Forget to Remember

wallet and shouted to one of the men across the table. “Five dollars says Carol here can beat you.”
    The man, who was the ringleader in the game and had apparently been winning all the money, looked at Carol, appraisingly. He took his deck and dealt out four rows: 7-5-3-1. He gave her an open-hand gesture and a condescending smile. “Go ahead, sweetheart, move.”
    Carol did a quick calculation and realized she was facing a winning combination. If she moved first, she’d lose. She looked the man in the eye. He was quite large, probably a former football player, with a big head and an asymmetric nose, but she wouldn’t be intimidated. “You go first.”
    He stared at her; she stared back. She figured he was losing face by hesitating. He must have come to the same conclusion, because he took a quick glance at the cards and then removed three from the row of five, leaving 7-2-3-1.
    Her turn. She didn’t immediately see the solution. Maybe she was in over her head. She glanced at Rigo and saw a trusting look in his eyes. She couldn’t let him down, even for a lousy five dollars.
    Don’t panic , she told herself. Picture the binary equivalents . She took a deep breath. She mentally lined up the binary numbers and saw the answer, just as if it were written on a piece of paper. She reached out and collected the whole row of seven, like a blackjack dealer in Vegas scooping up the cards after a round, and set them aside. Where had the Las Vegas analogy come from? She doubted she’d ever been there, but, of course, there were many places in the world where you could play cards.
    That left 2-3-1. She saw a stricken look flash over the big man’s face before he hid it. He tested her by removing the single card. She removed one card, making it 2-2. Whatever he did now, she would take the last card. His buddies razzed him. Rigo collected the five dollars.
    “The broad was lucky. She can’t do it again.”
    He spoke with a sneer. He was definitely trying to save face. Should she give him a chance? She did some quick calculations in her head and came up with a plan. “Give me the cards. I’ll deal out a different layout. Then I’ll start. While she was talking she reached over the table and picked up the deck. She dealt five rows: 10-8-6-4-2.
    Broken Nose—her name for him—considered it. His friends were still on his case. Rigo pulled out all the bills in his wallet and laid them on the table. Adam hesitated for a moment and then did the same. It looked like they’d put down a couple of hundred dollars between them. Carol had second thoughts. She shouldn’t be risking their money like this.
    The friends of Broken Nose evidently still had a little faith in him. They produced enough money to cover the bet. A pile of bills grew in the middle of the table. It was too late to back out. Apparently Broken Nose felt the same way. He gave his open-hand gesture for Carol to make her move.
    Carol took two cards from the row of ten, leaving 8-8-6-4-2. Broken Nose looked at it for a few seconds. He must have seen something because his shoulders visibly sagged. He went through the motions, but Carol was sure he knew he was going to lose from her first move.
    She pulled the last card off the table with not a little trepidation, wondering whether he and his buddies, who were almost as big as he was, were going to dispute the result. Rigo and Adam raked the money in somewhat cautiously, as if wondering the same thing. A couple of the men were grumbling to Broken Nose, but they didn’t make a move to prevent the money changing hands.
    The second half of the football game started. The attention of the people at the table was drawn to the television sets and away from them. Rigo and Adam exchanged looks. Rigo spoke into Carol’s ear. “Let’s get out of here.”
    Nobody bothered them as they made their way between the crowded tables to the door of the bar. The cool night air hit Carol with a gust of relief. They were home free.
    Somebody grabbed her arm from behind. Startled, she uttered a grunt and turned to face Broken Nose. Rigo and Adam, who were a step ahead of her, whirled around.
    Broken Nose held up his hand, palm out. “Peace. Just a quick word with the little lady.”
    The guys must have realized it would be dangerous to dispute him; they held their ground. Broken Nose spoke into Carol’s ear, too softly for them to hear.
    “You and I can make a lot of money together. Tonight was peanuts. Call me. I’m free