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“No. Spin for the lady. I'll watch this one.”
She looked at him, puzzled. “Joh
He shrugged. “Just a feeling.”
The pitchman rolled his eyes in a heaven-give-me-strength-to-bear-these fools gesture and set his Wheel going again. It spun, slowed, and stopped. On double zero. “House numbah, house numbah,” the pitchman chanted, and Sarah's quarter disappeared into his apron.
“Is that fair, Joh
“Zero and double zero only pay the house,” he said.
“Then you were smart to take your money off the board.”
“I guess I was.”
“You want me to spin this Wheel or go for coffee?” the pitchman asked.
“Spin it,” Joh
As the Wheel buzzed around in its cage of lights, Sarah asked Joh
The teenagers had been joined by a quartet of older people, two men and two women. A man with the build of a construction worker said, “Anywheres from five to seven hundred dollars.”
The pitchman rolled his eyes again. “Oh, man, I wish you was right,” he said.
“Hey, don't give me that poor mouth,” the man who looked like a construction worker said. “I used to work this scam twenty years ago. Five to seven hundred a night, two grand on a Saturday, easy. And that's ru
Joh
“Too much legs, man,” one of the teenagers said.
“Wait,” Joh
The pointer stopped on 30 and came to rest.
“Hot stick, hot stick,” the pitchman chanted resignedly as the little crowd behind Joh
“Enough?” Sarah asked.
“One more,” Joh
“Hey-hey-hey,” the pitchman chanted. He was brightening up now, getting his rhythm back. “Get it down where you want it down. Step right up, you other folks. This ain't no spectator sport. Round and round she's go
The man who looked like a construction worker and the two teenagers stepped up beside Joh
“What about you, buddy?” the pitchman asked Joh
“Yes,” Joh
“Oh man,” one of the teenagers said, “that's tempting fate.”
“I guess,” Joh
Bernhardt gave Joh
“All the eggs in one basket,” the pitchman chanted. “That how you want it?”
The players stood silent and affirmative. A couple of roustabouts had drifted over to watch, one of them with a lady friend; there was now quite a respectable little knot of people in front of the Wheel of Fortune concession in the darkening arcade. The pitchman gave the Wheel a mighty spin. Twelve pairs of eyes watched it revolve. Sarah found herself looking at Joh
“Little more, baby,” Steve Bernhardt cajoled it. “Little more, honey.”
The Wheel ticked into the third trip and came to a stop on 24. A cheer went up from the crowd again.
“Joh
The pitchman whistled through his teeth in disgust and paid off. A dollar for the teenagers, two for Bernhardt, a ten and two ones for Joh
“Hot stick, hot stick, hey-hey-hey. One more, buddy? This Wheel's your friend tonight.”
Joh
Up to you, Joh
“Go on, man,” the teenager with the Jimi Hendrix button urged. “I love to see this guy get a beatin.”
“Okay,” Joh
“Get it down where you want it down.”
They all looked at Joh
“As is,” he said finally.
A little speculative murmur from the crowd.
“Oh, man, that is really tempting it.”
“He's hot,” Bernhardt said doubtfully. He glanced back at his wife, who shrugged to show her complete mystification. “I'll tag along with you, long, tall, and ugly.”
The teenager with the button glanced at his friend, who shrugged and nodded. “Okay,” he said, turning back to the pitchman. “We'll stick, too.”
The Wheel spun. Behind them Sarah heard one of the roustabouts bet the other five dollars against the third trip coming up again. Her stomach did another forward roll but this time it didn't stop; it just went on somersaulting over and over and she became aware that she was getting sick. Cold sweat stood out on her face.
The Wheel began to slow in the first trip, and one of the teenagers flapped his hands in disgust. But he didn't move away. It ticked past 11, 12, 13. The pitchman looked happy at last. Tick-tock-tick, 14, 15, 16.
“It's going through,” Bernhardt said. There was awe in his voice. The pitchman looked at his Wheel as if he wished he could just reach out and stop it. It clicked past
20, 21, and settled to a stop in the slot marked 22.
There was another shout of triumph from the crowd, which had now grown almost to twenty. All the people left at the fair were gathered here, it seemed. Faintly, Sarah heard the roustabouts who had lost his bet grumble something about “Shitass luck,” as he paid off. Her head thumped. Her legs felt suddenly, horribly unsteady, the muscles trembling and untrustworthy. She blinked her eyes rapidly several times and got only a nauseating instant of vertigo for her pains. The world seemed to tilt up at a skewed angle, as if they were still on the Whip, and then slowly settle back down.
I got a bad hot dog, she thought dismally. That's what you get for trying your luck at the county fair, Sarah.
“Hey-hey-hey,” the pitchman said without much enthusiasm, and paid off. Two dollars for the teenagers, four for Steve Bernhardt, and then a bundle for Joh