Page 99 of Gambler's Fallacy

“It’s fine,” Seven mumbles. “I don’t… I don’t care about the tracker.”

Heshouldcare about the tracker.

Except part of me is already thinking about how much anxiety it would have saved me if I’d been able to locate Seven instantly earlier today. I wouldn’t have had to wonder if he was still on premises, or if he’d been stolen away.

“Seven,” I say, a lot softer. “If the tracker isn’t the problem, then what is?”

“You trying to control me!” he bursts out, anger and frustration warring in his voice. “Everyone trying to take away the one thing that makes me feel better.”

“Is this about the gambling?” Vortex asks from behind me, but my attention is solely focused on Seven.

“Trying to control you?” I repeat, confounded. “Seven, we want what’s best for you. Well, I do. I guess I can’t speak for these assholes.”

“If it’s about the gambling…” Caleb sighs and sits down next to Seven. “How many times did you go to the tables this week, pet?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Seven says, wiping furiously at his eyes, where tears have begun to trickle down his face. “Why are you all acting like this is such a big deal? It’s not!”

“It is,” I say, every single one of Seven’s tears piercing my heart. “Seven, did you notice me approaching today?”

Seven hesitates, glancing behind me at Vortex, then back to me. “No,” he sniffles. “But Nat did!”

“Would Nat recognize anyone from your old life?” Caleb asks. “Would Nat know to warn you so you could get away?”

“I’ll sit on the other side of the table next time,” Seven says.

“You’re missing the point,” Vortex says, his voice more subdued. “Seven, this is causing serious problems in your life. We’re doing all we can to keep you safe, but none of this is safe or even healthy.”

“When you’re gambling, you’re hyper-focusing on the cards,” Caleb says. “You aren’t paying attention to anything else, like your environment.”

“Or your health,” I add. “You need to eat, Seven. Hell, you need to move! Sitting in that chair doing nothing but breathing in the stale air is bad for you.”

“Why can’t you let me have this one thing?” Seven demands. “You don’t get it. I have to do this. I have to win. I can’tnotwin.”

Caleb, Vortex, and I share a look.

“Why can’t you not win?” I ask. “It’s statistics. I didn’t win all the time either, Seven, and I knew the math behind the cards.”

“Because my luck has to change. It has to.” He sobs, and it shakes his entire body. “It can’t be this bad forever. I can’t have the worst luck forever and ever.”

“You don’t have the worst luck,” Vortex says, reaching out to try to touch his arm, but Seven jerks away.

“You aren’t listening. You’re just not. You keep saying they won’t get me, but they will. Because my luck is that bad. But maybe if I turn it around, maybe they won’t. If I can do one thing right, maybe other things will go my way. They have to,” Seven says, openly crying by the time he finishesspeaking.

Well, fuck.

It’s not that I don’t get it. When I was at my lowest, I sometimes dreamed of how my life would turn around if I could earn enough money to escape my life. But the gambling was only ever a bandaid. The real problems were always there—they’re still there, in the form of my mother and her refusal to leave the Step Asshole.

The only thing that had helped was meeting Seven, getting my own place, and finally stepping away from that mess.

Seven doesn’t even have the option tostep away.

“Pet,” Caleb says, more gently. “Remember what I told you? The house always wins. You need to negotiate from a position of power. When you’re putting all of your cards onto this one single game, you’re giving the house—and your past—all the power. You can’t rely on luck. It’s cleverness and your own ability that got you out of that situation in the first place.”

“But theyarethe house,” Seven whimpers. “If I can’t even beat the casino, how am I supposed to beat them?”

“This isn’t their city,” Vortex points out. “And none of this is a game of luck. You have a lot more resources at your disposal now. Besides, you beat them once already.”

I nod in agreement. “Right. You walked out, remember? You made the move, and you outsmarted them.”

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