Chapter 132: One Armed Bandits
Jake, Marie, Nick, and Judy go watch a show at the Palms Hotel in Sahara Square
Thump…thump…thump…ping! The machine made the telltale sounds of an old-fashioned slot machine and this distinctive noise was followed by the soft swearing from the raccoon in the expensive-looking dark gray business suit. Carefully the lean raccoon gently pulled the suit jacket back over his left shoulder and the black sling that was supporting his arm in a white plaster cast. There was the clinking of yet another couple of quarters being fed into the machine's slots again and then the sound of the leaver being pulled down. Thump...thump…thump…ping…" Dammit!"
The casino at the world's famous Palms Hotel in Sahara Square was as luxurious as all the other parts of the world-renowned five-star establishment. The richly polished brown mahogany floors were lined with plush multi-colored red and blue carpets, there were plenty of gambling tables with their green velvety tops, a long marble-topped bar with fancy scroll ornamentation of intertwined flowing lines in the woodwork on the walls behind it that beckoned the luxuriant palaces of ancient faraway desert kingdoms. But the raccoon named Jake Runnel was not partaking in any of the card games or even the excitement at one of the ever-popular Roulette tables with its spinning wheel, but instead, he was just playing the restored vintage slot machines while he bided his time.
"Runnel, that machine ain't paid out for a long time," a thin weasel in a cheap black silk-looking nylon shirt and white pants commented before he slipped a few coins into the nearby slot machine. "It's a loser, like you!"
"I can't believe that they have already let you out of jail?" Jake replied with a good-natured grin while he watched the weasel pull the machine's lever. "Weaselton, they should have sent you upriver by now!"
"They ain't gonna send me to the state slammer for a purse snatching," Duke scoffed. "The judge tossed me in the city's graybar hotel for a few weeks while I did some community service and then he slapped me with a fine and more probationary time."
"Well, if it isn't old Duke Whiningbag?" a voice laughed and a lean fox in a blue suit walked up behind them. "Back out on the streets already?"
"It's Weasleton!" Duke snapped. "You should know my name by now Wilde, after all the times you've arrested me. Are you here officially harassing an innocent citizen or just bothering the raccoon?"
"Just bothering the raccoon," the fox quickly answered in a somewhat snarky manner while he gave the smaller animal one of his usual smirks. "It seems that I have caught a one-armed bandit playing a one-armed bandit."
"Har…har…not funny fox!" Jake groaned. "Besides I was never a bandit, I was only a burglar. Well, actually let me rephrase that, I was an alleged burglar, for I was innocent."
"Innocent?" Weaselton laughed before he pulled his machine's lever yet again and frowned when three lemons appeared. "You were busted with your paws on someone else's safe."
"I was set up and I did not have my paws on a safe," the raccoon objected while he fed yet another couple coins into the machine in front of him. "I was hiding behind the safe and would have gotten away if it hadn't been for Officer Wolford's damn nose."
"Sure Runnel!" the weasel snorted before he dropped more coins into the slots in front of him.
"Come on Jake!" Nick said before he softly grabbed Jake's good shoulder and tried to guide the raccoon away from the slot machine. "We don't want to miss the casino's big show. I know how you love the velvety pipes of Jerry Vole and our wives are waiting for us."
"Jerry Vole is the greatest crooner ever born!" Jake replied, forgetting to pull the lever on the slot machine behind him. "He is the legendary Chairman of the Board, the Sultan of Swoon, the…"
"You've been hanging around Mister Big way too much," the fox interrupted his friend with a chuckle.
"I like Jerry Vole," Duke interjected. "I once saw his show in Paws Vegas, I got free tickets."
"That figures," Nick scoffed in reply. "You probably swiped them from someone."
"Weaselton, don't listen to him about music! His mom once told me that as a kit, Nick liked that rapper Vanilla Mice. She said that he used to run around in a pair of baggy pants with a macaroni necklace painted gold around his neck while trying to breakdance to hip hop," the raccoon laughed even while he reached for the lever, but he had hesitated again when he turned to speak to the weasel. "You know Vanilla Mice sang that one hit that went..Ice...Ice...Ice, mice!"
"I had to be only six or seven..." Nick snapped, but the weasel had joined in with the raccoon's singing and Jake's current attempt to once again pull down the slot machine lever came to a sudden halt when a line of barely dressed ocelot showgirls, in their tight blood red sequenced outfits and headdresses of long colorful feathered plumes, gathered around the two rapping animals and the spotted cats began dancing to the song.
"So Sugar, what is taking y'all so long?" a familiar voice drawled out from behind them, causing both Nick and Jake to be startled at being caught in the middle of the pretty dancers by Marie and Judy.
"We are right behind you!" Jake quickly called back as he rushed after his wife.
The weasel watched while the raccoon and fox dutifully followed their wives toward the exit. "I sure am glad I'm not currently married," he chuckled to himself. Then he noticed that the raccoon had not pulled down the handle of the slot machine he had been playing and so Duke walked over and gave it a tug. Thump...thump...thump...then a bell began ringing.
"So did you hear the news about Duke Weaselton?" Nick asked Jake while the two friends sat in the raccoon's kitchen. The fox picked up and sipped from his glass of iced tea.,
"No, what was he caught doing this time?" Jake sighed as he shook his head. "That weasel is always in trouble."
"Actually it was good news for once."
"What? Please tell me that he is moving out of town!"
"Nope, I heard from a pal at the casino that he won big last night on one of the slot machines."
"Good for him. I never have any luck on those things."