The Conversation

Man and woman of upper twenties, early thirties sitting at a bar playing video poker
strike up a casual conversation on a weekend night. Man takes a cigarette out

Man sitting on left looks over to woman

Man: You have a lighter?

Woman already smoking robotically pushes a lighter over with her right hand
Sliding the lighter across the bar.

Man: Any luck tonight?

Woman twists her hand sideways then blows out a plume of smoke
While keeping her attention on the video poker machine

Man produces bag out of pocket, opens it, pours content in hand
then ducks head down under bar

Man: Snort, snort.

Man raises head back up
Looks over at woman
Who is downing last of red wine

Man: Would you like some?
Woman turns to man
Puts down glass

Woman: Sure

Man hands bag over to woman under the bar
Woman takes another drag from cigarette
Then takes bag
Gets up and sets cigarette in ashtray

Man goes back to playing video poker
While bartender comes by to replace empty wine glass with fresh refill
Man still smoking flicking ashes in ashtray

Woman returns a bit teary eyed
Sits down gathers herself quickly
then hands the bag back over

Woman: Thanks

Woman takes a drag of smoke goes back to playing

Woman: So what do you do?

Man: Whatever, Gamble, Deal drugs, hit the sports book, make some cash
then wait for something exciting to happen

Woman: Anything exciting happen so far?

Man: Not yet?

Woman: Maybe you are not looking hard enough?

Man: You a prositute?

Woman indifferent to the question

Woman: No

Man: Where is your man?

Woman: He's around, who knows, probably with some whore
seem to be quite a few in this town

Man: More than you think

Man: What do you do?

Woman: Bartend

Man: Where at?

Woman: Southwest side of town

Man: What has you down on the strip?

Woman: Easier to blend in, out in the burbs, guys get all over you, start asking me questions
about all sorts of things, kind of like yourself. Here I am nothing more than some
weekender out with the girls or with the old man, plenty of turnover with this crowd
I bounce around casinos to keep the older perverts off my scent, those guys who hover
the horse track betting windows with fistfuls of two dollar betting slips trying to
convince themselves how all those losing slips have transformed them into a winner
the kind of winners who molest my time with grand illusions and empty promises.

Things get quiet for a moment

Man: I hear what you are saying, I see a lot of things here, been spending the past month in this hotel waiting for my house to close, going through all the nonsense of getting a loan, waiting for a basically signing my life away for a small personal space to call my own. I have had plenty of
time lately watching people interact in this environment whether they are tourist, local, or have gone around the bend and become completely insane.

Woman: Have you come to molest my time too?

Man looks down at machine as he gets a Royal Flush
Jumps out of seat slapping his hands together while holding the cigarette in his mouth.
Takes it out of his mouth and sits back down while tapping the ashes

Man: No, nothing really than to do this.

As he points down to the machine

Man: So I can feed, house, and cloth myself for another week, quite a bit of pressure when you have to win, the 10 dollar an hour jobs this town has to offer are a deadend, especially when I can win a couple thousand in a single night, jeez, why work, some side work does not hurt, supplier to the stars, break out the skis, all the out of towerners looking for that special connection, tax the hell out of them for my services, then try not to go insane from all the down time.

Man: Have gone through a real spell of drug abuse in the last year, maybe last ten, for whatever reason, living in a town without much options of what to do, being surrounded by people who have no problem over indulging in narcotics, and throw in the general nature of a resort destination that specializes in doing everything to an excessive ideal that would make most rocks stars run for cover, regardless of the reasons, the fact remains something has shattered inside of me, broken from a past inside a cocoon, a vortex, an abyss, slowly hollowed over the years until nothing was left, now what can I do, go vegetative, turn into a nuerotic freak, for the first time since I have moved here, I feel trapped, without options or an exit strategy, maybe living in hotels for the last month has contributed to this overall feeling, yet what else is left, in this limbo for the young, wake one day, tired, old, and worn out with nothing to show for all my efforts. Scares the shit out of me.

Woman downs another red wine

Woman: Why worry about it, you have already succumb to forces that have long since transformed into a person your past can no longer relate with, paved over like dirt in a symbotic relationship with this neon crystal energy that only takes and offers nothing in return, if you so choose, there is plenty to grasp from this city, these people, and the environment that keeps the overall carnal tendency so high, the impulse to get wasted, stay wasted, and have no emotions in regards to the long lasting condition of a shredded conscience, broken hearts, and shattered nerves. Once the ride is over, there is no going back, being spit out the other end is not such a bad thing, maybe only if you desire to keep the ride going, but for the most part, there have been plenty of people who desired to make it to the other side only to fall short and end up nothing more than a thirty second newspiece on the local television station. Seize the opportunity to make amends with your soul, dig deeper into this maze of Las Vegas culture and shed some light on the things most people here walk right past or are too afraid to acknowledge out of fear of the unknown, this is all that is left, either this or walk away from this city and everything you have built here. Sounds like shit doesn't it?

Minutes pass where no one says anything, while continuing to play video poker, smoking, drinking, and breaking out the bag for a bump.

The man hits a button and waits as he cashes out, a few more minutes pass, as the man recieves his money turns to the woman

Man: Thanks

Then slides a couple hundreds over to the woman and leaves
The money stays there for a while as the woman gets into her game
As the bartender comes around believing the tip was left for him
A quick right hand covers the hundred dollar bills as she exhales a plume of smoke
Pulling the money into her hands and stuffing it into her purse while
still playing