Before Latom had been sucked into the world of crime she had been living on the streets making a living as a street hustler. Doing all kinds of shady shit in order to have enough to fill her body with energy. It molded her, made her tough and she had sworn she would never forget where she came from. So every now and then she put on some shady looking clothes, took her deck of cards, a cardboard box, a small stool and walked to a busy part of town to relive those memories.

She put the cardboard box upside down and the deck of cards on top of it, sat down on the stool behind it and sorted through the deck. Finding the Jack of Spades, the Jack of Clover and the Queen of Hearts she put them down on the cardboard box.

J J Q

She practice for a short period of time, mixing the cards fast while making sure she didn't touch more than one at the time. She had done it a thousand times and it wasn't a problem so she decides it was time. The side walk was getting busier and busier as more and more people started to walk past her. She stood up and started making herself known.

"- Ladies and gents. Want to earn some money? Beat me in this game of Monte and you will. All you need is a a quick eye and a thick wallet. Keep your eye on the Queen of Hearts and you'll walk away wealthier then your were before."

Latom smiled as she kept going. This was comfortable, simple yet elegant and something that had kept her afloat during the darkest times of her life. Now it was all about trying to string some poor fucker along and hopefully get a tear or two dropped.

"- Try your luck, unless you're a coward!"

Latom notice a curious spectator lurking on the other side of the street. He seems intrigued but a little bit too shy or whatever to approach. Latom could tell this would be one of the more easier marks to get hooked. She stands up and waves to the man.

"Come on over sir. I won't bite. Lets have a go."

The man slowly starts to make his way over and stops by the cardboard box. He looks curiously while Latom is playing with the cards in her hand.

"- If you've never played this game before let me give you a short introduction. As you can see I have three cards in my hands. Two Jacks and one Queen. Your goal is to follow the Queen and find her in the end. If you do you'll win the amount of money you bet if you don't I'll take your money. Sounds like a deal? Lets go."

Latom shows the man the three cards. One Jack in her left hand and a Jack and a Queen in her right. The man looks carefully at the cards and tightens up. You can see that he's ready and focused. Latom throws the cards down on the Cardboard box and starts to slowly move them around. After a while she goes faster and faster. She stops and looks up on the man standing in front of her.

"- Put whatever amount you're comfortable with on the card you think is the queen"

Latom looks down and the man puts a twenty on the right card. She gives the man his winnings and encourage him to go again. She can see that he's hooked thinking this will be easy money. They go again. It's the same result. The man puts a twenty on the Queen and doubles up yet again. You can see in his eyes he is confident. Latom decides this is the time. As they go again the man puts down a hundred dollar bill almost bursting of the excitement of doubling up once again. Latom puts the money in front of her and turns the card."

J  

"- Wait what!" Says the man. Thinking he must have made a mistake. He must have blinked at the wrong time or whatever to make this mistake. His face turns from excitement to anger. This is a game too easy to be able to loose. 

"- Lets go again."

Latom shows him the cards. Two Jacks and one Queen and starts moving them around. She puts her hands up and waits for the man to put his bet down. This time he puts two hundred dollar bills down. Latom smiles.

 J 

The man looks shocked. Trying to figure out what just happened. After a while he angrily turns around and starts walking away. Latom can hear him mumbling to himself.

"- How will I explain this to the Mrs."

BonJonBovi walked gingerly out of his permanent lodgings in Atrocity’s feeling refreshed.

“There’s nothing like a Greg’s Benedict in the morning to really clean the old pipes out.” he said out loud to no one in particular.

“I absolutely agree with that statement, sir!” no one in particular replied.

no one in particular was a good man and had been in BonJonBovi’s service since day one. Born on the mean streets of Monaco he had had to learn how to take care of himself, and others.

He was a wiry man, with a felt flat cap draped, coquettishly, to one side of his head. And he was loyal as the day is long. Like, really really loyal. Almost too loyal for his own good. 24 to be absolutely exact about it. He was 24 loyal.

Loyals?

Loyals.

He was 24 loyals.

“Oh no one in particular” BonJonBovi said wistfully, and it is important to note that his name is pronounced in lower case. It’s a tough one to get your lips round. But so was the man himself, semi colon closing parenthesis. “I believe I might be in the mood for a spot of gambling, old boy.”

“To the casino, sir?” the butler asked.

“No! Let’s go find some real action. Let’s find some street gambling. I’ve got a quick eye and a thick wallet and, from what I’ve heard, that’s all I need. So let’s go get proper fucking rich bro, yeah?”

“Of course, sir. Absolutely.”

As BonJonBovi approached the Street Monte table he saw a man, well, if you could even call him a man. A mark certainly. A mark of a man! Haha.

Anyway, Mark was trying his best to beat Latom, a woman famed for the speed of her hands and the

Latom was showing him the cards. Two Jacks and one Queen and started to move them around. She put her hands up and waited for the man to put his bet down. This time he puts two hundred dollar bills down. Latom was smiling.

 J 

The man looked shocked, and was clearly trying to figure out what had just happened. After a while, far too long if you asked BonJonBovi,  he angrily turned around and started walking away. BonJonBovi could tell that Latom could hear him mumbling to himself.

"How will I explain this to the Mrs." Mark was mumbling. What a fucking rube. His wife probably hated him. I bet she was called Rachel. Ha. Unlucky Rachel.

“Good morning Latom! Deal me in?” BonJonBovi said.

“I don’t think that is the correct terminology, sir.” no one in particular said.

“Oh, er, right then. Well, can I play please?”

Latom was still smiling to herself as the man, who apparently was named Mark, was walking away. Probably home to his loser wife Rachel. Mark and Rachel. Probably one of those boring suburban families. With a dog called Spot. Two kids, one boy and one girl. James and Sarah. Yeah James and Sarah was surely their names. Couldn't be anything else. Mark was probably going there right after work for their weekly friday game night. Scrabble. Latom fucking hated scrabble. But hey... To each their own. But still, Scrabble sucks. It is nothing compared to Monte. Monte is a grown up game or a game for grown ups as they say. And by the looks of it, Mark wasn't a grown up. At least not by Latoms standards. Mark was probably a low level accountant and Rachel a secretary at some law firm or something. Second secretary if it was a big one. High school sweat hearts, married directly after HS and kids a year or two after that. Now at a point where they both wished they had done none of those things. 

Shaking the thoughts out of her head Latom was just about to put the winnings in her pockets as two suspicious looking men approached the cardboard box. As always she tried to get a feel for them as they approached. It was always important to know all you could about your Mark before one started taking their money. Fucking Mark. He probably even slept in pyjamas and spent hours cleaning the kitchen before going to bed in hopes of getting some. He had probably spent years waiting for that special promotion at work, being denied every single time, telling himself if I don't get it next year I'll quit but doing fuck all about it... Pathetic.

Anyway. The two suspicious looking guys came closer and Latom was sure she had it all figured out. One well dressed, important looking and sophisticated. One not so much. Probably a servant of some sort. Well dressed, important and sophisticated was always going to be pride. Pride was the thing that would make him lose. Big at that too as they always wanted to win it back. The more they lose the more they play.

“- Good morning Latom! Deal me in?” The servant said.

“- I don’t think that is the correct terminology, sir.” The sophisticated man continued.

“Oh, er, right then. Well, can I play please?” The servant continued.

Oh fuck. A gamechanger... Latom had read the situation all wrong. This was going to be problematic. It took a while for her to regain that comfortable feeling required. The smile slowly creeping back.

"- Morning sirs and welcome. How do you guys feel about earning some money? Do you need a short introduction or should we just get on playing?"

BonJonBovi watched as a smile slowly crept back over Latom’s face. That was probably a sign of some kind, but BonJonBovi would be damned if he could work out what it was. He wasn’t into any of these “nonverbal” tells. Seemed a lot of hocus pocus to him. BonJonBovi was happy to take it for an expression of warmth and hospitality.

"- Morning sirs and welcome. How do you guys feel about earning some money? Do you need a short introduction or should we just get on playing?" Latom said, invitingly.

“Be careful sir,” no one in particular said “I think she is probably a lot more skilled at this game than you are.”

“Nonsense! I have a Master’s degree in Street Smarts from the University of Hard Knocks. I should be able to handle this!” BonJonBovi said defensively.

“Sir, we’ve been over this a thousand times. There is no such establishment as the University of Hard Knocks, and there is certainly no degree course for Street Smarts. That was a hustle. And you fell for it, sir.”

“Nonsense. So what is this then?” BonJonBovi pulled his degree certificate out of his pocket.

“That’s a receipt for a handjob from Atrocity’s, sir.”

“What?!” BonJonBovi screamed, shrilly and embarassingly. “I showed this to my mother! I told her this was going to change things for both of us!”

“I don’t know what to say, sir. I distinctly remember advising you at the time.” The butler went on, “Your mother was very obviously distressed about the whole thing. She was crying if you recall?”

“I thought that was due to pride!”

“But she threw you out of the house, sir.”

“With pride!” BonJonBovi was hysterical now.

no one in particular glanced at Latom who was smiling even broader now.

“Perhaps we should talk about this further later, sir?”

“Yeah, perhaps we should.” BonJonBovi admitted, admittedlyly. “And perhaps we should have a brief run through of the rules as well please Latom. I’m feeling shaken.”

Listening two the two men bickering Latom, of course without hesitation, started thinking about an old married couple. Usually when two persons were going at it like this they had been together for far to long. Human beings were not meant to settle down according to her. We are like animals. And just like animals we need to get out all the wildness out of our systems. You can't do that with the same person over and over again. It gets repetitive. Boooooooring. 

As her mind were thinking about marriage and what a death sentence that was she couldn't help to wander back to Mark. That little piece of shit was a walking (unfortunately) talking example why you shouldn't get married. Sure at first it feels good. You meat the "love of your life". Or at least that's what you think. You get kids and you love them as well. At least in the beginning. You get that perfect house. Before everything starts falling apart. The next thing you know you're shooting yourself in the shoulder, killing the dog but missing your wife who was asleep in the bed. An easy target. Fucking useless.

“- And perhaps we should have a brief run through of the rules as well please Latom. I’m feeling shaken.” Latom is awoken from her thoughts. She hadn't been paying attention to the bickering since it had become clear to her that this would be an easy Mark. Oh no, not again. Fucking Mark... With his perfect life. Or not. Loser.

"- It's really easy. As you can see in my hands I have two black Jacks and the Queen of Heart. I am going to put them down upside down on this cardboard box and shuffle them around. Your task is to find the Queen of Hearts when I'm finished. Just put whatever amount you feel comfortable with on the card you believe is the right one. If you win you double up, f you lose I'll take it all. Good to go?" Latom says with a confident smile on her face.

"- Sir, we shouldn't be doing this. I'm sure it's a scam."

But before the servant looking man gets a chance to answer Latom butts in.

"- He looks big enough to make his own decisions. Give him a chance to win some money!"

Latom is holding up the cards and puts them down upside down on the box before anyone has the chance to say anything else. Shuffling them around slow at first then faster and faster but still making sure only to touch one of the cards at the same time. After a while she stops.

"- So which one will it be? Card 1, 2 or 3?" She points at the cards slowly as a dramatic effect. Then she waits for an answer.

1  2  3

Latom looks at BonJonBovi while he's looking confused. He carefully scans all the cards one by one taking his time. After what seems like forever he sneakily turns towards no one in particular for some guidance. She can see him putting one finger up looking pleadingly at his companion. No one in particular shakes his head discretely. BonJonBovi tries to recover and puts two fingers up, but is greeted by yet another shake of no one in particular's head. Turning around confidently BonJonBovi puts 10k down on card number 3, certain for a win and erect like a... lamppost. Latom turns the card slowly for dramatic effect.

1  2  Q

Handing BonJonBovi 20k Latom couldn't believe her eyes. This dude took the money and started screaming all kinds of crazy stuff while doing a weird pelican looking victory dance. 

"- This game is so easy. I beat you! I'm the greatest..." The dance kept going for a few minutes. He was well in the zone. Doing all kinds of craziness with both arms and legs. No one in particular had to interrupt for it all to end. Bu this time a crowd had been gathered around in order to catch a glimpse of what was going on. Latom was not happy.

"- Care to go again sir? If it was that easy?"

Without waiting for an answer Latom held up the cards and started to shuffle them around again. The gathered crowd was still standing around her cardboard box. Interested to see what was going on. If this really was a money making machine. They were excited at the prospect to earn a few bucks themselves. Latom finished and held up her arms waiting for BonJonBovi to make his next move. Would this end the same way as for Mark. Mark had been just as confident but ended up walking away in tears. Surely it would.

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