Piano Black: Short Story

The lights overhead flicked on. It burned my eyes, and I could feel my heartbeat pounding in the back of my head. The room I found myself in was small, the walls glassy as if they were carved out of some black crystal. I tried to bring my hands up to rub my eyes, but my left hand wouldn’t budge—It was handcuffed to the side of the table I was sitting at. Smoke had collected around the ceiling from a cigarette one of the men across from me was smoking. I guess I wasn’t alone here, thankfully. Though I don’t know how big of a relief that was. I could make the smoker out through the haze, the red glow of his cigarette lighting up his face. He brought his hand up to take a long drag from his cigarette, clad in a velvety black suit and slick-backed black hair. The hand without a cigarette was handcuffed to the table, though he didn't seem too panicked about that fact. The other man, who was not smoking, did not share his same composure. He was looking frantically around the room, his eyes darting around the other man’s face, before locking onto mine.

“Hey man, I don’t belong here. Where the hell are we? Who are all of you anyways?” He shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

The composed man interjected before I got the chance to answer. “Calm down, son. Wherever we are we’re stuck. Might as well not make such a big fuss over it, eh?” He took one last long drag of his cigarette, before snuffing it out on the table in front of us. It singed some of the bright green felt, fuming with an acrid smell somehow powerful enough to mask the heavy scent of cigarette smoke hanging in the air. It’s a poker table. My free hand traces the edge of the cool leather trim, slightly sticking to my sweaty palm.

“Unless any of you have a key for these cuffs, I’d have to agree.” I looked back up to the nervous man as I said this, who’s eyes had widened behind a pair of glasses set crookedly on his face. He frowned and looked silently back down at the table. He reminded me a bit of some wounded animal. We’re in the same predicament here, man. Better get a grip.

Suddenly, a door opened directly across from us. It blended perfectly flush into the wall, and as such the unexpected movement caused most of the table to flinch. From the door appeared a tall, slender woman in a silk black dress. Her long black hair swung behind her as she closed the door and took a seat at the head of the poker table. Her deep brown eyes scanned each of our faces carefully, her dark red lips not once parting to make a sound. As much as I was confused, I tried to keep my cool. I felt for some reason I had to impress her. She reached under the table and pulled out a deck of cards and a wide metallic briefcase. She flicked open the lid to reveal several rows of poker chips, each row holding an assigned color. Silently, she handed them out in small piles.

I held my breath as the rest of the table remained quiet as well, simply watching the woman pass out chips. Each of us got two black chips, five red, and ten white. A pretty small poker game. She began to shuffle the cards. Her slender fingers threaded through the cards, practically dancing around them creating fantastic shapes and patterns. She then dealt our cards around the table, her arms like serpents flicking their tongues. After what felt like an eternity, she finally spoke:

“White is fifty. Red is one hundred. Black is five hundred. Buy-in for the first round will be one hundred for the big blind, and fifty for everyone else.” Her voice rang out over the dead air like a siren. It was monotone, but she projected well. She tossed a green chip to the smoker on her left, and a blue chip to the frightened man in glasses. “Green is small blind. Blue is big blind. Do I need to explain the rules?” She looked around the table.

The frightened man spoke up, “Just what the hell is going on here, lady?! How did we get here? You can’t just keep me locked up here!” He shot up from his chair, his hands gripping the side of the table, the restrained hand forced slightly lower than the other. “I didn’t do anything! I’ll get the cops on your ass!”

“We’re playing poker, sir.” The woman remained seated, replying in her robotic tone. “Texas hold ‘em, I’m sure you’re familiar?”

“Of course I’m familiar, but that's not what is important right now!” The man was now screaming, pointing at the pale woman.

“Sir, if you don’t calm down, I’m afraid you won’t be able to continue in the game.”

“That’s all I want!” He huffed, almost relieved. “Just let me out of here!”

The man fell back into his chair as the woman reached back under the table. Maybe she’s getting the keys? Was it really that easy? My brow furrowed as I looked between the nervous man and the woman. Surely not. This guy was acting like a moron. She’s clearly the one in power here.

The woman sat back upright in her chair, revealing a small black handgun in her right hand. She held it up across from the pleading man and squeezed the trigger. The shot was deafeningly loud.

“Shit!” My free hand shot up to cover my ear.

“Woah lady!” The smoker with the slick-backed hair jumped from his seat, his hands hovering over the table. “That seemed a bit unreasonable! Why don’t we all just sit and chat about this, alright? No need for it to get ugly. No need for anyone to... well...” His voice trailed off as he looked back at the now dead man, blood trickling down the bridge of his nose and past his jaw. She had shot him right between the eyes, killing him instantly. Gotta admit, her aim was impressive.

“Texas hold ‘em. Do I need to explain the rules?” The woman set the gun back under the table. She slid the blue chip from the dead man to me.

My face went cold. Shit. What was this woman planning to do with us exactly? Does she really want to play poker that bad? That she would just shoot a man? The air was completely still as the other man slowly lowered himself into his seat. He looked at the woman in horror and hesitated before throwing in a white chip.

It was now my turn, since the opponent to my right was no longer of this world. I used my free hand to lift the corners of my cards. Jack of hearts and eight of clubs. I threw a red chip in. The turn circled back to the dealer, the slender woman, who also called. She continued to deal out three cards for the flop, and individually revealed them. Nine of hearts. Queen of spades. Four of spades. I swallowed, and quickly scanned my opponent's reaction. As expected, the woman’s face remained stone, but the next man fidgeted a bit with something between his free thumb and index finger.

The man then raised one hundred, looking expectantly at me. I’d bet he doesn’t have anything good based on his reaction, but neither do I. I called his raise and threw in a red chip. I turned to the woman, whose eyes were still fixed on the table. She blinked and pushed in her only two black chips.

A thousand dollars?! Was this woman insane? What kind of hand could she have with this kind of flop? The other man’s eyes danced around the table, as if searching for a hidden card to better his hand. Slowly, he pushed in his two black chips to call the raise of the woman. The turn was back to me. I better just cut my losses. I still don’t know this woman’s intentions, with or without a good poker hand. I decide to fold.

The woman revealed the next card for the turn. Three of spades. She looked at the remaining player, the man’s slicked back hair now falling unevenly in front of his eyes from the sweat collecting on his forehead. He’s losing it. The man rubbed his hairline before throwing in his three remaining red chips. The woman did not hesitate before she matched his raise. The man shook his head and tapped the table to call, and the woman nodded and reached for the final river card—Seven of spades.

The man looked briefly to the cards on the table and decided to call. The woman took some time as well to check her hand and see the cards on the table. Then she pushed her remaining chips into the center.

“All in.” She said matter-of-factly.

The man inhaled sharply, his wide eyes jumping from her, the table, and to his hand. He sat there for a moment, still like a statue. Thinking, or maybe praying.

“I’ll call.” He replied shakily, pushing his chips into the center. “Let’s see what ya’ got, miss.” He flips his hand: Three of hearts and queen of diamonds. He has two pairs.

She looked briefly at his hand before flipping her own: Five and six of spades. I pause, my breath caught in my throat. She has a straight flush. The man’s eyes widened at her hand, and his neck snapped back to her.

“Please, whatever you need I can get it for you. It’s just a harmless game of poker, eh? You had a good hand, you played well! Just let me go, please!” His voice shook desperately, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The woman reached under the table, paying him no mind. “Please, lady! C’mon, I didn’t do nothin’ wrong! Please!”

The woman raised the handgun and shot him. Perfectly between the eyes, just like her last victim. She placed the handgun under the table and turned to me.

“Only two left now. Looks like I’m the big blind this turn.” She took the blue chip from me and replaced it with the green chip from the now dead smoker. She collected the cards and began to shuffle them once more.

I stared, my mouth hanging open dumbly. My mind was reeling. Two men were now dead over a game of poker—And for what? What were they doing here? What am I doing here? The woman tossed me two cards and placed two cards in front of her. And why does this woman not seem to care?! She set the rest of the deck down to her left.

“You’re first.”

I turned the corner of my cards to peek at them. Ace of spades and an ace of hearts. My heart leapt into my throat. Talk about luck. Though I don’t know how much it’ll do me, now. I tossed in a white chip. The woman tosses in a red chip without even looking at her cards. Then she turned the flop over: Ace of diamonds, three of clubs, three of diamonds. She looked back at me to take my turn.

I can’t believe it. Three of a kind aces—not only that, but a full house with the threes? I tapped the table to signal a check. The woman pushed her entire collection of chips into the center.

“I’m all in.” She smiled as she looked back at me. “Let’s make it interesting too, since I clearly have more chips than you. We’ll do all or nothing, okay? So, you don’t need to worry about a side pot or anything like that. Unless you fold, of course.”

This lady’s enjoying this. Just toying with my life. I absentmindedly flipped a chip between my fingers and took a deep breath before matching her raise. “Fine. Have it your way. Let’s see how this shakes out.”

Her smile widened as she reached for two more cards to finish out the turn and the river. Seven of hearts and two of spades.

“Well?” She gestured towards me. “What do you have?”

I flipped my hand. “Full house. Three aces and a pair of threes.”

She nodded and flipped hers. She said nothing, but her smile remained on her face. Four of hearts and six of diamonds. She had nothing.

“Looks like I won, then?” I reached over to collect the chips to my end, trying to hide my excitement. The two limp bodies stared blankly at the table, their mouths still hanging open. This momentary victory was vastly overshadowed by the two dead men in the room. “So, what now?”

The woman still said nothing but stood up from her chair. She reached back under the table.

“Hey wait a minute! I won, fair and square! You can’t do this!” Panic rose in my chest as she revealed the handgun from under the table for the last time.

“Congratulations. May I have the name of the man who bested me?” The gun hung limply at her side as she towered over the table.

“It’s.... It’s Simon. Please just put the gun down, now. I won, just like you said.” I tried my best to shrink back into my chair. To make myself as small of a target as possible, in hopes that she may miss her shot, should she take it.

“Congratulations, Simon.” Without warning, she raised the gun underneath her chin and pulled the trigger.