Friends at night

Chapter 12, A game of cards and a shot of whiskey

Dad led me to the living area, almost as if it was my first time there. I forced a small smile on my lips, following him obediently.  I could hear murmurs in the living room, some of the men and some of the women. I was actually a bit curious to see how many of father's friends were here. We walked in and everyone went quiet, making me slightly awkward. I saw three women and four men, five with my father. 

I looked rather quickly around the room, looking at each person rather quickly. They all looked normal but gave me goosebumps. There was a notebook on the coffee table which they were all sitting around. 'Crow Crew' was written at the top of the notebook's cover. I shivered a bit, wondering what that meant. One of the men saw I was looking at the notebook, so he took it in his hands, pulling it to his chest. It made me slightly suspicious but feeling my father pushing me forward and having an arm wrapped around my shoulder pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Everyone, I present to you, my daughter." He said in a monotone voice. The people in the room just nodded or stared me down, making me feel uneasy and out of place. I just wanted to leave the room, the atmosphere was too heavy for me. As I was going to turn around, my father led me to sit on a chair. I complied, not wanting to put him or his friends in a bad mood. 

A man pulled out a deck of cards, laying them out on the table. He was bald and well built, yet quite slim. He looked a bit like the hard-working father type, the one who will work in an office to gain money for his family. He had a cold look in his eyes, enough to make me shiver as if the room dropped ten degrees. 

I knew my father's friends were weird, but this is just plain scary. I wonder if they were always like this, cold and silent. The man shuffled the cards while looking at me, then looking at my father. He nodded, almost as if he read the man's mind. The man curved his lips in a small smirk, looking back at me. I wanted to ask dad what was going on and who were these people, but the words got caught in my throat. 

The man cleared his throat and motioned me to come closer. I felt frozen in my seat, I didn't want to get any closer. I felt fine where I was, a safe distance from these questionable people. I felt my chair get pushed and a small woman's giggle behind me. " Come on, you guys are being too cold on the child. Lighten up people, you're clearly freaking her out. " A female's voice said behind me, dragging lightly on a few words.

The woman behind me walked to the nearby sofa, sitting on it and crossing her legs. She was wearing a short red skirt and a black blouse, her hair was long and brown, her eyes were also brown, matching her hair. After what she said, the room's atmosphere did change lightly but still was thick enough to cut with a knife.

The man stopped shuffling his cards and spoke up. " Do you know how to play BlackJack?" He asked, not breaking the eye contact he made with me. I shook my head, not wanting to speak. He motioned another man to come to the table. The man had black short hair, the type you would see as a bartender that wouldn't mind taking money bills out of women's breasts. 

"It's nothing too complicated." The bald man said, dealing the cards. " From two to ten, cards have the face value, face cards value ten and the ace is worth one or eleven. We won't be playing with a standard table or bets, as you can see. " He said as he delt two cards for the second man and himself. He placed his first dealt card face up and it was a queen. He left the other unturned on the table.

" Now, the players have a choice to stand, which means to not ask for another card or hit, which means to ask for an additional card." He looked at his friend, waiting for his answer. "Stand." He said with a slight smirk. I wanted to peek at his hand and see what it was even if I still didn't know the goal of the game. I guess the man saw me and lowered his cards face down on the table.