Page 27 of The Rat

Sebastianmoved around the table and satdown opposite Rory. He lifted his eyebrow, but Rory didn’t sayanything. Sebastian sighed, then reached into hispocket.

“You lookbored.”

“I am,” Rory mumbled.

Sebastian placed a pack of cards on thetable. “I’m here to solve your boredom.”

“Cards.”

“Veryobservant.”

Rory narrowed his eyes. “You wannaplay cards?”

Sebastiannodded, thenemptied the cards into his palm. He shuffled them hypnoticallyfast, then dealt Rory a hand.

“How about it?”

Rory peeked at his cards. “Iguess.”

“Great…”

They played cards, and theirgame got the attention ofSebastian’s closest friends. A middle-aged manwith a scarred face called Damon, and an older guy with glasses andwisps of hair around the side of his head. Rory had heard Sebastianrefer to him as Einstein.

“I gotta say, you’re not bad,Rory,”Sebastian mumbled, “but why don’t we play for realstakes.”

“Like what?”

Sebastian huffed, then removed awad of phone cards from his pockets. “I came by these today…”

He gave Rory another challenging look,but he didn’t rise to it.

“Ten phone cards, how manyhave you got?”

“Two…”

“Okay, if youwin, you get my ten phone cards,if I win, I get your two.”

“Why would I wantten?”

Sebastianshrugged.“You could trade them for favors, or sweets, or maybe it’s notabout the cards, maybe it’s about trying to beat me.”

“Oh, go on, kid,” Einstein muttered. “Wipethat smirk off his face.”

Damon nodded along. “You’ve gotthis.”

Rory shrugged. “Fine.”

Sebastian shuffled in a fast blur, then dealtthe cards out. Rory peeked at his and nodded to himself. Damonsqueezed his shoulders. “You’ve got this Rory, boy.”

Any confidence shriveled anddied when he saw Sebastian’s cards. He cracked his knuckles, thenheld out hishand for Rory’s phone cards.

Rory slapped them down on his palm.Sebastian stared at him, then moved his gaze to Damon, thenEinstein.

“One for you, and one for you…”

He handed them out, and thehumiliation heated Rory’s face. Damon tapped himon the back, andEinstein walked away laughing.

Sebastian leaned over the table.“Nothing going on in thathead of yours is there…”

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