Bad Luck
by Tad Golden



Greg Mason came from a rich family, but was a mess-up. Four years ago he had
bought a comic book store and it was doing poor business. His parents are
making him return to college or he's getting cut off. He went to his favorite
diner, driving his prized 2012 Maserati GranTurismo S Automatic, colored
black. Greg was on his way to meet his friend, Cliff. When he got there they
talked about the comic book shop, Fantastic Comics, which Greg owned and how
it was struggling and he felt conflicted about returning to college.

At a nearby table they noticed a local woman pro wrestler, Ruby Blaze.She was
having money problems as she wasn't making enough to makeends meet. Wrestling
was her only job and she hated the thought of taking a second job.Her 1990
Mazda kept breaking down. Greg stared at her. She was a big girl, very tough,
andat that point had a record of 96-0 in wrestling. She was the All Class
Wrestling Women's Champion."Hey Cliff, remember when I wrestled?" Greg asked.
They both smiled."Yeah Greg, you left the sport at 118-0 and surrendered your
Rhode Island Wrestling Championship.""Maybe I should return to the ring," Greg
said. "I've only been away two years."

"You should totally do it," Cliff said. "It'll be awesome.""You see that girl
over there?" asked Greg."Oh yeah, I know who she is," Cliff said."She's beaten
men before," Greg said. "She defeated Tom Hart four times, beat Simon Wells
six times,beat Tornado Man in eight seconds, and in a two out of three falls
match she beat Ralph Scott in twostraight falls.""Oh wow," Cliff
responded."Boy, they must've been embarrassed," Greg said."Why do you say
that? She's a good wrestler," Cliff told him.

"No woman would ever beat me," Greg said.Ruby stood up from her seat and went
over to the table Greg and Cliff were sitting at."So, you have a problem with
women winning? Beating men?" Ruby asked."I'm just saying that it would never
happen to me," Greg said."You seem to think there's something wrong with
successful women," Ruby pressed."It's just that it's so humiliating for the
guy," Greg said."Really? Is that so?" Ruby replied."Well, think about it,"
Greg added.

"What about joining me at my table?" Ruby asked. "Let's arm wrestle."Greg
smiled. "No thank you.""I bet you twenty bucks," Ruby replied.A server walked
over to them. "You're on," Greg said."Everything okay?" asked the
server."Yeah," Greg said and pulled out his credit card. "I'm cashing out. Put
her bill on here too. Put fifteen for the tip."Greg and Ruby walked back to
the table. "Thank you," Ruby said."I just wanted to show you that I'm not a
bad guy, I just put my foot in my mouth at times," Greg explained.

They sat down each put down a twenty dollar bill on the table. They joined
hands and looked at each other eye to eye.In five seconds Ruby slammed down
his hand. Ruby was smiling and collected the two twenty dollar bills."You lost
to a woman," Ruby said. "How does it feel?" An embarrassed Greg put forty
dollars on the table.They locked hands again. In six seconds this time Ruby
again slammed down his hand. Ruby held eighty dollarsin her hand. She was
really happy. Greg now put one hundred and sixty dollars onto the table. Cliff
was lookingnervous and got up. By the time he walked over, Ruby had defeated
Greg again. The server gave Greg back his credit card."Congratulations Ruby,"
Cliff said. "Both me and Greg are fans of yours. It's time to leave,
Greg."Instead he placed three hundred and twenty dollars on the table. Cliff
shook his head. Ruby smiled. In nine seconds shewon again. Ruby neatly put all
the money together. A humiliated Greg placed down six hundred and forty
dollars.This time she beat him in ten seconds. "Perhaps you should listen to
your friend and walk away," she said.

Instead Greg placed down one thousand two hundred and eighty dollars. Ruby
grinned. Cliff tried to reason with Greg.This time it ended in sixteen seconds
with Ruby winning again. She was very happy. Greg took out two thousand five
hundred and sixty dollars. Ruby won in twenty seconds. Greg was frustrated.
Cliff ordered a large milkshake and a large banana split.Now Greg places five
thousand one hundred and twenty dollars. In twenty-four seconds Ruby won
again. Greg took out his checkbook and madeit out for "10240." In twenty-eight
seconds Ruby won again. Greg wrote out a check for "20480 dollars." Ruby won
in thirty seconds.Greg angrily wrote out a check for "40960 bucks." In
thirty-one seconds, Ruby won again. Cliff approached him. "How much more do
you have in your account?""I have enough for the 81920 clams to cover this
bet. After that my account can't help me." As Greg wrote out the check, Cliff
was getting upset."Just stop this, Greg. You will have your bank account wiped
out after this." The check was placed down. "Are you sure about this?" Ruby
asked."I have to believe in myself," Greg said. In thirty-two seconds Ruby
defeated Greg again. Greg was shocked. "So, are we done now?" Ruby asked.

"There's my college fund," Greg said. "I will deposit 163840 into your account
if I lose again." Ruby agreed. Cliff called Greg an idiot.In thirty-six
seconds Ruby won again. Then it was 327680 dollars. Then it was 655360
dollars. "Okay, this is the last of my college fund," Greg said.Then 1,310,720
dollars was lost. "This credit card has a long line of credit. It will cover
the 2,621,440 dollar bet." She agreed and she won again.

"This will be the final arm wrestling match," Ruby said. "If I win again we'll
have to play poker." Greg thought about it. "Agreed."Now Greg lost 5,242,880
dollars. This was in the form of another credit card. "Time to dip into my
trust fund," Greg said.

They played poker and Greg immediately lost 10,485,760 dollars. The game
continued and Cliff started reading Moby Dick.Greg then lost 20,971,520
dollars. Then he lost 41,943,040 dollars. "Listen Greg, you can stop now if
you want," Ruby said. "I give you credit for

your stubborn nature and competitiveness."  "And I admire you for kicking my
ass for this long, but, I must get a win here."

Now 83,886,080 was lost by Greg. Next, 167,772,160 dollars. "Oh man, after
this, if I lose this hand, my college fund is gone," Greg said.  "We could
just walk away from this," Ruby suggested. "No, let's play," Greg said. Now
Greg lost 335,544,320 and another account. "All I have left is my trust
fund," Greg said. "Or we can just end this," Ruby said. "I can't," Greg
said. Then 671,088,640 dollars was lost. Another hand and it was
1,342,177,280 dollars lost. Then 2,684,354,560 dollars was lost. After Greg
lost 5,368,709,120 dollars, Ruby insists they play 304 instead. Greg lost
10,737,418,240 dollars. Then it was 21,474,836,480 dollars lost.  "This
will be the end of my trust fund," Greg said.  "Would you like to stop?"
asked Ruby. "No. Too late now." Now 42,949,672,960 dollars are gone. "Well
sorry Greg, but that's the end of it," Ruby said.

"Wait a moment, Ruby, I'll be right back."  After Greg returns he sits back
down. He puts down papers and keys. "My car, a 2012 Maserati GranTurismo S
Automatic for everything I've lost." "Fine but we play 3-2-5 now," Ruby
said. Greg lost his car. "I'm sorry, Greg, I don't know what else to say,"
Ruby told him. "I do have one final chance to make it right," Greg said.
"The deed to my store, Fantastic Comics." Ruby changed the game to 3-5-8.
Greg lost his comic shop. "I work out at the gym next door, let's wrestle,
Greg. If you win then you get everything back. But I win, I get your Rolex."
 "Deal," Greg accepted. They went to the gym, it was closed, but Ruby had a
key. She turned a hidden camera system on to record the match without Greg
knowing. Cliff was the referee. The match started. Ruby blasted Greg with
punches and hit him with a clothesline. Greg fell down. She body slammed him.
She elbow dropped him and then leg dropped him. She then power slammed Greg
and pinned him. Cliff counted "One.... two...." but Ruby lifted him up. Ruby
swung Greg into the ropes and drop kicked him. She pinned him, but picked him
up at two again. Ruby then lifted Greg up over her head and held him there
for a few seconds with ease. Ruby dropped Greg right onto the mat. Ruby pinned
Greg and got the three count. Now Greg was no longer undefeated. Cliff said
bye to Ruby and got her autograph and said he couldn't see Greg like this.
Greg rested up for a while.Ruby told him she had to lock up. They shook hands.
"I respect you, Ruby," Greg said. "I learned a lot from losing a lot." Ruby
smiled. "Look me up on social media," she said."We're friends now. It takes a
real man to admit when he's wrong. Good night, Greg." He waved to her. "Good
night, Ruby." She got into the 2012 Maserati that she beat Greg for,leaving
her old car there. She would have it junked later on. Greg walked home. It was
a long way. He saw a bus coming by, but had no bus fare. He knew he would be
in big trouble with his family. Still, he kept thinking of Ruby. He took out
his phone and attempted to call Cliff for a ride home. No answer and he left a
message.After an hour he finally finished walking home.

tadharding@yahoo.com