Big João was laughing and the
capoeira
fighter was going under. Pedro Bala had come back but he didn’t play. He was laughing with Big João. God’s-Love lost everything he’d won. Big João muttered:
“He’s got to go to his pocket…”
“I’m still behind,” Cat said.
He noticed that Pedro had come back:
“Aren’t you going to play anymore? Aren’t you going to bet on the queen?”
“I’m tired of playing…” and Pedro Bala winked at Cat as if saying that he should content himself with God’s-Love.
God’s-Love bet five
milreis
from his pocket. He’d only won twice during the last rounds and he was quite mistrustful. Cat opened the deck on the table. He drew a king and a seven.
“Who’s in?” he asked.
No one moved. Not even God’s-Love, who was looking at the deck suspiciously. Cat asked:
“Do you think they’re marked? You can take a look. I play a clean game…”
Big João let out one of those loud ringing laughs of his. Pedro Bala and God’s-Love laughed too. Cat looked at Big João with rage:
“This black boy is dumb as a donkey in a door. You haven’t seen anything…”
But he didn’t finish the sentence because the two sailors from the bay ship, who’d been watching the game for some time already, came over. One of them, the shorter, who was drunk, spoke to God’s-Love:
“Can anybody join the fun?”
God’s-Love pointed to Cat:
“This boy is the dealer.”
The sailors looked at the boy suspiciously. But the short one nudged the other with his elbow and whispered something in his ear. Cat was laughing inside because he knew he was saying it would be easy to get the money away from the kid. They both anteed up and God’s-Love found it strange that Pedro Bala anteed too. Big João, however, not only didn’t find it strange but anteed up himself too. He knew it was necessary to cover up for the sailors and the people in the gang had to lose too. The sailors, just as had happened with God’s-Love, started winning. But the wind of luck didn’t blow for long andsoon only Cat was winning out of the four of them. Pedro Bala kept making remarks:
“When this guy Cat is lucky he’s got it all…”
“When he loses too, he loses all night long,” Big João answered and that reply of his gave a lot of confidence to the sailors about the honesty of the game and the possibility of their luck’s changing. And they kept on betting and losing. The short one said:
“Our luck has got to change…”
The other one, who had a small mustache, was playing in silence and betting more every time. Pedro Bala was also raising the amount of his bets. At a certain moment the one with the mustache turned to Cat:
“Can the house cover five?”
Cat scratched his head full of cheap Vaseline, putting on a look of indecision that his friends knew he didn’t have:
“O.K. I’ll cover it. Just so you can make up your damage.”
The one with the mustache bet five
milreis
. The short one put up three. They both bet on an ace against a jack for the dealer. Pedro Bala and Big João bet on the ace too. Cat began to deal the cards. The first one was a nine. The short man was drumming with his fingers, the other one was tugging at his mustache. A deuce came next and the short one said:
“Now it’s the ace. A two, then a one…” and he drummed with his fingers.
But a seven turned up and then a ten and after that a jack. Cat cleared the table while Pedro Bala put on a face of great annoyance and said:
“Tomorrow, when bad luck hits you, you’ll see me clean you out.”
The short one confessed that he was cleaned out. The one with the little mustache put his hands in his pockets:
“All I’ve got is some small change to pay for the beers. The kid’s good.”
They got up, nodded to the group, paid for the beer they’d drunk at the other table. Cat invited them to come back another day. The short one answered that their ship was leaving thatnight for Caravelas. Only when they got
capoeira
fighter was going under. Pedro Bala had come back but he didn’t play. He was laughing with Big João. God’s-Love lost everything he’d won. Big João muttered:
“He’s got to go to his pocket…”
“I’m still behind,” Cat said.
He noticed that Pedro had come back:
“Aren’t you going to play anymore? Aren’t you going to bet on the queen?”
“I’m tired of playing…” and Pedro Bala winked at Cat as if saying that he should content himself with God’s-Love.
God’s-Love bet five
milreis
from his pocket. He’d only won twice during the last rounds and he was quite mistrustful. Cat opened the deck on the table. He drew a king and a seven.
“Who’s in?” he asked.
No one moved. Not even God’s-Love, who was looking at the deck suspiciously. Cat asked:
“Do you think they’re marked? You can take a look. I play a clean game…”
Big João let out one of those loud ringing laughs of his. Pedro Bala and God’s-Love laughed too. Cat looked at Big João with rage:
“This black boy is dumb as a donkey in a door. You haven’t seen anything…”
But he didn’t finish the sentence because the two sailors from the bay ship, who’d been watching the game for some time already, came over. One of them, the shorter, who was drunk, spoke to God’s-Love:
“Can anybody join the fun?”
God’s-Love pointed to Cat:
“This boy is the dealer.”
The sailors looked at the boy suspiciously. But the short one nudged the other with his elbow and whispered something in his ear. Cat was laughing inside because he knew he was saying it would be easy to get the money away from the kid. They both anteed up and God’s-Love found it strange that Pedro Bala anteed too. Big João, however, not only didn’t find it strange but anteed up himself too. He knew it was necessary to cover up for the sailors and the people in the gang had to lose too. The sailors, just as had happened with God’s-Love, started winning. But the wind of luck didn’t blow for long andsoon only Cat was winning out of the four of them. Pedro Bala kept making remarks:
“When this guy Cat is lucky he’s got it all…”
“When he loses too, he loses all night long,” Big João answered and that reply of his gave a lot of confidence to the sailors about the honesty of the game and the possibility of their luck’s changing. And they kept on betting and losing. The short one said:
“Our luck has got to change…”
The other one, who had a small mustache, was playing in silence and betting more every time. Pedro Bala was also raising the amount of his bets. At a certain moment the one with the mustache turned to Cat:
“Can the house cover five?”
Cat scratched his head full of cheap Vaseline, putting on a look of indecision that his friends knew he didn’t have:
“O.K. I’ll cover it. Just so you can make up your damage.”
The one with the mustache bet five
milreis
. The short one put up three. They both bet on an ace against a jack for the dealer. Pedro Bala and Big João bet on the ace too. Cat began to deal the cards. The first one was a nine. The short man was drumming with his fingers, the other one was tugging at his mustache. A deuce came next and the short one said:
“Now it’s the ace. A two, then a one…” and he drummed with his fingers.
But a seven turned up and then a ten and after that a jack. Cat cleared the table while Pedro Bala put on a face of great annoyance and said:
“Tomorrow, when bad luck hits you, you’ll see me clean you out.”
The short one confessed that he was cleaned out. The one with the little mustache put his hands in his pockets:
“All I’ve got is some small change to pay for the beers. The kid’s good.”
They got up, nodded to the group, paid for the beer they’d drunk at the other table. Cat invited them to come back another day. The short one answered that their ship was leaving thatnight for Caravelas. Only when they got
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