“Wow, that’s a hell of a threat,” Simon said. He looked at the rest of the table. “You all okay if I walk out of here?”
“Not too impressed with your timing,” one said. “But, yeah, absolutely. Cheating is not your deal. But, like he said, make sure you are careful.”
“Got it,” Simon said. “Thanks for the warning.” He tucked the bag under his arm, pocketed his cell phone, and said, “Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure.” And he walked out. Just silence was behind him. But ahead of him, he knew would be a trap. No way the cheater would let Simon walk out of here. What Simon didn’t know for sure was if one of the men behind him wouldn’t let him walk out either.
He wrapped up the ball of money as tight as he could, tucking it into his outside pocket, so he had both hands free, and then he stepped out to the street. When the whistle of air came, he had already ducked and was moving. But unlike most people, he didn’t move away. He turned and headed directly for the target. The cheater stood there, waiting for him. A gun in hand, the cheater wasn’t expecting Simon’s right fist that clocked him on the jaw or Simon’s left leg that came up and took out his gun hand. When the cheater went down, his head smacked hard onto the concrete.
Simon stood over him and said, “Seriously? You wait out here to shoot an unarmed man?”
“I need my goddamn money,” he said painfully.
“Well, you’re not getting it,” he said. “Did you really think you could get away with all that cheating?”
With eyes opened wide, the man sputtered, “How did you know?”
“Because I can recognize a cheater,” he said. “You’ve been stealing from these men for months.”
“Have not,” he said.
“Not only that, you completely bankrupted the last guy.”
“He shouldn’t have been here. I was teaching him a lesson,” he said.
“Well, guess what? That lesson is now yours,” he said. “Get out of the game before you end up playing a game that you can’t win.” And, with that, Simon turned, and he walked away. He’d kicked the gun away, but that didn’t mean the guy wouldn’t go for it again.
When Simon turned around and saw him reaching for it, he hid in the alleyway and waited. No way to know just how stupid the cheater would be. When he heard raised voices, he realized the other players from their game had come out. Simon stepped around the corner, even though the guy had a gun. “Now you tell them,” Simon said, “how you’ve been cheating them for the last couple months.”
But the cheater shook his head. “You’re the one who’s been cheating them. The proof is under your hand right there.”
“I’ve been playing here for years,” Simon said. “I’ve never cheated. You’ve been fleecing them one by one,” he said. “You think that gun will help you?”
But the shooter raised it and pointed at Simon. “I should have killed you when you stepped out.”
“You actually tried, as I recall,” he said.
And, just like that, the cheater pulled the trigger. But an empty barrel clicked. He stared at it, shook his head, and said, “No way. I loaded this thing.”
“Well, try it again,” Simon said, and again the man fired at him. Trying over and over, but it was empty. He threw it away in disgust. “How the fuck did you do that?”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” Simon said cheerfully, noting the other guys closing in on the cheater. “Have a good night.”
As Simon walked away, he considered what to do with the money. And had a perfect answer. As he kept going, up ahead was one of the more hidden women’s shelters in town. They had to be obscure so their abusive husbands and boyfriends could not find them. He walked up, rang the doorbell. There was no answer at the door but someone over an intercom asked him what he wanted.
“Is Lisa here?”
“The manager?”
“Yes,” he said. “Tell her Simon is here to make a deposit.” While he waited, he opened the bag and frowned, grabbed out a large handful of bills, rolled it back up again. When the door opened, and a woman stepped out, her gaze was fearful as she looked around. He said, “Hold out your hands.”
She looked at him in surprise, until she saw the money. She immediately held out both hands.
“Spend it all on the women’s shelter,” he urged.
“Simon, your previous donation helped to fund two more years. We appreciate you, but you don’t have to keep doing this.”
“Like hell,” he said. “You take care of yourself.”
And just like that, he turned and walked away.