She dreamed of a stuffy, moldy room.
"Do you know the rules of poker?" A smiling man asked from the other side of the table.
The dim light held by bare wires to the ceiling highlighted the figure in the opposite seat. Still young, she had trouble reaching the dirty surface of the synthetic furniture, needing to stand on the chair.
Everything smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, especially the figure shrouded in shadows.
With long black hair and eyes of the same color, the nameless girl was like one of hundreds on the outskirts. Malnourished and intoxicated.
There was no answer, but he was already used to it.
The fox, beneath the fedora hat and with his beard trimmed in a Van Dyke style, kept talking, full of amusement.
"It's a very interesting game. Luck, lies… greed. It's almost addicting" From under the table, he pulled out an old deck of cards, the little box already falling apart.
Nothing in the game's description stirred the girl, who saw no point in playing games. She remained still, her face closed off.
"My favorite part is the reward." His raspy voice seemed loaded with anticipation. A second item was placed on top of the table — a nearly empty tube. "Food, weapons, clothes — everything the other player has."
Her eyes opened with renewed energy, drawn to the tube of synthetic paste. The portion given a moment ago hadn't been enough to line her stomach.
She needed more.
That was the reaction the fox had been waiting for.
"You just need to win." He smiled, his grin stretching wide.
The dry sound of cards slapping against the plastic table echoed through the room.
***
Her hands were trembling with rage by the end of the tenth game.
At that point, she no longer needed to hear the same instructions on repeat. The turn order fresh in her mind and the value of each card on the tip of her tongue had led her to believe she was ready.
She was bitterly wrong.
"Too bad it's not your lucky day, miss. How about a… break?" The man pulled various pebbles and plastic filaments toward himself on his side of the table, collecting the junk like treasure.
The smile in his voice made the sympathy of his words as hollow as possible.
There were no chips there, and the girl had no possessions of value either, so all that was left was to bet imaginary money. Now, even those had been drained.
The young girl's gaze left the cards on the table and fixed on the face hidden beneath the fedora, as if she wanted to burn a hole straight through it.
That damned fox hadn't drawn a hand below a full house this entire time.
She had held back her frustration until then, believing that eventually, her big break would come. All it took was one win to get her hands on that tube.
But at this rate, hunger would take her life before she ever caught the scent of paste. Her eyes simply couldn't hold back the tears of frustration.
For the first time, the man on the other side of the table paused. His eyes briefly became visible — red as rubies — before being hidden again by the hat.
Fear lodged in her throat for an instant, haunted by the unreal crimson.
"Come on… don't be so dramatic, little girl. Crying is a waste of water when you have nothing to drink." Gathering the cards, the fox reorganized the order of the deck — this time not for a game.
But a lesson.
"Why do you think you're losing?"
With difficulty, she steadied her breathing, convincing herself there were no threats… for now.
That question was like an itch she couldn't scratch.
Because she didn't know.
With few options, the girl pointed at the man, deciding that if there was someone to blame, it should be him.
The man's sinister smile blazed with renewed vigor.
"Wrong. The fault is entirely yours, little one." With his hands, the adult shuffled the cards faster than the girl's eyes could follow. At the end of the movement, he placed the deck in the palm of his opponent.
She noticed the anomaly immediately… the sequence of cards hadn't changed. Not a single one.
The look of disbelief on her face was hilarious.
"Deceiving others is a talent. Being deceived is a sin." With his hand, the fox gestured toward the table, suggesting a new game. "Come on — it's your turn to be the dealer."
Her turn…?
For some reason, the child didn't move, lost.
When, after a minute, she had shown no signs of changing, the fox continued, making his desire clearer.
"My hands are already hurting, can you believe it? Age is cruel to these little fingers… come on, do this favor for an old man."
Was he lying again?
A brief flash of the swindler from the first time they met — sprawled on the street with a half-empty bottle in hand, staring at her swollen face in the rain — crossed her mind. Before she could get distracted, she drowned the thought.
Because it didn't matter what his intentions were behind such a stupid decision.
With her forearm, the young girl wiped the tears from her face, deciding this was a golden opportunity.
Without that disgusting old man and his decrepit fingers cheating, victory was within her reach.
All she had to do was reach out.
Her small palm gripped tightly, nearly crumpling the cards, while a smile strangely similar to the man's threatened to appear on her lips.
"What lovely teeth you have." He commented ironically, eyeing the little gaps left by fallen baby teeth.
She just needed to try again.
Again.
And again.
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Author's notes:
It's been a while since I last posted, hasn't it? Unfortunately, spending 10 hours at college and 8 hours sleeping leaves me very little time to handle, like… everything else in my life.
I thought for a while about how I should move forward with the story.
And I realized that if I kept chapters the same length, it would take weeks to release each one.
So, from now on, chapters will be at most 1k words, to ensure a more consistent schedule. I hope you don't mind.
I love everyone who has kept supporting or waiting for updates!