"The word fold is interesting. It's as if the instant you make a man quit, his spirit has been crumpled by you, bent and discarded like a damaged, forgotten lawn chair."
When Joey woke up, he rubbed his head. He sighed as he thought to himself, 'It's the same as always. When my mind goes into that state, I really can't keep it up for long...I still can't control it.' Then he felt the bundle of over 500 dollars in his pocket and he couldn't stop a stupid smile from sprouting on his face.
'Oh well, at least I won't have to starve during lunch for a while and I can help mom out.' He spent the rest of the day mindlessly attending his classes, too lost in thought dreaming of all the things he could do with the money.
'Huh? Is school over already?' he thought to himself, a bit surprised.
As he exited the school gates and started to walk home, he was stopped by a shout from behind him. "Fiore!"
He turned around and saw Craig approaching with several of his friends. "I bet you feel pretty good with my money in your pocket, huh?" Craig said as he and his friends approached Joey.
As Joey was considering how to respond, everyone was surprised by the harsh honk of a car directly behind Joey. It was a black Mercedes S500, a car Joey had never seen before. The passenger side window rolled down, "Hey, Joey!"
Joey recognized the man. It was Johnny from last night. 'Why is he here?' he thought to himself.
Johnny waited for a few moments before continuing, "kid, don't bust my balls. Angelo wants to see you. Get in." Then he noticed Craig and the others, "Hey shitheads, beat it!"
Craig frowned but he recognized that Johnny didn't have the demeanor of a casual person. So he eventually pulled his friends to leave.
Joey glanced at Craig departing, then looked back at the car, and finally sighed. 'Control. I still don't have control,' Joey thought to himself as he opened the passenger side door and entered.
As the car pulled away, Craig's friends discussed Johnny's identity. Craig's eyes followed the car as it disappeared along the corner. He ignored his friends and continued to stare, deep in thought.
A short ride later, the car pulled up to the front of a small commercial building under the Astoria Blvd. subway station. The building appeared unoccupied, but there was a small burger king on the side. "Did you come to buy me a Big Mac?" asked Joey.
"Smartass," replied Johnny, "let's go." Joey followed Johnny into an unassuming side entrance of the building. He led him up to the 2nd floor in what opened into a surprisingly large loft space. The first thing that caught Joey's eye was the group of three empty poker tables in the center. He'd never seen a proper poker table before. As he was admiring them, he suddenly heard a voice.
"Like what you see kid?"
Joey looked to the side and saw Angelo, in a small open-air kitchen connecting to the loft space, pulling out some ingredients from a fridge.
"What am I doing here?" Joey asked.
"That's one way to greet people," Angelo responded as he returned some bread and condiments into the fridge. He turned to face Joey, leaned back against the kitchen counter, and took several moments to appraise his masterpiece, a ham and cheese sandwich. "You like ham and cheese?" he asked, unsurprised when he didn't get a response.
"Guess not. Well, I've got a little poker game going here some nights, Sundays to Wednesdays. I could use somebody to hand out snacks, coffee, deal some cards, that sort of thing. There's tips in it for you...make more than handing out newspapers or whatever kids do around here nowadays."
"Why me?" Joey asked.
"Do I look like I know a lot of baristas?" Angelo said in between taking bites of his sandwich. "Look kid, you seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders. Quiet, you keep to yourself enough. Figured you'd be a quick learner."
As much as he needed money, Joey knew it wasn't worth mixing up with mobsters. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't think so," Joey responded as he turned around.
"I wasn't asking..." Angelo stated as he continued savoring his sandwich. "Your old man there owes me a lot of money and being that he seems to have skipped town, yea...that's on you now. You're gonna have to work that off." Angelo finished, in that unflappable tone of his, as if he was chatting about the Yankees game and not forcing a teenager into indentured servitude.
Perhaps he noticed he was a bit too harsh so he continued, "Kid, look on the bright side. It's after school and you'll make some money. Besides, the place is not bad huh, got 3 tables, TVs, my little office in the back. You'll start out dealin' but maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about poker. Don't be so pessimistic, think of it...as an opportunity, alright?"
"I don't know how to deal cards," Joey replied.
"Don't worry, we'll sort you out. Amy!" he yelled.
Seconds later, the door to the back office opened and out stepped a young girl. Joey was surprised to see she couldn't have been much older than him. She was slim, average height, with shoulder length, wavy chestnut brown hair. Her face was oval-shaped, ending in a small pointy chin, highlighted by emerald green eyes partially obscured behind a pair of thin, circular rimmed black glasses. She wore a black knitted sweater with a pair of navy blue jeans and black flat shoes.
"Amy, this is Joey. You're gonna show him the ropes. If he fucks up it's on you," Angelo said as he wiped his hands on a napkin and walked over to talk to Johnny about something by the window.
The two stared at each other for a long time before Joey finally spoke, "Hey, I'm J..."
"What's the mission?" he was abruptly interrupted by Amy, as she stood there, awaiting an answer.
Joey's mouth was still hanging open mid-syllable. He was still as a sculpture, mind racing to comprehend the situation.
Her answer never came.
Her disappointment followed.
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