Awakening, 2nd edition (18 page)

Second, it’s about time to start neutralizing competition. The truth is, there ’s more than one man here who can lead others. Somewhere or even anywhere. And making the voters believe that you ’re the right man for the job is as important as planting into their minds the idea that no one else is capable of doing it. Elections 101. Summers knew perfectly well where he was sending him to. It ’s quite possible that the old fox himself had been sent here some years ago. He of all people would not tolerate a loser. He would never bet on a man who couldn ’t win in such a simple game.

Chris left the bathroom, threw off the towel and began to get dressed . The beige shirt and khakis will do a better job tomorrow. Too semi-formal. Tonight calls for jeans and this shirt. Better yet, this one. He ’s down to earth our Chris, right, guys? He ’s one of us, you can always talk to him. He ’ll listen to you. You can have a beer with him . . . Good grief, what a cliché. This elections analogy really gets inside your head. Speaking of beer talk and becoming popular, yesterday Rob grabbed all the initiative with his eyewitness Discovery Channel -type stories and not-so-beaten jokes. And you ’ve got to give it to him ; he did a perfect job at it. He never had to offer to tell another story —people kept asking for more themselves. That was some artful storytelling. Can ’t let it happen again.

All right, it’s time to go. Most of them must be there already. Although here ’s a couple of latecomers strolling along. A man and a woman in the late dusk . . . How romantic. So, who a re they?

He turned off the light and walked to the window. Late dusk indeed . . . Well, there ’s only one woman here with curves like th o se. Joan. The tasty morsel. Now, who ’s the lucky fellow? He ’s rather tall, so it could be either Kevin or Paul or . . . c ould it be the youngster? Get out of here! Who would ’ve thought?

Unexpected envy stirred somewhere in his chest.

She’s got this pretty ring on her ring finger. A decent -size d diamond. So much for the ring. Ah, crap. The ring—what does it have to do with anything? Two leaders are taking a walk and discussing leadership matters. But why with him? I mean, with him ? With Alan the Youngster, Alan the Kiddo, Alan the Kindergartener?

The two figures unhurriedly rounded a tree and disappeared round the corner. Chris stepped away from the window. Fine, you two lovebirds, sing your songs, talk your leadership matters. Some of us have more important things to do . . . Although, come to think of it, not so fast, my dear Alan. Not so fast! What do you think you ’re doing? Taking a walk with a sexy woman? Wrong, kiddo. Wrong. You ’re taking a walk with a vote. With my vote. It ’s my kill, kid. And I ’ll make sure it stays mine.

Who would’ve thought?

“Damn it!” Brandon looked with frustration at the ball slowly rolling away from a pocket. “Your turn, Rob.”

Robert walked around the pool table.

“Sidespins are tricky. They don ’t always work.”

“True,” Brandon sighed . “But I ’m willing to bet they don ’t always end up so pathetically either.”

A slick red ball had finished its unhurried journey and now lay motionless a foot away from the desired target that it had missed by an inch a few moments ago. Brandon was looking at it drearily. The black ball—the only other ball left on the table—lay precisely on the invisible line connecting the red ball and the pocket. Even someone who had never played pool before could pocket this one easily. The short game was nearing an inglorious end. Robert glanced at the green cloth once more and started around the table again.

“What are you doing?” Ross asked perplexedly, watching Robert lean over the table. “That’s a sure shot over there.”

“A sure shot it is, ” Robert agreed , taking aim. “Too sure for my taste.”

Alex shook his head in doubt.

“That’s one too many round trips.”

“Could be. But it ’s no fun otherwise.”

The cue struck the ball with a dry sound. The black dot rushed across the table, bounced from the rail, hit the red dot and, sending , it away from the patiently waiting pocket, stopped at once. The red ball flew away frantically, passed the middle pocket and, having slowed down towards the end of its journey, rolled smoothly into the corner pocket.

“Wow!” it was easy to hear the authentic astonishment in Ross ’s voice.

Brandon walked over to Robert.

“It’s not a shame to lose like this, ” he said with feeling, shaking his hand.

Robert smiled.

“It’s never a shame. Sometimes it can hurt, but that ’s not the case here.”

“How about another one?” Alex asked. “I haven ’t played a single game yet.”

Brandon shook his head.

“I’m out. That was enough for me. At least for tonight.”

Alex turned to Robert with a silent question.

“Why not?” Robert said. “Anyone else?”

“I’ll watch, ” said Michael. “I ’ve played enough already.”

“Ditto,” Paul fidgeted in his armchair. “It ’s better to watch Rob ’s game than to be a part of it.”

“As for me, I ’ve just played, ” Ross said. “So the table is all yours. See you tomorrow, Kevin.”

Robert looked at Alex.

“What are we playing?”

“Nine-ball?” Alex proposed, taking a cue from the rack “Works for me, ” Robert took several balls away.

“Let’s lag .”

“Don’t bother. I ’d rather keep it simple. Just break it.”

Alex examined the cue attentively.

“So, what’s the game?”

“We’re not playing for money here, ” Robert replied benevolently.

Alex gave him a surprised look.

“Why?”

“’Cause we ’re just playing for fun. If you want a real game , wait till tomorrow morning.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Winning, for example.”

“Winning for the sake of winning?”

“Why not? Do you see any problem with that?”

“All right,” Alex smiled subtly. “Let ’s play kids’ pool.”

“We don ’t have to, ” Robert replied , fully preserving his benevolent tone. “If you want to play for something real, we ’ll play for something real.”

Brandon looked at them with some concern.

“Rob, what exactly are you doing? We agreed from the very beginning to keep money out of it, didn’t we? Alex has an excuse ; he wasn ’t there. But you were.”

“It’s o kay . We ’re not going to play for money, ” Robert answered, looking point-blank at Alex. “We ’ll play for a speech.”

“For
what ?
”

“For a speech. Whoever loses doesn ’t present tomorrow.”

Alex pursed his lips. Robert waited, smiling affably.

“Deal,” Alex said finally.

“Are you kidding?” Ross seemed dumbfounded. “Are you both out of your minds? You want to lower your chances at winning for this ?” He gestured at the pool table.

“What am I risking?” Alex asked philosophically, arranging the balls. “Even if I ’m out of luck here, I ’ve got two more days anyway. Not the end of the world.”

“If there’s anybody risking anything , that ’d be Robert, ” Michael said. “You ’ve seen him play. He hasn ’t seen your game.”

Alex gazed at him over his massive shoulder.

“It’s not like I dragged it out of him. Rob, have you changed your mind?”

“Break it,” Robert responded.

Ross looked around in the hope of finding some support.

“We’ve got to stop it, guys. This isn ’t high school. The deal was everyone gets three presentations. We have to stick to our own decisions. If Chris were here, he ’d tell you how wrong it is to break our own rules!”

“First,” Michael said, tapping a ball like a metronome against the arm of his chair , “Chris is too busy downstairs talking at the bar, so he won ’t be here anytime soon. Second, you think too highly of his role. And third, I don ’t see how this game breaks our rules. Both Alex and Rob seem to see it this way too. Does anyone else think this is going to be a violation?”

Brandon shrugged.

“Hardly a violation. Stupid, maybe.”

“It’s all good, ” Paul said merrily. “Ross, just take it easy, man. Sit down, relax, have a beer, watch some good pool. Besides, ” he winked , “the less they present , the more chances we get.”

Ross shook his head hopelessly.

“Whatever. If no one here is interested in common sense, I rest my case.”

Paul followed his own advice and opened another bottle of beer.

“Smart. I knew this argument would work.”

Alex leaned over the table.

“You can’t . . .” he said, breaking the diamond rack with a loud crack, “ignore . . .” he rounded the table, watching over the frantically scattering balls, one of which was heading straight to a pocket, “ . . .the rules.”

“I, for one . . .” he slowly bent his arm pulling the cue back, “ . . . respect . . .” the biceps peaked under the thin fabric of his sleeve, “ . . . the rules.”

Another ball flew loudly into the corner pocket.

“Moreover . . .” he studied the table, looking for his next target, “ . . . I always insist . . .” the next target had been identified and Alex confidently headed towards it, “ . . .that everyone . . .” one more ball disappeared from the table, “ . . . respect the rules.”

“Seems to me tomorrow we won ’t get a clue as to Rob ’s past and what the hell he did when he was a schoolboy, ” Paul observed in a low voice.

“Shh . . . Don ’t rush, ” Brandon said. “The game ’s not over yet.”

“It may as well be, ” Paul nodded towards the table from which yet another ball had now vanished. “Rob won ’t even need his cue for this game.”

Robert, paying not the slightest attention to this conversation, watched Alex ’s movements with Olympian calm.

“And this,” Alex slowly curled his index finger over the cue, “is known as Shanghai Bells .”

“W-wow!” Ross exhaled when the colorful stirring at the table had slowed down. Brandon grunted approvingly.

Alex clapped Ross on the shoulder as he walked past him.

“By the way, it looks harder than it actually is. Of all the showy combo shots , this is the easiest. I can teach you later if you like.”

“What is Rob so happy about?” Paul asked Michael quietly. “He ’s grinning like a Cheshire cat .”

“Look at Alex.”

Alex was taking more time than usual to study the combination in front of him. At last, he made up his mind and , in complete silence , leaned over the table. The cue struck.

“Bummer,” Paul said loudly.

“What bummer?” Brandon echoed. “Don ’t you see he ’s done it on purpose?”

“To miss like that on purpose?”

“Of course! He couldn ’t sink any ball anyhow. So he set it up for Rob. There ’s no way in the world Rob can make anything out of it. He ’s got to strike the eight first, and look where it is. It ’s hopeless.”

Alex looked at Robert expectantly.

“Hopeless,” Robert agreed. “Plain hopeless.”

He walked rapidly around the table and, spending a split second taking aim, with a swift lashing stroke sent a ball out on a completely incomprehensible trajectory. A jolly cracking flew up from the table. Then it stopped.

“Did you see that?!” Paul jumped to his feet. “Two balls with a four -rail kick shot?
Four -
rail? Somebody pinch me! Did you see that?”

“Ah . . .” said Brandon , “it must be luck. Rob, no offence but that was a hell of a luck y shot . You can ’t calculate something like that . Man, I ’ve never seen anything like it !”

Alex looked silently at the table where a lone ball remained .

“You’re good, ” he said , finally turning to Robert with a wide smile. “You ’re real good. Not sure I want to play you for money anymore.”

Five minutes later, the animated discussion about the gems of this game was over and people started leaving. Alex was demonstrating some kick shot to Ross, adding from time to time, “But Rob would know better .” Brandon was nodding and kept attempting to reproduce the shot ; h owever , his persistence was producing no satisfactory results and when his cue ball missed its target for a fifth time , he gave up.

“Screw it,” he said putting the cue down. “It takes more than a one-minute practice anyway. No shortcuts in this business.”

“We can try again tomorrow, ” Alex said encouragingly. “Ross?”

Ross stopped and looked at him, one foot out the door.

“About
Shanghai Bells , I meant it ; i t ’
s very easy —actually easier than this one. Want to give it a try?”

“Sure,” Ross returned eagerly to the table. “Brandon , are you leaving already?”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough pool for one evening.”

And Brandon disappeared , leaving Ross alone with Alex.

“So,” Alex extracted a few balls from the nearby pocket, “this is how you do this. First of all, the trick doesn ’t always work. But, given the right situation , you should never let this kind of opportunity go by.”

He froze for a moment as if listening to something, then went on again.

“Next, you need to have the right combination .” He laid out the balls on the desolate green surface of the table in brief, quick movements.

“Finally, it ’s all about the partner.”

“Come again?” Ross asked, looking at the table. “The partner —what do you mean?”

“You’ll get it in a second .” Alex made a few steps and stopped next to him. “Put the cue down . You need to analyze the situation first. See the blue stripe? You can pocket it easily with the nine, right?”