“The Hog for five hundred. Umm. And…Bo for a thousand.”
The fabrics quickly swirled around the bookie like a dust storm and came to a graceful stop. He held out a soft hairless hand, which gracefully took Bean’s credit files and then disappeared again into a whirlwind of color.
Lilly, hypnotized by the man’s robes, didn’t hear him the first time.
“And you, miss?” he repeated with kindness.
She reached into a pocket on her leg and presented the credits that Gus had given her.
“Not me thank you, but all of this on Scratches, for Gus.”
The bookie gave an enchanting smile.
“He’s been betting on that wonderfully mangy feline for over two years. Ninety lives that one has. Never wins but always pulls through somehow. Is he betting on survival or win Miss?”
Lilly thought about the difference and felt a surge of revenge fill her mind for being left behind.
“All on a win, please.”
The bookie gave her a look as though he had read her thoughts.
“Very well.”
The same soft hand shot out of the colored folds, took the credit files, and gracefully disappeared again.
“Nothing for you at all?” he asked with piercing eyes.
Bean was ready to move on and shuffled her feet in agitation.
“Oh, hell! Put down three thousand for her. And for a win.”
Bean didn’t blink at the amount, but Lilly wondered how she had so many credits.
“What are the odds for a win?” Bean asked for Lilly’s sake.
“Highest in the pits. Thirty to one,” he said with confidence.
“I know you are only here for the atmosphere, but the excitement can be fulfilling to even the most adventurous of souls,” he said to Lilly with a wink.
Lilly started to think he really could read her thoughts. She looked around at all of the drunk people yelling and falling over each other. She saw angry losers throwing their drinks on the ground, a serving girl who slapped a man that grabbed at her, and another woman that threw up in a corner.
He’s funny, she thought to herself.
“What pit?” Bean asked impatiently.
“Pit three, Madam Bean.”
“C’mon Lil’!”
Bean went to grab Lilly’s arm again but missed this time. With no thought of trying again Bean pushed past a group of people and charged over to a half empty pit with a large white “3” on the wall above it. Lilly looked at Bean and thought of how obnoxious she was.
“My name is Cornelius,” the bookie said with a smile.
“Lilly,” she replied, thinking of how silly his name sounded.
Cornelius the bookie narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. Not out of disbelief that her name was actually Lilly, but rather as if he were looking into her soul.
“Madam Bean has brought the hope of fortune and much needed entertainment to many people here in Nucrea. You are fortunate to have her favor, Miss Lilly.”
Lilly was now completely convinced he could read her thoughts, and felt bad about how she viewed Bean. She realized that she was too quick to judge her and for the first time realized how selfless she was.
He smiled at this and just as she was about to ask him how he could read her mind, he bowed and disappeared into the crowd.
Lilly made her way over to pit three and saw Bean just as she grabbed a bottle off a small table, chugged half of it, and put it back. Although the people sitting at the table saw what Bean did, they said nothing and surprisingly didn’t even seem to mind. Between the bookie and watching this, Lilly considered the possibility that she really did have Bean figured all wrong.
An uproar of approval filled the metal shanties as the crowd made way for two muscular men that carried metal boxes covered in holes to the pit. Bean jumped up and down and laughed a loud short choppy laugh.
“They’re here! It’s starting Lilly!” Bean yelled. “C’mon,” she added, waving Lilly over.
The two men carrying the boxes went to opposite sides of the fenced off pit. The boxes were placed in slots, one was opened, and a tall, sinewy, shorthair cat frantically clawed its way out. Lilly realized why they called him Scratches. There were scars from cuts and gashes all over its body. It cowered into a corner as the other box opened.
Scratches nervously looked around for a way out as a strong pointy-eared cat, twice the size of Scratches, sauntered out of the other box.
“Nowhere to go!” someone yelled, followed by laughter.
Lilly looked over at Bean who was standing motionless and white knuckled. She felt that Bean loved being in this environment, this was her home, her happiness. Lilly realized she wasn’t any different than Bean. This was Bean’s world just as Lilly’s world was out in the Fringe, and outside of their respective worlds, they didn’t belong. Lilly smiled and accepted the parallel.
The crowd yelled as both cats began to circle each other. Lilly looked closer and realized it was really the bigger cat chasing a terrified Scratches back and forth around the cage. The larger cat landed a well-placed claw that sent Scratches tumbling across the ring. Scratches let out an eerily humanlike scream. The crowd cheered as Scratches went on the offensive. Bean held a silent stare, focused and determined not to miss a single moment.
Lilly heard a notification on her Pigeon, but ignored it because of the fight.
Both cats separated again and continued their dance around the cage. All of a sudden, the bigger cat pounced on Scratches and bit hard on his neck. Somehow, Scratches was able to get free and claw back. Blood oozed from the bigger cat’s forehead, spilling into its eyes. The cat tried to rub the blood away but the bleeding didn’t stop.
A second notification forced her to check her Pigeon. Still paying attention to the fight, she pulled back her sleeve and glanced at her screen. Time slowed and the fight, along with the Pits entirely, disappeared as she read the message on the display. There below her ranking box in dark red, was a big, -2.
Her chest closed and knots pulled tight in her stomach. The “building up of rage” look Bean had shown earlier was mild compared to Lilly’s expression.
Her breathing deepened as she scrolled through messages.
Sucker Punch, Lost Score to Puck, Not a Ripp, thats 4 shore.
She stared at the comments on her feed, oblivious to the explosion in the crowd around her as Scratches had gone on the offensive and was ripping the bigger, blinded cat to shreds.
“Bull shit!” Lilly blurted out. She looked at Bean who was now frantically screaming in support of Scratches.
“I can’t be here right now,” Lilly said to herself as she scrolled through more comments. “This isn’t happening.”
She slowly pulled her sleeve over the Pigeon as if it were physically painful, and stared blankly at the fight as Scratches relentlessly tore at the other cat’s flesh.
She knew the only way to prove them wrong was to get back out into the Fringe.
She looked around and heard people laughing nearby, and knew they were laughing at her. She spun around and felt as though everyone in the pits was laughing at her and her failure in the Fringe. No, the whole city was laughing at her. Her mind raced as the walls and crowds spun around her.
In the midst of everything spinning out of control, directly under a light, staring at her was the Bookie. The bright colors of his garb, slashed through the murk of the pits and pulled her out of her downward spiral.
An overwhelming feeling that she wasn’t where she needed to be, and that there was so much more for her in this world, filled every part of her body.
She looked at a jumping screaming Bean, then looked back at the smiling Bookie who was still looking right at her, reading her thoughts again.