“Isn’t that what I told you before?”
Both men turned. Rose was sitting on the next bench. Neither man had seen her approach.
To say the least, Griffen was relieved to see her.
“Are you in this, Rose?” Slim said. “Are you taking his side?”
“Don’t need to,” Rose said. “The man’s a dragon, and a strong one. He doesn’t need any help from me.”
Suddenly, Griffen was less relieved.
“Well then, have you maybe got an idea ’bout how we can resolve this?” Slim said.
“I’ve been thinking on it,” Rose said. “Seems to me the only way Griffen here can convince you that he’s not after you folks is for him to prove to you that he doesn’t need you.”
“And just how is he supposed to do that?” Slim said.
Rose turned her attention directly on Griffen for the first time that night.
“Show him,” she said.
Griffen blinked and cocked his head at her.
She gave him a small wink and nodded her head.
He turned his attention on the rats.
They moved forward in a loose line, passed under the bench he was sitting on filtering by his feet, then stopped in their original formation…but halfway between Griffen and Slim with their eyes focused on the entertainer.
Slim moved back a step. The rats followed.
The entertainer looked at Griffen and nodded slowly. Griffen nodded back.
Suddenly the rats scattered, disappearing into the shadows and over the edge of the pier.
Silence reigned for a long minute. Then Slim stepped forward and held out his hand.
“I appreciate your takin’ the time to speak with me, Mr. Griffen,” he said as they shook hands. “If you’d like to talk about this further sometime, I’ll be happy to exchange information with you.”
Turning, he walked away down the Moonwalk without looking back.
“How did you know I was strong enough to do that?” Griffen said after the entertainer had gone. “I’ve never tried anything like that before.”
“I didn’t know for sure,” Rose said. “I knew Mose had been working with you, though, and it seemed like a good time to see how far you had developed.”
She stood up and started to walk away, then turned back.
“You know, don’t you, that this isn’t the real problem,” she said. “The big question is who pointed these folks at you and why.”
“Mose is working on it,” Griffen replied.
“Tell him to work harder.”
Forty-eight
“I miss the cards,” Griffen said.
“Who are you kidding, lover, you are just fighting the urge to stack up the dominos and knock them down like a kid,” Fox Lisa teased from his left side, carefully arranging her hand.
“He is, isn’t he? I’m amazed you’ve lasted this long, lover,” Mai put in from his other side.
The two women paused a moment to narrow their eyes at each other, as they seemed to do every time one of them used that pet name for Griffen. But they were too busy smirking to hold it long.
“If everyone is done over there?” Mose said.
He was sitting opposite Griffen at the table, and was amused as hell by the whole setup.
“All right,” Mai said looking at the hands. “Griffen loses outright, Fox pushes, and Mose wins. Again. You’ve got to be cheating.”
“How could I cheat? You brought the dominos.” His eyes twinkled.
The group was at Griffen’s apartment and playing pai gow, or rather learning it under Mai’s careful instruction. Though usually it was played with more, Mai had handled the invites. That had triggered a few warning bells in Griffen’s head, but he was glad that Mose was getting a chance to look her over. He wanted advice later on the whole situation with the Eastern dragons. Tonight, though, dragon talk was kept to a minimum. Mainly because of Fox Lisa’s presence. Instead, they talked gambling, and played.
Each hand used, instead of cards, four Chinese dominoes, with pairs being made and scored. To win, both pairs in a hand had to meet the dealers pairs, but a “push” was achieved if the front hand, or lower scored pair, beat the dealer’s front hand but the rear hand, the other pair, lost. Then the player broke even. If neither pair beat the dealer’s, as in Griffen’s case, it was an outright loss and away went his money. Mose was building quite a stack of Griffen’s money, and enjoying it.
Mai dealt the next round, and went through a brief reminder of the Gee Joons, Gongs, Wongs, and pairs. Griffen watched the shuffling of the tiles, which was itself intricate and fairly ritualistic, and once again failed to remember the pattern. He just hoped he never had to play dealer for out of town gamers. In a lot of ways, he felt like he was back in school again.
Well, except in school, he hadn’t ever been between two such interesting and unpredictable women. He was getting damn confused by all the mixed signals floating around—between the gentle teasing, the taunts at each other, and the occasional wandering hand under the table. He also had them laughing about him over his head, helping each other cheat him out of money, and pulling Mose into their act when he made any serious mistakes. He should have run when he found out that Mai had arranged the seating.
“Fan-tan was easier. Let’s go back to that,” he said.
“No way, Grifter, it’s easy because it’s far too close to pure chance. I like a little strategy,” Fox Lisa said.
“Besides, you need to learn this, at least well enough that you can fake it,” Mai said.
“And you quit too easily sometimes, youngster. Stick that chin up for another blow and put more of your money on the table.”
Mose’s eyes shone more and more. With Griffen as a convenient target, he could lean back and enjoy things completely. The ladies were having far too much fun tormenting him. Fox Lisa leaned over and poked the bills Griffen pulled out and put on the table. She winked at Mose.
“I know whose pocket this came from, but whose money is it really?” she said.
“Oh, my, that was a low blow,” Mai said.
Mai was purring.
“It’ll be mine soon. Mose, you are dealing for a while,” Mai said.
“Ha! Wondered why you invited me,” Mose said.
“Why to discuss my connections interested in your gambling ring, honored sir.”
Mai batted her eyelashes, and Griffen choked on his drink.
“Honored sir! That’s it; I’m heading to the nearest bomb shelter,” he said.
Griffen started to rise and the girls, laughing, grabbed his arms and yanked him back into his seat. Mose laughed with them as Griffen pretended to struggle. He decided to dodge the inquiry.
“That’s between you and Griffen, I’m just here to play.”
Mai nodded her head gracefully, and pushed the dominoes his way. If anything, he shuffled faster and with more skill than she had, and Griffen once again failed to be able to keep track.
The night progressed at about that speed, though despite being outclassed and distracted, Griffen did pick up the rules fairly quickly. It was not a highly complicated game, though it had touches based more on aesthetics than anything else. Which made it highly different from anything commonly seen in Western gambling.
After about an hour more, Mose rose and stretched. He started to gather up his winnings, and his coat, and took his glass to the kitchen sink.
“Well, kids, it’s about time I moseyed home. Can’t keep up these late hours anymore,” he said.
The others exchanged a glance, not believing it in the least.
“Need an escort home, Mose?” Griffen asked, rising from the table.
“Lad, you are a fool if you’d part such charming company for an old man. I can take care of myself. Though I will have a word outside with you if you’ll pardon us.”
Outside, Mose paused to look up at the sky. Despite being in a city, there were always a few stars visible in the fairly subdued lighting of the Quarter. A bright sliver of moon hung over the sky. He didn’t look at Griffen as he spoke.