Chapter 4 A millionaire

    After what happened today, Billy decided to change his fate. He didn't know how because he didn't have much on him. The only money he had was his life savings. The one he had been stealing from Morgan whenever he went for groceries. Well, he has heard so much about gambling and so decided to try his luck. Who knows heaven might have mercy on him.

 Billy stared around as he walked into the casino, the place was roughly packed with people of all manners, he could see people of all manners. Men in expensive suits, people poorly dressed, some were smoking others had women in their laps. He got to the counter and a burly-looking man held out his hand.

“Entry f*e please,” he said curtly and Billy handed him fifty bucks, the man peered at the money and raised it to the light, he stared at it for thirty good seconds then he nodded and motioned for Billy to go in. Billy walked to a bar and sat on an empty barstool. A bartender offered him a drink but he shook his head, he didn’t have any more money left to afford a drink.

              The bartender leaned down and whispered in his ear.

              “This drink was bought for you by that lady over there,” he said and pointed to a beautiful lady who was even more beautiful than Morgan. She waved at Billy with a beautiful smile and he inclined his head and grabbed the glass of brandy. He lifted the glass to his lips and slowly drank. The brandy was spicy and burned down his throat but he liked it that way. It was so refreshing. He watched the lady and she walked over to him.

              “Hey,” she said and he nodded.

              “Hey,” he responded. She smiled at him. Billy found her smile contagious and his lips lifted into a smile.

             “I have never seen you here before, you want something?” She asked and Billy nodded.

             “Yeah, I am here to get rich,” he said bluntly, which amused the lady. So straightforward. But she likes it. 

She slipped into an empty barstool beside him. Most People are here because they want to get rich but to no avail,” she said and Billy shrugged and resumed sipping his drink. Well, he is Billy, different from them. 

              “I am not like most people,” he said, even Billy was surprised at how confident he was.

               She smiled, “I like that, that determination,” she said and Billy chuckled.

              “Determination? He said in desperation,” he said and the lady burst into laughter.

              “That’s funny, but desperation leads to determination sometimes,” she said and Billy shook his head.

              “It leads to foolishness like I am about to do,” he said and she smiled. 

             “Like you said, you are not most people. You might get lucky tonight. What do you wanna play” she said and he sighed.

             “I honestly don’t know” he replied and her eyes lit up.

             “You play predictions, right? There is someone I know that is willing to sponsor you and when you win you give him half.” She said and I stared at her in surprise.

            “Really, how much do they stake on people?” he said and she smiled ruefully.

            “Thirty million,” she said and Billy's eyes widened.

            “Hell no!  He exclaimed in surprise. Never seen such money before. “ Dollars?” He asked and she nodded. He fidgeted with his hands, twisting his fingers together in a nervous gesture.

             “Okay, what are we predicting?” He asked and she grabbed his hand and pulled him from his seat.

             “Come on, I’ll show you” She led him to the back and they stepped out into the fresh air. In front of them was an open field where dogs were kept and he could tell they were racing dogs. Billy suddenly noticed she was rubbing small circles in his palm with her thumb and for some reason he liked it, she noticed and pulled her hand away.

            “Sorry,” she muttered and Billy nodded.

            “It’s okay, I kind of liked it,” he said and their eyes met. She looked away and gave a nervous laugh.

            “Thanks,” she said and she led him to the place where other guys were waiting.

            “Pick a dog,” she said and Billy picked the one with the number three tag. He silently prayed to whatever divine being was out there to let luck be on his side. He could hear snickers from the other guys who picked other dogs.

             “That dog is the weak one among the others, he had never even come up to four places” She explained and he sighed, he couldn’t help but like the German shepherd. The dog stared at him with soulful brown eyes and Billy rubbed the dog's head and it let out a whine. 

            “Win this for me, buddy, I promise to take you out of this shithole,” he said and the dog licked his hand as if it understood what was needed and it faced the track in determination, the other competitors readied their dogs, the lady turned to him and patted him on the back.

              “Good luck with your dog,” she said and Billy nodded, someone counted to three and blew the whistle, everyone cheered and gathered to watch the race from the big screen. Billy could see his dog behind and his new friend shook his head sadly. Billy sighed, the poor dog was giving everything he had, the race on until the returning lap, and the spectators cheered then Billy realized something, the dog was saving strength during the first and second laps but now he was running like crazy, and within minutes he passed the other dogs and was neck to neck with the only one ahead, the spectators hollered louder and Billy sat on the edge of his seat.

       “Please, please, please, " he silently urged, he could see the dogs now approaching neither of them wanting to give up but in one final burst of speed, his dog raced for all its worth, passed his competitor, crossed the finish line, and crashed onto the ground exhausted. The crowd cheered and Billy rushed to the dog and poured water on its face. It jerked and Billy fed it water and it drank, panting hard.

          “You did it buddy, you are leaving this place,” he said. His friend tapped him on the shoulder.

          “Wow,” she said, “This dog must fancy you to run like that” She was surprised. That dog was the weakest. She thought it wouldn't make it. No wonder there's a wise saying,” Never judge a book by its cover.

Billy nodded and she brought out a phone.

           “Your details. So we’ll transfer the money” she said and Billy stared at her in surprise. He couldn’t believe it,

            He was a millionaire.