Chapter 6

The hotel-casino complex was noticeably family oriented even if they did do a fair share of gambling from the wire services book business and the customary table games. The slots and the faro and bingo made up a nice piece of the pie from the one-shot gamblers just looking to pass the time or have some excitement on their vacation. There were no kids allowed in the casino but Amy could tell it wasn't even necessary to save their lives from the evil influences of gambling. She didn't see a single youngster who had the slightest interest in the boring stuff their parents seemed all excited about.

She was set up at a Roulette table as an assistant to the Wheel man. He could keep control until a point was reached where the number of players surpassed his ability to monitor the play. She was situated at the opposite end and signaled if any marginal cheating was going on to catch it before it got noticed by the "eye in the sky" and the heavy hands of management. The informed wheel manager generally made simple eyeball to eyeball contact with the offender and they seldom repeated their breaking of the rules of the game. If the player was suffering from too much booze or obstinate behavior, they were led off the floor for some behavior modification in an area not open to the public.

Amy was happy that the co-workers and the bosses were all professional in their attitudes and seemed sincerely interested in training her to be an asset to the company. It reminded her of her days in military training when everyone was being careful not to be taken as anti-woman or sexually harassing in anything they said or did. The first couple of days went real fast and she felt like "an old hand" by the third day.

One thing that she was very careful about was not to bring her gun into the premises. She left it under lock in the SUV outside because the management had a "zero tolerance" about the carrying of firearms at work. They knew she had a gun and she was not sure exactly how they knew about it since she had never submitted any paperwork. The only way she could think was that she had purchased a few boxes of ammo for practice shooting out in the desert. They must have a good system for matching up her purchase with the fact she owned a gun. The supervisor didn't make a big deal about it and simply warned her about the policy under the guise of not wanting her to "get into trouble". With all the workplace violence in the newspapers, she didn't really blame them at all.

Since they were both on the same shift, she brought out lunch for Diego in the workshop sitting forlorn and generally deserted in the middle of the main parking lot. The parking area was extensive with different sections for the casino, the movie, the RV parking and the hotel guests. At any given time, there were a couple of thousand vehicles in the parking lot. When it was cold, the cars tended to gravitate to the covered parking spaces adjoining the complex inside a 5 story parking garage. At one time, they collected a small fee for the parking there, but it was decided offering it for free helped boost business on the slots and the various snack bars and small restaurants.

Diego was usually right in the middle of the majority Spanish-speaking workers in the parking lot. They did everything from keeping the grounds clean to helping get cars towed or found for service calls. They also did all the lawn-care essentials and manicured the bushes and trees until they looked picture-perfect for all to marvel at. The other workers seemed suspicious of her uniform and badge thinking she was a spy for management sent out to see if they were drinking or not doing their job correctly. Diego set them straight in his native language explaining she was "only" his spouse. They all got a big laugh at that and then locked on blank faces when they saw he was not joking.

Amy had gotten Diego his favorite "Tacos" from the franchise inside the lobby. She knew he wanted a beer but was afraid it would not look good in the middle of the day so she settled for a root beer instead. He thanked her and they sat squatted down on the asphalt using pieces of cardboard to keep the heat from blistering their bottoms. The other workers seemed surprised to see her sitting like that just like a peasant from the country instead of merely another snobbish white girl. Actually, she had spent more than a few years happy to be sitting on any piece of dirt she could call home. The parking lot was a step up for her.

Diego was laughing about some silly tourist who had locked their keys inside their car and he had to open the door for them to get them out. He bragged that he could open the door of almost any car in just a minute or less except for some that had expensive security devices to prevent thieves from getting inside. She could see his friends whispering and laughing at some unheard joke annoying her into asking Diego what they found so funny.

"It's nothing Miss Amy, they are just making jokes about how I make you my "love-bunny" in bed with my huge thing down there."

She asked if he had been telling stories about what they did behind closed doors.

"No, no, they just make joke from their silly imagination because you are one nice-looking American girl."

She could tell from his innocent look that he was telling the truth and gave him the long thin slice of apple cake that he had acquired a taste for. She even left her slice with him for a snack later one to keep his stamina up in the outdoor work. When she took up the trash and left him with a kiss on the cheek, she made certain her hips were swaying enough for the other men to see she had some nice equipment under her tight casino skirt.

At the end of the week, the entertainment supervisor called her into her office and asked her if she would be interested in working on a "special project" with double pay for the hours spent.

Mrs. Goldwater was very formal in how she selected her words and Amy felt like she was back in division headquarters being inspected by an IG for errors and mistakes. She almost saluted when she left the office after agreeing to be available on Saturday night and Sunday night for duty assisting the several busloads of guests attending the Championship Bull Riding Contest in the Las Vegas Arena. It sounded like a lot of fun and Diego would be down in Boulder visiting some of his extended family from south of the border. She had planned to go with him but the opportunity to make a whole week's pay on a weekend was too tempting.