La Arquitecta

Chapter 58

Wednesday night was a free one for the cartel group. They had decided to take advantage of the fact by going to a bar local to the secure parking lot where Elena had parked the tour bus for the night.

"Yeah, this'll do for us," Joe said as he led the group into the bar.

Zelina was the next one to walk in. Her first impression matched Joe's. The place wasn't a shit hole like some bars could be. In fact, it looked quite pleasant. The decoration and furniture were obviously fairly new, albeit in a rustic style. Another bonus was that there were not a great many other customers in. Sometimes bars could be too noisy to make conversation easy, and she didn't like that.

While everyone filed in through the door, Zelina discreetly slipped her promise ring onto her finger. She hadn't worn it since she and Seth had re-joined the group because they had agreed to wait for what felt like an opportune moment to tell them. On the way to the bar, she had told Seth that she had the ring in her pocket and wanted to tell everyone about it, and he had agreed.

"Hey, look, they have a pool table," Bobby said. "I know what we're doing tonight."

"We can only play pool two at a time, though, that's the only problem," Seth said.

"Not with the game I've got in mind. Let's get some drinks in, then I'll explain."

"This is going to involve money, isn't it?" Elena asked, rolling her eyes.

"Of course it is," Bobby grinned. "Who knows, you might even win some for a change," he added cheekily.

"Can I start the night by hitting him?" Elena asked the rest of the group.

"Please do," Seth said with a chuckle as he walked up to the bar. He ordered the first round of drinks after asking everyone what they wanted, then they walked over to the pool table, which was thankfully not being used by anyone else.

"Okay then, Bobby, what's this game you've got in mind?" Joe asked.

"It's really simple. Twenty bucks gets you in, and you get two lives. All you have to do is make a ball when it's your turn to take a shot. If you miss or sink the cue ball, you lose a life. The last person remaining wins the money. But, you have to make a ball to win. If you miss, everyone is back in the game with one life."

Zelina nodded her approval. "I can't shoot pool to save my life, but I'm in."

"Get your money out then," Bobby said, slapping a twenty of his own down on the side of the pool table.

They all got their cash out and added their own twenty dollars bills to the collection. Once they were all there, Elena picked them up. "I'll look after this," she said, looking at Joe and Bobby. "I'm not going to trust these shit bags."

That made everyone laugh, especially Bobby. The fact that she even knew the term shit bag made it seem funnier.

"We're the most trustworthy guys out there," Bobby said theatrically, with a big grin on his face.

"Yeah, right. Look at that grin," Seth laughed.

Smiling, Bobby walked over to a chalk board that was fixed to the wall near the pool table and started writing their names on it, putting two vertical lines next to each name to symbolise the two lives they had in the game.

As the chatter continued among the group, Joe started setting up the pool balls on the table and Zelina gently nudged Seth in the side. When he looked at her, she carefully showed him that she had the promise ring on her finger.

"It looks beautiful on you, muñeca," he said quietly, giving her a quick peck on the forehead.

"Okay," Bobby announced, having finished chalking the list of names onto the board. He had written them in alphabetical order. "Bay, looks like it's ladies first. The good news is you don't have to make a ball on the break off. You break, then you have your first real shot."