ELIXA

CHAPTER 45

Fun is not complete until they are spent with friends, close friends, and one that could breathe and speak their problems into your heart. Often we meet such people, and when we are with them, the time we spend is what defines the true meaning of pleasure.

Carlos smiled at the thought and dropped the glass cup for a refill. He had just had his evening rounds, making sure his dealings were in check. Too lousy a hand could make things slip from his fingers. And he was not ready to let that happen, especially since the days were beginning to birth new threats. It has become easy for some lowlife fools to step up from the shadows and try to wheel life in their favor. That was not going to happen, not while Carl was alive.

Round the table of four, hails of tobacco clogged the dim room, contrasting the disco lights which trailed through the center. The lights should have been bright, and colorful and should have lighted the room, at least, to kill the shadows. Yet, the fogging tobacco smok