Bad Luck at the Casino

The casino's garish surroundings and overzealous patrons were beginning to give Faye Valentine a raging headache. A headache sprinkled with feelings of jealousy over the fact that everyone around her was having a magnificent old time raking in their winnings. She'd been haunting the slots, blackjack table, and roulette wheel for hours trying her luck, but there was nothing for her to cheer about. She cursed to herself for forgetting to bring her "tricks of the trade" along, but then realized that everyone would catch on to her cheating in a matter of seconds. The Eyes in the Sky and the goons on the ground were much too dominant these days and watched over their casino with a feverish dedication. Time to call it a night. She figured her meager winnings could afford a couple of drinks at the bar and maybe a new outfit, but that was it until the next bounty head.

Faye ambled over to the casino's bar, but stopped just outside of its entrance. She knew her drinking was becoming more frequent and heavier than she was used to, but drowning her sorrows in a bottle was simply her way of coping. Booze helped her cope with Spike's death and the void it left in her heart. The void she thought would never heal after her emergence from half a century of cryogenic sleep-- no recollection of her past. She reminisced for a moment, outside the bar, about the day her memories finally returned. Sadly, nothing worthwhile came from them.

That void did start to heal, but it was gradual. Faye realized that she had finally found her place in this world and it was on board the Bebop, living the life of a bounty hunter, with this peculiar collection of individuals. She even grew to think of them as family: the father-figure, the brotherly lunkhead, the kid and even the dog. Everyone she held dear in the past were gone. Now, she had stability and something akin to a family. She was happy.

Then came that dark day, five months ago, when she once again experienced loss. The new family , her family, was shattered forever. The mended void returned to its hollowed and abysmal state the minute Spike walked out that door. She should have shot him when she had the chance.

Nothing could have stopped him from going that night--not even multiple gunshot wounds. That's why my bullets are in the ceiling…

Faye was jolted out of her thoughts when a drunk patron stumbled into her as he exited the bar.

"Oh, excuse me, ma'am!" he slurred heavily while leering at Faye from head to toe.
"Mmmm, care for some company, gorgeous?" he then inquired with a smarmy grin on his face.

Revolt oozing from every pore, she would have pistol-whipped him silly had it not been for the wave of weariness and gloom washing over her.

He took the hint when he glanced at her face and wobbled away, preparing to sink his claws into another attractive young woman nearby.

Faye had enough of the casino atmosphere for tonight.

She would skip the bar and go home to bed. Besides, sleep was looking much better to her than booze at this moment. She fumbled around in her red jacket for a lighter as she brought a fresh cigarette to her lips.