Crapshoot

Joey watched the man wearing the Guy Fawkes mask put a revolver square in the middle of the long table.

“The rules are simple.” The man told Joey and the girl sitting across him. ”You both will roll these two dice once.”

He put two blood red dice with white pips on the table.

“Whoever gets the bigger total gets to shoot the loser, and goes home richer by a thousand dollars.”

“What if we refuse to play?” Joey asked. He hated gambling. Luck, kismet, fate… utter balderdash!

The man revealed a gun stowed inside his jet-black suit.

“I hate cheaters, and I hate quitters.”

Joey ogled the blonde. She hadn’t uttered a single word yet. She looked pretty, and seemed dumb. Joey wondered where they had found her. They had grabbed him outside his office.

“The bets are in.” The man added with a flourish,” Let’s begin!”

So there was an audience for this. That explained the man’s getup and theatricality. Had they also live-streamed the kidnapping, and the torture?

Ever since he was taken, Joey had thought and thought about the purpose behind the kidnapping. To learn that he was snatched to entertain a few perverted gamblers who would bet on him in a modified game of craps was not pleasant. Starring in a snuff film with a bimbo was never in his plans.

“Wait. What happens if we tie?”

“The one who went first lives.”

The girl snatched the dice before Joey could even react. Having missed the boat, joey managed to turn his grimace into a sneer. Perhaps she wasn’t as dumb as she looked. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t planning to rely on his luck anyway.

“Ladies first.” He quipped, leering at her.

She shook her fist, and cast the dice. Uh-oh!

“Six Five, no jive.”

The man was putting up a good show for the audience. Joey glowered at the dice and the girl. Lucky bitch, he thought.

“It’s hopeless.”

“It would have been hopeless if the total was twelve. We’re one short, see.”

The man had a point, but when Joey picked up the dice, his hand was shaking all the same. He looked at the girl, who was staring at him impassively; and then he looked at the man. Joey wasn’t going down without a fight. He would make his own luck.

He flung the dice across the table, and with the man and the girl momentarily distracted, Joey lunged for the revolver. He pointed the revolver at the man, and pulled the trigger.

Click! Click!

Joey gazed at the empty revolver in despair.

“What did I say about cheating?” The man said as he drew his gun.

The bullet made a hole in Joey’s temple. He rocked in his chair, and then slumped on the table.

“The idiot should’ve just rolled the dice.” Said the man; eyeing the dice sitting in the pool of blood. The total was Twelve.

The girl looked at Joey with distaste.

“What a jerk!”