Gamble of Life

"A gamble of life?" Rudy repeated Maria's words and asked, "What's that? We gamble for our life?"

"Yes," she nodded without looking at Rudy.

"Uhh… I have no interest in betting my life, and I am not going to let you bet yours either," Rudy asserted in a solemn voice.

"Oh, no. My bad. I don't mean a gamble of life and death. It was more like a gamble where the winners got to owe the loser their entire life. They make every decision of their life," Maria stated.

"That sounds like slavery which is super illegal," Rudy remarked.

"You can call it slavery, and it's not illegal in the underworld. When someone loses the gamble or life or if they have run out of money or the things to bet, they become a slave until the debt has been repaid.

Sometimes, fathers sell their daughters, husbands sell their wives, mothers sell their sons, and they sell themselves too. It is not a rare occurrence in the underworld. I wish I had never known this dark side of gambling," she said in a low voice.