THE SW CASINO
By Minimizer
Chapter 15
On my way out of the dressing room, I passed Lori on her way in. She was working a later shift tonight, as it turned out.
She happily informed me that she'd be moving up to the main floor tomorrow night, now that Beth felt she was ready to advance. I let her know about my own "promotion," and we discovered after comparing notes that we'd both be working the same area. It would be nice to have someone to talk to while on duty, I thought.
As I passed through the casino I looked around for Heather, and found her in the same area I'd seen her the day before. She, too, was happy to learn I'd been promoted, and she had news for me as well. Beth had been so impressed by her enthusiasm that she'd agreed to give her a short trial on the blackjack table Friday night, after her regular shift.
Heather was so excited about the chance to go down to 20 that I thought she was going to explode. How was it that being so small could be so exciting for her? All I could feel was terror at the idea.
I wanted to talk to her more about that, but she said she had a lot of studying to do, and last night's marathon bonding session had left her way behind on her homework. I said goodbye and headed out, annoyed at having to be alone for the evening. I wanted to talk about this with somebody, to try to sort things out.
Well, anyone but Mark, that is.
What I really needed was a good psychologist, I thought, laughing to myself as I headed to the car. Now that would be amusing. Seeing a shrink about a fear of shrinking. Ha!
Actually, I knew a little bit about psychology, and Beth had been absolutely right about facing your fears. That's how they treat phobias, actually. If you're afraid of snakes, for example, they work you up to getting used to them. You start with pictures, and rubber toys, then slowly get you closer and closer to real ones until you're comfortable touching them. It takes a while, but by the end of the treatment, you can safely handle a live snake without screaming.
Beth basically was suggesting the same thing for me, and it was a good plan, but I just didn't have anyone to work with me on it. Logically, of course, Mark was the right choice, but not for the reasons she had suggested. Since he was my partner, I could trust him to act professionally, it was just that I didn't want him to see me that way.
Actually, thinking about it, I couldn't really come up with a good, solid reason why I didn't want him to help me. I just didn't. It all came back to me, really. I'd felt embarrassed and humiliated when he saw me in the casino the other day, and I knew I'd feel the same way again, only much, much worse.
Well, it was useless thinking about it, I told myself. I wasn't going to do it and that was final.
Instead, I switched gears and thought about what I was going to do this evening. I didn't want to go out, but I didn't just want to watch TV, either. Maybe I should stick around the casino, I thought, but of course that was pointless. I didn't like to gamble, and I'd already proven I sucked at bowling, so there wasn't much there for me to do. Maybe I could see a movie, I thought.
Movies. Hmm. That reminded me. Heather had said she'd gotten interested in being shrunk after watching a movie. "Honey, I Shrunk the Babysitter," she had said. Well, maybe if I watched that, I could figure out what she found so appealing about being small.
I stopped at a video store and found the film easily. It was one of a half-dozen in the "Honey, I Shrunk" series. I vaguely recalled seeing the first one when I was much younger, but it had always seemed kind of lame and contrived, even back then. I left it where it was. The second one was about growing, not shrinking, so I left it on the shelf, too. The third was about adults shrinking themselves, so I picked it up, along with the fourth one about the babysitter. The fifth and sixth had been checked out and weren't available, but that was just as well. After two movies tonight, I'd probably be ready for bed, anyway.
I drove home and popped the first disc in the DVD player. This was the movie called "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves." It was one of those direct-to-video productions Disney was famous for a couple of decades ago, back before they merged with Paramount to counter the Time-Warner-MGM conglomerate. Anyway, I have to tell you, this movie sucked. The acting was bad, the effects were lousy, and the whole thing was obviously just a juvenile attempt to milk the shrinking phenomena for all it was worth. If I'd watched this movie as a kid, it probably would have made me think shrinking was as stupid and lame as this film.
"Honey, I Shrunk the Babysitter" was a much better picture. Unlike the previous one, this had been made for the big screen, so the production values were much better. It was aimed at kids and young adults, but the effects were pretty good and the story compelling, especially considering my current situation.
In the film, an eighteen-year-old girl named Tiffany (played by Britney Spears in one of her last "teen" roles) is babysitting at the Szalisnkis' house when she accidentally gets zapped and shrunk to three inches tall by the nerdy scientist's shrinking machine. Her sleazy boyfriend shows up and finds her like that, but instead of restoring her, he takes her to a party at his fraternity. They play around with her a bit, in a PG-rated sort of way, then play cards to see which one of them gets to take her home for the night. (What they're going to do with her then, they don't say, but any adult could easily figure it out.) While they're distracted, she climbs down to the floor, then hangs onto the back of someone's shoe so she can escape.
From here the story turns into an adventure. She winds up outside, and has to try to find her way back across town to the Szalinskis' house. She has to do battle with giant bugs, hide from a cat, escape the clutches of a child who thinks she's a doll, and a bunch of other stuff designed to remind you how perilous it is to be that small. Needless to say, I didn't appreciate the reminder!
Meanwhile, the frat boys are busy trying to find her, and one of them finally does, but he doesn't turn her in. Turns out this guy, whose name is Harry, always liked Tiffany, but been afraid to talk to her before, because he's shy and nervous around women. The fact that she's three inches tall seems to remove his inhibitions in that regard, and he agrees to help her get back to normal, without turning her over to the fraternity.
He tries, but they catch him and find her in his pocket. He escapes, but has to leave her behind while he goes for help. The frat boys go in and play with her some more, making her dance around and pretend to be a cheerleader. Just as things are about to turn R-rated, Szalinski shows up and demands they give her back. They laugh and refuse, but then Harry's hand crashes through the roof and scatters them. Seems the good doctor planned ahead and used his machine to turn Harry into a giant. He rescues Tiffany, both of them get back to normal, and walk off hand in hand at the end.
I liked this movie a lot. It was cute, and the thinly veiled attraction between tiny Tiffany and giant Harry was very well done. I suppose if I had been a teenager or pre-teen, just starting to think about boys, this would have stirred up some romantic fantasies in my mind. After all, Harry actually turned out to be handsome and noble, and fought for his lady and won, saving her from the evil bad guys. What more could a girl want?
However, what I didn't get was why this film had turned Heather on to shrinking so much. Poor little Tiffany had to endure being grabbed and pushed around on her boyfriend's palm, then humiliated in front of an entire fraternity, like she was some kind of toy for their amusement. Then, she nearly got killed a whole bunch of times on her way across the neighbor's lawn, and of course at the end there was the threat of her having her clothes ripped off by her captors. What they would have done to her then was anyone's guess.
Somehow, from this, Heather had become fanatically attracted to the idea of being shrunk. I just didn't get it.
I was just starting the DVD again, determined to get to the bottom of this, when I heard a knock at the door. Now who could that be? Heather and Lori didn't know where I lived yet, and while I'd given my address to the casino on my employment form, I couldn't think of any reason why Beth would come to visit.
Quietly, I picked up my piece and moved to the door. "Who's there?" I called out warily.
"Just me, Kate," came the recognizable voice.
Of course, it was Mark.
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In the film, an eighteen-year-old girl named Tiffany (played by Britney Spears in one of her last "teen" roles) is babysitting at the Szalisnkis' house when she accidentally gets zapped and shrunk to three inches tall by the nerdy scientist's shrinking machine. Her sleazy boyfriend shows up and finds her like that, but instead of restoring her, he takes her to a party at his fraternity. They play around with her a bit, in a PG-rated sort of way, then play cards to see which one of them gets to take her home for the night. (What they're going to do with her then, they don't say, but any adult could easily figure it out.) While they're distracted, she climbs down to the floor, then hangs onto the back of someone's shoe so she can escape.