When gambling, it is a deadly sin to mistake bad play with bad luck. Gambling is what I do for a living, some say I have a globally adopted personality. I have never worked in all my life. I know the question you have, “What do I do for a living and who am I?”

I will start by introducing myself. My name is Fortune Baldacc, I am a gambler. I don’t know any other thing besides gambling. I am in my late forties, all I have managed to grow is a gentle sense of myself.

Right now I’m in a casino, playing black jack. I have already won thirty thousand, yet here am I continuing to play. I am sure you are asking yourselves, why don’t I just leave?

Well as Cara Bertoia would say, “It’s hard to walk away from a winning streak, even harder to leave the when you’re on a losing
one.”

Let me check the clock, it’s already 23:00. The other players have nothing to bet with anymore, I just leave with my thirty thousand. On the road I am just delighted, I know my wife will be happy.

I didn’t tell you, I have a wife. She thinks that I am a businessman. I guess now you know, I am untrustworthy. Yes, I am, actually all gamblers are like that. They are sweet talkers. They would do anything just to get what they want.

After a 30 minute drive, I arrive home. My wife is not asleep yet, I give her a big kiss and hug her tightly.

“You are still awake, Christiane?” I ask my beautiful wife of so many years.

“How could I sleep, knowing that my husband is out there on business, making money for us,” she replies
with a beautiful smile.

Christiane is a teacher; her eyes are big. Her hair is like golden sand. I married her four years back. I needed stability, we have a lovely home with no kids yet.

I open the briefcase, loaded with 30 thousand. Her eyes widen and she hugs me tightly again.

“Oh how did you… Who gave you the money? Did you get a good deal?” Christiane asks, looking at the money with her glamorous eyes.

“Curiosity killed the cat, what you don’t know doesn’t kill you. No more questions, let’s go to sleep. Tomorrow I’ll bring more money,” I say holding her hands tightly.

We are in our bedroom, I try to sleep but I can’t. I am thinking of taking the money I won today and betting with it tomorrow. Surely the gods are in my favour, maybe tomorrow I can make fifty thousand or even a hundred.

I don’t remember when I slept, but it’s already 5am. I wake up, brush my teeth and take a bath. I don’t even have breakfast, I take my briefcase.

My wife is still sleeping, I kiss her on the forehead and tell her goodbye.

I take a cab to the casino, when I arrive the poker table is full of people playing. I just tell myself I’m here to make money, I bet with the thirty thousand.

Triumph nurtures me, I won. I have sixty thousand now. I take a big risk and bet with it all. Suddenly my world starts spinning, I just lost all my money. I thought the gods are in my favour. I take my house keys and put them on the table, well I have no money to bet with.

“Damn,” I murmur to myself.

I just lost my house. I am now trying to think
what can I bet with, well I still have my car keys. I put them on the table, with the hope that I’ll win.

Surely my luck has run out, I lose my car. I have nothing else to bet with. I leave the table. I have many thoughts in my head. What will I tell my wife, how am I going to explain how I lost our house?

I walk home. When I arrive the people whom I played with are already there. They are throwing my wife outside.

“What’s going on Fortune? Why are they taking our house?” says Christiane while she looks straight in my eyes.

“I can explain,” I say.

“Make it quick, what are you up to?”

“I know you think that I am a businessman, yet you have never arrived at my working place. I am a gambler, I don’t
have any business. I just bet with our house and car, I lost. I am really sor…”

I don’t even finish what I am saying when Christiane gives me a big punch in my stomach. She is crying, telling me how I made her a fool all these years. I don’t even calm her down, I know I messed up.

“I want a divorce; I am leaving you,” says Christiane while she takes her bags.

She stops a cab and leaves me standing there, speechless.

***

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