Wild Cards 13 : Card Sharks by George R.R. Martin Read Free Book Online

Flo.
    "Make it for two," I said.
    The guy nodded, taking our menus, and hurried away.
    Flo was sitting rigidly in her chair. Her dark brown ponytail quivered slightly from side to side behind her, betraying her tension. Her eyes shifted around the nearly-empty restaurant. "Are there other jokers here?"
    "Uh -" I glanced around. "No, not yet. But it's early. The Twisted Dragon brings people from both sides of the street."
    She nodded. Her face was covered with sweat. It wasn't that hot in here, especially under the fan.
    "Do you like movies?" I asked, hoping to get the conversation going. "I want to see Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot , but I'll have to sneak out so my mother doesn't get mad. I think Marilyn Monroe is beautiful." I waited for Flo to say something. When she didn't, I went on. "Saturday, I saw I Was a Teenaged Joker , with Michael Landon. It was cool."
    She shrugged, uninterested. "Is Jokertown ... I mean, I know it's a neighborhood. But does it have all kinds of places?"
    "Well ... I guess so. What kind of places do you mean?"
    She shook her head tightly and said nothing.
    I watched her, puzzled. When a waitress thumped a heavy white porcelain teapot down on the table, I poured tea for Flo first. I was feeling protective.
    "I'll help you, if you want," I said quietly.
    "Suppose, um ..." She looked down at the table for a moment. "Suppose someone wanted something that isn't normally available."
    "Something illegal?"
    She shrugged. "Can you really find everything in Jokertown?"
    "Yeah. I think so." I waited, my heart thumping excitedly.
    She was silent.
    The screen door creaked. Flo didn't turn around, but I saw two jokers entering. One was a tall, slender man who had been divided down the middle by the wild card; the right side of his body was normal, but the left looked as though it had been made of candle wax, melted, and then solidified again. He walked with a slow, painful limp on his sagging, twisted leg and let his distorted arm swing freely. The other joker at least moved comfortably; he appeared to be normal, except for having the face of a teddy bear with a fixed, very happy smile.
    The newcomers were seated across the narrow room. Flo glanced in their direction. Her eyes widened suddenly and she looked away, back down at our table.
    "It's Jokertown," I said, puzzled by her reaction.
    "It's so horrible," Flo whispered. "What that ... alien ... did. What he brought." The horror in her face was unmistakable.
    I felt a familiar horror of my own, deep in my stomach, ruining my appetite. Maybe she was no different from other nats after all. In the same moment, however, I finally understood something I had never realized before: she was scared .
    Yet she was here - with me.
    I decided to sit there and enjoy the sight of her beautiful face and figure as long as I could. When our dinner arrived, we ate in silence. Even some of my appetite came back.
    ***
    When we had finished dinner, I carefully counted out the customary ten percent tip that Peter had told me always to leave. As I paid the check, Flo stared straight down at her shoes, avoiding the sight of all the jokers who had followed us inside for dinner. Then we stepped outside and I found that the heat had finally begun to ease a little.
    "Well," I said uncertainly, looking up at her.
    Flo glanced up and down the street in the shadows.
    "Would you like me to walk you to the Bowery or something?"
    She shook her head again and suddenly peered straight down into my eyes. "Can we talk privately somewhere?"
    "Sure. We can just walk. Nobody here will bother us."
    "No, I mean, where we can't possibly be overheard. Inside."
    "Okay. Both my parents work second jobs to get by. They won't be home till after midnight. I'll take you home."
    "Good." Her voice was breathy with anxiety.
    ***
    The walk was okay. We passed Jube the Walrus on the way, pulling his cart full of newspapers on his regular rounds. He looked very surprised to see Flo, I figured because she was