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“Are you going to get me back my money the same way you lost all of yours and got me in this situation to begin with?”
“The next time…”
The next score. Over the next big mountain. Around the next corner. “Get a job and earn money the hard way, like the rest of us do, Dad. You know what, if you get a job, I won’t even charge you interest on the money you owe me.”
“Ah, Vivy, you wouldn’t charge me interest. I’m your father. Even if you are frustrated with me now, we’ll have a fun road trip from wherever you are back to Vegas and you’ll remember how much you love your old man.” Even on the other end of the phone she could see the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes and his wide smile. When he smiled like this, old women stopped him on the street to pinch his cheeks, and he had such a look of innocence that he could walk out of Fort Knox with bars of gold in his hands.
She had tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t fooled. “Emphasis on old.”
“Don’t be that way.”
“Dad, I want my money back.” I want my life back.
“My plan’s going to work this time, Vivy. I swear it. I can win. I won you that bird, remember. That bird has to be worth something. Most parakeets can’t talk, and Xìnyùn’s a regular conversationalist.”
Yeah, if gambling phrases were all I wanted to talk about.
Of all the apps that were available for smartphones, the one Vivian wanted most right now would enable her to reach through the phone and shake sense into her father. She probably couldn’t shake hard enough.
They said their goodbyes and hung up, which was good because Vivian didn’t think she could keep calm much longer.
When she looked up and saw Karl standing next to her in the kitchen, she nearly dropped her phone in the sink. “Did it ever occur to you that eavesdropping on conversations is rude?”
“No.” He didn’t even look ashamed of himself for listening in. His face had the unfeeling, immovable look of suspicious-Karl. Last night’s open, honest laughing-Karl was gone.
“How much of that conversation did you hear?”
“Enough to know you’re resourceful and that your father took your money.”
“Oh.” Thirst rushed her and she got herself a glass of water. And then another. She pressed the third against her head, hoping to cool her nerves. Karl waited.
He didn’t speak until she’d drunk the third glass of water. “I’d like to hear the story from you.”
Vivian thought about lying. Though she hadn’t been forthcoming with everything she hadn’t lied to Karl yet, and she didn’t want to start. Until she got a job, he was all that stood between her and that homeless shelter she’d hung over her father’s head. She could tell most of the story honestly.
“My father hopes that around the next corner will be a golden ticket to wealth. He bet more than he had at a private poker game.” She couldn’t tell this story while staring at him staring at her. She needed something to distract her from her own foolishness. Since the coffee was already made, she got out mixing bowls and started making pancakes.
“I don’t even know why he was allowed into such a high-stakes game.” Especially with the men he’d ended up playing with. They’d scared her in the short time she’d interacted with them. How her father managed to spend his free time with them…
When she shook her head at her own ignorance about what her father had been doing since she’d moved out of the house, flour from her measuring cup spilled onto the counter. To get something to wipe it up, she would have to turn around and face Karl. She left it to clean up later. “No, I do know how he got into the game. When he wants something, my dad is nothing but charm and flattery.” And that innocent smile.
“It’s a rare person who’s not susceptible to flattery.” Karl was standing so close to her she could feel his breath on her neck.
“Yes, especially when it’s in the form of an eager puppy.” Her father was a small-time grifter, hoping to be big-time one day. And to big-time grifters, her dad was a mark, because he didn’t have the smarts not to get in over his head. She took a step to the right, shifting the pancake-making operation with her. “Apparently he won for a while and got cocky. Then he started losing. So he kept betting bigger and bigger to win his money back, but it never happened. When he couldn’t meet his obligations, he stole every penny I had. He’d been visiting me and I was stupid enough not to make it hard for him.” All her security and the cushion she’d built up for sixteen years, gone in an instant.
