About the Author: RE Carroll has written short stories for The Alarmist literary magazine and had non-fiction articles on comedy and film published in Kamera, Senses of Cinema, Wallflower Press, Chortle, LondonIsFunny, British Comedy Guide as well as others. He also maintains a popular movie blog www.bcmoviediary.com.
I thank you for coming up on the first tap. Some people, they put up a fuss, ruin the action for everyone else. You, you took the tap, it was done nice, felt the polite intrusion of two strong fingers on your shoulder, turned and saw my big guy in the blazer, you shrugged, collected your chips, followed the floorman. Not a peep, not a disgruntlement. Were you expecting it, I wonder? Don’t answer that. You don’t want to be saying anything out loud to me just yet. Let me talk. Let me speak my piece. Yet that calm, silent way in which you responded. Smooth as the inside of your arm. Hot dog skin smooth. Maybe you’ve done this all before? Took the casino for a ride around the suburbs. But I don’t reckon so. You just calculated at some point we would figure out what you are about. Done the math. Formulated the odds on that white yet infinite dry wipe board you must have for a puzzler. It was inevitable the tap was coming. We both knew it. We were both ready.