the girl flicked the deck once cards snapped clean on the crate
cold wind touched ren's fingers but his eyes were locked on her hands
"this time" she said "you lose you sleep with hunger again"
ren stayed quiet
mai sat close knees pulled to her chest her small eyes shifting between them
the girl laid five cards each face down
no talking no teaching now just play
ren picked his slowly one by one
10 spades 10 hearts 4 clubs 9 spades 2 diamonds
a pair of tens again decent
his face didn't move but his fingers pressed the card edge tighter
"you go first" she said
ren slid one card out replaced it from the deck
he dropped the 2 diamonds
new card 10 clubs
three of a kind
his stomach grumbled low but his hands were still
"you" he said
she discarded two drew two new ones
her face told nothing
then silence
five seconds
ten
her hand moved slightly toward the chips
three plastic coins between them same as always
winner eats loser watches
ren's breath stayed even
she blinked once slow he felt her doubt
"i raise" he said
she smirked just a little barely
"call" she said
they laid their cards down
she had queen hearts queen spades queen clubs 7 hearts 5 clubs
three queens
ren had three tens
loss
clean
no excuse
his stomach twisted harder than before
mai didn't say anything just stared at the cards like they might change
"again tomorrow" the girl said "you're not ready yet"
ren stood up not angry not sad just still
"you watched my blink" she said before leaving "good eye but you moved your thumb when you drew that club means you liked what you saw gave you away"
then she was gone into the fog
mai looked at ren
"you okay"
"yeah" he said "just need to stop moving my thumb"
they laid down under the pipe again
the city kept moving around them
but something had changed
he didn't win
but he saw the mistake
and next time he wouldn't repeat it
he didn't fear losing
he feared not learning