Vegas Be Damned

Vegas be Damned! Vegas took him off the board at 80. As the cards were dealt each day, passersby would swear the deck was stacked – against him. Fate had, for some reason, chosen him to constantly be in the line that closed for lunch, watching the bus he just missed - leave. Youth, street kid, pin setter in a bowling alley, living at the kindness of friends parents, eating as the opportunity presented. 17, enlisted, good duty, three hots and a cot. Re-enlisted, war, Korea, PTSD (before it was PTSD). Discharged, returned to the streets of his youth – no longer a youth. The drink, elixir of the damned, damnation of the scarred, comforter of the comfortless. Arrests and jail time, flop houses, back to the streets. Early in his forties, fate’s dealer broke open a new deck. A chance meeting, a choice, an unsteady walk, a door, into a new life. Get well jobs, dishwasher, grave digger, volunteer. A 75 dollar car, an apartment of his own, friends, and fellowship. Another better job, 30 years later, retirement at age 75. A birthday party shared with friends - many half his age of 84. He still walks the streets of his youth proudly, thinks of those who, unlike him, were not as fortunate. Those who succumbed to the rigors of life, and death, the unseen wounds that never healed, the hopelessness of a stacked deck. He laughs a lot, has a bit of a skip in his step, a wry smile on his face, an MBTA Charlie Card in his wallet, and a plan to be a part of this day. Vegas be damned! John G. Lawless 10/18/2014 for Gautami Phookan – Sketch a Character – Poetry Contest