The Last Game

by Fernando Trujillo Sanz

  Dante looked at his cards for a few seconds then gave Alvaro an arrogant look. “Let´s make it more interesting.”

  He raised Alvaro´s bet with a green chip. The first that had been used in the game. It was the biggest bet of the night. It wasn´t enormous but without any doubt, juicy.

  “I´m out.” Judith said, throwing her cards in.

  That was prudent, Alvaro thought. He knew she had two pairs, queens and fives. A good hand, but not good enough to put everything on the line. It was the right decision, perhaps a little too cautious.

  “I´ll raise you.” Alvaro said, pushing one green and three red chips forward.

  Dante´s reaction was much more revealing than Judith´s.

  “Don´t be stingy, Doc.” He said, smiling. “Let´s see how far you´re capable of going.”

  Without taking his eyes off Alvaro for a second, Dante picked a yellow chip up and moved it slowly across the table.

  The show was on. And it was a real learning curve for Alvaro. He knew exactly what Dante had in his wrinkled hands. Only a sad pair of fives. Alvaro admired Dante´s bluff. He was acting his heart out, and doing it very well. He showed no signs of nervousness.

  Alvaro had three eights in his hand and could win the biggest hand of the night without any problem. But he decided not to do that, just yet. He wanted Dante´s ego as big as he could get it. There´d be bigger pots to win later on. He threw his cards in. “Too much for me.“

  He´d learnt a lot about their tactics. Useful information that he´d put to advantage as the night wore on. He knew where Dante was coming from. Alvaro wasn´t going to do anything suspicious. He only had to wait for a winning hand when he wasn´t the dealer.

  “That was very easy.” Dante said delighted, raking in the winnings. “I don´t know why I thought your balls were bigger?”

  “Well, the truth is I needed better cards to go with the balls I´ve got. What were you holding?”

  “Ah, ah. You should have kept raising your bet if you wanted to know what I had. That´s my secret. You don´t want me to reveal my strategy, do you?”

  That wasn´t necessary. Dante was a classic case. He couldn’t cover his enthusiasm up after having won with an inferior hand. The pleasure of winning with a bad hand gave his self-esteem a sudden upward lift. He was already beginning to look like he felt invincible. He was dying to tell everyone at the table that he´d won with nothing more than a pair of fives.

  Alvaro preferred not to answer Dante. In the next hand he received some bad cards and passed. Hector did the same again. It was almost as if he wasn´t playing. Alvaro decided to ignore that and try and breach the wall of indifference surrounding his enigmatic opponent.

  “You don´t seem too interested in the game.” He said casually. Hector didn´t bother to answer. He was still looking at the girl. “I don´t get it. You haven´t played one hand. You haven´t come here for no good reason. I imagine, judging by your appearance, you´ve done the same thing all your life. Maybe . . .”

  “Put a lid on it.” Hector interrupted him. “My motives are my affair and I´m not going to share them with you.”

  “How can talking with me hurt you? When everything´s said and done, we´re in the same boat. Why don´t you want to talk?”

  “Because what you think doesn´t interest me. Bother the other two with your verbal rubbish if you want, leave me out of it. Why don´t you hassle the girl for a while? You like her, don´t you?”

  Was it that obvious? Alvaro didn´t think so. And yet Hector had picked it up, which meant he was a shrewd observer. That wasn´t good news. And it didn´t seem possible to get him to talk about himself, which was even worse. Alvaro felt confused. Why would a person who took such little interest in his own appearance be sitting at this table? He wasn´t a street bum, that was for sure. Alvaro had seen plenty of homeless people at the hospital and Hector wasn´t like any of them. He had a few things in common with that poor herd of humanity but there was a glint in his eye that set him apart. He was hiding something. And he didn´t know why, but Alvaro suspected that fierce determination lay behind his dirty façade. Hector knew very well what he was doing there and nothing else bothered him. That was the reason for his impenetrable indifference.

  The girl was the key! Hector had hardly taken his eyes off her since she´d appeared. What did she want here? Everyone knew who she was, so it wasn´t her identity that had captured Hector´s attention. Maybe it was the fact that she was only a girl with this strange pet beside her. Alvaro remembered that it had been suggested that his host would be a woman, but he hadn´t expected running into a sweet little thing like this. Still, even allowing for that, Hector´s interest in her was hard to understand.

  He looked at him again. He was still looking at her, at her hands to be precise. She was building a castle now, or was it a house? Alvaro began to watch what she was doing carefully. And the more he looked the more amazed he became. The shadow coming off the blocks changed when she touched them and returned to its original position when she took her hand away. It was very strange. And watching that underlined the peril of touching her.

  Dante´s voice boomed across the table, almost as if he´d forgotten for a second where he was. “You´re up to something, sweetie. You´re little girl act doesn´t fool me.”

  “You´re a liar.” Judith said, collecting the chips. “If you think I´ve done something, prove it or shut up.”

  Dante smashed his fist onto the table. “I don´t think it, I´m convinced. And I don´t have to prove it to you.”

  Alvaro stood up and walked towards Dante. “Get a hold on your tongue my friend or you´ll pay the consequences.”

  Dante had gone too far. To intimidate a pregnant woman like this was simply too much for Alvaro. He could do and say what he liked in his own corrupt world where his money no doubt demanded obedience from those around him, but he wasn´t going to get away with treating Judith like this here.

  “What do you think you´re doing, Doc?” Dante asked. “What happened to this friendly chatty fellow of a few minutes ago? It would seem the princess over there has really got to you.”

  “Don´t start crying every time you lose. Be a man for once in your life. If she´s played better than you, accept it!”

  Judith´s soft, weak voice interrupted them. “The girl wouldn´t have allowed me to cheat.”

  “There, see!” Alvaro said, even though he knew she was lying. The girl had done nothing when he´d been cheating.

  “You weren´t following the game, Doc.” Dante informed him, ignoring Judith. “But I was. And I´m saying that this bitch with her sweet angelic face, is a dirty cheat.”

  “Shut up! You´re very rude.” The girl shouted suddenly. There was a sudden silence in the room. A look of panic crossed Dante´s face. He wasn´t moving a muscle. “Very rude! I want to keep playing. But I will have to punish you.”

  The girl was standing up on the chair now, leaning towards the floor, her finger pointing at Zeta. The enormous animal looked at her obediently, his ears bent back, his tail between his legs. Not one black hair on the dog´s body moved as he bore the reprimand without being able to look at the girl for more than a few seconds.

  “Was she talking to me or the mutt?” Dante asked, his voice trembling.

  “She´s not looking at you.” Hector said. “But I´d take this as a warning. How many times have I got to tell you that the girl won´t speak directly to us?”

  He certainly wouldn´t have to repeat it again. Everyone at the table had it clear enough. Alvaro returned to his chair calmly and the rest sat where they were completely still. It was extraordinary to watch the girl putting the dog in its place.

  It had an effect on everyone and most certainly the game. Until she started playing with her plastic blocks again no one dared to start playing poker. She set the rules without saying a word directly to them. She wouldn´t tolerate fighting. The curious thing was though that she was happy to let them cheat. Alvaro had no doubt that she knew exactly what was go
ing on.

  Judith collected the chips and shuffled the cards, then started dealing the cards.

  Alvaro began to feel a deep dislike for Hector. His curiosity was so great, that combined with the frustration of not being able to find anything out about him, he was beginning to hate the sight of him sitting across the table oozing coldness and indifference and refusing to play poker with the rest.

  Dante won the next hand with a pair of kings. But he didn´t win much.

  Judith was winning. Her pile of chips had grown steadily. Hector had lost only what he´d put in the center of the table at the start of each hand. Dante and Alvaro were both losing a little.

  It was Hector´s turn to deal. He did that without paying much attention to what he was doing, tossing the cards almost with disrespect ahead of him. Alvaro elected to say nothing.

  They all waged an opening bet.

  “A little more.” Dante said upping his bet, throwing two more chips into the pot. As usual Hector passed and Judith and Alvaro matched Dante´s bet. They discarded and picked up their new cards.

  “I´ll bet three more.” Judith said.

  “I´m in.” Alvaro said equally her bet.

  They both put their chips in the center at the same time bumping each other´s hands. Judith pulled hers back quickly.

  “At this pace we could be here a week. Don´t be cowards and liven this up a bit.” Dante said, bloating his broad chest, and tossing a wad of chips in front of him. It was the biggest bet of the night thus far.

  Alvaro couldn´t believe his luck. Dante was bluffing and he knew it. He had the same tone in his voice and the pupils in his eyes were dilated just like the last time he´d won with nothing in his hand. His whole body language suggested a bluff to Alvaro. This was the moment to build his winnings without having to resort to cheating. Even though he needed to confirm his suspicions. Dante could be faking a bluff. But if he was he was a better actor than Alvaro gave him credit for.

  “I´m out.” Judith said.

  Dante snorted with disdain.

  “You´ve bet a lot here.” Alvaro observed, patiently. “And you´re calling us cowards. Let´s see how brave you are. I’ll raise your bet.”

  He doubled Dante´s bet. And Judith gasped.

  “Now we see your true face, Doc.” Dante smiled. His expression of happiness seemed slightly forced, which Alvaro had expected. “I don´t want to let you down. I´ll raise your bet.”

  Dante separated his chips, leaving only a few near his hands and pushed the rest into the center of the table. Alvaro gulped. And if he was wrong about his opponent´s cards? Dante´s hands were like two rocks when he made that bet. Whoever lost this hand would have their backs to the wall. They´d effectively lose all chance of winning tonight. But on the other hand this opportunity couldn´t be passed up. If Alvaro didn´t follow his instinct what was the point of playing poker? He´d been building his judgment up ever since he first started playing.

  He looked out of the corner of his eye at the little girl in a desperate attempt to catch any detail that could help him decide. She didn´t look back at him. She was still playing with her blocks.

  Alvaro reprimanded himself for his weakness. He was losing his edge. Why had he looked at the girl, the bet should already be on the table! He only had to go through with this and he would all but wipe one of the players off the table. Nevertheless, he held back, afraid that Dante had more than the two aces that he had in his hand. He´d repeated the message over and over to himself before he´d left home: treat this game like any other. But that was easier said than done. He wasn´t going to throw the hand in. He opted for a compromise.

  “I´ll see you.” He finally said.

  The decision was made. He wasn´t going to raise and he wasn´t dropping out. He separated his chips and added more to the pot. He was about to find out if his judgment had been right.

  “What fun!” The girl applauded while she patted Zeta. The dog smiled and gave her a lick that nearly knocked her off the chair.

  Alvaro didn’t back down on this occasion. The decisive moment had arrived and he only wanted to see the outcome of this hand. He pulled his two aces to one side.

  “Well, let´s see what you´ve got there.”

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Alvaro held his breath without being aware of it. Judith gave him a vague, inscrutable look. He thought he could see a flash of approval in those fragile eyes, something that could tell him she was on his side, and wanted him to win and Dante to go under.

  “Lucky bastard!” Dante said, tossing his cards in.

  Alvaro relaxed straight away, taking a deep breath and reaching out to collect the winnings, ignoring Dante´s insults. He´d just reaffirmed his judgment, and wasn´t going to go through another crisis of self doubt again tonight. And that had a lot more value to him than the pile of chips he´d just won. He felt good, better than he´d felt in a long while. He´d always been a good gambler, and a good judge of character. Nobody could trick him.

  “Luck is always welcome.” Alvaro said. “And this time I´ve won without you even showing me your cards. You´re a bad loser.”

  “What more do you want?” Dante grumbled. “If I didn´t show you my cards it´s because they weren´t good enough. I´m not going to let you make fun of me.”

  Alvaro would have loved to do that. The millionaire who´d threatened a pregnant woman only a few minutes before, was all but finished in this game now. His arrogance didn´t count for much here anymore even with all his money.

  An idea occurred to Alvaro as he got a new slant on the thread of his thoughts. It was worth the effort to give it a try.

  “You´ve barely got any chips left, big boy.” Alvaro said. “I wouldn´t want to be in your place.”

  “I´m still not finished.” Dante said. “And don´t be so smug or we´ll find out if the girl´s mutt can stop me before I get to you.”

  “There´s no need to be so aggressive.” Alvaro went on. “I´m going to offer you a deal to get some of your stake back. I hear you´re a big businessman. Do you want to hear my proposal?”

  “What´s this, a joke?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I´ll listen then, although I can´t see what you want from me. Everybody here knows that the only important thing is the chips. Maybe we can leave the fleabag over there out of that. But the rest of us know that. So tell me, what do you want?”

  “Money, obviously. Something you have plenty of.”

  “Are you pulling my leg? Money? That´s absurd. That´s the last thing you´d want in these circumstances. I don´t believe you.”

  “It´s not for me. But my brother and sister are going through financial difficulties at the moment. But I´m not going to go into that. If you want to get this pile back.” Alvaro said separating half of his winnings. “All you have to do is transfer three million euros into their account. It´s up to you.”

  “Listen to you. So you´ve got guts when all is said and done. The price is a bit exaggerated though.”

  “I don´t think it is.” Alvaro replied. “It´s a large sum, but nothing compared with what you´ve robbed during your career. If you want to continue the game with the little you´ve got, that´s your business.”

  “I´m beginning to like you.” Dante said. “You´re good with cards. You guessed my bluff perfectly, but you´re no businessman, Doc. I could say no, and you´d come down a million in a jiffy. And all that in the name of helping your brother from starving to death. But seeing we don´t have a lot of time and money is the least important thing around here, I accept.”

  “Don´t do it!” Judith said, careful not to bump her stomach on the table as she stretched her hand across the table to Alvaro. “You´ll give him the chance of getting back into the game and he´s almost out of it now.”

  Alvaro didn´t want to disappoint Judith. “I´ve got to do it. It´s a chance to help my family and get something positive out of all this.”

  “Very moving. Can we finish the
deal?” Dante said extending his hand across the table.

  “Very well.” Alvaro said. “Ring your accountant right now and tell him to deposit the money. Then I´ll give you the chips. I´m sure our little friend won´t mind the interruption.”

  “Not so fast.” Hector interrupted. “You´re going to send another three million to another account that I´ll give you.”

  “Now he´s come to life.“ Dante said. “You were just sitting there fascinated with the little girl and now you´re on fire.”

  “Tell him.” Hector asked Alvaro. “Tell him to pay me as well.”

  Alvaro was taken by surprise. Hector had just bounced out of his inactive world with an impassioned and dramatic speech. He was visibly nervous, thinking about this sum of money. It was very strange. The last thing Alvaro would have thought that Hector was interested in was money.”

  “Why should I help you? You haven´t opened your mouth here all night. Haven´t answered one question I´ve asked you.”

  “Don´t feel sorry for yourself.” Hector said. “You´ve got the chance of doing something good with this criminal´s money. Just do it.”

  “My offer doesn´t extend to this street bum.” Dante said. “Don´t think that it does.”

  “Maybe you´re right, Hector.” Alvaro said. “But I want something in exchange. These chips are mine and you´ve got to pay for them.”

  “Pay how?”

  “With information.” Alvaro explained.

  It was the first opportunity that had come up to find out something about Hector and Alvaro wasn´t going to pass that up. “You´ve got to tell me who this money is for and why you are here. Understood?”

  “You don´t need to know anything about me to beat me in this game, if that´s your idea?”

  The answer surprised Alvaro. He wasn´t expecting it. “I´ll decide that. They´re my chips and you´ve got to win them. All you have to do is show me a little respect. Either that, or keep on doing what you´ve been doing all night and look at the girl again.”