Jake Believe Margie Marek   © Copyright 2024 by Margie Marek

Photo courtesy of the author.

 Lulu and Preston had a tacit agreement since childhood, an awareness of their bond that defied words. They never spoke of it or labeled their relationship in any way. Lulu was a southern girl, born and bred. Preston came from the big city and summered at his grandmother’s house in Lulu’s hometown. They met by accident, or rather, because of an accident. Preston was daydreaming and masterminding his magic casino while riding his bicycle back to his grandmother’s with a package of groceries she ordered from the General Store. Lulu was playing hopscotch on the sidewalk, crouched down, re-chalking her board. Both so engrossed in their own process, the collision was inevitable.

Preston’s front tire hit the rock Lulu was using to mark her place on the hopscotch square, throwing him off balance, causing his bike to skid out from under him, further erasing Lulu’s newly chalked board. The eggs shattered everywhere, immediately cooking themselves where they landed on the hot pavement. An orange bounced like a rubber ball, until it hit Lulu smack on top of her head. Preston, well, let’s just say he fell head over heels.

“Ouch. What the? Din’t your mamma teach you to watch where you’re goin’, and look’it you did to my hopscotch board,” Lulu added, waving her arms gracefully over her destroyed chalk adjustment.

A speechless and befuddled Preston could only rub his eyes, ensuring the vision speaking to him was an actual human.

“What’s wrong with you, boy? Don’cha speak? And where are my manners? Are you ok?” Lulu punctuated her words with an award winning smile and a throaty giggle. Preston realized she’s the perfect magician’s assistant: sassy, charming, graceful, captivating. In fact, she’s the one he’d ACTUALLY seen in his dreams.

Lulu considered this no accident, more like a universal “on-purpose.” Preston still hadn’t uttered a word, but the look on his face said it all. As for Lulu, she knew true love when she felt it, and “this” was the truest.

As the years passed, both finished school in their respective hometowns while continuing to meet and grow closer every summer. Lulu was old-school, only too happy to settle down, become Preston’s wife, raise a family, and own a home with a garden and lots of animals. She knew Preston had his big plans, but had hoped she, Lulu, and their life together would be enough. Preston wasn’t giving up on his dreams so fast, because he knew they included Lulu.

Before her family would allow her to leave home and live with a man, they demanded he “make an honest woman” of her. The wedding was small and simple. Lulu in her Sunday best and 

Preston wearing whatever clothes were clean that day. They were married by a Justice of the Peace in Town Hall. One photo was taken during the celebratory dinner in Lulu’s parents’ backyard before the 

couple took off toward their future. The photo remains to this day, preserved behind glass, hanging on a vintage frame collector’s wall, with no regard to who the people in the photo are. If this random person knew who the couple were, the monetary value of their collection would increase beyond measure.

The female staff all look and dress like Lulu, the ideal magician’s assistant. While checking out, patrons are presented the bill with a flourish of arm waving and smiling. Rabbits are known to appear and disappear in the lavish guest suites which most find befuddling yet amusing. The sleek black exterior of the building conjures a giant magician’s hat, inviting all who enter to expect the unexpected.

“If it weren’t for the dang rabbit droppings my wife kept calling housekeeping to clean up, I would have thought I had imagined the whole thing,” Jasper Ellington reported to his local Milwaukee newspaper when interviewed about the Grand Opening Weekend he had attended.

“Get this,” he added, “housekeeping never showed up to clean a thing, but the rabbit droppings always vanished after my wife called the front desk.”

Jake Believe, formerly called Preston, owner and innovator of Vegas’ most spectacular hotel to date, had a vision of waving a magic wand

over the desert property he purchased and erecting the world’s first mystical casino. Fact is, no one ever saw the hotel being constructed. Where there lay an empty expanse of undeveloped terrain for years, one day Prestondigitation simply appeared.

Preston and Lulu remained happily married. She never did get used to calling him Jake, but truly loved his play on the words “make believe.” They had three children, a rooftop garden accompanied by a greenhouse, and animals galore. Lulu’s dreams became inseparable from Preston’s. Together, they inhabited the world of Jake Believe, where anything and everything could happen, because life is magic, if one believes.

Margie Marek resides in New York, is an animal and nature fanatic, and, outside of her dog, Hiro, and Heritage Hills Community Theater company, WORDS are her favorite  PLAYmates. She has shown and sold her visual art work, written and performed stand-up comedy, and acted in a Garrison, NY production of an original play titled Dinner Theater. Lately, her poetry  has been making “guest appearances “in her local newspaper, The Somers Record, and she is involved in an HHCT production of the play An Inspector Calls; learning that “good people” transform words from PLAYmates into lasting friendships.