The waiter tossed two fortune cookies on top of the checkbook laid on the bar. Jess picks up the bill and I go straight for the cookie.
I think about asking him for another one, but I just wanted the fortune and not the cookie and while I was thinking about a non-weird way to explain that to him, Jess cut in with-
"Ok it's 8:52. That means we have 17 minutes to get to a slot machine."
"Got it," I said, draining my wine glass in three gulps.
It was Sept. 9, 2009 and we planned to be sitting side-by-side, pulling slot levers in unison at 9:09 p.m. in the ninth quadrant of the casino at latitude 9 degrees east and 90 degrees north.
Too bad we didn't have seven other sisters because that would have completed our plan. Also, we have no idea how latitude longitude works so we left the compass at home.
I realized that I was still holding the fortune cookie packet in my hands, so I opened it, crumpled away the cookie and dug out the fortune. I hate the cookie, it reminds me of the stuff they stick in your mouth when you go to church.
"OH MY GOD!" I said, holding up the fortune to the light like it was a 99 million dollar bill.
Your luck will completely change today, cookie said.
"My luck will completely change today," I told Jess.
"Hey," I said waving at the waiter, "Are these special Atlantic City fortune cookies with gambling theme fortunes in them?"
He stared at me. Maybe I was talking too fast, I thought.
Jess swiped the magical fortune out of my hands.
"No way," she said.
"Don't lose it," I said.
So naturally my next step was to text message my nine favorite people in the world, because THIS was something that needed to be shared with others. Text message said: Fortune cookie just said 'your luck will completely change today' and I'm in AC, is this fate?
Shizz wins the text-back race thirty seconds later with, "OMG! THAT IS AWESOME ! TOTALLY! DON'T FORGET ME WHEN YOU WIN!! CALL ME ASAP!"
And I totally pictured her so excited and rooting for me from Texas.
Jess and I leave PF Changs, and head into the casino.
"First, we'll hit up the slots and do that until after 9:09. Then we'll play Dad's numbers in roulette, and then we'll play poker," Jess-the-planner says.
I'm thinking, she forgot to schedule us one bathroom trip and a segue venture into a side shop that sells Red Bulls.
"We need Red Bulls," she says, looking around. "With vodka in them."
"I want to play the Quarter Millies machine," I said.
"Ugh, I like Wheel of Fortune," she said. "Well where are they because we're running out of time."
"I have to do Quarter Millies, I love them, they're my favorite and I got the good luck fortune," I said.
"Fine," she said. "Give me your keys, I'll put them in my purse. And take that sweatshirt off your head, or at least put your sleeves in it you look ridiculous."
I felt like a 5'2" midget walking next to her. She's 5'9" without heels.
She was wearing heels.
And even though she's my younger sister by seven years, I always feel like she's the older one, and it's not just because she's taller than me. It's a lot of things... Like how she's very maternal and how I require a lot of supervision and how she listens to me cry about boys. Also, I'm whiny, needy, and I get lost a lot. She's also the one who tells me where I've left my cell phone and who makes me grilled cheeses when I'm hungry.
"You should hold my cookie fortune so I don't lose it," I told her.
We headed toward the Quarter Millies machines with two minutes to spare.
They were the longest two minutes EVER.
Jess had her phone snapped open so we could see the time...
It blinked 9:09 P.M. and we squealed like twelve-year-old girls and pulled the levers.
And we both lost.
"Dammit, we drove all the way here," she said.
"We still have a whole minute!" I said, "Do 'max bet' really fast over and over!"
"Ok!"
We frantically pushed the buttons, pulled the levers, and the credits came rolling up with maddening TING TING TINGS. The lights flashed, Jess snapped a picture and I did my arm dancey thing like a crazy person. People looked over at us. I won 40 credits. Which is $10. The price of one pair of panties at Victoria's secret.
Next we moved to a penny machine, Jess hit "Max bet", and we won $149.50 on the first try.
"My luck has completely changed today," I said.
"The cookie was right," Jess said.
"Let's go play roulette..."