**Chapter 1 - Entering and *Leaving* Las Vegas**

(Read the Prologue <a href="https://www.nuclearnerds.io/story/1430/">HERE</a>)

Markie’s parents hailed from Las Vegas, Nevada.  Her dad Art held down a Property Master job at one of the extravagant medieval shows where he was responsible for upkeep on weaponry props used during performances.  Modest job, but shitty pay - literally, as he was paid to clean up horse shit and wipe down swords and lances after the show.  Her mom Virginia cleaned hotel rooms for a living and was a cigarette waitress by night.  Less glamorous than the proverbial bar wench, she would carry around a tray of Marlboro’s and Swisher Sweet cigars to sell to patrons and used tip money to feed her habit.  Both living paycheck to paycheck in small one-bedroom places, always paying weekly rent in cash.  Every dime over rent was inevitably gambled away at the slots and blackjack tables as the sun rose over the Vegas skyline.  Their credo, *Always One Spin Away from a Life Changing Jackpot*.  Like most degens, they bet over their heads on multiple occasions, usually leading to missed rent payments and frequent evictions. 

Markie was born one August morning at MountainView Hospital, the largest one in the city.  She came much earlier than expected for the couple, and as a premie had spent the first few months fighting for her life in the hospital.  Without the large hospital bills footed by Ginny’s brother Bob, Markie likely wouldn’t have survived.  Most infants don’t make it from “Vegas” parents for lots of reasons, but little Markie was a fighter.  And four months later, finally untangled from all the cords and monitors, her parents were able to bring her home.  There was a distinctive sparkle in Markie's eyes present from day one, even in her tiniest of forms.  Even the hospital staff recognized it as was evident in the little note they sent home with her along with an assortment of stuffed animals.

*“To the sweetest little child with a twinkle in her eye”* - Ward 11 Nursing staff

Uncle Bob lived about a hundred miles away.  He had been trying to convince his baby sister to get out of Vegas for years with pressure growing more once the pregnancy was divulged.  Now that his little niece had arrived *especially one with health conditions*He called Ginny daily.  He wanted them to move up near him to a town called Rachel.  Bob had a place for them to stay to get away from the Vegas scene.  

Art and Ginny knew nothing about Rachel, they had only recently seen the name on the swath of business cards that permeated the downtown streets.  They weren’t sure if that was the name of a person though or something else.  Even after Markie came along, they were still too consumed with gambling to realize that Vegas probably wasn’t the best place to raise a child.   So there they stayed.

Now Markie’s early childhood was by no means normal, strapped on her mother’s back most of the day, and constantly moving from one motel-style apartment home to the next.  She developed a certain fascination with the mini-bars frequenting Vegas hotel rooms while her mother cleaned.  Once Markie began getting around on her own, Ginny would undo the strap on her tired back and let her roam around the room whilst she cleaned.  That’s when Markie first discovered candy.  In the Vegas hotel rooms, each room had a mini-bar - a tiny refrigerator filled with overpriced drinks and snacks conveniently available to drunken guests, as they so frequently arrived back at their rooms.  Inside there was always a basket of bright colored objects with shiny wrappers that fascinated her.  Ginny let her toy with them so long as one was never opened. A single item cost as much as Ginny would get paid to clean a single room.

In the evenings, Ginny and Markie would take the tram back to their place of the month, where life got really complicated for Markie at a young age.   Art would rarely be home and would roll in all hours of the evening, usually just before Ginny headed out to her 2nd job.  Markie spent most evenings in the playpen playing with small banners and plastic crowns Art had brought home from work.  These were the good nights.  Other times, a loud knock at the door would interrupt her play.  Art would jump off the sofa, grab Markie, and tuck her inside some small nook telling her to sit quietly.  Soon after, she’d hear strangers enter the house and a lot of shouting, usually ending with a few thumps and a door slam.  Turns out these were mostly visits from the local loan sharks coming to collect debts owed by Art.  In fact, it was one of these very occasions that led the family to leave Vegas - for good.  

On that particular night, Ginny had been working as usual.  Back at home, Markie was fast asleep in the playpen at the newest place while her Dad sat on the sofa drinking wine and watching late night TV shows.  Markie was awakened by loud banging on the door and, instead of being stuffed in a closet this time, she found herself dangling in Dad’s arm as they headed out the back door and down the emergency escape.  Once at the bottom, Art tossed the two duffle bags from his other arm into the open trunk and swung open the door to a waiting cab.

Inside, Ginny was crouched down in the back seat making *hush* noises with her fingers.  Once the two had climbed inside and shut the doors, the cab driver quietly drove out the back alley and dropped the family off at the nearby parking garage.  There, they grabbed their belongings and hopped into the beater pickup and headed North.  Peering out the cracked back window, Markie stared at the large ferris wheel rotating against the backdrop of the city skyline as it disappeared from sight.  Little did Markie know, but this would be her last time in Vegas (*or at least for a very long time*).

Science Fiction

"Discover the humble beginnings of Markie, a young girl born in Las Vegas to parents caught in a cycle of gambling and living paycheck-to-paycheck. Witness her challenging journey growing up in an unpredictable environment, strapped to her mother's back as they moved from one motel-style apartment to the next. Despite the hardship, Markie's fighter spirit and the special twinkle in her eye never dulled. Dive into this fascinating backstory, learning about how the decisions of her parents affected Markie's formative years and how a determined uncle tried to convince them to leave sin city for a new life in Rachel. Experience the bittersweetness of Markie's early childhood and her introduction to the shiny, colorful allure of Las Vegas' minibars – a world forbidden, yet inching closer."

THE EARLY YEARS: MARKIE'S LIFE IN LAS VEGAS

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