Cal-Neva

          The first place that Allison got a job when she made it to Reno was the Cal-Neva. This is the place that I feel helped her realize that life is not just this sad, broken place. The customers that she had there were mainly regulars. She worked the graveyard shift because she did not enjoy staying at her apartment at night. One of her regulars was Dan Mahony who ended up being the person to help her finally leave her tragic past behind her.

            After Andrea and I left the Eldorado, we continued South on Virginia. On our left we found the Cal-Neva. We crossed the street diagonally which was a very weird concept for me. I had never seen such a thing. Although there was still daylight outside, this was still kind of a sketchy place to be. We passed people who were most likely homeless yelling at people who were clearly not present.

            Walking inside, I noted that this place was not trying to be extravagant like many other casinos I had been in throughout my life. It was dark and had a very deep smell of age. It was very difficult to navigate as well. I am not really sure how Allison made it on time to her first day of work.

        

          As I have already mentioned, being from Las Vegas, it is easy for me to compare Allison’s experiences. It became evident to me that Allison really was living in a parallel universe. The Cal-Neva is no way better than the other crappy places she waitressed at in Las Vegas. Finally, Andrea and I made our way through the maze and found the Top Deck Restaurant. We look at the menu and all the items that Allison served her customers were there!

          This being our third place we had visited, Allison’s life started to feel more real. At this point I realized what a tragic tale of a young girl this was. Barely beginning her life she had already been through a number of experiences that most people hope to never encounter even once in their lifetime. Yet here she was, trying to just survive in this forsaken place at the age of 22; her life in shambles. Throughout my life, I always here these sad stories but I also felt as if they were faceless victims. Even though while reading the book I just thought Allison was this dumb girl, walking her path made me realize that it was much more than that. She was a victim of the circumstances that she had grown up with. And because of that, she was worthless in her eyes being described as “the girl” throughout the novel instead of “Allison.”

I looked back at the dark lounge we had just passed. And there were the others in this forsaken place just trying to survive. One could see that by the pungent smell of alcohol that came off of them as well as the deep circles that drew attention from their sad eyes.