Pool is not about strength, no. Not physical strength, anyway. It's strategy, finesse -- some might say physics and math, but Jacopo isn't an academic, nor does he care to be. He eyes Michel, almost as if he can tell from the other man's height and build just how well he'll do to start with, and then goes and resets the table, explaining the rules as he does. The cue ball, the break shot, the stripes and solids, the significance of the eight ball — a simple game in practice, but now that he's listing out the rules, Jacopo can see how it might be intimidating.
"You'll learn as you play, if you're not stupid."
After putting it so eloquently, he lines up a shot and breaks, the cue ball unleashing a series of satisfying clicks. There's a moment where it seems several balls will find a pocket to fall into, but in the end only one striped one does.
"I call stripes," he says. "I'm not giving you a bonus judt because you've never played before."
Why should he do for Michel what life doesn't do for anyone? And besides, Jacopo wants to win. There has to be something he can point at and say he's better at than Michel.
He takes his next shot, then his next, and then it's Michel's turn. "Don't try to stab the ball with the cue. Tap it, hard or soft. Otherwise, you'll end your turn."
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"You'll learn as you play, if you're not stupid."
After putting it so eloquently, he lines up a shot and breaks, the cue ball unleashing a series of satisfying clicks. There's a moment where it seems several balls will find a pocket to fall into, but in the end only one striped one does.
"I call stripes," he says. "I'm not giving you a bonus judt because you've never played before."
Why should he do for Michel what life doesn't do for anyone? And besides, Jacopo wants to win. There has to be something he can point at and say he's better at than Michel.
He takes his next shot, then his next, and then it's Michel's turn. "Don't try to stab the ball with the cue. Tap it, hard or soft. Otherwise, you'll end your turn."