Play 117: Nothing Like It

CHARACTERS
MAN, late twenties

(There three men playing cards at a table, the lights are very dim and everything is visible only in silhouette.)

(The players lay down their cards one by one.)

(One of the men starts gesticulating wildly, he appears to be angry.)

(The others look to be trying to calm him down.)

(He gets to his feet quickly, shoving the chair backwards with a screech.)

(The other men get up, and appear to try to be calming him down. He gesticulates wildly again, appears to be yelling, and stomps off.)

(The remaining two men walk back over to the table, and seem to divide up the stacks of poker chips on the table. They shake hands, and one of them leaves.)

(The lights brighten, the remaining man is standing over the table, which is covered in a mess of poker chips and cards.)

(He takes out a cigarette, lights it, and sits down in one of the chairs, facing the audience.)

(He takes a long drag on it, and exhales.)

MAN
You might ask if I ever feel guilty.

(He takes a drag of his cigarette.)

But I don’t really. I mean, if they’re dumb enough to bet that much money on a card game than what do I care?

(Beat.)

But it’s not right, you say, I don’t play fair, it’s all a scam!

(Beat.)

But I mean, who expects a fair game these days? Everyone’s out to hustle you or cheat you or take your money, so how’s this any different? You’d think people wouldn’t be so trusting, I mean, they always say we live in a paranoid world, right? If they haven’t caught up to the times, how’s that my fault?

(He starts gathering the cards off the table.)

And I mean, they’re bound to lose it eventually, no matter how good you think you are at cards there’s always a high level of risk involved. And that guy wasn’t that good at cards. Just an over-confident idiot who thought he was. They’re always the best ones to pick, because they are just good enough to think they know their shit but not good enough to know when they’re getting ripped or to know when to get out.

(He’s finished gathering the cards, and starts arranging them in a stack in his hands.)

(Beat.)

I guess I feel a little bad once in a while. I can handle it when they explode like that guy did. The worst is when they just fall apart. Not crying or shit, that doesn’t happen really, but just (beat.) you can just feel it, like something in them just cracked. You’ll lay down the cards, and slide the chips closer to you, and they’ll just sit there staring in disbelief. One look into their eyes, and you can’t help but feel guilty.

(Beat.)

But, I never feel bad for that long.

(He starts shuffling the cards.)

You probably think I do it for the money. I mean, of course, the moneys nice. I mean, who else makes ten thousand in a single night?

(Beat.)

But, it’s not the money really (beat.) It’s just (beat.) it’s such a rush, you can’t begin to imagine what it feels like. Nothing comes close. People talk about sports, about betting on horses (beat.) or even normal gambling. It’s not the same though. I mean, that’s all playing a game, I’m playing fucking people! You just feel so powerful. The beginning’s always scary, you think they’ll catch on, or maybe you’ve screwed up and got a real card shark, one that can screw you over you even though the game’s rigged. But after a bit, once it’s been going for a bit, and you get that feeling and you know your home free.

(He grins.)

Nothing like it.

(He stops shuffling the cards, and puts them down on the table.)

Nope, not a thing.

(He laughs to himself.)

(He takes a long drag on his cigarette, and exhales slowly. He leans back in his chair smiling, and picks up the cards and starts shuffling them again.)

(Fade out.)