Trip to Tahoe(Martin Green) Trip to Tahoe (Approx. 1,400 wds.)


Danny was having a sandwich in the casino coffee shop when a girl came over to his table and asked if she could join him. The shop was crowded but Danny could see a few empty tables. The girl was somewhere in her twenties, attractive despite her heavy make-up and tangled hair, wearing a tight blouse and short skirt. “Sure,” said Danny. “Sit down.”

After taking a bite of her hamburger, she told him her name was Zelda White. “I was at the roulette table when you were winning all those chips,” she said. Danny nodded. He’d thought she looked familiar. “You’re lucky tonight,” she said.

“It doesn’t happen very often.” He’d been betting on his age, 28, his younger brother’s age, 25, and his sister’s age, 21. For once, the numbers kept coming up and in an hour’s playing he’d won about $200.

“Are you here by yourself?” she asked him.

“Yes.”

“And you drove up from San Francisco?”

“That’s right.”

“To get away from something.”

“Right again.”

“I’m psychic, you know. I could feel you had something heavy on your mind.”

“I do have something on my mind.” He’d driven to Tahoe that afternoon on an impulse, feeling that he had to get away. He still wasn’t sure how he’d come to have an affair with Ruth, married to, if not a friend, someone he knew. Maybe he’d felt that was the thing to do in San Francisco, where, in those days, everything seemed to go. But now he had to decide what to do about it.

After he’d arrived at Tahoe and checked into a motel, he’d walked down to the still incredibly blue lake. He’d thought that the lake’s calming influence would enable him to carefully and rationally analyze his situation. But, although the lake did its part by being still and peaceful, his mind insisted on remaining in its familiar turmoil, all kinds of thoughts swirling around as if in a storm. Finally, he’d given up and gone to the casinos.

“I have a good feeling about you,” said Zelda. “I think that if you trust your instincts you’ll find the right thing to do.”

“That would be nice. But my instincts don’t seem to be doing me much good lately.”

“They were doing okay at the roulette table. Mine weren’t, I’m sorry to say.”

“Oh. What about your psychic powers?”

“They’re not always attuned to the flow. Like tonight. I’m afraid I lost all my money.”

“Yeah, well, I suppose being psychic can be a tricky business.”

“Do you think you can let me have, say, twenty dollars?”

So that’s what all this had been leading up to, a simple touch. “That’s not a lot to gamble with,” he said.

“If my feeling comes back that’s all I’ll need.”

“Well, okay.” He gave her the money. She thanked him and stood up. “Are you going to be playing any more?”

“Yes, in a while.”

“Then I’ll see you later.”

Danny was sure he wouldn’t see her or his twenty dollars again. He didn’t know why he’d given her the money. But people get a little crazy when they’re gambling. And she was really attractive.

After a while he went over to one of the craps tables. Maybe Zelda was right about trusting his instincts because he won more than he lost. While he played, he was struck as always by the contrast between the casinos and the world outside. The clear blue lake, the mountains, the pines might as well not even have existed. Inside, the man-made lights glared down 24 hours a day. The smell of greed mingled with that of fear, with a whiff of sex thrown in for good measure as the casino girls in their abbreviated costumes served drinks while the dealers exhorted you to bet and the constant ringing of the slot machines made you feel that people, other people, were drowning in a cascade of money.

As it grew late the casino became even more crowded. The air was smoky and stale. He felt woozy with the drinks the casino girls had brought him. People pressed against the table and against each other. They looked like pigs rooting in a sty. The croupiers, raking in chips with their long sticks, looked wolfish. When people started to look like animals, Danny knew, it was time to leave.

He was on his way out when Zelda White appeared. “Are you going?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ve had it. How’d you do? Did you get attuned?”

“For a while, then I became unattuned again.” She smiled ruefully. “Do you have a car?”

“No, I took the motel minivan.”

“My car is in the parking lot. Let me drive you back.”

“You don’t have to.”

“No, it’s the least I can do.”

When they reached the motel, she said, “It’s a beautiful night.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed.

“Let’s walk down to the lake.”

A full moon shone down on the water. Waves lapped up on the beach. She put her hand to his face and kissed him. The lust which had been accumulating in the casino, like water pouring into a bottle, swept over him and he returned her kiss while his hands felt for her breasts. At the same time, he was thinking, “What are you doing. You don’t know this girl and she’s probably crazy.” Then he was lying on top of her in the sand.

After that, things became confused. He thought he remembered them going into the lake. Could that be? The water would have been freezing. Then it seemed to him that he was suspended over the moonlit lake, looking down at the world below and seeing everything clearly, able to understand everything that had baffled him. And then suddenly he was falling.

He knew he was dreaming. In his dream he saw the house clearly. It was painted white with a brick front. The front door and the shutters were blue. He was coming home from work and he parked his car in the driveway. He went into the kitchen and saw a woman, slender with brown hair. He couldn’t make out her face. She was setting the table. He knew that this woman was his wife. He also knew that his little girl was in the back yard playing. In an instant, she would come running in to put her arms around his neck.

When Danny woke up, he was in his bed in the motel. He remembered the dream. Then he remembered the strange girl from the casino, Zelda something, and he felt next to him in the bed. The girl wasn’t there. Neither, he was sure, would his wallet and his money be there. But he found his pants and his wallet was in the back pocket stuffed with the cash he’d won.

Zelda came out of the bathroom. “Good morning,” she said. “I used your shower. I have to be going.” She was dressed and, without make-up, looked younger and much prettier. She hesitated by the door. “I know you won’t believe this,” she said, “but be careful today. I have a feeling of danger.” Before he could say anything, she was gone.

Danny checked out of the motel at noon and started the drive back. He kept seeing the white house with the blue door and shutters he’d dreamt about. So he was going to be married and have a little girl and live in that house. It seemed unlikely. Still, it was strange how clearly he could remember that dream.

In the mountains he found himself behind a slow-moving car. The driver was an old man with white hair. Danny could see him sitting bolt upright in the driver’s seat. On the narrow twisting road it was impossible to pass him. Finally, they came to a straight stretch. Danny swung out and accelerated, then, remembering Zelda’s warning, he braked and pulled back. In that moment, a truck loomed up, speeding the other way. Danny could feel the wind as the truck rushed past. If he’d tried to pass . . .

Danny drove for another 15 minutes until he found a place he could pull off the road. He took a deep breath and looked out at the tall pines around him. A squirrel came out from behind a shrub, seemed to stare directly at him, then raced away. He could hear birds chirping in the trees. After a while, his heart stopped racing and he felt calm. He heard Zelda’s voice saying, “Trust your instincts.” Okay, he’d break off the affair with Ruth. He stayed there for a bit longer. Then he pulled out onto the road and drove slowly and carefully back to San Francisco and to whatever future awaited him there.

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