I’d been robbed.
As soon as I got back at my hotel room, I immediately knew something was wrong. Things looked out of place and moved. My bag was open (I had only taken that with me, the rest of our stuff was in the Crowne Plaza in Tel Aviv). I looked inside the bag and found the cue case—open and empty. I took it everywhere for safety, and just couldn’t believe it was gone. I frantically searched the room, and shouted for David Noble who was in the room just opposite me.
He joined in the search.
It was gone! So was my James Bond watch. I could buy another of those anytime, but the cue was irreplaceable.
My heart sunk; my legs grew weak and shaky; panic overtook me.
The hotel management called in the police, who took statements and tried to console us.
“Look!” said Officer Jerayesh in his best English. “You know, sometimes these are inside jobs—the staff set it up for the pale …, I mean, you know, the poor kids. They cross the Wall and get everywhere in this city. They steal and scuttle back like little rats. But we help you get your watch back.”
“And my cue,” I pleaded.
“No, no no!” he argued. “Some kid playing pool with that? Where a hotel? Too much money to play here. No No. It will be used to smack their sharmuta, or skewer their shwarma. You buy another! We’re too busy to look for a stick.”
“But I need that one. You don’t understand,” I insisted, barely paying attention to the ‘Busy’ word.
“You rich,” Officer Baruch, piped in. “You play on telefishon … you buy anothar steeck.”
They left the hotel to my cries of protest which grew fainter and fainter by the second.
Those two were useless. Talk about Good Cop, Bad Cop—those two were Bad Cop, and Crap Cop. Judging by the size of Jerayesh’s belly, they were probably off to buy falafel and kebabs.
How could I play now? It was gone. I was finished. How would I tell David Noble and the rest of the world? I just stood there in silence.
After a while, David suggested we take a walk outside again. It had grown dark and was quieter outside he informed me. I followed him outside in something of a daze.
And then, quite the most unbelievable thing happened.
YOU ARE READING
Steiner and the Hypnotic Cue
FantasíaSteiner and the Hypnotic Cue is an Adventure Story about Magic and Professional Snooker. Steiner's curiosity gets the better of him and after performing a magic ritual from the key of solomon, he is catapulted into a life of magic, money and success.
