The last game
saying that this
bitch with her sweet angelic face, is a dirty cheat.”
    “Shut up! You´re very rude.” The girl shouted
suddenly. There was a sudden silence in the room. A look of panic
crossed Dante´s face. He wasn´t moving a muscle. “Very rude! I want
to keep playing. But I will have to punish you.”
    The girl was standing up on the chair now,
leaning towards the floor, her finger pointing at Zeta. The
enormous animal looked at her obediently, his ears bent back, his
tail between his legs. Not one black hair on the dog´s body moved
as he bore the reprimand without being able to look at the girl for
more than a few seconds.
    “ Was she talking to me or the mutt?” Dante asked, his voice
trembling.
    “She´s not looking at you.” Hector said. “But
I´d take this as a warning. How many times have I got to tell you
that the girl won´t speak directly to us?”
    He certainly wouldn´t have to repeat it
again. Everyone at the table had it clear enough. Alvaro returned
to his chair calmly and the rest sat where they were completely
still. It was extraordinary to watch the girl putting the dog in
its place.
    It had an effect on everyone and most
certainly the game. Until she started playing with her plastic
blocks again no one dared to start playing poker. She set the rules
without saying a word directly to them. She wouldn´t tolerate
fighting. The curious thing was though that she was happy to let
them cheat. Alvaro had no doubt that she knew exactly what was
going on.
    Judith collected the chips and shuffled the
cards, then started dealing the cards.
    Alvaro began to feel a deep dislike for
Hector. His curiosity was so great, that combined with the
frustration of not being able to find anything out about him, he
was beginning to hate the sight of him sitting across the table
oozing coldness and indifference and refusing to play poker with
the rest.
    Dante won the next hand with a pair of kings.
But he didn´t win much.
    Judith was winning. Her pile of chips had
grown steadily. Hector had lost only what he´d put in the center of
the table at the start of each hand. Dante and Alvaro were both
losing a little.
    It was Hector´s turn to deal. He did that
without paying much attention to what he was doing, tossing the
cards almost with disrespect ahead of him. Alvaro elected to say
nothing.
    They all waged an opening bet.
    “A little more.” Dante said upping his bet,
throwing two more chips into the pot. As usual Hector passed and
Judith and Alvaro matched Dante´s bet. They discarded and picked up
their new cards.
    “I´ll bet three more.” Judith said.
    “I´m in.” Alvaro said equally her bet.
    They both put their chips in the center at
the same time bumping each other´s hands. Judith pulled hers back
quickly.
    “At this pace we could be here a week. Don´t
be cowards and liven this up a bit.” Dante said, bloating his broad
chest, and tossing a wad of chips in front of him. It was the
biggest bet of the night thus far.
    Alvaro couldn´t believe his luck. Dante was
bluffing and he knew it. He had the same tone in his voice and the
pupils in his eyes were dilated just like the last time he´d won
with nothing in his hand. His whole body language suggested a bluff
to Alvaro. This was the moment to build his winnings without having
to resort to cheating. Even though he needed to confirm his
suspicions. Dante could be faking a bluff. But if he was he was a
better actor than Alvaro gave him credit for.
    “I´m out.” Judith said.
    Dante snorted with disdain.
    “You´ve bet a lot here.” Alvaro observed,
patiently. “And you´re calling us cowards. Let´s see how brave you
are. I’ll raise your bet.”
    He doubled Dante´s bet. And Judith
gasped.
    “Now we see your true face, Doc.” Dante
smiled. His expression of happiness seemed slightly forced, which
Alvaro had expected. “I don´t want to let you down. I´ll raise your
bet.”
    Dante separated his chips, leaving only a few
near his hands and

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