What in the world was Whitey Winn doing at my table, in New Orleans?!?!
I was so puzzled I almost yelled curse words which probably would have gotten me fired.
"M'am? Mis, are you doing alright?" He asked looking at me intensely.
I realized that I was making a scene.
"Of course sir." I said, then I got up and returned a few moments later with his drink.
"Hit me!" One of the men said and I placed a card down onto his cards.
His number was at 24.
"Dadgumit" he shouted as he hit his hands against the table.
(Dadgumit, if you don't know, is a term used highly in the Southeast. It's said in the same way you'd say "darn it".)
"Hit me." Another man said, he also lost.
Renaldo looked at his cards and said "I require another one.".
The man sitting next to him chuckled and said: " that's fancy talking for hit me"
I placed a card down. His number was exactly 21.
(The point of the game black jack is for you to add cards at random until the numbers on the cards add up to 21. It's a game won strictly by chance, unless of course, you've got the cards stacked in your favor.)
Whitey said: "hit me" As he chugged the last of his drink.
I placed a card down. He also got twenty one. He had bet 5 dollars, I handed him the chip
"Thank you kindly Darlin". He said as he got up, picked up his hat and headed off toward the bar.
As soon as he left I let another girl take my place and I ran towards him. I grabbed his arm and pulled him into a side room.
"What in the name of God are you doing here Whitey?!" I asked
"What do you think I'm doing here? I'm here for the money!" He said signaling towards Renaldo.
"As I recall you already have a significant amount of money!"
"I'm moving out of La Belle! I need extra cash and if I can bring him in then I can live relatively comfortably." He said
"You think, you, a washed out deputy, can bring Renaldo Ledbetter in? Even we were hesitant to try this case! He's dangerous Whitey! Go home!" I said angrily.
"Darling, I'm Whitey Winn, I'm painfully lucky, and I'm an amazing shot."
"Not compared to me your not!" I said annoyed.
"You think your faster than me?" He said smiling as if it was funny.
"I don't think it, I know it."
"Well we'll just have to test that theory."
"Whitey, how exactly am I supposed protect you if your off in lala land thinking you can bring in Renaldo Ledbetter."
"You don't protect me, I can take care of myself. Either way, Sophie, I'm sorr—" I cut him off
"Shut up!" I said and I pointed behind him. Through the door Renaldo was taking money from some guy.
"Did he win?" Whitey asked
"Only one round" I answered
" How much did he bet?" Whitey interrogated me.
"About 50 bucks" I answered
"That is way more than a hundred. This is what he does, he steals from folks who beat him. And he kills or seriously injures the people in the process"
"Shit! We need to get that money." I said placing my hand on my hidden knife.
"For what?"
"It's evidence! We could get more money if we have more proof." I said annoyed
"How exactly do you expect to get it from him?" Whitey asked looking at me in a challenging way.
Eight minutes later.
I hid close to the bag as Whitey walked up to Renaldo.
"Good game." He said as he shook his hand.
"It was okay" Renaldo answered
"Say uh, how'd you manage to stack the deck?" (Stack the deck meaning cheat)
"I Did not. Boy, you're outta line!" He said shaking his head.
I stood in the distance and threw my knife toward the bag of money. It fell on the floor and Bella quickly replaced it with another before Renaldo reached down to pick it up.
I signaled at Whitey to quit arguing with him already.
Whitey looked at me and then said: "well fine then!! I guess we just have cheaters now! No harm no foul!" He said in fake frustration as he threw his hands in the air to gesture that he was giving up.
Whitey walked back over to where I was.
"So you managed to listen for once" Whitey said
"So you managed to throw down your pride for once!" I answered
"Fair enough Soph" he said as he leaned in stepped a little closer to me.
Suddenly the image of all the pain I felt after Whitey abandoned me flashed in my head, combined with the image of Cora and her laying down her life for Whitey. I remembered my anger.
I grabbed him by his shirt,(even though he was taller then me) and said: "Listen here Whitey, just because we worked together for like one second, doesn't mean we're friends! You can come in here if you want, but don't pretend like I will just forget what you did!" I said seriously
At first he didn't say anything then he smiled
"You miss me don't you?" He said with a dumb smirk.
"No." I said still holding his shirt.
"I missed you. Haven't met many girls who would be this-" he be paused looked down at my hands and smiled. "Strong willed"
"Fuck off." I said and I let go of his shirt.
"How's Louis?" Whitey asked innocently.
"Fine."
"Come on Sophie, you know he can never make you as happy as you were with me." He said trying to reason with me.
"Leave Louis out of this." I said looking at the ground. He walked up to me and pulled my chin up to look at him.
"Sophie, stop lying to yourself." Whitey said
"First of all, I'm not! Louis is amazing and he has a heart of gold. Second of all, tell me Whitey, when exactly did I say you could touch me?" I said as I pushed his hand off of my chin.
"Oh yeah, I remember now, you always quite liked being in charge." Whitey joked
"Jesus Christ, Whitey! You do realize that we ARE NOT together anymore!?"
"I didn't want to—they made-" he began to say but then he looked at Bella who was standing in the distance bar tending.
"Never mind." He muttered
"Yeah, that's what I thought." I said and I began to walk out of the room.
"Wait! Sophie!" He said and I paused in the doorway to turn around
"I'm sorry,I really am. Also Louis's a great guy, if you like him, I'm not judging you or anything...I promise I'm not gonna bother you anymore." He said
"Where are you staying?" I asked.
"I don't really know, I got here this afternoon."
"Ugh." I paused.. "You can stay at our place, my mom's renting some of the rooms out." I said annoyed but still slightly concerned.
"Really?" He said with that silly grin he always had.
"No I'm lying, yes really." I said
"Sophie you ain't gon regret this" he said as he began to walk out. Before he left, he kissed my cheek.
"You know, I'll always care about you." He said
"Stop Whitey...please. Don't lead me on just to hurt me."
Whitey looked sad
"What if I didn't hurt you."
"Exactly..."What if" ". I stated as I walked off towards my table. Leaving him in the dust.