Posting some of these chunks feels a little weird, because part of the process of developing and writing a novel is exploring. That means you are at times writing things that you know are just going to be character development that gets dropped, or changed around, or sometimes simply isn't that great. But it is all part of the process. And I did have more fun writing today than I thought I would at first. Discovering a character's personality is something that happens to some degree as you write them.
On the surface Alexandra DiBetta. looked as calm as always. Only the litter of discarded Jaeger shots and the forgotten, sweating Bud Light bottle in her left hand belied the turmoil within. Typically a low level grinder like her would not do well running a tab at the Casbar, a nook dropped below the main Casbah nightclub at The Taj, but she fucked the bartender on occasion so it wasn’t much of an issue.
Her thoughts were fixed on that one hand. That fold. She’d dumped quads. Quads! No matter how she looked at the hand she couldn’t think of any time that made sense. Sure, that guy had some sort of menace about him that she recognized was best avoided. And all of her danger signals started blaring as soon as he’d shoved on the river. It was either a huge, crazy bluff, or he had her beat.
He must have had her beat.
But the odds were astronomically against it. You just can’t fold in that spot she told herself. And so the inner conversation had gone for the last two hours, slowly getting more angry as the booze took hold. If Bartender Bill took her home tonight he was going to look the worse for wear tomorrow. When Alex got like this her lovers became scratching posts and punching bags as much as they became pleasures.
Or maybe tonight she would scratch an itch that she’d held at bay for almost a year now. Wander the desolate streets of late night Atlantic City, away from the boardwalk. Troll by the bus station and watch the unending stream of tour buses with church folk and sinners alike drawn by the casinos cheap deals and free play promos. That area of town looked like an abandoned sound stage for THE WIRE and carried the same requisite dangers.
She couldn’t go there too often, she stood out too much, but when the need arose, she could satisfy it with few questions out there, and feel vindicated that whatever she meted out to one foolish enough to pick her as a victim was well deserved. Yes. She ran her thumb along the cool edge of her straight razor, Lady. Smooth black handle adorned with a 50’s style pin-up, this was her Enola Gay.
Tonight she would definitely let it feed.
“Hey Alex, you coming over tonight.”
She looked up at Bill, eyes blurry. He was broad, golden, good looking and dumb enough to come with few complications. She liked how he fucked her, and she liked that he wasn’t jealous, or clingy, or stupid in the way that so many smarter men were when it came to women.
“Nevermind,” he said. “I need the sleep anyway. The last time you came over with that look in your eye I thought I was gonna have to go to the ER afterwards.” Bill laughed and let her be. He knew when he wasn’t wanted and didn’t take it personally. It was a rare and cherished quality.
“Nice fold earlier.”
Alex felt her senses light up as much at the voice behind her as the unwelcome hand on her shoulder. In her mind she had already swung an outside arc from the contact, landing lightly on her feet, trapping the man’s arm against his body as Lady slipped quietly across his cheek, opening it to the bone. Not enough to kill, but it would leave a Joker worthy scar that would remind him to mind his manners with a woman. But for now, she maintained control.
“I don’t like to be touched.”
“Of course you don’t.”
Without invitation he slid onto the bar stool next to her, though she noted he did remove his hand from her.
“Looks like you know how to drink.”
“Look like you know how to state the obvious,” she responded.
A slight grin broke his face.
“I wonder if you would join me in my suite? I have a proposition for you.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
“Well, I know you aren’t worried about me getting out of line because you’d happily cut me down with that little silver friend you’re fingering right now. And I’ll tell you what my hand was so you can stop wondering if you made correct fold.”
Alex regarded him for a moment before finishing her last shot and beer.
“Lead the way.”
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