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I own L. Seydinov, Gregorio, and Paulie. This chapter is a transition chapter where Dimitri goes from being 12 to being 17 halfway through. I wanted to show the funny, rambunctious little-kid side of him, hinting toward hijinks that just leave you wondering what they were. But I was also ready to age him a bit, and put him in with his friends, gambling illegally, of course. This is a really fun chapter, but at the very end it hints toward his tendency to think he doesn't deserve things. I thought the transition was creative. Also, Sophie is mentioned, but never seen: I just wanted the "getting ready" part in there as a lead-in.

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"Ow! There's a neck under there you know."

Vlad kept tugging on the borrowed bow tie on Dimitri's borrowed suit, and the boy's patience was starting to live on borrowed time.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Vlad said, "but everything has to be perfect!"

He didn't look sorry.

"Lemme go; I'll do it." Dimitri swatted his hand away. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because I'm not leaving you alone in the square all weekend."

Dimitri gave him a bitter look.

"Again."

"Vlad," he grumbled. "It was one time!"

"It doesn't matter. There's nothing to worry about---you're going to love her. She is...she is simply indescribable!"

Dimitri didn't bother trying not to laugh. "Vlad and somebody sitting in a tree....Hey, what's her name again?"

"Sophie." Vlad began twirling around the room, and Dimitri had to choke back the urge to have an hysterical episode. "She is a glittering jewel, a chocolate-covered ice cream cone on a hot day!"

"Are you gonna date her or eat her?"

Vlad stopped dancing, but the goofy smile still controlled his face. "Just you wait, Dimitri my boy, just you wait!"

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"Wait for it Dimitri, wait for it..."

"Vlad, you dog!" laughed Gregorio. "No backseat playing!"

"He's right, Vlad." Leonitka stubbed out his cigar on the table. "Coach him and he'll lose for sure---isn't that right, Dimitri?"

Dimitri sat at the far end of the poker table, bent over a fan of cards in absolute concentration. He didn't answer the others, nor did he look up. Vlad stood at the back of the room, along with Paulie's dad, Gregorio's uncle, and old man Seydinov.

"You with us, Dimitri?" Paulie checked.

Dimitri looked up. A sly grin crossed his face. "I'm with ya, I'm with ya," he confirmed.

Vlad held his breath. Dimitri always worked the game like this right before he....But was he bluffing? It was all in the tactic.

Gregorio laid down his hand of cards. "Out," he stated, shaking his head.

Leo turned to his right. "Paulie?"

"Jack," he said, and he too laid down his cards.

"Straight king, boys," Leo declared, releasing a row of practically unbeatable cards onto the table.

All three heads snapped toward Dimitri. The grown men at the back all but shut their eyes.

"Well then," Leo prodded. "Got a losing hand, Dimitri?"

Dimitri took his sweet time responding. "I don't know," he said, snapping his cards down onto the table. "But you do."

"Ohhhh," all three shouted, throwing their chairs back from the scene of the slaughter.

A fan of straight aces lay in front of him.

"Ah ha HAAA!" Vlad barrelled to the center of the room and clobbered Dimitri into a bear hug that lifted him clear off the ground. "You did it!"

"Bloody unbelievable!" Gregorio muttered.

Paulie leaned back in his chair and initiated the old chant yet again. "Veni Vedi Vici---"

"---Never beat Dimitri," the others finished.

"Pay up, fellas!" Dimitri bellowed. "You owe me."

"Yeah, you owe us a decent burial," Paulie joked, rifling through his wallet.

One by one, his opponents deposited their promised wagers in a pile at Dimitri's end of the worn-in table.

Leo stood up and lobbed his jacket over his shoulder. "Come on, men; let's cut outta here before we get busted by some Red."

Everyone filed out through the back entrance until the room was once again deserted, and went their seperate ways down the street. On the walk through town, Vlad just couldn't seem to keep his excitement contained.

"I can't believe it!" he sputtered. "You're seventeen---seventeen---and you've already won more matches than I have in a lifetime!"

Dimitri only shrugged, his fixed stare on the ground obscuring the humble grin on his face.

Vlad kept going. "Two thousand rubles! I can hardly believe it. Two thousand rubles, my boy! You, are, brilliant! A genius!"

"Vlad."

"We can afford to pay rent on an apartment!"

"Vlad."

"I wonder if we should hide it."

"Vlad!"

Vlad turned to him, wide-eyed. "What?"

"It was just a game." Dimitri kept his eyes down and walked a little faster.

Vlad adopted Dimitri's somber tone, but his mind was still on the money. "Oh, you're right, you're right, of course---we should save as much of it as we can, naturally."

Dimitri rolled his eyes. Sure. That's what he'd meant.

"Amazing," Vlad breathed as they disappeared around the corner. "Simply amazing."