Moby Dx: A Novel of Silicon Valley - Volume 1 Max Ebb

Chapter 36 A Modest Proposal

Three days after Arianna had turned up at the Laboratoire Pierre Aigrain and found Max gone, she got a call. He was home, injured but OK. He’d been in an accident, he said. He promised to clear the air and tell her everything when they next met. She flooded him with questions he wouldn’t answer and with sympathy he could accept. She shouldered the full burden of responsibility for pressuring him about the casino. He accepted that, too, but didn’t reciprocate. She had hoped he would. She was surprised at his callousness, but she was sincere expressing regret.

She went to his apartment for the long-awaited resolution and epoch-making make-up sex. Max was tender and sweet with Arianna, and she more so with him. She held his hand while he told her a story, a piece of fiction, in minute detail.

“First of all, everything I did, I did only for you, for us. I didn’t want to depend so much on your family for getting started in the US. I thought if I played carefully, I could come back to you with FF 500,000 in my pocket, and that would be a wonderful beginning.

“Anyway, I drove to Deauville with most of what I had saved, and then I sold the car so I would have a decent stake to start with. I had FF 60,000 then.

“I was cautious in two ways, too many ways, at first. I was so worried about losing what I’d already built that I bet too little. I was winning, but only slowly. By 4 a.m. I needed sleep. I went to bed to rest up for a long stretch of serious poker. I wanted to call you, to hear your lovely voice and make up, and get your backing, but we were … you know, I just couldn’t, and it was too early for you, so I didn’t.

“It was after noon when I woke up. That was a great sign. I’d slept well and my head was clear. I knew it was going to be a big day for us. I could feel you reassuring me, and I wanted to please you and for you to be proud of me. I had FF 70,000 with me when I was washed and back on the floor at six. I played like a machine for ten hours. I don’t know where I got the strength to keep going, but I did. There was nothing heroic about it, no giant pots, just steady playing, winning, and building. I drew a crowd. It kept changing because no one else had my stamina. I saw some of the same faces coming back to watch through the night, and then into the morning. My stacks of chips grew. After I reached FF 200,000—”

“200,000! Oh Maaxi! Really?”

“Yes, and that was just the beginning. After I reached 200,000, I had the casino put half the chips in their vault. A rack like mine would have scared away the small fry who came to play. I didn’t need all that money and the temptation to overbid in front of me.

“The gods were with me. I didn’t have any long losing runs and I never lost my confidence. One fish after another showed up and let me clean him out.”

“What’s a fish, Maaxi?”

“A chump. A loser. A con fini. A tourist who doesn’t know how to play.” He saw she was satisfied with the answer, and then continued. “So, I was emptying their pockets into mine, one after another, but I started to feel tired. I made a few mistakes, but ones only I noticed. The errors made me think I had to sleep or crank up on coffee. I left the tables and went to bed. Then I had the coffee and played some more.”

“Oh, Maaxi, you were so patient. I didn’t know you had so much self-control!”

“You don’t know me at these tables. I’m a different person in the casinos. You wouldn’t recognize me.

“The bank was holding FF 300,000 when I went back to my room. The casino upgraded me, just to keep me playing. I slept the sleep of the innocent, ordered room service, and went out to the floor again, this time for bigger stakes.

“I wanted to get out of there and back to Paris for my meeting. At first I’d planned to buy another car in Deauville and drive it home, but then because it wasn’t going as fast as I’d hoped, I gave up on that decided to buy one when I got back to Paris.