This chapter is a prelude, introducing characters and explaining the situation. We will get to the action, eventually. Hopefully it will be worth the wait.
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"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge."
The Cask of Amontillado, Edgar Allan Poe
Massimo was an asshole.
In high school, we belonged to the same circle of friends, but he went out of his way to be a prick. He was considerably taller than me, a fact he chose to remind me of by constantly patting me on the head. He would also lean on me, with his elbow on my shoulder (a practice I put a stop to by the simple expedient of punching him in the nuts).
He was the better athlete, by a wide margin, in basketball and volleyball. He could outrun me, and was physically stronger. Baseball, on the other hand, was my domain. I was a pitcher, while he was a star with the bat. But he couldn't hit me in practice.
Massimo just couldn't seem to figure out that I wasn't going to try to blow a fastball by him every single time. Curves and changeups were 'faggot' pitches, he said. It drove him nuts.
So he retaliated in juvenile ways, mostly centred around showing off the size of his dick. Even in high school, Massimo was well-endowed. To tell the truth, he was hung like a horse. As fate would have it, I was a bit of a late bloomer. Massimo made a point of comparing our relative sizes as often as he could.
- "Mass," I told him, "this obsession you have with my dick - it's not healthy."
- "C'mon, Normie. Not my fault you have a pencil dick."
That I was another thing which annoyed me - being called 'Normie'. I resolved to simply avoid Massimo whenever I could. But for some reason, he just had to take the competition that one step further.
Susie was my prom date. Massimo wanted to get into her pants, so he decided to break us up, by telling Susie that I had cheated on her. It wasn't true, but Susie couldn't believe that my teammate would lie. She dumped me.
The only consolation was that she never went out with Massimo, either.
After high school, I went away to college. Eventually, I got a good job in a small eastern city. The work was demanding, which didn't leave much time for a social life. It took a few years of the rat race for me to realize that I needed a change. So I joined the fitness club, and took up tennis and squash.
Maybe six months later, I heard a sound I had hoped never to hear again.
- "NOR-MEE!"
Massimo had come to town.
-"Normie, baby! How's it hangin'?" Did I mention that Massimo liked to call everyone 'baby'? Another thing about him to dislike.
-"Hey Mass." I replied. "What are you doing here?"
-"The job. Got transferred." he said.
-"Oh? Sorry to hear that."
-"Nah - it's all good. Got a raise, plus my new department is just chock full of hot little mamas, all thirsting for a piece of the Mass ... you know what I'm sayin'?" He laughed out loud. "Besides - now that I know you're here, Normie baby - you and me, we're gonna light this town up!"
Now at this stage, you may be wondering: why didn't I just brush Massimo off? Or, considering how much he annoyed me, and how he had broken the 'Bro Code' and tried to steal Susie from me, why didn't I just tell him to fuck off?
Two reasons: first, mutual friends and ex-teammates back home. I didn't want to lose any of my old buddies. Many of them still considered Massimo a friend.
Second, and most important: Edgar Allan Poe. Every time I saw him, Massimo made me think of the Cask of Amontillado. One day, I would get revenge. I would find a way to cock-block him, or steal a girl he really cared about. It would have to be epic ... monumental. I wanted the kind of revenge they make movies about. I could wait for that.
We exchanged numbers, and email addresses. Massimo immediately began calling and texting me, wanting to 'hang out'. I told him that work kept me really busy - which was true.
But I couldn't stop Massimo from getting a membership at the Fitness club. He saw my name on the tennis and squash ladders, and immediately joined those, too.
-"I'll catch you up in no time, Normie baby." he promised.
Massimo was as good as his word. I was only 6th out of 15 in the tennis ladder. Massimo had a booming serve, and a powerful forehand. When I had to play him, I tried to keep the ball on his backhand. I also tried dropshots, to get him running. But his serve was too much for me.
Over a beer after the game, Massimo pointed out the flaws in my game.
He worked his way up the squash ladder equally quickly. I was 3rd. To my chagrin, Massimo beat me in our first match. He just overpowered me. But I identified a few weak spots in his play, and waited patiently for our rematch.
The top two players in our squash ladder were simply untouchable. Massimo had his ass handed to him, and stayed at number three. I challenged, and dropped him back to number four. He was not happy about that.
We went for a beer after the game. I had no intention of rubbing it in, or of trying to point out the weaknesses in
his
game. But Massimo wanted to talk about something else.
-"You play cards, right, Normie?" he asked. "I seem to remember you playing cards back in high school."
-"That's right." I agreed. "Euchre ... some poker."
-"You play bridge?" said Massimo.
Did I play bridge ... my parents taught my sister and me before we were out of elementary school. It was like a religion to them. I didn't play too much in high school or university, because Mom had warned us: "It can be addictive. Be careful that you don't spend
all
of your time playing bridge."
But I continued to read about bridge, and played marathon sessions with my folks at Thanksgiving, and over Christmas.
-"Yeah. But I haven't played in a while." I told him.
-"Listen, there's this group at work - they're trying to form a bridge club. Mixed, four dudes and four chicks. We've got three guys - just need a fourth." said Massimo. "What do you say? You want in?"
