The sights and sounds of Las Vegas, the flashing lights, all the bells and whistles. The wide-eyed wonder, the deafening roar of flooding quarters. The erotic dancers, the pit bosses and the card sharks. Giovanni breathed it all in.

He had a bucket full of quarters and a dream. And he nearly ran over a couple of nuns in his mad dash to fortune.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

Thwong.

The three columns spiraled into a blur, turning over and over eventually revealing a gold bar, a seven and a queen. Over and over again, he jammed quarters into the machine, each time earning nothing.

“Hey, Gio,” Brian said. “Why don’t you save your money for the buffet? This is pathetic.”

“It’s gonna hit. Trust me.”

He pulled the handle again. An arrangement of lemons, sevens, cherries and the like pulsed quickly across the screen. He felt it before it happened. The universe was aligning itself right before his eyes.

“Lost again, sucker,” Brian said prematurely. “Let’s hit up the buffet, bitch.”

“Jackpot!” Giovanni screamed.