Eighteen years ago Sam bailed me out of a gambling debt and warned me never to bet again.
It all started with the NFC Championship Game in 1993 right before the Superbowl XXVII. Dallas defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 30–20. I won $100 off that bet but it sent me into weeks of delirium.
I took that $100 and bet on a Knicks game the next night. When they won, I was ecstatic. I thought, damn, I could quit working at Foot Locker now and just bet on games! Easy money!
When the guy who placed the bet for me called me after the game, I was ready to collect my three hundred.
“Serena, you alright? I’m really sorry.”
“What are you sorry for? I won!!!”
“Uh, yeah the Knicks won but they didn’t make the spread.”
“What the frick is a spread?”
Silence.
“Are you telling me you made a bet without knowing what a spread is? They had to win by 11 points tonite. They only won by 7.”
I could actually feel my heart racing so fast I thought it was going to come out of my throat.
“Holy shit. Dude, when do you need the money?”
“Uh, ASAP. Why? Are you telling me you bet without even having the money? Serena…”
This was hands down, by far, the dumbest shit I ever did in my sixteen years and at that very moment, I thought “That’s it. I’m dead. His bookie is going to find me and kill me.”
I immediately hung up after assuring him that I’d get the money to him, some way, some how, and called my older sister because no matter what, she always had my back.
After hearing her scream at me for 10 minutes, she finally calmed down and asked her then-boyfriend to fix the situation since it was he who placed the original pre-Superbowl bet for me.
For an entire week we bet on NBA games. One day I was up, one day I was down. By the end of the week, I was not only still down the three hundred dollars, but was also suffering from sleep deprivation and slacking on my studies. I was a hot mess.
And then, like a Knight in Shing Armor, driving in his white Saab instead of galloping on a horse, Sam swooped in and saved me!
I had been shooting pool downtown in NYC at what used to be Mammoth Billiards, one of our favorite spots back in the day.
Sam walked in, comes over to me and says, “I hear you have a gambling debt.”
“Who told you? My sister? Damn, big mouth!”
“Listen, take this” and he reached out and took my hand and put a wad of cash into it.
“What the heck? What is this for? Where did you get this?” I started asking a million questions.
“Serena, just take the money and pay off your debt. Just promise me you’ll never bet again. Ever. You can pay me back whenever, it’s no rush.”
I should have just proposed to him right then and there, but I was an idiot. I knew then that Sam was a very dear friend and I was lucky to still have him in my life even after we had broken up.
You guys are probably thinking, well what the heck does this have to do with Reggie Lee? Well, fast forward to last weekend, Sam and I were watching The Fast and Furious movie. There was a scene with this Asian guy and Sam immediately says, “That’s your man from Tropic Thunder“.
“No way” I say.
“I’m telling you, it’s the same guy. Look it up”.
“Oh yeah? You’re that sure, eh? Care to make a wager?”
“I’ll bet you one thousand dollars that it’s him.”
I started to get nervous. Sam wouldn’t bet that much unless he knew he was right.” I couldn’t back down though. I had already opened by big mouth.
“Fine, IMDb it.”
He immediately grabbed Madi’s laptop and simultaneously pulled up Tropic Thunder and The Fast and Furious on the Internet Movie Database site.
And there it was, Reggie Lee’s name on both casting lists. My heart sunk.
“Dang!!! Why don’t I ever learn?” But I was more impressed with Sam’s newfound skills then upset that I had lost the bet.
Reggie Lee has been in countless movies and tv shows over the years but I never knew of him until Tropic Thunder. When I saw him in that scene in The Fast and Furious, it was a young him and I couldn’t make the connection. Usually it is I, who masters that stuff but for the very first time, Sam stepped up.
“One thousand dollars.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“Thank you Bena.”
“Don’t thank me, thank Reggie Lee.”
Benaboboli's Weblog 
