The Veracity of Blue Horses

It's a beautiful Friday evening in the game bar in the Lucky Palace Casino in lovely North Jersey. 'Word2Word' has been the hot ticket tonight! I've run a few boards and made a decent amount of cash. My two-drink minimum is still center-table. Food’s later if I keep doing well. Bonus is, if I'm here all night, maybe I'll sleep through most of the boredom of Saturday.

Many of the usuals are here, along with some new players. Winnings increase as there's more people, but that means maybe more competition.

It looks like right now letter numbers are worth a buck, words are a buck-fifty in combo…and sentences can be up to…almost six bucks!

A new game every ten minutes. Next game starts in…there!

Interesting block of letters - forty-four of them. I see 'cat', 'bat', 'that'...'tab'...'heavy'...'breathe'...

But then they change the screen color to blue!

I shut my eyes hard and aim my face at the table. I slap my hand around, feeling for the pencil that's…there! I grab it at the tip, and begin cribbing down the letters.

The 'E'-s are a cross with an 'A' cut-through. That gives me 'table', 'people'. 'YW' lumpiness gives me…'everywhere'.

I get really behind writing it all down on paper! TYPE!

The sorry little keyboard chained to the table rattles as I hammer my hunt-and-peck. Christ, was that…

I look at my notes then up to the big board again.

Yeah, 'R E A H', giving me…

The background changes to green. Light green. Goddamn green! I got a lot of words, good vowel-counts. I glance at the scoreboard. Some small sentences there already, and…

Oh shit! Some mother fucker got a five word sentence. Shit! Well, “HERE” can become “WHERE”, so…

YES! Game closes in three, two…and I get..six-fifty? That's it? That’s the take with all those counts and combos? Well, it almost paid for my next ticket, and I still have three plays before I ante again.

I kick back in my chair, blink my eyes and scan the room again to see who I'm up against. Players are all the same, it seems, they…HE'S still here? Five tables over. Not watching the boards. He's not writing down shit. He's not drinking. He just sits there, arms folded, looking around. He's not here for the games - looks more like a high-roller in A.C. Really quiet in a…a tacky orange suit. Maybe here for the escort service? Maybe he IS the escort service! Whatever!

I begin to reorganize my table for the next game. Pens, fresh paper…

The fuck! I don't look up, but 'suit' is at my table? I keep my head down…but he's close enough I can see his coat button is buttoned. So he got up, buttoned his orange suitcoat and came over here while I wasn't looking? I just do the New York thing and ignore him, but that lasts all of five seconds.

“Excuse me, I'm not interrupting your play am I?"

“What?” I keep my head down and try to look busy.

“Your 'Word2Word' play. I’m not interrupting…”

I see him waggle a finger over his edge of the table, pointing at stuff. I still haven’t looked up.

“Can I…do you have a minute, please?”

He SOUNDS okay. Polite. So I give in. He's a tall guy, South Asian. Smiling, which is nice, but I don't know him. I'm between plays, so…why not? I never talk with anybody here.

“Sure, what's up?”

“I’m…interested in how you play this game. May I?” he’s motioning at the chair.

"The rules are on the card at each table. I'm sure they're online if…"

He slowly smiles a little.

"No, not that. I'm interested in how YOU play this game."

“What? What do you mean 'how I play'...?”

This guy points up at the screen and glances at it before turning back to me.

“You…look up and then you look away when the colors hit the screen. Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Turn away when the background changes color.”

He motions again at the chair.

“May I…?”

I glance at the clock on the wall behind him.

"Look, I have another play coming up. It can wait 'till after that, or maybe not at all."

"I understand. Time is money, they say." He slides his hand into his pants pocket.

He comes up with a twenty creased down the middle, longways, held by his left thumb and forefinger.

"May I?"

He moves quicker than I can come up with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in my head. He's halfway seated and smoothing his shirt with his left hand. His right hand is out.

“My name is Mandani Bhan. I'm pleased to meet you. You are…"

I don't shake. I know I'm squinting, just staring at him. He smiles and places the twenty in front of me. He reaches into his right coat vest pocket, looks at something in his hand, and takes out, what, I don't know, an index card? He puts it slowly down on the table in front of him, face down.

“What I have in front of me is…” He slowly grabs it, looks at it, and holds it up so I can see it.

“...a card that, well, to me, looks like word search. What do you see, uhhh….”

He rolls the card in a slow vertical circle. Okay, okay. I'll be nice.

"Edward."

“Edward. Thank you. What do you see, Edward?”

He holds the card at eye-level. I don't know why I move my head closer - it doesn't help or anything. It looks just like a word search but they're…they're all vowels. Weird! The E's are red, of course, but arranged in a rotated square. There are other colors, too. I play dumb.

“A bunch of vowels.”

Mandani tips his head a little to the side, closes his eyes for a moment, then back at me.

“I know THAT much. What ELSE is there, Edward?”

I blink a little.

“It's hard to see with that…that orange sportcoat. It's…distracting!"

"It's 'Burnt Umber'. And it's part of a suit with trousers to match but I decided on the black slacks for a classic look. So is it COLORS you see on the card, Edward?"

"There's a tilted Square of E's.”

Mandani widens his eyes just a little.

"A square?"

"I guess…" I don't know what he's looking for. I DO see more, but…

"How did you see the pattern so quickly?"

"I got good eyes."

He flips it back so he can read it, twisting his head, then turns it back to me.

"I wish I could see what you see, Edward. To me, they're just black letters on the white card. If I study it…"

He looks at it again then turns it back.

"...I can see what you're talking about, but you were so FAST. Edward. How?"

I shrug and shake my head.

"Any…COLORS, Edward?"

"What do you mean, Mandavi?"

"Mandani. Mandavi is a woman's name"

"Mandani. Sorry."

"Though, 'Mandani' is usually a surname. But it is my given name. I'm trying to be informal here."

"I was given 'Edward'. I don't like it, but I can't give it back."

"Do you have a nickname you prefer?"

"Because we're being 'informal'?"

"If that would help this conversation."

"I don't think you and I are there yet, Mandani."

"After the two-drink minimum?"

He glances down at the full glasses on the table.

"Depends more on why you're showing me this card."

He flips the card back and looks at me - eyebrows raised. He's calm - not nervous or tense. I glance again at the clock behind him on the wall. I'll wait for the next game. Okay.

“Red. The 'E'-s are…red. That's why the square stands out.”

“Red. Good. Any others…colors?”

“Some of the other vowels, well they're all vowels…the 'A'-s and the 'U'-s are green and blue.”

Putting the card down, he leans a little to the side and gets something from his pants pocket. He comes up with another creased twenty dollar bill and places it in front of me. He then pulls a stack of cards from his coat and puts them on the table in front of him. He dabs at them with his fingers, spreading them out.

I slide the twenty towards me. Mandani stops moving for a second.

"How many of those do you have? And do you always fold your money like that, Mandani?"

"It makes for a dramatic presentation, Edward."

He glances up and smiles.

Returning his attention down, he sneaks a look at a couple of cards, then slides one out face down and leaves it there. He places his elbows on the tabletop, his hands at his chin. He turns his head to the big screen to my right.

“You know, they do that on purpose, the colors. They play with the background, hoping it clashes with what's seen by people with your ability. They cut your advantage."

He looks back at me. I'm confused.

"Any good casino always has to win.”

He moves his right hand from his chin and waves it around a little, then points at the paper with the letter pattern from the last play.

“This is from the last play, yes?”. He then slowly raises his finger towards the screen and sits back in his chair, but keeps his eyes on me.

“Did you look at that screen, remember the pattern, and then write it down so you can see the colors and patterns without interference?"

I inhale, open my mouth and just sit there and look at this guy.

"To beat the distraction, Edward?"

I tip my head to the side as I look him in the eye.

“Yeah. I…that. The colors fuck with me. Make the letters hard to see."

I sit back in my chair.

"I didn't know they do that. Is that why they also play the music so loud?"

"Why?"

"Sometimes sounds will also…"

"No, that distracts everybody. Do you know WHY you see colors with letters, Edward?"

"Yeah. I have a…thing, a…condition called…'synesemia'."

"But you can also memorize."

“Yeah, I memorize what I see and hear. I don't know what that's called. Does THAT have a name, Mandani?”

The guy puts his finger back on his chin and hand back at his elbow.

"Seeing? A 'photographic' memory - if it's long-term. 'Editic' if it's short. I'm hoping for something else."

He picks up the card he pulled from the stack and shows me the blank back of the card as he leans his elbow onto the table.

“Try this one."

"More colors?"

"No. I want to see ANOTHER skill. Memorize it.”

"You need to put in another twenty."

"I already did. It's sitting there on the table."

"No, that was for the good job I did on the first card."

"Twenty dollars for each card. Two cards, two twenties. I thought that would be obvious."

"I'd think you'd want to foster positive results and…"

"Let us not forget mutual trust."

He grins.

"Okay, okay. Hit me, Mandani."

"This one, Edward, will be a little different. I already know you can memorize on sight, but how are you at keeping SPOKEN letters and numbers?"

"Why?"

"Try this for me. We will go from there."

Interesting. I widen my eyes a little and nod.

"There are ten sets with two to four numbers each followed by what's known as a 'color'....

I roll my finger around in front of me and take a deep inhale.

"You're…"

"Yeah, I'm…"

"Okay.

107.7,32.4 87.3,256.7 #00ADD8E6

216.5,113.0 11.5,321.4 119.2,211.1 #80FFA500

…"

Mandani carefully reads ten sets of the cryptic values - each with two, three or four decimal numbers, and a hash sign followed by what I think is a hexadecimal number. When he's done I reach for paper and…

"SAY them back to me please, Edward."

He moves the card lower and closer to him like I'm gonna be able to see it somehow. I shrug, sit back a little, and give them back to him.

"107.7,32.4 87.3,256.7 #00ADD8E6

216.5,113.0 11.5,321.4 119.2,211.1 #80FFA500

…"

I finish. Mandani looks at me, then lowers his eyes to his cards.

"You're a mnemonist, too, Edward. Do you like puzzles and problems?"

"I do, Mandani. What am I? Should I…what is that? Is that BAD, that 'numon'…?"

"A mnemonist memorizes long strings of spoken letters and numbers. So tell me, Edward, all this…" Mandani waves a hand around at the room, "is it for profit, or for fun?"

"The game room? The puzzles? Memorizing?"

I raise my eyebrows.

"The cash is nice. It also fills the time and calms me when I'm stressed."

"And are you more bored or stressed right now, Edward?"

"I'm leaning towards 'stressed'."

Mandani flashes a big, broad smile. His thick moustache is nearly horizontal.

"I'm hoping you like a challenge, Edward. And a new reason to use those skills."

He gathers up his cards, glancing at me once. He puts them in his vest pocket with his left hand. He reaches for something in his coat with his right as he stands up.

"What? How'd I…what's happening, Mandani?"

He comes up with a, maybe, a business card and…a Benjamin?

"For the effort."

Mandani smirks and puts the card and the bill on the table.

"I am out of twenties. Hopefully this finds you to the address on the card tomorrow, nine A. M.. Sportcoat optional.”