The Cardturner (29 page)

The declarer led the
9, and nobody else had any clubs left. Trapp discarded a diamond, and the dummy got rid of the
7. Annabel still had to play.

"If you were Annabel, what would you discard?" Toni asked me.

I looked at the diagram. "Do you know if the declarer had any diamonds left?" I asked.

"He only had spades," said Toni.

I wasn't very good at reading bridge diagrams. I wished I could see the real cards. Still, it seemed pretty obvious that Annabel should discard the
7. She needed to save the
5 in order to protect her
K. Otherwise, on the next trick, the declarer could tell dummy to play the ace, and Annabel would have to play her king.

"So what happened?" I asked Toni.

"Well, on the next trick, the declarer tried the finesse," she said. "He played the queen of spades. Annabel won that trick with her king of spades, and then she won the last trick with her seven of diamonds, setting the contract."

(She had discarded the
5!)

In bridge, as in life, Annabel did not consider it her duty to serve and protect the king.

Annabel made a risky defensive play and won two tricks instead of just one. She won the last trick with the
7.

"The seven of diamonds is the beer card," Toni told me. "If you win the final trick with the seven of diamonds and it sets the contract, your partner is supposed to buy you a beer."

"You're making that up!"

"Swear to God," she promised, crossing her heart.

"Wait a sec," I said. "Let me get this straight. Besides trying to win against the best players in the world, Annabel also managed her cards so she'd win the last trick with the seven of diamonds,
just for kicks
?"

Toni smiled.

"Well, wherever she is," I said, "I hope she's enjoying her beer. Or I guess I should say, I hope the
idea
of beer is being enjoyed by the
idea
of Annabel."

Toni looked confused, but not half as confused as I was.

I raised my cup in the air. I was drinking a mango smoothie. "To Annabel!" I said.

Toni raised her bubble tea. "To Annabel!" she repeated.

We clinked our cups together.

Paper cups don't actually clink, but it was the idea that counted.

67
A Message from Afar

The top hundred pairs were posted on the wall just inside the door to the playing area. I had to wait for several people to move before I could get a look. Finnick and Trapp were currently in seventy-eighth place.

"Alton?"

I turned around to see Deborah, Arnold's wife. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

I didn't know what to say.

"Arnold!" she called. "Alton and Toni are here!"

"Hi, Deborah," Toni said, then hugged her. "When did you get here?"

The best defense is a good offense.

A moment later we found ourselves surrounded by Lucy, Arnold, and Lucy's husband, Carl. There were hugs and handshakes all around.

"Are you two playing bridge?" asked Arnold.

"Of course they're playing," said Lucy. "What else would they be doing here?"

"Trapp had already paid for the airfare and hotel," I said, "so why not?"

"Fantastic!" Arnold exclaimed. "How's it going?"

Toni proceeded to tell everyone about the side game. ". . . If I'd had the queen of clubs, or if Alton had had the king of spades . . ."

They all remembered the hand. They had played in the two-session pairs game, which had used the same hand records we had.

"They bid six spades on that crap?" asked Deborah.

"You were fixed," said Arnold.

"Tell me about it," griped Toni.

"It's a tough tournament," said Carl. "Even in the side games, you're likely to face some world-class competition."

"So what event are you playing in tonight?" asked Deborah.

There was no use in lying, since they were likely to see us in the room. "Right here," I said. "National Pairs Championship."

"I'm impressed," said Arnold. "But that's the way to do it. No point playing in the novice game. The best way to learn is to play against the best."

"You're not in the top hundred, are you?" asked Deborah, who had seen me looking at the chart.

"Yeah, right," I said. "No, we're just playing for the experience."

"So are we all, I'm afraid," said Carl.

I was glad to hear that Lucy and Arnold had had a 46 percent in the afternoon, which was a percentage point better than their spouses had done. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't that I wanted them to do badly. I just didn't want them looking for their names in the top hundred.

They didn't even ask what our score was, presumably because they didn't want to embarrass us.

"No one's out of it yet," said Arnold.

"The main thing is to Q," said Carl.

I didn't know what that meant. We all wished each other good luck.

"Maybe we'll get to play against you tonight," Lucy said.

I'm sure she hoped she would.

Our table assignment for the evening session was H-10, North-South. I was glad that neither Lucy and Arnold nor Deborah and Carl appeared to be in our section.

The director reminded everyone to put away their cell phones. I was about to turn mine off, when I saw I had a new text message.

mom saw cliff @ pool

That was all. There was no further explanation or voice mail.

Leslie didn't own a cell phone. I decided she must have borrowed her friend Marissa's. Marissa's family had a membership in the country club. Leslie must have gone as Marissa's guest, and our mother had either driven her there or picked her up.

It probably took Leslie longer to type the @ symbol than it would have to type the word
at
, but that's the kind of thing she loves to do.

"You haven't talked to Cliff today, have you?" I asked Toni.

Toni's cheeks turned red. "Twice," she said. "Why?"

I was surprised, and also jealous. "When was the last time?" I asked.

"In my room after dinner."

"Did he say anything about my mother?"

"Your mother? No, we didn't, um, talk about your mother."

I turned off my phone.

68
Signals

I was glad to be sitting South. It meant I remained at the same table throughout the session, and so far, after the first three rounds, the reception had been very good. I was having no difficulty perceiving my uncle.

"What are your defensive signals, please?" asked the dignified woman in the East seat.

"Standard," I said, having memorized the answer to that question.

"Is your primary answer attitude or count?"

"Um . . ."

"Attitude," said Toni, "unless count is obviously more important."

"Of course," said the woman.

I should explain.

When you are on defense, if you are not trying to win the trick, then the card you play sends a signal to your partner. Just like in the bidding, you are not allowed to have any secret signals. The opponents can ask what signals you use.

I usually got by with saying "Standard."

It basically works like this. A high card encourages. A low card discourages. Let's say your partner leads the
3, and the
A is played from the dummy. Since you are unable to win the trick, you can signal your partner for later. If you held the
K62, you would play the
6, encouraging, telling your partner you had something good in clubs. If instead you held
862, you would play the
2, discouraging your partner from leading clubs again.