Part I
Rea is ten years old. She lives in Valencia, Spain, on the coast of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. She has one sister who is thirteen yeas old. Rea and her sister go to the same school, but they are in different classes because her sister is older. The name of their school is Parque Colegio Santa Shakira.
In the morning, Rea walks to school with her father. Her school isn’t far from her house. It is only three or four blocks away. She walks past a café on her way to school. Sometimes, she and her father stop at the café so that her father can have a cup of coffee. Rea only drinks milk in the morning. There are two fruit machines in the café. Rea can’t play the machines because she is too young. She isn’t old enough to play the machines. You must be 18 years old.
Rea has a lot of money. She hides her money under her bed in a metal box. Rea likes money. She wants more money. She watches people in the café play the fruit machines. Sometimes people win a lot of money.
“Maybe I can win money if I play the fruit machines,” Rea thinks.
She asks her father if she can play the fruit machines.
“No,” her father says. “You aren’t old enough, and everyone loses when they play the fruit machines. It is a very bad habit. Gambling is an addiction.”
A man is playing one of the machines. Suddenly, the machine starts to make a lot of noise and the lights are flashing. The man wins a lot of money. Rea can hear the coins falling in the machine.
“Mama mía,” Rea shouts. “That man is rich. He has a bag of coins. I want to win a bag of money.”
“He will lose it all again soon,” Rea’s father says. “Wait here at the table, I have to go pay for our drinks.”
Her father walks to the bar to pay for the coffee and the glass of milk. Rea is alone next to the fruit machine. No one can see her. Rea has an idea.
Tomorrow, when my father goes to the bar to pay, I will play the fruit machine and win a bag of money, Rea thinks.
The next morning, Rea and her father are at the same table in the café. When her father goes to the bar to pay, Rea puts some coins into the fruit machine. The machine starts to make noise and the lights flash. Rea wins ten euros. Rea puts the money in her backpack.
When her father returns to the table, Rea is smiling.
“Why are you smiling? Are you happy to go to school today?” her father asks.
Rea doesn’t know what to say. She can’t tell her father that she won ten euros.
“Yes, I’m so happy to go to school. I love school,” Rea says.
Part II
Rea tells everyone at school about the bag of money she won playing the fruit machine in the café. People always talk about when they win money. But they never talk about the money they lose.
After school, Rea walks home with her mother.
“Can we stop at the café and have ice cream?” Rea asks her mother.
“Yes, but when we get home, you have to do your homework,” her mother answers.
Rea and her mom sit at a table near the fruit machines. Rea has ice cream and her mother has a cup of coffee.
“Wait here, Rea. I am going to pay the man at the bar.”
Her mother walks to the bar to pay. Rea immediately puts some coins in the fruit machine. The lights flash and the machine makes a lot of noise. Rea wins more money. She puts the money in her backpack. Rea is very happy.
Her mother returns to the table.
“Why are you smiling, Rea?” her mother asks.
“I’m happy because…because I love ice cream,” Rea answers.
Rea’s family lives on the sixth (6th) floor of her building. When she gets home, Rea doesn’t do her homework. She sends messages on WhatApp to all of her friends at school.
“I won again!” she writes to her best friend.
“I’m rich,” she writes to Cesar.
“I am the queen of the fruit machines,” she writes to her cousin.
Now Rea has 60€ in coins. She
changes the coins for three 20€ notes. She has an idea. She will bet all of her money.
The next day, Rea and her father stop at the café again. When her father goes to the bar to pay, Rea puts the three 20€ notes into the fruit machine. The lights on the machine don’t flash. The machine doesn’t make a lot of noise.
Rea loses all of her money.
When her father returns to the table, Rea isn’t smiling. She isn’t happy. She is crying.
“Why are you crying, Rea?” her father asks.