Not in the Cards

By June Kelley Pierce

Everybody wants to get rich quick…opportunities come--even in small towns.
Jake and Ellie Taylor read about a local boy who won big and, to Jake’s surprise, soon after, he finds himself holding two golden tickets to a newly opened casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City was the farthest he and Ellie had ever travelled from their small farming, town in Pennsylvania.
This story takes the reader along on their risk-taking journey in anticipation of a fun and exciting weekend. However, the glitz and glamour of the late 1950’s gambling scene is not as appealing up close and quickly reveals a tapestry of corruption and deceit. This couple learns that winning is sometimes a losing game.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9781663249135

June Kelley Pierce

June Kelley Pierce is a retired Special Education teacher with a Master’s Degree in both Education and Special Education. She also has as an Undergraduate Degree in Sociology and Psychology. A native of Northern New York, Pierce has made her home in the Mid-Hudson Valley. This is Pierce’s fifth novel. She has four others to her credit—her first book, Keeping Secrets, its sequel, Restitution, Misunderstood and Neglected Cries. In 2019, Pierce published her first book of poetry, Painful Truths: A Memoir in Verse. Two years later, Pierce published her firt book of short stories, If Only, a combined effort with her brother, Bill Kelley. She has also published a series of eight books for children, each focusing on a different social skill, along with a life-skills guide for parents and teachers on the topic o bullying. Pierce is a folk artist and restorer and has worked in the Hudson Valley for the past forty years.

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Copyright © 2023 June Kelley Pierce.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Certain characters in this work are historical figures, and certain events portrayed did take place. However, this is a work of fiction. All of the other characters, names, and events as well as all places, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-4912-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4914-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4913-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022923130

iUniverse rev. date:  02/06/2023

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J ake Taylor was the All-American Football player in 1960 at Bremerton High School in Pennsylvania. The Bremerton Eagles were a force to contend with.

He was a lanky, strong young man with blonde hair and hazel eyes—every girl’s heartthrob. Jake stood six foot four, and, boy, could he throw a ball and run—better than anyone the coach had seen in all his years of coaching.

A high school game brought the whole town out to cheer, to slap him on the back and even vocalize a dream or two for him. It was their hope he would make it to the big leagues and be famous one day and put Bremerton on the map!

Jake came from a patriotic family where a long line of great grandfathers, Uncles, and Fathers had joined the military or had been drafted, and some were eaten up by the ravages of war, soon after. Then, there were the few who were lucky enough to come home at the end of the war, and Jake’s father was one of them. The war always takes something from you though, and in the Taylor household it had diminished his Dad’s spirit. What the community remembered most was that there were eighty brave men from Bremerton who joined up and only twenty who had returned whole. Jake always felt proud of this and never felt it was luck—his father was a fighter, and it was that underlying feeling that made him want to fall in line with the town men who were proudly revered. He had been thinking about it for months and, although he knew he was well sought after by the colleges to play college football, Jake already had made up his mind. What he dreaded most was disappointing so many folks, who were rooting for him.

Three weeks out of high school, Jake enlisted without breathing a word to his parents. He knew they had wanted more for him, but he felt compelled to follow in his father’s footsteps and make his own mark as a soldier. Once he explained his feelings, they understood his strong commitment. They knew his talent and opportunity would not be long-standing. Nonetheless, he seemed happy, and that made them happy for him.

Right out of boot camp, Jake was transferred to an aircraft carrier, The Majestic, and his excitement grew. He might see the world just as his recruiter had told him and even make a career out of the service.

It won’t cost you a dime—just sign on the dotted line and go to college for free.

It seemed like a life-time plan. When Jake returned home, he’d still be a good football player and be able to entertain both dreams, he thought. He’d wanted to be a college All-Star since seventh grade and practiced all the time. Now it seemed that both dreams were butting heads, and he wanted to make his parents proud. That dream took precedence, and Jake went for it.

The world stopped when Jake’s ship caught fire and exploded, and he was reported missing. No one knew for weeks that he’d been picked up by a local fisherman, hanging off a piece of the aircraft carrier. Jake was barely alive when he was spotted along with three other survivors close to the coast. It was touch and go whether he would make it or not. Jake was unconscious for a week and, when he gained consciousness, he had no memory at all of who he was or why he was there. His leg was bandaged, and he was unable to move it. He had severe burns on one foot from the blast on the ship. It had killed 80 of his mates on the carrier and only a few survived.

More fortunate than they had been on many levels, he had no broken bones, gashes or upper body burns. The other two survivors were not so lucky, and one, he had learned was unrecognizable. The poor guy, also nineteen, could be heard down the hallway, screaming and praying to die. Jake thought that if it had been him, he’d be doing the same thing.

It took several months for his memory to come back in bits and pieces and, when it finally did, he contacted his parents. It would be a long journey back to a life he was familiar with. When he was finally able to call and his parents heard his voice, they were so happy and couldn’t believe it.

There were long nights and horrors of the explosion that visited him in his sleep. Dead soldiers came up from dark water and floated in his face, burned beyond recognition. Night sweats and screams for help didn’t leave him, as his guilt swelled in his psyche. He had come back when so many others never would. He walked in his dreams like the walking dead without joy or feeling. This had become