Soulmate

He won. He actually won the tournament. Not just any tournament, but the World Series of Poker. The tournament of all tournaments! The crowd was going wild. He didn’t think he could beat Daniel Negreanu heads up, but he did. Their chip stacks were going back and forth, until Jack was slightly ahead. Jack had pushed all in with pocket Jacks, his signature hole cards. Negreanu called with Queens. The crowd was chanting for Negreanu to win. Not only was Jack the underdog, he was totally behind in the hand. The flop came Ace, Ace, Queen. Jack knew he’d been beat. Then the turn came, it was the Jack of Clubs. There was a chance. He had a slight chance. Only one card could win the game for him. The river came, and it was the Jack of Hearts. He’d won. He beat Negreanu’s full house with quad Jacks.

The rush was nothing like he’d ever felt before. All of the money on the table was his: twelve million dollars. The calculations ran through his head, and he figured he’d have roughly six million when all was said and done. The government would get half, but the remaining six was his. Not only did Jack have the money, but the coveted bracelet. The scene was surreal.

Negreanu shook his hand, the crowd was cheering, and the cameras were rolling. The reporters flocked to him like bees to honey. When the first reporter asked how he felt, Jack responded, “I knew I could do it! I told you I’d win someday, Liz!” He held up his wrist to the camera to waive the bracelet in her face on national t.v. He screamed, “I’m a winner!”

After he grabbed a hefty stack worth $25,000, Jack watched the crew wheel the rest of his money into the casino safe. It was time to party like no one had ever partied before. Jack’s friends walked with him down the strip followed by a crowd of fans. He was as high as a kite. The strip seemed brighter, his senses were heightened, and Jack felt more alive than he’d ever felt before.

The first place his group of friends went was the strip club. Jack was buying drinks and lap dances for all of his friends. His dad was with him chanting praises, “I knew you could do it Jacki boy!” The strippers were very attentive to Jack, and he could have taken any of them home with him. He knew they were just gold diggers, and he wasn’t about to pay for anything he could get for free. Even if he was the world’s newest multi-millionaire! He enjoyed every second of it, though. He liked taunting them, and seeing them vie for his attention. It made him feel powerful being able to reject them.

After a while the strip club got old, so Jack and his friends decided to go back to their hotel and get high. He’d already made arrangements for his things to be moved from the Rivera to a suite at the Bellago. He and his buddies stumbled their way up to Jack’s suite laughing and cheering the whole way.

Once they were in the room, they pulled out the weed and began to get high. Even weed smoked better in Vegas. Everything was better in Vegas. Jack couldn’t wait to make this town his home. It was where he belonged. He’d been waiting for his big break for years. It finally came.

Jack wished Liz had been there to see it live. He thought it was strange that she was in his thoughts at that very moment. They hadn’t spoken in a year. She was such a drama queen, and he had been relieved when she’d finally stopped texting and calling him. He was looking forward to dangling the bracelet in her face when he got back to Arizona. She was going to get the surprise of her life. He always said he’d win, and then she’d laugh and say she was a better poker player than he was. He promised her that when he did win, he’d bring her $10,000 in a paper sack, all in single dollar bills. She told him she would love that.

The only thing Jack worried about with Liz was that she’d try to start up the drama again once he saw her. He just wanted to give her the money, flaunt the bracelet a little bit, and then move himself to Vegas. He still cared for Liz; he just didn’t want to start up the relationship again. He’d tried to be friends, but she couldn’t let go. It was easier for everyone this way. Well, easier for Jack; which is just how he wanted it. No ties, no responsibilities, nothing but Vegas and gambling.

The party lasted for two weeks. Nothing but fame, poker, drinking, strippers, sports betting, and weed. It was amazing what money could do for a person. All of a sudden, Jack had “people” to do things for him. Jack had a realtor who’d found a place for him to rent while he was looking for a place to buy. It was time for him to go back to Arizona and move his stuff to Vegas. Finally, the moment he’d been waiting for his whole life!

The first thing Jack did when his plane landed at Sky Harbor was take a cab to the nearest BMW dealership. He shelled out $85,000 for a 750Li, and was out the door in less than an hour. He drove to his crappy apartment, and threw his stuff inside. He’d unpack later. He had something more important to do at that moment. He grabbed a paper sack, drove to the bank, and made a withdrawal for $10,000 in singles.

Jack couldn’t wait to see the look on Liz’s face when she saw him in his new car, wearing his poker bracelet. Thinking about it made him smile. The kind of smile that Liz loved. Mischevious. Amused. Just big enough so his dimples showed. The lights were slow to turn, cars didn’t move fast enough. Jack looked at the paper sack in the passenger’s seat and said out loud, “I can’t wait!”

It seemed like years before he turned down her street, but he finally did. As he drove up to her house, it looked like a mad house. There were several cars parked in front of the houses across the street, and in front of her house was a moving van. Jack was thrilled he’d gotten there just in time. It would have been a lot harder to give her the money and get on with his life if he’d had to track her down. He was sure she still had his phone number blocked from his phone, and she was so paranoid, she was always unlisted.

He grabbed the sack and strolled up to the front door. It was open, so he yelled for Liz to come to the door. Her sixteen year old daughter, Abby came to the door. She looked like hell. Abby was an amazingly beautiful girl, but today she looked awful. Jack asked her where Liz was. Abby burst into tears and said, “She’s gone Jack.”

“Gone? Gone where?” asked Jack.

“She’s gone Jack. She died two weeks ago.”

Jack’s jaw dropped to the floor. His head began to spin. He asked Abby if he could come in and sit down. He felt his whole body go into shock. He felt like he was going to vomit. He never imagined life without Liz. Sure they hadn’t spoken in a year, but Liz was always there. He’d driven by her house more than once during the past year, and was sure she’d driven by his apartment. They only lived three minutes from each other for crying out loud. And now she was gone?

Jack asked Abby how Liz died. Abby replied, “She died of a broken heart, Jack. That’s what she told me to tell anyone who asked.”

Jack was stupefied. What did that mean? Who dies of a broken heart? He asked Abby if Liz had committed suicide.

Abby told him, “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly? What does that mean? Abby, just tell me what happened. I have to know. I want to know exactly what happened to your mom.” said Jack.

“She died of anorexia, Jack. She’d been in and out of the hospital for the past six months. We did everything we could. She wouldn’t eat. She just kept losing weight. She refused to let them put in a feeding tube. We begged her, but it was like she’d just given up.” Abby began to sob into her hands. When she regained her composure, she continued. “She just kept getting worse. She refused to go back to the hospital this last time. She died here at the house two weeks ago, the same night you won the tournament.”

Jack was dumbfounded. She’d died the night he won the World Series of Poker? Seriously? This had to be a dream. Some horrible awful nightmare. He’d wake up. He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. This couldn’t be happening.

Abby continued, “She saw you win Jack. She smiled and made me promise to call you and to tell you goodbye and that she loved you. She also asked me to give you a letter she wrote for you. I wasn’t sure how or when I could get it to you. We have to move back in with our dad.”

Jack winced at the thought of Liz’s kids having to go live with their dad. He was such a jerk. The kids’ world revolved around Liz. Abby and Michael loved Liz. He couldn’t imagine how awful their lives would be without Liz in it. She was their rock. Jack felt hollow inside. An emptiness he’d never experienced before. He shook his head as he thought about a world without Liz. No more texts. No more notes on his car. No more drama. No more Liz.

Abby shook Jack and said, “Here’s the letter she left for you. I’m sorry, but I just can’t talk about her anymore. I have to finish packing up my room. We’re supposed to leave tomorrow.”

Jack asked where Michael was.

Abby said, “He takes off and gets high. He just disappears during the day, and then shows up in the middle of the night and crashes on his bed. He won’t speak to anyone. He hasn’t said a word since she died.”

Jack hugged Abby and said he was so sorry. As he got up to leave, he remembered the paper bag. He handed it to Abby and told her there was more to come. Abby’s eyes widened as big as saucers when she looked inside. He said her to put it in a safe place so Michael wouldn’t blow it on drugs. Jack had failed Liz, and if there was one thing he could do now it was to help out her kids. Kids he had once thought would someday call him “Dad.”

Abby walked Jack to the door and hugged him once more, then told him goodbye. She turned and went back inside as Jack walked to his car. His amazing BMW 750Li suddenly didn’t seem quite so amazing anymore.

........................... to be continued...........................

© 2009, Yvonne Michelle



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P.S. Thanks, for the writing prompt!