Chapter Nine: Revenge
.
"A truly tragic mistake, it would seem, sticking around. Bad judgement."
Teana bit her cheek, looking down at her stack of chips, totalling seven thousand and change, nearly doubled by Akhekh's near-thirteen thousand.
"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon," Akhekh said gloatingly.
Teana peaked down at her cards again. Ankh Peasant, Pyramid Nobleman. Tapping her chips, she looked down at the three community cards. Ankh Farmer, Ankh Artist, Ankh Priest.
Cards are cold as a dead fish, not much I can do about it right now. Yet, I feel like I've seen this hand before...
"I raise," Anhekh announced loudly. "One thousand." He pushed a stack of black chips to the center of the table.
Teana contemplated the hand for several seconds, tapping her finger on the tabletop. Suddenly, her eyes widened slightly. "Re-raise, one thousand," she said, grabbing two stacks and pressing them to the pot.
"Oooohhh, Teana, stay away from this one. You're going to regret that!" Akhekh said gleefully, grabbing three black stacks and pushing them in. "Re-raise, two thousand."
Immediately, without hesitation, Teana pushed her entire stack towards the center of the table. "All-in."
Akhekh flinched, frowning, staring at Teana, then considering his chip stack. Teana gave him nothing but a stony smile as he pondered his move.
He reached down for a slice of bread on the food tray set next to him, taking a bite out of it as he considered his next move.
"You win this one," he finally relented, waving the pot towards Teana. She reached forward and pulled everything towards her. "Well played. Did you the type-match run of five, or just the run of five?"
Without a word, as she yanked chips towards her, Teana grabbed her two cards and flipped them over on the middle of the game. As soon as he saw them, Akhekh crushed the bread slice in his hand into a small ball, dropped it on the floor, and pounded the table with both fists.
"Not hungry?" Teana asked sardonically, readjusting herself in her seat.
Akhekh just gave her the stink-eye, scowling. He handed her the deck. "Just deal," he growled.
Generally, I hide my cards whenever possible, don't let anyone know how I played things. But today is different. Today, I need to get inside Akhekh's head. Get him angry. Make him do something stupid to compensate for the last hand. Today, I'm more than happy to let him know he just got bluffed out of a game-ending pot. Even the great Akhekh isn't immune to getting rattled.
.
"Alright, you've got five hundred left, I'm gonna push you all in," Teana said quickly, grabbing half a stack of black chips and putting them to the middle.
Akhekh sighed, biting his lower lip and glaring at Teana. Finally, he shrugged. "Call," he said, grabbing the five black chips remaining in his stack and putting them in the center.
"Queens full of Princes," Teana announced, flipping her Queen and Prince over on the table. Akhekh only frowned, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced at his friend, Aniu, out of the corner of his eye, as Teana vacuumed up all the chips in the middle. Aniu raised an eyebrow at him.
After stacking her chips, Teana sat there, hands folded underneath her chin and a fake pleasant smile on her face. They sat there in silence for several seconds, Akhekh finally looking back at her.
"What?" he spat, clearly agitated. "Get your diamonds and get out!"
"I'm not tired," Teana said, smirking wryly. "You tired?"
Akhekh sighed, huffing out the breath in a quick, powerful puff. After several seconds of thought, and a sideways gance at Aniu, he cleared his throat. "Reload!" he yelled at the man behind the counter. "Twenty-thousand."
"That's more like it," Teana muttered.
"You're going to regret this," Akhekh hissed. "By sunrise, you will be mine. Everyone's luck runs out."
Teana handed Akhekh the deck, glancing at Aniu for a second with her little half-smirk, as Akhekh's chips were brought over to him.
"I didn't go through all this trouble to break even with you, Akhekh," Teana said.
"By the morning, you will feel stupid for not being thrilled to walk away even," Akhekh snarled. "You are messing with forces that you can not comprehend."
"I have fifteen thousand in chips in front of me that would say otherwise," Teana replied. "Raise the pre-card bets to fifty."
.
Aniu stumbled through the doorway, hands in his pockets. "The sun is going to be coming up soon, enough is enough, Akhekh." He walked over to the table where Teana and Akhekh were sitting, placing his palms down on the table surface. "Once is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, but three? You've been dancing with her all night, take the girl down already."
Akhekh frowned, glaring over at his friend. "Can't get rid of her. Once she is mine, she may prove to be even more useful than I thought."
"Then make her yours. Take her down," Aniu said firmly, walking back over to his seat.
Akhekh dealt out the cards, Teana contemplating her stack. After several dozen hands since Akhekh reloaded, nothing had been accomplished, both players sitting on exactly twenty-thousand. After the cards were out, Teana took a look at hers.
"You're not getting rid of me anytime soon," Teana said quietly, grabbing one of her black chips. "I'll double my pre-card bet."
"Okay," Akhekh said, grabbing one black chip and one red chip and haphazardly tossing them into the center. "I match."
Akhekh burned a card to the side, then took the next three in the deck and flipped them over onto the table. Pyramid Teacher, Was Priest, Djed Vizer.
Teana bit her lower lip. "I'll pass on that,"
Akhekh slowly reached for his stacks, grabbing one stack of black chips in either hand and moving them towards the middle with a deliberate, snail-like pace.
"Two grand," he announced as he set the chips down.
Teana sighed, then glanced over to the side at Ramses, still tied to the chair.
"Alright, I'll match the two grand." Teana cleared her throat, pushing two black stacks in.
"Making prayers on fourth and fifth street?" Akhekh asked, grinning. "Get out of this hand, it's no good for you." Shaking his head, he burned a card and placed fourth street on the table. Was Peasant.
Teana looked down at the card for a second. "I'm gonna pass on that one."
Slowly, Akhekh grabbed a stack of yellow chips, taking two off the top and placing eight in the middle, followed by four black ones. "That's the pot."
"The pot," Teana repeated. "So that's four thousand and four hundred? Alright. Well, if I don't match that I won't respect myself in the morning." She grabbed her yellow chip stack.
"Respect is all you'll have left in the morning, girl," Akhekh said, nearly crushing the deck between his fingers. "Fifth street coming."
He burned a card to the side, then slowly flipped over the top card to reveal the Djed God, placing it in the center.
Teana folded her arms in front of her on the table, then glanced up to Akhekh. "Pass."
"Oohh, it hurts, doesn't it?" Akhekh asked, now opening grinning. "I can just tell, you can't believe it. Oh yes, it hurts, doesn't it?"
Teana gave him nothing but a flat expression.
"How does it feel to know your life is over? Your dreams, your hopes, all dashed in an instant. To know that you are mere moments away from becoming my possession. It must be brutal. That God could not have helped you," he growled, grabbing his remaining chip stacks one by and one and tossing them to the middle of the table. "I wager...all of it."
After all of his chips were in the center, Teana just shook her head and gave a small laugh. "You're right, Akhekh. That God didn't help me."
Akhekh grinned and nodded. But then, Teana wrapped her hands around the base of her chip stack and nudged them forward into the pot. Immediately, Akhekh's grin disappeared, and Teana flipped over her cards.
Djed General, Djed Nobleman.
"I've had the run of five ever since third street," she said simply.
Akhekh went bug eyed, looking down at her cards, then at the cards in the center of the table. He stood up, the chair underneath him flying off behind him, and threw the deck down on the table while screaming in a foreign language Teana didn't understand. The deck bounced off the table and whizzed past her ear. She didn't flinch.
"THAT IS IT! NO MORE!" Akhekh bellowed, waving his arms around. "NO MORE!"
"Are you kidding me?" Aniu replied, standing up and pointing at Teana. "Chill out and take her down already! Take this girl down!"
"NO! No! Not tonight!" he insisted. "No more! This...this bitch, all night, pass, pass, pass! She trapped me!"
Teana just sat there, propping her elbow on the table and placing her chin on her fist. "Satisfied yet? If not, I can go on screwing you all night."
A second later, she felt someone's hand clasp onto her shoulder and start to pick her up off the chair. She spun around and saw the man who was behind the counter lifting her up.
"No! No," Akhekh said, holding his hand out towards him. "No. What are you doing?"
"I'm kicking this bitch to the curb!" the man replied indignantly. "Of course!"
Akhekh sighed, looking around the room. "You can escort her out. After she gets paid." He paused, chewing on his lower lip. "Thirty-three thousand gold debens. In diamonds."
"Boss-" the man began, but was immediately silenced.
"She beat me. She beat me. It was fair," he said darkly. "Pay her. Pay that woman what she won." With that, he slowly turned around and wandered towards the doorway in the corner, disappearing into the hallway and heading up towards his club.
Teana took a deep breath as the man reluctantly let her shoulder go. She closed her eyes, then let a smile come to her face.
"What the hell did I just watch?" Aniu said in wonder, staring at Teana in awe.
"Nothing. You're dreaming right now, it's all an illusion," Teana said, holding her hand out towards Aniu. "You got a knife?"
Quickly, Aniu fumbled with his belt pouch and pulled out a short dagger. He held it out towards her and she took it, sauntering over towards Ramses.
"You're trapping people now? Since when did you get so good?" Ramses asked sarcastically.
Without a word, Teana grabbed the chair Ramses was tied to and started sawing through the rope behind the backrest. The sharp blade worked quickly through the bonds, dropping strands of thick rope to the floor.
"So, uh, it was nice knowing you...thanks for saving my life and giving me...seven thousand gold debens and all. It's appreciated. I'll do my best to make sure we never see each other again."
Teana finished cutting the rope, yanked Ramses out of the chair, and pulled him into a tight hug. "You owe me."
Ramses nodded, returning the hug. "Yup, though it'll be hard to get you back given I'm never going to see you again."
"Forget it," Teana said, squeezing him tighter, fighting back tears. "Forget it."
"Get a damn room," the man behind the counter said gruffly, dropping a sack on the counter. "Take your winnings and scram."
.
"Hey Kafele, ever wonder what thirty three thousand in diamonds looks like?" Teana asked, bursting into the basement area behind section six with the bag clutched inbetween both hands.
"You're kidding me," Kafele said, jumping up from the cushion across the room and running over. "You're not serious, are you?"
"Akhekh's pockets are a little lighter this morning," Teana said airily as Ramses meekly walked into the room, hands in his pockets. "And, with some goading, he might even be willing to join our cause in getting women into card games."
"Holy shit!" Ramses uttered, grabbing the bag and looking inside. "Are they real?"
"Absolutely real. If not, we're gonna have a problem," Teana replied.
"It's the size of a...a toddler's head!" Kafele said in disbelief.
"That's the weirdest measurement system I've ever heard," Teana said, patting Kafele on the head.
"Well that's what it is!" Kafele insisted. "I never thought I'd ever see...this much. It's incredible."
"Well, I think we need to celebrate. Where's Akiiki?" Teana looked around.
"Oh, you," Kafele deadpanned, looking at Ramses. "So, what's social protocol when a person in your group of friends has to borrow seven and a half thousand to get out of debt and almost got one of his friends killed?"
"Borrowed? I don't know what you're talking about." Ramses looked around the room, stretching.
"Fortunately for the dumbass, we need him," Teana said.
"Oh, already scheming?" Kafele asked, raising an eyebrow. "Akiiki is in his hut, guy is worried sick about you. We need to go talk to him. Fill us in when we get there."
.
"I mean, the casino story was...was great, it gave me this warm feeling inside, but...when you left, I'm not gonna lie, I was absolutely terrified." Akiiki patted Teana on the shoulder. "If I wrote a story like this, I'd never get it mass-produced because everyone would say it's just too...unrealistic."
"Reality is unrealistic," Teana said, closing the bag of diamonds back up.
"I'm just happy you're okay," Akiiki said. "I'm even happy this idiot's okay." He pointed at Ramses.
"Oh, thanks for asking, yes, I am fine, now that you mention it." Ramses said loudly. The four of them were standing around in the main room of Akiiki's hut, Teana hugging the diamond sack.
"So. What happens now?" Kafele asked, hands in his pockets. "What's the play?"
"First thing's first," Teana announced, going over to a stool and sitting down on it. "Five thousand of this belongs to Sitto."
"Oh. So that's where it was from," Akiiki said. "Wait, how?"
"I know, it's crazy. Something with her husband, I wasn't really paying attention, I was thinking about escape routes out of the city." Teana pointed at her head and rolled her eyes. "Anyway, that's part one." She paused, looking around the room. "Part two...we'll have to do some research."
"Research what?" Ramses asked.
"Well, we need a couple things." She pointed at Kafele. "It's almost morning, so get down in the basement and spread the word that I've got my finances back up and running. Tell them that I've got a project in mind and it'll take help from everyone in section six. We need to figure out how many people would be on board with this." She turn turned to Akiiki. "You're coming with me. We need to get Sitto her diamonds, and then go into town and find a secure lockup for the rest." She then looked over at Ramses. "And you need to go into town to start looking up information about real estate."
"That doesn't sound like something I'd do," Ramses said, shrugging. "Real estate, not really my speed."
"Well you owe me your life, so...you really probably should," Teana said.
"Okay okay, fine. So what, we'll be even then? What do you mean look up information on real estate?" Ramses put his arms out to his sides. "What does that even mean?"
"Look up what it takes to buy land, build structures on that land, sell properties, how much it costs, how to get supplies, what supplies cost, all that stuff." Teana pointed towards the hut door. "Use your contacts, ask around, do some reading, whatever, we're gonna need to know all this stuff."
"Wait, what's going on?" Akiiki asked. "Real estate? What?"
"Well, the way I see things, gentlemen, the entire problem here is that, in order for us to actually attempt to achieve greatness, we have to risk losing everything. So, we need to come up with an alternative." She grabbed Akiiki's wrist and pulled him towards the door. "Details later, we need to move on this now."
.
"Holy crap," Akiiki said, looking around the large, open expanse of sand in the middle of the city, set up between two large structures. "You own this now?"
"Yeah," Teana muttered, putting her hands on her hips and looking around at the land. "It only cost a grand and a half. That guy was right, land is cheap right now."
"Which guy?" Kafele asked.
"N-nevermind." Teana shook her head. "So, everything's coming together."
"Cool. We have a big patch of sand," Ramses said. "Awesome, just what I always wanted."
"And air. Don't forget the air, I assume that's ours too." Akiiki added.
"So what's going on here? Are we building a house? For you?" Ramses asked. "That's a little vain. Don't get me wrong, I like it, but I wouldn't have-"
"Guys," Teana said, motioning around with her hands as she spoke. "It's simple. We need a dependable way to make gold that isn't cards. If we don't establish that, we'll be trapped in a cycle of gaining and losing forever. So, solution! We're buying land, building structures, and selling it."
"Okay, that's cool," Ramses said dryly. "So if we all work...non-stop for five years, we should be able to finish the first floor. Let's get to it!"
"You guys are stupid. Like, really," Teana groaned. "Anyway, land is cheap right now, and it's not too bad to acquire tools and materials. The problem with real estate is getting people to build the structures. You have to pay them, they work slow, they complain, they fight...it's the obstacle everyone in real estate has to deal with. Luckily for me, I happen to know over a hundred people who either don't have a job or hate their job, and are eternally indebted to me, most of whom have already agreed to assist me as long as I make sure their expenses are covered."
"That's good," Kafele admitted. "I like that. It makes sense. It's like a business."
"It is a business," Teana said. As she spoke, a dozen people hustled onto the land patch, coming in groups of four and each of them helping push a large chariot full of materials and tools. "I got a tip at that party. Real estate is where it's at right now. Especially if you can get a good workforce together."
"Okay, okay!" Akiiki said gleefully, clapping his hands together. "You've really thought this out. Wow, this is happening, I'm part of a business!"
"Ramses," Teana said. "As a woman, I can't be the official head of a business, so that title goes to you. You're in charge of running things as far as Egypt is concerned."
"Excellent," Ramses deadpanned. "Finally, a chance to use my expansive education."
"Don't worry, it's not going to be hard. You probably won't have to do anything. So it's right up your alley." Teana cleared her throat. "I'm currently four thousand into this project, and house prices are high right now because of the population boom, so my calculations say we'll be profitable immediately. We'll expand when it's appropriate. Should be very fruitful."
"Do cards get involved in this plan anytime soon? Because that's sort of my forte," Ramses said, shrugging. "Running a real estate business, not really my thing."
"Of course," Teana said, nodding. "Me, Akiiki and Kafele will run our game like usual, you'll do your things, and now we have a backup plan in case we lose big."
"Oh, you're gonna let me seed myself from your reserves?" Ramses said. "Cool. I was gonna ask Akhekh for a loan, but I guess this is a little better."
Teana punched Ramses in the shoulder lightly, then smiled. "I think Akhekh would prefer never to see either of us again. So, anyway, we started at twenty eight thousand gold debens. In...two moon cycles, if you combine what we gain at cards and what the real estate end produces, I really think we should be up around seventy grand."
"That's pretty sweet," Kafele said, nodding and smirking. "Sounds reasonable too."
"Oh come on, Teana," Ramses said, folding his arms over his chest. "You got burned once, doesn't mean it's a bad idea to give the big table another whirl. You could get up to seventy grand in half a moon cycle if you're aggressive!"
"Oh don't worry. I've moved past the big table. I'm taking a seat at the big, big table. I'm taking another shot at the big time, you don't worry about that."
Slowly, as several dozen others showed up, the materials on the carts were unloaded by the workers.
"That's more like it," Ramses said. "What's up?"
"Well," Teana said, reaching into her robe pouch and pulling out a sheet of parchment. "It would appear that our dear Prince Atem has finally managed to schedule the card tournament to end all card tournaments." She unfolded it and showed it to the three young men.
FIRST ANNUAL TOURNAMENT OF CARDS
FIVE DAY FESTIVAL, DOZENS OF TABLES OF NONSTOP CARD ACTION
EVENT ENDS WITH HUNDRED PLAYER TOURNAMENT, WINNER CROWNED GREATEST CARD PLAYER IN ALL THE WORLD
"The event is precisely two moon cycles away," Teana explained, handing the parchment to Akiiki. "It's going to be incredible. It's going to be open participation to anyone who has enough gold, and the action will never stop and the players can just choose to sleep when they want to. Five straight days of nothing but cards across dozens, maybe hundreds, of tables!"
Akiiki gave a low whistle. "Now that is a fine piece of work by the future Pharaoh."
"I managed to sweet-talk a few people in the know, and here's how it works," Teana said, grinning. "Day one, tables have a minimum one thousand deben buy-in, maximum two-thousand. Raises anywhere from ten-twenty to twenty-fourty. Day two, they bump it. Minimum buy-in is two thousand, maximum is three and a half, raises go from twenty-fourty to fourty-eighty. Day three, bumps up again. Minimum buy-in is four, maximum buy-in is six, raises are from fourty-eighty to fifty-hundred. You can jump from table to table as often as you want, play one table until you take all the chips and then go to another, whatever you feel like. And it never stops!"
"The whole Egyptian army couldn't keep me from that," Kafele said. "Now that's an event."
"The best part is next." Teana leaned in towards her friends. "Day four. Hundred person tournament. Ten tables, each table with ten players. Buy-in is exactly ten thousand for everyone, game is no-limit, and ends only when one player has all of it."
"Someone walks away with a hundred thousand gold debens," Akiiki muttered. "That's insane."
"But, that isn't the end," Teana whispered. "Day five. Each winner of the tables in day four is forced to compete at the final table, and has to post their entire hundred thousand deben win as the buy-in! No-limit, winner-take-all."
"That's...that's a thousand thousand to the winner!" Kafele responded, looking around in wonder. "I can't even imagine that."
"It's a million gold debens. The winner goes home with seven figures, a nice trophy, and a bracelet identifying them as a tournament winner and the greatest card player in the world. And that, my friends, is the true big table. And the table I will be sitting at." Teana raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"You've outdone yourself with this one," Akiiki said, impressed. "You've discovered the means to reasonably make a lot of gold in a short timespan and you have backup plans in the event that you lose it all." He nodded. "One problem, though."
"Whatever it is, I assure you, I've thought of it," Teana said, sure of herself.
"You're still a woman," Akiiki pointed out. "I really don't see you getting into that tournament." He shrugged. "Sorry. It's one thing in the back corner of a bar or restaurant, but with the whole world watching?"
"Well, nothing is guaranteed." Teana looked up at the sky. "But, there's no law forbidding it."
"Unwritten laws are often just as binding," Ramses reminded her.
"True, true." Teana nodded. "But, when it comes time to put your name down for the tournament, I'm going to walk in there with fifty thousand gold debens worth of diamonds. I'm going to slap it down on the counter, point at it, and tell the tournament officials that I'll be bringing that into the tournament. Fifty thousand gold debens worth of chips flying around in their event. Maybe I am a woman, but their decision is going to be for something else. Either they will have my fifty thousand in their tournament, or they won't. We'll see what they decide, but I feel okay about it."
Kafele chuckled to himself. "Man...a million debens, I still can't get my head around that."
"You know, no guarantees, but...I'm good enough to sit at that table. I know that much." Teana nodded. "I can sit at that table with all the best players in the world. I can."
"Now that's the attitude I like to hear!" Ramses said, clapping her on the back.
"And, if I do win the tournament, my newfound wealth and fame would most certainly be worthy of a mate of particular...Princely status," Teana finished, smiling to herself.
"So you'd be winning a trophy statue and a trophy husband," Akiiki said. "Very nice."
"So, gentlemen, that is the plan, adjust yourselves accordingly." She bowed to the three. "I must mingle with my new employees!"
She turned around and walked towards the several dozen workers, already beginning the process of setting up a worksite.
"Hey, Ptah, glad you could make it," she called out, putting her hand up on a young man's shoulder standing next to a cart of bricks.
"Yeah, you know, I got no idea what I'm doing, I hope someone does," Ptah said uneasily.
"Oh, we've got people here who know construction," Teana said comfortingly. "Here, let's go find one."
One million gold debens. A trophy. A bracelet. The best card player in the world title. And enough fame and fortune to even impress a Prince. It's a hell of a reward.
Does it have my name on it? I don't know. But I'm going to go find out.
.
THE END
That concludes my story. I hope you enjoyed reading it.
You may notice I have left things open for a sequel, although at this time I am undecided on whether or not I want to write one. If you would like to see one, please let me know, and I will take it under consideration.
Thank you for reading.