Summary

Frankie flashes back to the summer of 1991 when he practices trying to manipulate a roulette wheel the same way he had the pinball machine. Later, Frankie and Buddy drive for hours to board a riverboat casino in the hopes of winning a large sum of money. When they do arrive, Frankie begins to panic. However, Buddy assured him that he saw stacks of chips in their future. Frankie succeeds and the ball lands where he hoped for. He continues making good bets, working his way up to more than fifty thousand dollars, “more money than he’d ever dreamed of making” (177). However, he notices a man in a suit watching him play and Frankie realizes he need to lose to deflect suspicion. Despite this, he wins again and shouts, causing the entire roulette wheel to spin into the air and all of the...