Three of Clubs

Tony Biehn took a deep breath and sighed.  He slowly unwrapped the plastic wrap from the deck of cards, and then he counted eleven cards from the top.  The twelfth was the three of clubs, and he tossed it onto the foot of the bed.  He only got a room when his band played on weekends, but if the hotel wasn’t overbooked they let him have a weekday.  He reached over to the night stand and pulled the spare room key out of the small paper folder that all the room keys came in.  He stood up and flipped open his guitar case, which he had sat on the luggage stand of the room.  He pulled out a small roll of scotch tape, and two pieces of tape later, the room key was attached to the three of clubs.  He put the deck back together, and tossed the box into his guitar case.  He felt the pack of cigarettes in his pocket, and he slid them out and flicked them at the balcony door. He closed the guitar case, and with a slight grunt picked the case up.  The luggage stand toppled as he walked quickly out of the room.

***

Tony felt the string snap as they finished yet another Journey song.  The smattering of people in the lounge applauded while Tony forced a smile and waved.  “Why do I always break a string on that one?” he shouted jokingly into the microphone.  Lance and Seth shook their heads as Tony knelt down to his guitar case for another string.

“Dude, we only have a few songs left.  Do you really need that string?”  Lance looked impatient and tired.  He wasn’t used to Wednesday night gigs.

“I do as a matter of fact.  Nice bass-lines tonight by the way” Tony snapped.  Lance rolled his eyes as he turned his back to the small crowd.

“Some of us have jobs in the morning Tony.  Why in Reno’s name did you agree to this show?”

“Groove Kitty called in sick, and I know you need the money for your credit card bills.  Seth needs it to buy pot, and our little band is one of my main sources of income.”

“Skynyrd!” somebody yelled from the lounge.

“B.T.O.” another voice shouted.

“Slow down y’all!  We have a few songs left, and suggestions are always welcome with the three of clubs!”  Seth had walked out from behind his drum kit, and he was working the room like a trained pro as he pointed and made chit chat while Tony replaced his broken string.

“Why does he use that bad Southern accent?  He’s from Carson City” Lance muttered.

“It gets him some play, and the folks seem to like it.”  Tony picked at the new string, and it sounded good enough for the last few songs of the night’s last set.

“Skid Row!”

Tony heard the shout over all the other calls of the night.  He shoved Seth aside and was soon back at his microphone.  “Did I hear a request for Skid Row?  Who yelled that?”  Tony looked out and saw a woman waving her arms.  She looked almost forty but dressed almost twenty.  Her tight dress wasn’t flattering everywhere, but it accentuated everywhere it needed to.  Her makeup was mostly intact, and she had a few girlfriends with her, and they were all drinking straight whiskey.  “Any particular Skid Row song?”

“Play ‘I Remember You’!  Please!”  Tony’s eyes grew wide as he turned to his rhythm section, which was also the rest of the band.

“Do you two remember that one?”  Seth had a blank stare while Lance smiled and plucked a few notes.

“I don’t know the exact bass-line, but I can fake it.”  Lance replied

“I’ll catch on.  I always do.  I’m sure I’ll remember it eventually” Seth said, with no hint of an accent.

“All right then.  By request to the lovely lady in the back, and her party…some vintage Skid Row.”  Tony suddenly realized he didn’t have an acoustic guitar with him, so he had to play it slowly with the electric until the song kicked in.  After the song, the crowd had thinned a bit, but the lady and her friends were swooning on the dance floor.  They had been joined by a few guys, and a couple that had obviously made some Vegas vows.  Tony looked at the clock and knew they only had one song to go for the night, and he didn’t even need to give Seth a signal.  Four minutes later, Tony played the last chord of the night on an improvised ending to “Gimmie All  Your Lovin” by ZZ Top.  The remaining revelers were cheering, and Tony reached for the deck of cards.  He tossed the box aside and squeezed the deck in his fingers.  “Thank you for coming out to the Jackpot Casino here in beatiful Las Vegas.  We are the Three of Clubs, and the lucky lady who finds the three of clubs can claim her prize in room 351!”  Tony squeezed the cards, and they flew into the crowd as Lance and Seth took their bows.

***

Tony took a long drag from his cigarette as he stood on his hotel balcony.  It was five past midnight, and over an hour since his band had wrapped up their show on the floor.  He took a deep breath of the hot Vegas air as he looked over at his night stand.  The bottle of Nytol and warm glass of beer were calling to him, so he flicked the cigarette off the balcony.  As he took a step forward, he heard the door lock unlock with a loud click.  Tony watched as the woman who had requested Skid Row stumbled in.  She was missing a shoe, and she had gotten ahold of a bottle of Crown Royal.  She smiled as she held up the three of clubs while the door closed behind her.  “I’m here for my prize” she said in a sexy but slurred voice.

“Well now, just what do you think that prize might be?”  Tony was walking towards her, and she stumbled right into him.

“One guitarist over easy” she replied as she held herself up by gripping his t-shirt.

***

Tony opened his eyes slowly.  The night was a blur of sex, alcohol and more sex.  His head was pounding as he looked at the nightstand.  His wallet was in the exact same place, so he was already counting his blessings.  The room felt hotter than normal, and there was a breeze blowing in.

“I hope you don’t mind.  I didn’t bring any cigarettes” came a woman’s voice, now much less slurred, and only partially less sexy.  Tony sat up, and saw the woman leaning against the door frame of the balcony.  She was wearing a pink thong and Tony’s Motley Crue shirt.

“I didn’t know you smoked” Tony mumbled.  His brain was still foggy and the morning sun, while not shining in his face, was bright enough to make his head start pounding.

“I quit a long time ago Tony.  I quit a lot of things a long time ago.”  Tony squinted his eyes as he looked over the woman in his shirt.  His mind started piecing together her voice and the parts of her body that still looked and felt oddly familiar.

“Meghan?  Meghan Snider?  No…fuckin…way…” Tony stammered as he looked her over again.

“I haven’t been Megan Snider in years.  Meghan Nelson now.”  She took another long drag as she stared out onto the strip.  Tony threw the sheet off, and looked around the room for his underwear.  He pulled them from a nearby lampshade and put them on as Megan extracted a cigarette from the pack.  She held it out as Tony stumbled towards the balcony.  “You should have gotten a smoking room.”

“Hey, when the hotel pays, I take what they give.”  Tony put the cigarette in his mouth, but then he pulled it back out.  “How did you end up in Vegas?”

“An old friend decided to get married here last night, so me and some friends flew in to make sure she was doing the right thing?”

“Did she?”

“Well, she didn’t the first three times” Megan said as she tossed her cigarette off the balcony.  She pulled another cigarette out of the pack, and she tossed them at the bed as she pulled Tony’s lighter out of the side of her thong’s waistband.  “Hopefully she gets it right this time” Megan said as she lit her second smoke.  She handed the lighter to Tony as she blew smoke in his face.  “How long have you been in Vegas?”

“Too long” Tony said as he looked out onto the strip.  “I came out here maybe seven or eight years ago from Los Angeles after Hard Core fell apart.”  Tony put the cigarette in his mouth and looked away from Megan.  “Some dream huh?”

“What happened to Hard Core?  You guys sounded so good back in the day?”

“Seattle happened.  We made it to L.A. just in time for the bottom to fall out of the blues rock market.  Our CD came out and was promptly forgotten.  I think the last I heard we’d sold maybe 2,000 copies before the label dropped us.”  Tony looked back at Megan, who hadn’t taken her eyes off him.  “What about your dreams?  Did you get your degree in microbiology?”

“Nope.  Change of plans.  Her name is Rochelle, and she drives me nuts.  Teenagers…” Megan took an extra long drag as Tony tried not to let his jaw drop.

“You…have a teenage daughter?”

“I found a new guy at college.  Late freshman year.  We kept her and got married.  He’s a lawyer in Des Moines now.  We have two other kids…” Megan’s voice trailed off as she took another drag.  She looked down at the concrete floor of the balcony.  “His mom is watching them this weekend.  He’s in Washington D.C. for some conference or something.”

“Does he know you’re in Vegas?”

“I’m sure he does.  Not sure if he cares anymore.”  Megan took another long drag as Tony just stood there, alternating his glance from Megan to the street below.  “You’re wasting it.”

“Oh uh…” Tony took a quick half-hearted drag and lowered his hand.  “I should quit anyway.  I don’t have the disposable income to smoke.”

“How did you go from writing songs to playing in a cover band?”

“Well, after the label dropped us…we tried to make a go as a touring band, but one by one the guys just lost their way.  Drugs and alcohol took them out of the game, and after a while I just got sick of auditioning for other bands and living off tips as a bartender.  I moved here eight years ago to just start over.  I couldn’t find a job I liked, and before I knew it I was part of a few local cover bands that the casinos hire for live entertainment.  I formed the Three of Clubs about four years ago.  The money is decent, and I have flexible hours at the record store I work at downtown.”

“Sounds like a fun life” Megan said.

“Fun?  I have a studio apartment over the record store that leaks when it rains.  I barely make ends meet and my only friends are my band-mates, and they’re barely friends.  You have the stable life, nice house and it sounds like you still live in Iowa.”

Megan closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  “I live in a boring, gated community.  I work part time at an upscale clothing store just to avoid being bored to death.  My husband…” Megan opened her eyes and looked into Tony’s eyes.  “…who hasn’t had sex with me in eight years by the way, doesn’t want me to go back to school to finish my degree.  I’m nothing but his smiling, P.T.A. trophy wife who eats too many cheeseburgers and sneaks a smoke once every few months.  I was hoping to forget Iowa and everything for just one night, and somehow I find you.”

“Sorry” Tony said as he lifted his cigarette to his mouth.  It was almost gone, and the cherry had gone dark.

“Don’t be” Megan said as Tony tossed the butt off the balcony.  “It reminded me of the good times we had back in our sleepy old Iowa town.  Truth is, I didn’t know it was you until halfway through the night.”

“How did you figure it out?” Tony asked.  He was starting to notice his headache again.

“There are certain…things….only you…” Megan smiled as her face turned bright red.  “Let’s just say I figured it out.”

“When do you fly out?”  Tony asked.

“Today.  I have to be at the airport in two hours.”  She walked back into the room and started pulling Tony’s t-shirt off.

“You can keep the shirt if you want” Tony said, just before she threw it at him.

“Thanks but no” Megan said.  “You always could pull off the black t-shirt look.  I never could.”

“So…uh…what about last night?”

“Last night was fun, but any more and…I don’t know.”  Megan slid her dress on and found the one shoe she had brought along.  “We had our chance back then.  We talked about eloping on graduation night.  Do you remember that?”

“I do” Tony said as he pulled his shirt back on.  The black cloth passed over his face and when his eyes saw the room again, Megan was already at the door.

“I really wish we had.”

“Me too” Tony said as he looked away from Megan, and at his guitar.

“See ya” Megan said, forcing a smile as she looked over her shoulder.

“Take care” Tony said.  Megan walked into the hallway, and the door closed behind her.  Tony’s back hit the wall of the hotel room, and he slid down until he was sitting on the floor.  His arms wrapped around his knees.  He didn’t even notice his headache, as his heartache dominated his mind.