Ruby meant serious card games as perpetual drizzle hit her large window panes.
Coral said her family owned a fantastic outdoor chess setting. I would have preferred chess to cards. The rain put paid to time in her garden. Ruby shuffled the cards. Josh heard the word cards, which meant action, so he joined the fun. He gave Ruby the finger when she suggested Five-hundred.
Churlish, he whined, "Snap or nothing!"
Coral wrinkled her nose.
Ruby's brows arched at me, seeking genuine, non-childish game support.
I caved in and sided with Josh.
Teenage Snap is manic because adolescents get over-excited on boring, wet afternoons. Coral possessed the hand-eye concentration to win rounds. Ruby, the single-minded card counting anticipation. Josh spread the largeness of his broad, flat palm. I hung in, simple luck, through endless tight tussles. Fingertips edged under tips. Josh won because Coral and Ruby yielded the final couple of hands to end the stupidity.
"Enough nonsense, real cards," pushed Ruby, already reshuffling the deck.
Abrupt 'yeses' from Coral and me in unison.
We tried to stop Josh from saying some 'unthinking' game.
"Okay, my call, Five-hundred," snapped the brunette.
She shuffled as Josh finally nagged, "Cheat."
"Okay," light and agreeable by Ruby.
Her immediate agreement surprised Coral and me. It proved a top choice. The game is also known as Bluff or Bullshit. The deck gets split four ways, and the aim is to be the first to get rid of all your cards—lies and lying more to win unless you get challenged and caught out.
Josh played it regularly with his older mates like Max. If he won, it would be by luck. Coral, Ruby, and I knew victory was tactical. Josh played bold and fast. He offloaded a lot of cards. He called Coral a 'cheat' and caught her out.
My bestie clumped a massive pile of cards. This is not a disadvantage in Cheat because it's easier to call other players for cheating. Ruby and I concentrated on each other; I sensed the winner would be one of us. We had the equal least number of cards. Coral clawed her way back into the game.
Josh called her out when she held four final cards. Coral played fair. Her boyfriend gathered most of the pack. Ruby and I, poker-faced, fanning three cards each at this point. Coral called two sevens. Ruby called her girlfriend 'cheat' before I decided to. Coral flipped her cards, a pair of sevens.
Who knew Coral was such a good liar?
We played games for Josh. Yet, he whined when Ruby suggested Five Hundred again.
"Oh, come on! You must have some board games!"
"Yeah, okay, Snakes and Ladders or Ludo."
The brunette's eyes widened in a lost cause.
"Both," Josh stated.
Ruby sauntered to her wardrobe. She pushed one of the sliding doors. It revealed shelves of t-shirts, under-things, and a pile of jeans.
Here was Ruby.
The brunette slid the other wardrobe door open. Under some dresses, her uniform and tops on hangars propped a footstool. She grabbed it and clambered. She reached high, selecting game boxes along the wardrobe shelf above her clothes. The boxes included Snakes and Ladders, Ludo, Backgammon and Chess.
The brunette descended, rattling the games. During the entire afternoon, the rain fell outside. Whilst inside, four teenagers alternated between mindless dice tossing. Coral nudged me whenever I yawned super bored and started biting a fingernail.
A polite knock rapped on Ruby's bedroom door at three-thirty. After a pause, the brunette prompted them in. It was Ruby's mum, Arianna, plumper than I remembered seeing her at a school awards presentation.
She spoke in a lowered voice to Ruby at her door. The brunette whispered back. Suddenly, Arianna invited us to the restaurant kitchen in a boisterous, glad voice. She offered drinks and ice cream, which was an understatement.
We sat around a kitchen bench. I assumed the staff present were cleaning from the restaurant's lunch opening or prepping dishes for the evening's clientele. Then I understood: here was Ruby's mamma's domain.
The staff deferred to Arianna and her love and knowledge of food. Her mum and two staff members organised our treats. We leaned over a stainless-steel benchtop on high stools.
Josh and Coral, comfy close, occupied one side. Ruby and me, at the required exact social distance, the other. Arianna brought our drinks over on a tray. The hot chocolate she gave us in large white mugs tasted divine. Atop the glasses floated marshmallows and grated milk chocolate. The hot chocolate was delightful, a rich, frothy, and creamy combination, as Ruby's mum gathered a second tray.
She returned, balancing dessert plates, each with a slice of homemade cassata. We savoured the ice cream as a complete mouth treat. Two spare pieces remained on a plate between us teenagers.
In the restaurant kitchen, Ruby's momma took a liking to me. She inquired if I enjoyed the cassata. I indulged each mouthful. After wolfing his cassata, she did not ask Josh, who helped himself to a whole extra slice. Ruby and Coral divided the other piece.
I gave Ruby's mum a shy nod as my mouth remained full.
Coral complemented, "Mmm, tasty."
She smacked her lips after dispatching her slice and a half. Ruby's lips echoed her girlfriend.
A phone rang, and Ruby's mum answered. Josh excused himself to the washroom. The brunette put her finger on her plate and smeared the remains of her melted cassata. She held forward her sticky finger. She waited until her girlfriend copied her. They let each other lick a finger across the benchtop—two girls having fun.
Ruby's mum returned and told Coral her lift would soon take her home.
"Oh, Luke," exclaimed my bestie, "the same problem; there's room for Josh and me."
Followed by her anxious inquiry, "How will you get home in the rain?"
"It's fine, bene," from Ruby's momma, her hands wide.
I sat unmoved, thinking, a roasting at home if I walked in the wet.
"Ruby and I will take Master Luke home."
"Oh, thank you," sincere by Coral.
My eyes blinked thanks in Arianna's direction. She refilled our mugs with more hot chocolate. It tasted better than the first. Soon after, Coral and Josh left, collected by their ride. Ruby's mum requested her daughter to get ready to accompany her and to take me home.
The brunette's brow creased, and to her mum, terse, "I have to do my Italian."
She didn't wait. Ruby and her ponytail bounded for the stairs.
"Ruby," her mum called out, "Pass Master Luke's jumper."
My dry top lay over the rail. The brunette halted and tossed it back towards me, landing at my feet. Unseen by the minx, leaping up the stairs, two at a time.
Seated in their family car, I relaxed, glad for the ride home. The windshield wipers of the car swept at a fast speed.
Outside my house, Arianna notified me, "Luke, I will ask your mother to let you join our salami-making."
She got another nod as I forewent any idea what this involved or why she wanted to include me. I jumped out of her car, focusing on running through the pelting rain to my front door. I just remembered that I had to say thank you for the lift home. I spun fast on my front porch and nearly slipped in the wet. Arianna's car was already turning the corner out of my street.
I ponder now: what we don't say when we rush. Then, do we do better when we slow down?