Chapter 16The weeks passed by, and summer arrived with a heat wave. I was not expecting Paris to be so hot, and everyone told me it was unusually hot weather for the city, with temperatures nearly matching what I had experienced in Morocco. My apartment had no air conditioning, and it was blistering hot. It was impossible to sleep. I would often deal with it by going out for a walk in the somewhat cooler night air.
Several times my walk took me past the casino, and I struggled not to go in. But one Friday night, flush with cash from my paycheck, my defenses broke down, and I went in. I figured the slots had not worked for me the last time, so I decided to try something different. I looked around the casino and studied the various games the patrons were playing. Many were card games I did
