Call My Bluff

by Elizabeth Knox

  I glared at Alexis Sr. for one second and watched the sweat begin to bead on his forehead and his Adam’s apple bob up and down in panic. He was caught and he knew that he was caught. I flipped over his arm in an awkward position and pulled back the sleeve of his coat. I nearly laughed at the contraption I saw. It was state of the art, the metal was thin and the small hook like mechanism was small and silent. The eight chips that he took off the table still in the small area attached to his arm.

  “You cheating piece of shit!”

  “You fucking fraud!”

  Everyone saw him for what he was now and they were pissed. Felix rushed over as I threw the old man back in his seat. I gathered up all Alexis’ chips and my own. There was no way that I was going to stay at a place where cheaters were running rampant.

  ‘Hold on a minute there boyo, he didn’t cheat just you! Some of that is ours!” One of the men called out from the side of me. Shit was about to get really ugly.

  Felix came over, his sweet-smelling aftershave burning the hair in my nostrils. ‘Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem here? Let’s work this out.” He raised his hand to touch me on the arm but thought against it when he saw the look on my face. I was not to be messed with and he knew it.

  “This is the kind of establishment you expect me to go back to the family with? It’s nothing but a two-bit circus, I promise you another made man will never step foot in here again.”

  Felix raised his arms slightly trying to get me to calm down. ‘Wait a minute, just wait a minute. I had no idea that he was doing that. I would have never let him in here if I knew that but I promise you that I will take care of it.” Felix tried to barter with me. I knew that he was really counting on me giving the ok on his club.

  I was a made man in the Croatian mob and even though we didn’t have a large following here in the States our numbers were growing because our Don, Marko Juric had gotten a residence here to be near his daughter. Our family was growing every day and the money we had grew right along with that. Felix wanted a piece of that pie.

  “There is no need for you to take care of it. I will take care of my own problem.”

  Alexis Nicol Sr. stood up from his chair and opened his jacket to show me his piece in his waistband. “What the fuck are you going to do about it? You don’t know me or my family. You don’t know what I am capable of, yeah I cheated you, you were wide . . .”

  The shot was silent and deadly, I wasn’t going to go back and forth with him. I did exactly what I knew I was going to do, I shot Alexis Sr. directly in his face and watched as the back of his head splattered gloriously on his shocked son.

  ‘No! No! Da!” the son caught his father as he fell back toward the floor, tears trailing quickly down the young man’s face. No one should have to see their father die like that, unfortunately that was not my problem.

  I looked around the table again just to see if anyone else had anything to say about the amount of money I was taking back or what had just happened to the fucking cheat laying on the ground across from me. No one said anything. I looked for one second at the waitress who tipped me off in the first place and could see the utter shock on her face. I guess she wasn’t expecting me to handle it the way that I had. Again, not my problem.

  I picked up my stuff and turned to walk to the cash out table.

  “Kaja, please, wait one second please!” Felix rushed behind me and tried to keep me from leaving. I would have no problem putting a bullet in his head as well if he tried to keep me here.

  “Felix, I told you that I would give your place a shot and I did, it’s not worth shit. Let me be on my way before you get into something that you may not be able to get out of.”

  He stood in front of me again, “Look, Kaja you know I have been a friend to you. A friend to the family for years. I fucked up. I’ll take care of the clean up here. Just give me one more chance. I’ll get better security; I’ll do whatever I have to do. I just want to be a part of the family. I want to be part of all that. I can be a great soldier. I just need one more chance.” he begged.

  Felix wasn’t Croatian so he could never be a made man but we were always looking for soldiers but only if they were up to the job. So far what I had seen of Felix, he didn’t cut it.

  “Felix, I don’t have the least amount of time for this shit.”

  “What can I do, what do you want.” he looked around the room in a panic, “What about her? You want her? I saw you looking at her. Have her for as long as you want, do what you want and I’ll take her back when you are done. No charge.”

  I watched him point to the waitress in the back of the room. The same one that had given me the tip earlier. She didn’t say a word but I could tell that she was either still afraid about the situation that had just unfolded in front of her or she was pissed that she was being pawned off.

  “What do you mean that I can have her? What the fuck are you running here?”

  “She and her brother owe me a debt, instead of the money they gave me time. She still has about a year and a half on her sentence. So, for that time she is mine to do with as I please as long as I don’t kill her or her brother. You can do whatever you want with her, just don’t kill her. She is trained well, I promise you are going to love her. Or you can have any other girl here, they are all here under the same conditions some times are longer than others. Whoever you want she’s yours.” He stood back and let me look around the room, his hands wringing nervously in front of himself.

  “You will not hound me about coming back to this shit hole of a club, I’ll come back when I am good and ready and not a moment before, you got that Felix?

  A huge smile broke out on his face, “Absolutely, I promise that it will be better the next time you come. I promise that.

  “Whatever, get the girl. I am ready to go.” I looked over in the waitress’s direction.

  “Sabina, get your shit!” Felix turned and screamed at the girl.

  Within seconds she was standing in front of me with nothing on but a pair of dirty sweats and a thin jacket. That look on her face, the one that I couldn’t tell if it was fear or anger now clear as day.

  Anger, this woman was pissed the hell off.

  Chapter Four

  Sabina

  This bastard.

  I felt like such an asshole, not only did I get a man shot but instead of maybe getting a tip or praise for doing the right thing I was being transferred from one jail to the next one. I was tired of being used by men. Tired of having to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want anything to happen to my brother but I just couldn’t take this for much longer.

  I gathered what little I was allowed to have and walked to the back of the room where Felix had summoned me. I was to go and play slut for this new guy. Kaja, I thought he called him. Before I thought him to be beautiful now his face seemed too angular and evil looking. This guy was going to be a prick I just knew it. I could only assume that Felix told him the deal the same as he told everyone else he loaned me out to. I could be used and abused but I could not be killed. I had to make it through my sentence. I had to, my brother’s life depended on me to.

  The man looked at me for a second, taking in what I was wearing, and then turned his back to cash out his chips.

  Felix grabbed me hard by the arm and pulled my head to his mouth, “You better keep this man happy, you do whatever he wants you to do when he wants you to do it no questions asked do you hear me? I want him back here and soon!” He growled in my ear before he let me go and waited for Kaja to turn around.

  “You ready girl?” he asked me. I nodded once a scowl still settled deep onto my face.

  Felix reached around to my back and pinched me hard enough to bring tears to my eyes, “Oh yeah she is so ready. I am sure that tight cunt is already nice and wet for you!” He laughed and I threw a smile on my face right away. I had a part to play. I had to keep him happy.

  “I’m sure, let’s go. I don’t have all day.” Kaja turned to look at Felix. “Don’t expect h
er back anytime soon. I may even decide to let her work off the rest of her time with me.”

  I heard Felix take in a quick breath but he disguised it well, “Yeah, of course. I’d probably do the same thing.” He laughed again, fake. He was nothing but fake.

  Kaja put a handout so that I would start walking, I put my head high and made my way toward the exit. I didn’t look around; I had no friends here. No one who would miss me, hell I didn’t even have anyone here who would mourn me if I died. I was only trying to survive, and this was just another test.

  I walked out into the brisk late fall air, the small jacket that I had did nothing to protect me from the bite of the air. I wrapped my arms around myself hoping that I would be able to keep in some of my body heat. I was very thin, to thin, so I didn’t have a lot to go around.

  “Where the fuck is your jacket?” Kaja asked as he stood on the curb right outside the Chinese food restaurant that was the front for the underground gambling ring that Felix was trying to get started. It was only a few blocks away from the main strip, so it was in a prime location for those looking to lose their money. The glow from the legit casinos and hotels gave Kaja’s face an almost eerie look.

  “This is what I have, I am so sorry.” I tried to sound as contrite as possible but I couldn’t stop the taste of bitterness from coating my tongue. I turned my head away from him so that he wouldn’t see the expression on my face.

  “You better not get sick; I don’t have time to take care of anyone.”

  I had to bite the inside of my mouth just to keep myself from answering back. What did he expect, he was all decked out in expensive fur lined coats while I was standing on the street with thin jeans and a jean jacket on. Why were we just standing here if he didn’t want me to get sick?

  I watched as someone ran up to him from the other side of the street. It was the valet from the Italian restaurant across the way. Kaja reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys and gave them to the valet. The young man took off sprinting down the street. How the hell did he get the valet from the other restaurant to park his car. I looked at him for a second. Who the hell was this man?

  The valet drove up in Kaja’s car and stopped directly in front of him hopping out and not even expecting a tip.

  “Hold up.” Kaja reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded hundred-dollar bill and slipped it into the valet’s hands. “Thanks,” he said before he walked up to the passenger side door and opened it for me.

  I looked at the door and then back at Kaja. I was confused.

  “You going to get in or what?” Kaja asked, those steel grey eyes staring straight at me.

  “Oh, yes, thank you.” I walked toward the plush car and sat down on the heated leather seat. I tried to give him a smile as he closed my door but I was too busy trying to get through my own shock. Usually when I was handed off by Felix the guys or the women were complete assholes. I don’t remember the last time someone held a door open for me. Not while I was on this fucked up journey at least.

  Kaja got into his own seat and after putting his seatbelt on and making sure that his mirrors were in the right place, he looked over to me, “You good, are you warm enough?”

  I couldn’t stop my eyes from going wide. This was a joke. I knew people with this kink. He would be super nice to me now and then when we got back behind closed doors he would be a sadistic animal. I heard one of the other girls talking about it one day. It was an experience that I had never had but I guessed I was about to.

  “Yes, I am fine.” Now that I knew what he was about, it was hard for me to keep up the facade. I was pissed that I was in this position. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I should have just let Alexis Nicol rob this man blind and went on about my business. I knew better than to get involved in anyone else’s business. I turned to look out the window, I had never been in a car as expensive as this one but I couldn’t even appreciate it. I watched as the world whizzed by my eyes as I was taken to my next jail. 18 months, I only had to last 18 months.

  Chapter Five

  Kaja

  I could see the woman pouting in her seat, it seemed the further away from the club that we got the more sullen she became. I would ask her what her problem was but it wasn’t anything I was really concerned about.

  Honestly, I was more interested in what made this woman keep fighting. The security was not that tight at the small club we just came from. To be honest I was sure that she could run away and Felix would never find her. Yet she stayed there, I wanted to know why.

  “What are you doing attached to someone like Felix?”

  “I owe him, I always pay my debts.” She said nonchalantly, not even bothering to look me in the eye.

  “I see, and you couldn’t think of another way to pay him back besides laying on your back?” I asked a bit of a chuckle in my voice. It always surprised me that some women chose this route instead of any other. Yeah, it was a quick fix but it always seemed to mess them up in the long run.

  She sucked her teeth, lowly, but didn’t answer my question. It was rude and I didn’t like that shit at all. “You need to answer when someone asks you a direct question.” I squeezed the steering wheel, trying to divert some of my anger as I made the turn onto my secluded block.

  “It’s what they want me for, I’m sure you will be pleased.” She answered with a fake small smile on her face, but it never reached her eyes.

  I pulled into my garage and turned off the car. She was out of the vehicle before I could open my own door. It was like she didn’t want to be in the same space as me. I am sure that she assumed that I took her from Felix to serve as some sort of sexual slave, but that was not my thing. Not in the least. I walked over to her side of the car. As I made my way into her space she stepped back almost instinctively, her eyes never left the ground, although I could see that her hands were balled into tight fists. I took another small step toward her and again she moved back.

  “Don’t move. No one is here to hurt you girl.” I snapped at her. I wasn’t used to playing this game. I usually got what I wanted when I wanted it with no push back. I took another step in her direction but this time she didn’t move.

  I put a finger under her chin and pushed her face up so that I could get a good look at it. She was beautiful just like I thought in that dark, gritty underground club. Her eyes were almond shaped and a deep brown, her skin was fair, and her cheekbones were high and strong. Her hair although it was tied up seemed like it was long and thick. But just as I had expected she was beat the hell up. There was a major bruise on her face that extended from just below her eye to over her cheekbone. I pulled her bottom lip down and even though she did have all of her teeth, I could see that it had been a while since she had brushed them.

  I let my hand push away the errant strands of hair that had fallen out of her bun and traced the dull bruise marks on one side of her neck and on her collarbone. I let my hand trail down her shoulder and down to her hands, I glanced back up at her face, her lip was trembling and I could see her face getting red with anger. She thought I was going to humiliate her. It was the last thing on my mind. Just like she said, I paid my debts. She looked out for me; I would look out for her. I picked her wrist up and looked at the angry ligature marks that were there.

  “What is this from?”

  “They tie me to the bed so I don’t fight back.”

  “You are in the habit of fighting back?” I asked letting her hand fall back down to her side.

  She found my gaze and without blinking said, “Every single time.”

  I smiled slightly and backed up a bit. She was a fighter, rough around the edges but not so different from what I was used to.

  “I want you to go in the house, there is a bathroom on the second floor as soon as you get up the stairs. Take a bath and wash all that makeup and shit off. I’ll have some clothes for you, or at least a robe.

  She squinted at me trying to figure out if what I was telling her was a joke or had some type of ulte
rior motive. When I didn't say anything else, she just rolled her eyes and went inside the house like I asked her too.

  I watched her walk up the stairs, her hips swaying sensually but tiredly as she made her way up. Even I could tell that she was rundown. She must have been going through hell with Felix. She turned around when she made it to the top.

  "Look mister, if you are just going to do some fucked up shit to me while I am in the bath can we save it for another day? I am beat, or we can just do it here." She pointed back down to where the car was.

  "I'm not going to touch you; all I want you to do is go upstairs and wash. I like my place clean and that includes the guests that I invite inside of them." I flicked my hand in her direction indicating that I was done with the conversation. She let out a soft sigh and turned.

  I waited a few seconds before I took out the items I had in the car and made my own way into the house, the water was already running by the time I did get inside.

  I could smell the vanilla essence wafting through the air. I had never used any of the essential oils that I had in the house, It was nice to have in case I ever did decide to entertain a lady friend but good old soap and water was just fine for me.

  I let the scent bring me toward the bathroom and I could hear her splashing around softly and humming a tune I was unaware of. That sound is what beckoned me further in. Every note struck a chord in me that I had no idea existed.

  I opened the door and she shrieked before trying to sink deeper into the tub.

  "What was that?" I asked her, almost completely oblivious to the fact that she was laying naked before me with just a few mounds of fluffy bubbles keeping her body from being completely within view.

  "You gave me your word!' She pulled her arm over her barely covered chest.

  She thought I was in here to force her to do something sexual.