“Honky be thinking,” Willy agreed.
“I don’t want to get bored tomorrow so let’s play a round of golf in the morning before we hit the tables,” suggested Jesse.
“Damn, sometimes I swear you not so brainless,” Willy said agreeing with the suggestion.

Jesse had everyone up and ready to go by eight o’clock the next morning. After breakfast, he drove them to the golf course. The greens were bathed in warm spring sunshine with no wind.
They started at the driving range. It was marked with white lines to measure the distance each ball traveled. Only Jesse and Tim had ever played golf. Jesse teed up and hit the ball. “Keep your head down and follow through on your swing,” he explained to Traveller as the ball sailed straight and true.
Traveller’s first drive sliced to the right. When he compensated, the next drive sliced to the left. “You have to hit the ball square then follow through,” Jesse instructed.
Willy tried next. His first drive had no lift. It hit the ground and rolled fifty yards down the range. “Man, it look so easy on T.V.,” he said.
“You have to get under it,” Tim said.
“Hit the ball square, get under it? How’m I gonna get under it, if I be hittin’ it square?” Willy asked before he whacked the ball again. This time it sailed high and over a hundred fifty yards. “Yeah baby, that’s what I’m talkin’.”
After hitting drives for over an hour, the foursome moved to the putting green. Here Willy was a natural making several putts at various distances. Traveller, however, consistently putted past the hole.
After missing almost all of his shots on the green, Traveller’s frustration grew into a reddish-blue hue that colored his face. Facing a twenty foot put, he hit the ball too hard. It rolled across the edge of the hole stopping another tweny yards on the other side.
“By the Universe! I’ll be a Lizerian’s ass!” he yelled dropping to his knees and pounding the turf with his club. He forgot himself in his anger swearing in Benwarian, “Dignock, blato, melbag, botwad!” Traveller kept pounding his putter into the turf until a brown hole was beaten into the green. “I hate this game! It’s stupid!”
“Bro’ stop. You’re going to get us in trouble,” Willy said standing well back of his violent outburst.
“Let him get it out of his system,” Tim advised.
Traveller was hitting the turf so hard that his putter gradually bent into a u shape. It became impossible to hit the ground with any force. When the futility of it all struck him, he dropped to his knees and cried.
Willy turned away with tears in his eyes. He knew Traveller was crying for his home and the loss of the spaceship. Willy moved close to put a hand on Traveller’s shoulder, “Come on Bro’, you’re a survivor.”
Tim and Jesse each grabbed an arm to help Traveller up. “You need to go back to the driving range, take your frustrations out on the ball. Hit that damn thing until it flies straight,” Jesse ordered. He looked at Tim and Willy, “I’m going to go back to the hotel room for a while, keep him occupied till I get back.”

When Jesse returned to the driving range, over twenty people were standing well back of Traveller watching him hit the ball. There was a resounding whack when his club made contact, followed by an ‘ahhh’ from the crowd.
The ball landed on the two hundred seventy-five yard marker and rolled another twenty-five yards.
Jesse waited for him to hit again. This time the ball sailed well over the three hundred yard marker. The crowd clapped. When the applause died down, Jesse said, “One more then we have to get back to the hotel room. Pretend your hitting a Lizerian’s head.”
Traveller concentrated on the ball. His mind and body became one as he brought the club down and under the Lizerian’s white dimpled head. It lifted high into the air sailing, sailing, sailing, and then returning to Earth three hundred fifty yards down the range. It rolled over thirty yards before it gradually rolled to a stop. The crowd went wild.

It was just before noon when they got back to the hotel room. “Let’s rest up for a while then we’ll go get lunch,” Jesse said. He plopped on the bed with his hands over his head resting on a pillow. Willy plopped next to him.
Tim took the other bed while Traveller sat in one of the chairs at the room’s table.
Everyone had their eyes closed dreaming or thinking about one thing or another when the phone rang. Jesse shot straight out of bed to answer it. “Hello,” he spoke into the receiver.
“Yes, just a minute,” he said then looked at Traveller. “It’s for you.”
“Me?” Traveller took the phone, “Hello?”
“Hi