Weirdo With the Black Box, Black Box, Black Box, Weirdo With the Black Box Drawn

No trip to the casino is ever complete without a weirdo encounter. At least for Val.

Sunday, I had just settled myself down at a Dancing Drums slot in the back of the casino. It wasn't an isolated area. Still by a main walkway. There were three of the Dancing Drums, arranged in a circle. It's hard to find them open, and I snagged one and started playing. I sensed a woman on my right getting up from her slot, but since I'd just started, I didn't consider switching to it. Within seconds, a man sat down there.

Again, I wasn't paying attention to anything other than my machine. I just noticed the action because I don't have tunnel vision, and I've spent a career making myself aware of what's happening on the periphery. I noted that it was a man, dressed in black shirt and black pants, fairly tall, with a beard. All this without looking directly at him.

"Did you get your bracelet?"

Huh? What? Was this guy talking to ME? He seemed to be facing my way. I glanced up.

"What?"

Val is not one to beg someone's pardon. DarkMan should have been begging MY forgiveness for distracting me from losing.

"Did you go through the line back there to get a bracelet?"

What in the Not-Heaven? A bracelet? Like for free food and drink at a PRIVATE PARTY? That's what came to my mind first. A shiny foil-paper bracelet snapped onto your wrist for entrance to a special event. Like we get at one of the Oklahoma casinos during CasinoPalooza.

"No..."

I looked at DarkMan. Breaking my cardinal rule of DO NOT ENGAGE with weirdos. DarkMan held out a black, velvet/velour box the size of a sandwich. One that snaps open, like a ring box. Only way bigger. It had gold piping along the edges that came together. He stopped short of opening the fancy box.

"I don't think I was supposed to get one."

I shook my head, and gave a half-smile. Just to be polite. And then went back to ignoring DarkMan. He pulled the box back, and started playing his Dancing Drums.

WHAT IN THE NOT-HEAVEN???

I'm pretty sure I would remember an offer for a free bracelet, unless somebody stole it out of my mailbox. I'm also pretty sure that people with player's cards at a higher level than mine and Hick's get better offers that we'll never hear about.

Then again, what IF...

What if there was no offer of a free bracelet, and DarkMan was some kind of perv? I didn't see anyone else in the casino carrying one of those draped-in-velvet boxes. And believe me, I would have. For cryin' out loud, people don't even take their free gift of giant American Tourister wheeled suitcases out to the car. So I'm sure there would have been plenty of players carrying around this free bracelet for me to see. It's not like it would fit in a pocket, nor likely that a lady could fit both hers and her husband's free bracelet into one purse. Unless it was a really big purse. And nobody I know carries a giant purse into a casino. Just a small, over-the-shoulder gambling purse is the norm, if you take one at all.

Why was DarkMan chatting me up? Am I Everywoman, an archetype people trust and want to befriend? Do I look like I am eager to talk to complete strangers? NOT-HEAVEN, NO! I don't even take my eyes off my slot machine. I swear, DarkMan's rump barely had time to warm the chair before he quizzed me. Do I look like a jewelry appraiser? I don't even wear jewelry!

Upon later rumination...what if DarkMan just brought that draped-in-velvet box to the casino to get a woman's attention? I know that I may appear free for the taking, what with not wearing my wedding ring. (I don't like jewelry, remember?) What if there was indeed no giveaway? If he was simply using that "free bracelet" in a box that he never opened, but dangled five feet away from my nose, to lure women? And if so, why would he use it for bait with a cantankerous old Val like me?

There's just no accounting for some people's tastes, I guess.