The Deadly Seven

Intermission #1 - Rory and Finn

Finn meandered from the casino room and went outside for a smoke.  The air was chilly and there was a soft wind.  He thought about his mother.  Would she be disappointed in him tonight?  Gambling was never a dinner conversation with the family, but he hadn’t heard it to be “forbidden.”  Finn knew for sure his brothers would sit him down and ridicule his chose in life and remind him how he could’ve been a better man.  Jeremy (the psychologist) was married and had a baby on the way.  He was very proud and made sure to let Finn feel inadequate.  It was almost like Jeremy had an excuse to dissect Finn in public since he was studying the “complexity of the human emotions.”  Finn hated him for that.

As for Thomas, the oldest and the lawyer, Finn despised him the most.  Thomas played the “savior” in the family.  He had this righteous face he’d put on whenever someone would talk to him about their problems.  It was as if he only asked them to talk so that he could give them advice.  He was much like Rory that way.  Finn, however, read through Thomas’s acts and refused to ever ask him for help.  Even when he was thrown in jail or couldn’t pay the rent, Finn never accepted his brother’s help.  

“Hey,” came Rory’s voice from behind Finn.  “Mind if I join you?”

Finn tipped his chin up, giving him permission. 

Lighting his cigarette, Rory walked up beside him and looked out at the city lights.  In inhaled the cool air and then sighed in satisfaction.  “I didn’t think he was bluffing.”  He clicked his cigarette lighter shut and looked over at Finn.  “Jim’s a good player now.”

“He’s cheating,” Finn interrupted.  “And you didn’t call him out for it.”

Rory dropped his head.  “Finn, it’s not like we’re on security cameras.  And he wasn’t cheating—I would’ve known.  I just think you can’t handle someone being better than you.”  Rory took a deep drag from is cigarette and gave Finn a conceited smirk. 

“What?  And you think you’re better than him?”

Rory broke out into a laugh and shook his head.  “No, no.  You see, Finn, the difference between you and me is that I know when I’m not good at everything.  It’s called being humble.”

Finn’s eyes squinted and his jaw clenched.  Taking another inhalation of his cigarette, he tossed it on ground and snuffed it out with his shoe.  Putting his hands in his pockets, he headed back inside before Rory called out to him.  Finn stopped and looked over his shoulder.  He raised a questioning eyebrow.  

“Pick up your cigarette and throw it inside, please.” Rory walked up the steps and straight past Finn, who had to dodge out of the host’s pathway so not to be knocked down.  Rory disappeared into the house, leaving a pompous air behind him.  If Finn had been closer, he would’ve seen a sly smirk smeared on Rory’s face—the smile Rory wore when he felt he had dominated someone successfully.

Finn pursed his lips and obeyed the command.  But instead of bringing his litter inside, he buried it in a nearby flower pot underneath the mulch.  Looking around quickly, he dusted his hands off and hurried back inside.  He felt better afterwards.