Swift as Desire by Laura Esquivel Read Free Book Online

who was now showing a pair of kings, was hiding a pair of nines. He didn’t like that at all. It put Júbilo’s hand above his. He set down his cigar and concentrated on receiving his last card. Since he had four cards showing, this one would be facedown. Don Pedro pickedit up slowly and looked at it cautiously. He almost smiled with joy when he discovered he’d been dealt another jack. He now had three jacks! That meant he had won. He should have bet against the pair of kings, but he didn’t. He passed. His pulse accelerated. He was already anticipating his victory, and, without hesitating, bet ninety pesos. That was what Júbilo was waiting for. He calmly matched the ninety pesos, and raised the bet again with the last twenty pesos he had left, the balance of his capital. Don Pedro was surprised by Júbilo’s audacity. He assumed that Júbilo’s inexperience had caused him to be overconfident about his two pairs, preventing him from guessing the truth, that Júbilo had another king in his hand. And so, sure of his triumph, he calmly matched the bet, and asked, according to protocol:
    “What do I have to beat?”
    “Three kings,” replied Júbilo, laying his cards on the table.
    Don Pedro couldn’t bear losing. He grew red with anger and from that moment on he lost all compassion for Júbilo. He used all the tricks he knew to try to wipe him out. When Júbilo bet, he wouldn’t follow. But when don Pedro bet, Júbilo had the misfortune of holding a good hand, and was forced to follow. Little by little, don Pedro took back all of Júbilo’s winnings. Júbilo began playing badly. He was nervous. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate, he couldn’t see which card he would receive next, much less what don Pedro was holding. He couldn’t understand it. He had lost his communicationwith the numbers, and he was playing blind. His hands began to sweat and his mouth grew dry. In just a few hands, he had lost nearly all the money he had won, and was now betting the last pesos that he had left.
    He had a pair of sevens on the table. Don Pedro didn’t even have a pair showing. Júbilo had been dealt his last card, but his hand hadn’t improved. He was left with just the pair of sevens. He had to wait for don Pedro to see his final card and place his bet, before knowing how he would fare. Don Pedro, in spite of not holding a pair, had cards that were higher than his, so any pair he could make would beat Júbilo’s pair. After looking at his card, don Pedro said with great self-confidence:
    “I’ll bet all the money you’ve got left.”
    Júbilo hesitated. All the other players had folded, so if he didn’t match the bet no one would know what don Pedro was holding. But don Pedro had bet against all the money Júbilo had left! It was obvious that he wanted to leave Júbilo stripped naked, since he obviously believed that the money Júbilo had on the table was all that he had in the world. Júbilo’s mind tried to sort out all the options. There was a high probability that don Pedro was bluffing, but the only way to find out for sure was to pay up, since it seemed that he had lost his capacity to connect deeply with people and objects. So he matched the bet, only to discover, with a sudden stabbing pain in the heart, that don Pedro had a pair of jacks. Júbilo felt a cold chill run through his body. He had lost everything.EVERYTHING. He had nothing more to bet. As don Pedro collected the chips, a cigar dangling from his mouth, he said:
    “
Bueno, amigo, muchas gracias.
I guess you don’t have anything else to bet, do you?”
    “No.”
    “What about that little Packard of yours? Don’t you want to bet that?”
    Júbilo was suddenly paralyzed. He and Lucha had, in fact, arrived in the pueblo in a Packard, but the possibility of using it for a bet had never crossed his mind, since it didn’t belong solely to him. It had been a wedding gift from his in-laws. Lucha came from a family with money, and the gift, in