by Jade Kuzma
“I’m always eager to see just how good tournament winners here at Eden are,” he said. “Perhaps you’d like to test that.”
“I suppose you wanna play a few hands.”
“Not a few hands. One hand.”
“One hand?”
“One hand. Place all of your winnings on the line.”
“You want me to place everything I just won on a single hand?”
I laughed at him and shook my head. I looked at Faye to see if Alvarez was serious but she just stared blankly at me. Alvarez didn’t seem as amused as I was either.
“You’re joking, right? I’d have the same chances going back out into the casino and playing roulette.”
“I don’t want to bet on who has the better hand,” Alvarez explained. “I want to bet on if you’ll make the right decision.”
“…What?”
“We’ll deal the cards. Then you’ll bet on who has the better hand. You’re right, you double your money. You’re wrong, I take it all.”
I’d never heard anything like this in my life. I was waiting for someone to come up to me and tell me this was a prank. But Faye and Alvarez just kept giving me those blank stares, waiting for my response.
“What do you say, Mr. Jacobson? Care to put all of your money on the line and double it?”
I reached into my jacket and pulled out the wad of bills.
“All right,” I said with a nod, putting the cash on the felt. “I won two grand. I’m sure you can cover that, right?”
“Not a problem.”
Alvarez reached into his pocket and pulled out a small stack of cash. He placed it down on the table in front of me.
One hand for double. Now I’ve seen everything.
Alvarez raised his hand into the air and snapped his fingers.
“Dealer.”
A dealer arrived quickly and took his place at the side of the table. I kept my eyes on Alvarez as the cards were dealt in front of us. I was still expecting someone to come up to me and tell me this was a joke.
“Well, Mr. Jacobson,” Alvarez said. “What hand would you place your money on?”
I looked over at Alvarez’s hand.
Three of clubs.
Five of diamonds.
Six of diamonds.
Seven of hearts.
Hole card.
I examined my hand.
Two of hearts.
Two of spades.
Ten of hearts.
Ten of clubs.
I peeked at my hole card and saw the nine of diamonds.
I quickly started going over everything in my head.
I’ve got two pair. Alvarez has nothing except an inside straight draw.
“Well?”
Alvarez kept eyeballing me, waiting for my response. I was almost pissed that two fucking thousand dollars was on the line depending on whether or not he had a four.
I had the better hand.
“I—”
I cut myself off when I noticed Faye staring at me. Her jaw clenched, she softly shook her head. Shit was subtle. I barely noticed it but it was there.
What was that?
I looked back down at the cards to make sure that I was seeing things straight. There was no way he could have a four. The chances of that were too slim. I couldn’t fuck around like that. But my gut was telling me otherwise.
“You what?” Alvarez said. “Were you about to say something?”
“You,” I said. “You have the better hand.”
“Do I? The only card I could beat you with is a four. Do you really think I have a straight?”
I clenched my jaw and nodded.
Alvarez sighed and flipped his hole card over.
Four of spades.
I closed my eyes and sighed a deep breath through my nose.
“That’s very impressive, Mr. Jacobson. Not a lot of people would make that play.”
Even I had to admit that shit was stupid. But I wasn’t about to try to figure it out now. Luck was on my side. Or in this case, Faye was.
“Congratulations.”
I reached out and took the money from the table.
“Faye will escort you out. Faye, if you will…”
“Yes, sir.”
Faye gave me a nod then led me out of the VIP lounge. I couldn’t risk saying anything to her. Not with the possibility that someone would hear. As soon as we got back to the main floor, Faye gave me a soft smile.
“Why did you—”
“I’m your friend,” she said. “You know I’ve always been your friend, Hunter.”
“Yeah, well… Thanks. I appreciate it.”
I turned around to leave but she grabbed my arm. She gave me a look I’d seen a hundred times before. Green eyes that were so intense I knew she was being sincere.
“We should talk and catch up,” she asked.
“What?”
“It’s been so long. Hunter…”
I let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that it was the least I could do for her after what I just saw.
“Here,” she said as she handed her phone to me. “Give me your number and I’ll contact you.”
I grabbed her phone and punched my number in.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“I’m staying in Ivory. If you wanna talk, talk to me there.”
“Right.”
I started to leave again when she called out to me.
“Hunter…”
She gave me a half-smirk.
“…It’s good to see you again.”
Just a little bit of a smile brought back memories I didn’t think I had any longer.
I smiled back at her for just a second before finally turning to leave.
Chapter 4
FAYE
Seven years earlier…
The sun was out today. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, so it was a lot brighter and hotter than usual. I could feel the warm breeze against my skin even though I wasn’t even outside. It was a beautiful summer day. That alone was enough to make me smile.
It was tempting but not enough to get me away from where I was.
Focus, Faye.
I kept my attention on the paper in front of me. My hand moved on its own. I scribbled my thoughts down as quickly as I could before they left me. I was so caught up in my writing that I started to forget how wonderful it was outside.
The sound of a door opening broke my concentration but I pushed through it. Footsteps approached. They grew louder in my ear until I felt a figure near me. They took a seat at the desk in front of me. I wouldn’t have minded someone joining me. But an apple crunching broke the silence and eventually my concentration.
I sighed a deep breath and raised my pen up from the paper. I looked up and saw Hunter there.
He was as nonchalant as he always was, leaning back in his seat without a care in the world. I’d never met a boy who could act so cool no matter what he did. I guess that’s why all the girls at school liked him. It didn’t hurt that he spent most of his free time at the gym or in front of a mirror.
He slicked his hand over his head to comb his black hair back then took another loud bite of his apple. He widened his eyes at me then held the apple out.
“What’s wrong?” he said. “You want a bite?”
He already knew what I was thinking but he always had to act oblivious because it would get on my nerves.
A smirk formed on his lips. I rolled my eyes and sighed but smiled anyway.
“What are you doing in here?” he said as he looked out the window. “You see all that? That’s the sun.”
“Yes, I know what the sun is,” I said with a laugh.
“Then why aren’t you out there. Everybody is enjoyin’ their summer. Runnin’ through the sand on the beach. Soakin’ up the rays. Splashin’ in the water.”
“I’ve got work to do.”
“Only you, Faye. It’s summer and you’re in the library doing some book report.”
“This is impor
tant,” I said.
I knew that I couldn’t stress the point to Hunter enough so that he’d understand but I did it anyway.
“It’s senior year,” I said. “This is the kind of prep work we need to do if we’re going to get ready for college.”
“It’s not mandatory,” he scoffed. “They’re just giving us work during the summer to try to keep us out of trouble.”
“For you, maybe that’s not such a bad thing.”
I raised an eyebrow and he shook his head, that confident smile still on his lips.
“Don’t even start with me,” he said. “You can’t expect me to stop from enjoying my summer.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“I came here to check on my friend. I wanted to make sure you’re not stressing out too much. I know how you get when it comes to school.”
Hunter and I talked about college all the time. Now that we were on the verge of graduating, it was starting to become a reality.
I put my head down and started writing to distract myself from him.
“You’re a straight-A student, Faye. You’ve done more community service than anybody else. Student council president. You’ve won a bunch of awards.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that you can get to any school you want to go to. You don’t need to waste your time doing some meaningless prep work in the middle of the summer.”
“You think it’s meaningless but it’s not. It’s not just about getting to college. It’s about being ready. This is the kind of work I need to do in order to do well. I have to be prepared. Hence, prep work.”
Hunter crunched another bite out of his apple. I wouldn’t have known he was still there if he wasn’t chewing so loudly. It was distracting enough for me to put my pen down and look back up at him.
His shirt was messy. The same for his hair. He looked like any other teen enjoying his summer.
I couldn’t help but smile at him.
“What’s so funny?” he said.
“Hunter… What are you going to do?”
“What am I gonna do? I was thinking about heading to the beach. I wanted to invite you and—”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m talking about after school. Once we graduate.”
He shrugged and took another bite of his apple.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about it.”
“How long have we been friends? Seven years?”
“Something like that, I guess. Why?”
“I know you better than anybody.”
“I don’t know if I like where this is going…”
“Have you thought about going to college?”
Hunter chuckled. It was just the kind of reaction I expected from him.
“I thought about it, sure.”
“I mean, have you given it some real thought.”
“Look, Faye. I’m not like you. I don’t like to study. I don’t like to read. I don’t like to write. I don’t like to spend my time in a library when everybody else is enjoying the daylight.”
“Maybe. But you’re good at it. You do well in your math classes. You pick it up just like that.”
I snapped my fingers.
“Maybe if you studied a little harder this year, your grades will come up. That’d be enough to get you into a good school. Maybe we could even go to the same school.”
“Faye, my grades will never be good enough to get to the schools you’re going to.”
“Well, we can at least share stories of what it’s like going to school. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
Hunter looked away from me like he was trying to get away from the question. He knew that I was his friend and I wanted what was best for him. At the same time, I didn’t want to upset him. I didn’t want to push him. Not when it seemed like he was in a good mood.
“Are you really gonna spend all day working on that?” he said. “You’re 17 years old, Faye. You should be out there enjoying your summer like everybody else.”
I could see where Hunter was coming from, though it wasn’t going to convince me to see things his way. But he was still my friend.
“I’ll tell you what,” I said. “Let me work on this for a little bit more. Then maybe we can go to the beach.”
“That doesn’t sound like a compromise. There’s only so many hours of the sun.”
“It’s still early in the day. There’s plenty of time to get out there.”
“Fine…”
Hunter tossed his apple core into a nearby trash bin while I got back to work. He sat right in front of me, going through his phone and chuckling to himself from time to time.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked.
“He’s busy,” I sighed. “Work.”
“You’re in the library. He’s at work. Just a couple of poor souls. You two were meant for each other.”
Hunter teasing me about my boyfriend was nothing new. He’d been doing it ever since we were younger. I didn’t mind because it gave me a reason to do the same.
“How about your girl?” I said, my attention still focused on my paper. “What was her name again? I’m having trouble keeping track.”
“Jennifer,” he grumbled.
“Jennifer? I thought her name was Danica.”
“Danica was a slut. I had to get rid of her a couple days ago.”
“Got what you wanted, huh?”
“You know I did.”
“And this, what was her name again?”
I glanced up at Hunter and smirked. He rolled his eyes and kept his attention on his phone.
“Jennifer—”
“This Jennifer. Is she the one? Is she special?”
“If by ‘the one’ you mean ‘the one I’m going to hook up with’ then yes, she is. She’s very special to me.”
“You ever think about getting into a serious relationship, Hunter?”
He laughed so loud that it echoed through the cavernous library. Thank goodness the place was empty.
“There’s no such thing as a serious relationship at my age.”
“I don’t mean it like that,” I said. “I’m just saying that there’s more to being with someone than just hooking-up. Like Jennifer… Don’t you want to take her to the homecoming dance? Prom? Don’t you want to walk through the halls and hold hands with her?”
Hunter didn’t respond to me. I kept waiting for an answer but it never came. I finally stopped writing and looked up to find him staring at me with an eyebrow arched like he was confused.
“Why would I wanna do that?” he said.
“Because…”
“Because what?”
I should’ve known better than to try and explain something like this to someone like Hunter.
“Never mind,” I said. “The hook up is all that matters.”
“There you go. Now you’re seeing things my way.”
“I sure am…”
I sighed and went back to finishing my work. It’d only been a few minutes when Hunter started badgering me again.
“Hurry up, would you? You’re wasting daylight.”
“I’m working as fast as I can.”
“You have the whole summer to finish this. Why can’t you just take a break and finish it later?”
“If I finish it now, I can take a break later.”
“That’s one way. Not for me though. I say you take what you’ve got and enjoy it. Try to deal with it later.”
“You say that now but one day… It’s going to catch up to you, Hunter. You’ll see…”
“I don’t think so.”
Hunter started whistling to the point that I had to stop again. I looked up at him but he wasn’t paying any attention, lost in whatever messages he was reading and sending.
I sighed again and went back to work.
Balancing work and my friendship with Hunter. It was going to be a long summer.
Chapter 5
HUNTER
I
got back to Ivory with my cash as fast as I could. You never wanted to walk around carrying that much shit, even if there were hundreds of guys at that casino who would scoff at it.
Back in my hotel room, I had a chance to finally take a break. There was a lot you could do with four grand. It was more than enough to live comfortably, at least for a few days. But I wasn’t in the business of living comfortably. Right now, all I needed was to get by.
Some liquor and a few hours later, I laid on my couch. I was just about to drift off to sleep for the night when my phone buzzed. I grumbled to myself knowing that I couldn’t ignore it. A quick glance and I saw a message from Faye.
I blinked my eyes to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. A part of me couldn’t believe that I’d run into her again, let alone in a fucking casino. I made the mistake of giving her my number. Now I had to suffer the consequences.
I gave her the address and my room number. Just a quick moment later, there was a knock at my door.
My piece in my hand, I pointed it at the door then opened it slowly to see Faye standing there by herself.
“Hunter?”
“Are you alone?”
“What?” she said, confusion tattooed on her face. “Who else would I be with?”
“Right…”
I opened the door wide enough to let her come in then shut and locked it. Faye put her hands on her hips as she kept giving me that confused stare. She always looked at me that way.
“What are you doing?” she said. “Why are you pointing a gun at me?”
“I’m not pointing a gun at you. I’m pointing a gun at someone who was behind you.”
I dropped my piece on the table next to the couch and took my seat. Faye started examining the room. I knew she was eyeballing the liquor on the table.
“It looks like you’re enjoying your winnings…”
“I’m enjoying my winnings. They’re my winnings. I can do what I want with them.”
Faye was wearing the same outfit I saw her in just a few hours ago. She was messing with her fingers like she was nervous. But she kept staring at me like a damn concerned parent.
I couldn’t be mad at her though. She was the reason I won in the first place.
“What was that all about?” I asked. “That whole deal with Alvarez.”
