Love’s Gamble

Chapter 4

The days passed by much better than expected. Freema was starting to see that there were a lot of benefits that could be associated with working with a man like Ken. For starters, he was a lot more likable than the previous owners, and that meant that the rowdy bunch that Freema worked with were more liable to listen to him. They would do this not because they felt like they had to, but because they actually wanted to. Although it was impossible for a weakling like Ken to get any actual respect from morons like Bert and Gil and Hwan, the fact that they liked him turned the tide in his favor a great deal. He was able to get them to calm down when they were not listening, and he was able to keep the peace.

He took quite an active interest in the workings of the gambling den. It was not really out of a desire to control the den or make more money than he was already earning. No, his motivations were far less insidious and far purer. He just wanted to know how all of this worked. He was fascinated, and his curiosity was a lot like that of a child’s. It was rather endearing to watch him gaze in wonder as Freema pulled an amazing bluff, confounding pretty much everybody around her. Even she had to admit that having Ken watch her brought out the showman in her. She started to bluff a lot more extravagantly, and as she calculated the odds when they were in her favor she would start to act meek, as if she had nothing to offer, so that her eventual victory was even more triumphant than it would have been otherwise. And so it went, on and on, they played their games and earned their money.

Freema’s little nest egg grew. The first month they gambled under Ken, it grew by ten thousand dollars, not a small amount by any means. She was glad that it was growing. There had been months where it had actually shrunk, and she worried that she would not be able to save up enough to live in comfort. However, months like these gave her no small amount of hope. She started to realize that she would be able to retire after all, that she would be able to enjoy the perks that came with living in a far flung country where no one knew your name and where no one would try to make you do anything that you didn’t want to do. She started to fantasize about inventing a new identity for herself. She started to think about all of the things that she might just be able to do when she would be out of this hell hole that she had been living in her entire life. This was all she thought about, this and the next poker game and how she was going to win it.

And then, all of a sudden, her thoughts acquired a completely different theme. She started to notice Ken, and what she saw she liked a great deal. She noticed a number of things about him. The first thing she realized was that her first impression had been wrong. Ken was not weak. He was timid, this was true, but it came from a place of kindness. He just did not want to cause anyone any pain, even if it was the pain that came with being spoken to in a harsh tone. He always tried his best to make sure that everyone around him had absolutely everything that they needed, even going so far as to coming down to the gambling den to ask the people that were playing there if they wanted something to eat. This was a rather odd occurrence the first time it happened. They had been used to the Kims who had always ignored the games going on downstairs. Ken was clearly a different breed, he was going to take a lot more interest in all of this. However, the offer to get them anything was confusing. They did not mind, however. They often smelled the food that was being served upstairs and wanted to have some, but had always assumed that ordering some would be breaking some sort of unwritten rule.

This was where the tradition of ordering dinner from the restaurant itself started. They began ordering food every night, and Freema realized just how crafty Ken had been by offering them food. He had created another revenue source for himself. Now, every single night, ten to fifteen extra people would be buying his food, and this provided him with a lot of income that he could definitely use. He was starting to think like a businessman, and Freema was a little surprised to realize that she was proud of him. She had certainly not expected to feel this way, indeed, she had not expected to feel much about Ken at all. And yet, when she realized that he was using the gambling den to earn even more money, she had to admit that she admired it. She just admired that he was not trying to strong arm them or threaten them in any way. His method of increasing his income was so innocuous, so innocent, so lovely. It was just another way for him to care about people. Freema had really liked the way he had offered them food, and she really wanted him to like her. She was surprised by this because she had never really felt the desire to be liked by anybody. She had felt like it was unnecessary for her happiness. However, where Ken was concerned, she really wanted him to think highly of her for some reason. And she was starting to see that there was a lot more to this man than his timid demeanor. She started to see all of the good that he had in him.

She watched him work his customers one day. Freema was the only person that went up to the restaurant. She had started to come here during her lunch breaks. Initially she had been confused about why she was doing this. She assumed that it was because she wanted to be closer to the gambling den. However, she was starting to realize that this was not the case, not exactly anyway. No, she wanted to be closer to Ken during these hours. She wanted him to know that she was there, she wanted to study him. She had a morbid fascination about him. He was like no man she had ever known. For years, the only men she had known had been the kind to immediately turn to fighting. That was the only way they knew how to function. Aggression was just not something they did, it was how they lived. She wanted to understand Ken, because he was exactly the opposite. He was the kind of person that would simply smile and get out of the way, not seeing the point in senseless violence. She wanted to know if he was like that all the time. She wanted to know if he had some kind of breaking point.

“Excuse me,” said one of the customers. He looked annoyed. He had the pasty white face of someone that had been far too spoiled over the course of their life. It was a face that made Freema want to slap it, and she had to control herself a little. His tone of voice was whiny, and yet Ken smiled as he approached him.

“What’s the matter?” asked Ken in a pleasant and even tone of voice. “Is something wrong with your food?”

“That’s putting it mildly,” said the customer in the same high pitched whine. “This is terrible. Where is the soy sauce?”