RafexKiara Tangled Up in All Your Pieces // Riara

Chapter 9

7 days left ; Tuesday ; 4 days until the party

"High card for Dealer Position. Ms. Kamila is a small blind, $5,000 and Mr. Frazer to the big blind $10,000." The caller calls out as I sit there ready to play my bet to avoid a split-pot with my opponent.

I sit up straightening my back and confidently staring at my opponent, attempting to ease him into a defeat.

My specialty was poker. Nobody has ever beaten me, so tonight should be a breeze. I'm almost there to finalizing the amount I need to give to Hart when I get the bag tonight.

I was playing against college-age jackasses who think they can play. so they can parade around their friends as a 'poker pro'.

As I previously stated, once a Kook, always a Kook. They can get anywhere with money. Or, at least, they believe that daddies' money can be used as an excuse slip to slither through life.

When life hits them, however, they have no one to turn to. It's sad to see how they operate. If only they could all sit down and remove the personas to see each other for who they truly are and accept it.

It's like a scuff in a perfect world. Nothing or no one will ever be perfect because we are all waiting for someone to break so that we can feel validated enough to speak up.

If we knew we were created to be ourselves, maybe we'd all be able to step out and accept life for what it is.

If we surrounded ourselves with people who encouraged us to be ourselves, to dream, to have our rights, and to not be judged.

My opponent places three cards worth $10,000 on the table. There are no spades, only hearts. So he believes he can entice me into slow play. As I shuffle through my cards, I cast a nervous glance at him. I placed two chips on the table.

With my seemingly nervous expression, I appear to have caught him off guard. The audience erupts in gasps.

"50,000, check." I say this as I lean back in my chair, raising my brows and looking at him with confidence in my eyes.

In situations like these, I feel a sense of security in my name. The world around you is a lion's den, but as long as you keep your enemies close, you won't need a backup plan.

"Bet.", the Kook says through gritted teeth glaring at me with pure hatred.

I wink at him, letting him know that I'm anticipating his next move. He opened with a big blind, which gave me the opportunity to split my cards and straddle a sit-and-go. In other words, don't place a large bet in the first round.

I watch him as he shuffles his cards, pretending to have the card to split the pot. But I knew he didn't have the right card because of the three rainbow sets he laid out in front of me.

As the silence around us grew and the only sound heard was the clock behind him, I took a sip of booze, slightly squinting my eyes at him.

Under my gaze, he began to fidget. I've got him. He's exactly where I need him to be. He didn't have a royal flush to split the pot. I haven't put any cards down yet, so my short stack is more valuable.

I started hearing whispers as his kook friends behind him realized the loss he was about to suffer. For a split second, I give him a sweet smile, feeling sympathetic towards him.

He looks at me, his eyes glazed over from drinking too much. Now here's where he went wrong: never drink before a poker game.

"Mr. Frazer, you have 10 seconds to make a play. You will be disqualified if you sit out ", the caller declares.