After the door had shut, James was left alone in his new safe house.
How ironic, James thought to himself, that Phil, the person who would otherwise be responsible for his doom, would turn out to be his savior. James had really fallen into dung and come up smelling of roses this time.
James only hoped that his unknown and unseen enemies would overlook him, and give him the time to become a threat.
---
Phil stepped out of the apartment building.
After taking a quick look to ascertain that there was no one around, he took out his phone and dialed the caller from the previous evening.
"Report." The voice on the line commanded.
"Mission accomplished sir." Phil reported succinctly.
"Details." The voice on the line reminded harshly.
"Yes sir. After the game last night, James Jones now owes me sixty thousand dollars. In addition, he has signed a staking agreement, and is now residing at our employee complex indefinitely. I will have him hone his skills by playing online. He is also using one of our remotely managed phones and computers. We can track him if needed that way." Phil explained further.
"Excellent. You have exceeded expectations by placing him somewhere we control. As to the second half of the task?"
"A honey trap was successfully deployed last night. In addition to continuing the honey traps, I will discover his other motivations and ensure that I can be helpful. This will let me gain his trust. As to friendship, I can only let things develop as they will." Phil's voice quavered a little. He knew this was only partial completion at best.
"That is good. Continue with the honey traps, and keep the bait fresh. Men that sin together tend to stick together, but I don't want him developing stickiness to any one flower yet. In addition, see if you can slowly draw him into the organization. It will be much simpler to enact the boss' final plan if he is tightly wound in our web."
"Yes sir." Luckily for Phil, his counterpart was in a reasonable mood today.
The phone cut off abruptly. The person on the other side of the line was not given to indulgent pleasantries.
---
James sat down at his new desk and looked down at the shrink-wrapped white box in his hands.
It was heavy but immaculately weighted such that it was easy to carry.
James used his finger to cut a slit along the shrink-wrap, before pulling it off and tossing it into a wastebasket that he found under his desk.
As he lifted the box, the cover slid off slowly, revealing what had been promised to him - a brand new iPhone.
James removed the rest of the packaging from the phone and turned it around in his hands. It looked like it had been carved out of a single piece of metal, with glass then sculpted on the front and back. There were no obvious signs of tampering. James remembered that the company making these phones had a good reputation for security and privacy.
It wasn't like he had another option anyway.
He turned the phone on, skipping past the welcome screen, and a notification that said the phone was being managed under a group policy - which Phil had already told him about, and probably meant that some of the apps and data were pre-installed.
Looking through the contacts, he found three numbers pre-filled - Phil's, and two named "Driver" and "Concierge". Pretty self explanatory.
Next, James paged through the apps. There were several poker apps already installed, as well as the all important food app.
James tapped on the food app - he was hungry. James had not eaten much during the past week at all - every cent saved was one he could use at Phil's game, and as it turned out, lose at Phil's game. Other than the school lunches which were pre-paid, he had pretty much survived on water and air.
The cafeteria had multiple options available - there were standard bento boxes, comfort food such as macaroni and cheese, fish and chips, burgers... and even a special of the day. Today's special was a Taiwanese dish - three cup chicken, or San Bei Ji as seen in the app.
James decided to go with the special.
Next step while we wait for the food to be delivered, fire up the computer and create an account. James thought.
The computer was a pretty standard system, with nothing particularly fancy. Again, there were poker apps pre-installed, with all of the usual sites represented.
James did a quick search online and decided to go with the largest poker site. He clicked on the red spade with a star in the middle, and was quickly greeted with a screen to create his account by entering his e-mail address and preferred username.
The e-mail address was pretty straightforward, but what about the username? Probably better to keep it simple.
James tried "James".
Username already taken, would you like to use James10509312?
No, that was too hard to remember.
What about "JamesJones", James thought. How many people could there be with his name?
Username already taken, would you like to use JamesJones934?
This was getting pretty irritating pretty quickly.
JamesPoker. Taken. JamesJonesPoker. Taken.
JamesJosephJones. Taken.
---
A knock came at his door.
James opened the door cautiously, but there was no one there. He poked his head out and looked up and down the empty corridor. That was strange. Could he have imagined the knock?
As he was about to close the door, he looked down and saw a small plastic bag with his food in it. That had been fast.
James took the food to his desk and started to eat while ruminating upon the username with which he would do battle.
As he looked down at his late lunch, not an early dinner, as with the food being free, he was planning to eat again later, he was struck by inspiration.
SanjayPoker. Accepted.
---
Remembering Phil's instructions, James picked up his phone and sent Phil a message.
"Hi Phil, it's James. My username is SanjayPoker."
"Sure. I'll transfer you ten thousand to start. I suggest you play the smaller games first. Then, when you get comfortable, try some of the different variants and formats." Phil responded quickly.
"It says you need to be 18 to play." James responded, having seen a reminder from the app.
"Don't worry. We have some connections we can use. I'll get you an ID you can use until you actually turn 18. Should be pretty soon right?"
"Yeah. In a couple of months." James said.
"That's fine. Our IDs come from the same place as the real ones. Send me a photo of your ID and I'll get one made for you tomorrow."
"Can you use Sanjay instead of my real name?" James asked on impulse.
"Haha. Worried about something? That's OK."
"I'm just worried I'll mix up the real and fake ID." James explained.
"No need to explain. It's a small ask. Anything for one of my guys."
Phil took the opportunity to stroke James a little. It really was a simple ask and no trouble at all, but it was another thing that only he could do for James. Phil thought that if he helped James a little here and there, it would only be contributory towards the road to building trust.
James leaned back in his chair and decided to take the rest of the day easy. Tomorrow was a school day, after all.
After school, he would start seriously practicing. He would climb to the very top...
---
---
---
Of those who have heard of Sanjay, a common question often arises.
Is that his actual name? If not, where did the moniker come from? What significance did the word Sanjay have?
The truth is often stranger than any lie one could imagine and fabricate.
Sanjay was a name created out of coincidence and need, but Sanjay would be the name that would attach to the God of Gamblers, and rise out of the ashes.
Others often ask about his origin.
Surely he must have been a genius, a natural God of Gamblers. To be able to rise so far had to be a testament to his talent.
Perhaps he had sold his soul to a supernatural power? Made a deal with the devil, so to speak?
These questions are damning evidence as to the mettle of the questioners.
Those who are successful in any field will know this - talent is insufficient. It is effort that drives the cream to the top of the crop.
Gods are not born.
Like swords, they are made and forged. One blow at a time. Each strike yielding a purer blade.
It is the challenges you face and overcome that make you a man.
Or in the case of Sanjay, a God. The God of Gamblers.