Carmichaels

Hector was direct, "Don't push me, you fuck, you. I will take everything you have, I will not stop, even if you beat me I will still win." He hated Tommy. Catina was smiling inside, proud of Tommy for being so direct, for standing his ground, like a rock, against Hector. "Enough, it is time, let us play some pool Hector." I was ready. The Kid was with me now evaluating the surroundings. Frisk stood beside me as I took Falcon from the case and began the slow ritual, twisting the shaft with the butt to make one solid piece. I was curious and questioned Frisk, "I have always wondered Frisk, why did you get me Falcon?" Frisk knew the answer, "Falcon is my gift to you. I got you Falcon for this exact moment in time when you to begin the winning, to take back what is yours and forever own your life. Falcon is part of you and part of me, my strength will be your strength too. Your soul lives in Falcon, the soul of the warier, Falcon is a bird of prey, there is no question as to who will win. Kill him, assassinate him." Good pep talk, I thought. Hector agreed to play for Holly once more, to play until someone was beaten. "Ok, I will play you for the chica to start, to warm up. We play a race to seven, if you win she goes with you.". We racked, I won the lag and prepared to break. The Kid spoke in my ear, "The key to pool playing is your stance, you have to be steady and strong, like a rock. Be stubborn Tommy, be like a rock yourself." I broke, ran a couple of balls then missed but left the table safe, there was no shot. Hector tried a wild shot, missed and I ran out. I ran out again and again. Shortly I was seven games up and is was over. Hector laughed, "So you practice. I am sad she is going back, that she will be leaving our little family." Holly was already sitting at my table, watching, gaining confidence with each game. A smirk, then smile crossed her face when I won, "Perfectly grizzly and shag you motherfucker, that wrong was just corrected." It would be one less thing to hide. "Never a dought," I said looking over at Holly who did two shots in a row. Catina showed emotion. She was happy for Holly and more so for me. Hector was embarrassed by Catina's rejection. Rage reeking from his every fibre, he walked toward her, raised his hand then delivered a calculated, and deliberate slap to the side of her head. It caught her full across the face, making a rather loud noise. Catina's head moved with the slap, then returned back to face us under her own power. She grinned, speaking in Spanish, "Beauty, knows no pain." Violence was part of her life. It stung for a moment, then was gone. Frisk stiffened in his seat. Lenny let out a low hum for a few seconds, then drank long from the bottle. Hector stepped back, laughing. Catina decided that was enough, and left. Hector was more glad than sorry she was gone. She had served her purpose, it didn’t work. Looking at Hector, I said, "You and me, we are just getting started." Then I got to the point, "Let's cut to the chase Hector, you and me play a game of freeze out. You know what that means, we play until someone is say, twenty games ahead. At that point a winner is surely defined. The best player will have surfaced. Are you afraid?” Hector thought, then responded like he had been waiting for this question, "Ok my friend, I will play you a freeze out. We will play for dignity, for honour." Leaning forward Hector was serious, a rage ever boiling, "But we play for your machine for your patent for your company, for your life." I spoke a truth, “You know we met with Poncho. It is now between us to fight this one out on a pool table. Best man takes all.” It was a small group watching the games, few realized the true stakes while rail bets went about freely. I tried to set some boundaries, "And when you lose this war is over. The patent and the machine is mine. We work together to grow our business, our profits and to honour our common flag. You stop that fucker chasing Frisk, and you make sure we have safe passage for all the seeds and Colombian weed we need or want. And when we have hundreds of pounds of world class hashish ready for consumption you get first pick at everything we have. You will be a cartel leader in my world." "Do not misunderstand me Tommy, I want your machine I want the patent, I want you out." I responded, "Hector, you and I seem to have a communication problem."