It’s been about two years since Allan retired and left Amy to run Taipan. He had said he’d been looking forward to stepping back from the daily stresses. 

Now that there’s some water under the bridge, I thought I’d catch up and see how he’s been faring. 

Jess: Hey, Al! Long time no see. What’d you get up to on your first day of freedom? 

Al: I can’t remember, Jess. All I know is I was bored about five minutes after I left the office. I found a temporary solution, though. 

Jess: Oh, okay. What’d you do? 

Al: I started playing the pokies. It was great at first, but you know the old saying: you win some, you lose more. I gradually used up all my spare cash. Or I had, until last week! 

Jess: …What happened last week? 

Al: I found two dollars on the ground outside the Caboolture Sports Club. I immediately walked across the road to the Newsagent and bought a scratchie. I won $25 dollars, Jess, $25 dollars! I couldn’t believe it. The money wasn’t mine, so I had nothing to lose. I walked back across the road and headed to the pokie room. I fed the entire $25 dollars through the slot of the Bull Rush machine. On the second spin, I fluked the six-coin feature. Two minutes later, I had only one square to fill with three free spins remaining. 

You wouldn’t believe it. The square lit up and filled with a coin. I had never seen a jackpot anywhere near what I was staring at… $43,478.00. 

Jess: Oh my gosh, you’re joking! I hope you didn’t put any of it back into the machines? 

Al: Hell no! I hailed a taxi and headed for Brisbane City – the Star Casino. I walked directly to the first Blackjack table. I leaned between two players and slapped the cash on the green felt. “Give me all of it in $5 thousand dollar chips please, dealer,” I said. 

I perused every player individually. At the far end sat a little old lady. While the others were loud and obnoxious, she was quiet, measured, and had a large stack of chips arranged neatly in front of her. I walked the circumference of the curved table and asked, “Is it okay if I play behind you?” 

“By all means,” she replied.  

“All or nothing,” I said as I placed every chip on the table behind her bet.  

The dealer slid the cards from the card box. An ace! It was my day, alright, Jess. 

The other players got their cards, then the dealer flipped her card onto the table… Queen of Spades. 

It felt like a lifetime before she dealt the second card. Picture, picture, picture, I repeated inside my head. The card flipped. It was a seven.  

My heart sank. My day was over. I stood up to leave. 

“Dealer has seventeen,” she boomed. Our ace and a seven equaled eighteen. I had won, hahahaha! The payout was exactly $86,956. 

Jess: That’s incredible, Al! And then naturally, you did the responsible, sane thing and went home to bank the money, right? 

Al: …Not exactly, Jess. I gave a hundred-dollar chip to a guy who was insistent on chanting a third round of for he’s a jolly good fellow and asked him to help me carry the chips to the roulette table. 

Jess: You’re joking.  

Al: Nope! 

“What number pays the highest odds?” I asked. 

“’0,’” came the reply.  

All on 0. 

I passed across the chips. I could’ve stuffed the entire winnings in the mouth of the guy I’d paid to carry the other half. “You’re kidding, right mate?” 

“Nah,” I said. “This is my day!” 

People stopped to watch. There was a call from the croupier and management appeared. A nod came from the young, sophisticated lady in a dress shirt and trousers. 

“Last call,” declared the croupier.  

The ball spun… 0 is a winner! 

People screamed. I screamed. The croupier spoke. “House pays twenty-three to one.” 

Do you know how much 23 times $86,956 is, Jess? 

Jess: You’re not for real? 

Al: It’s one million, nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and eighty-eight dollars, Jess. 

Jess: You’ll never have to work again! Talk about retired. You can do anything you want! 

Al: I’m glad we finally got to this. As I said at the beginning of this chat, I was bored five minutes after I left the office. Who do you think would benefit most from this money? 

Jess: I’m not sure what you mean, Al? 

Al: There’s got to be something Taipan’s customers would benefit from. 

Jess: You won almost two million dollars, and you’re thinking about Taipan customers? Oh, I get it. You’re pulling my leg. I can’t believe I fell for it. You’re so full of hot air! 

Al: That’s it, Jess: air! 

Jess: Our customers would benefit from air? I’m lost, Al. What are you on about? 

Al: No, not air itself. We supply hydraulic fittings, right? 

Jess: Yeah, of course. 

Al: Well, how ‘bout we expand into pneumatic fittings? Air fittings! 

Jess: Umm, okay. I guess we could run it past the Management team, see what their thoughts are. 

Al: Too late, Jess. I spent all the winnings on pneumatic fittings. Now, can you come with me while I tell Amy what I’ve done? I need backup. 

Jess: You’re on your own there, Al. 

They’re coming… true story!