บท 192: Ch 192 - Get! Set! Game On!
Holding up three darts in his hand, Darryl asked Alex, "Do you understand the rules of
darts? Do you need me to teach you?"
"I've played darts before", Alex replied.
"Fine. Today, we'll play 301", Darryl said, raising his voice a little for the benefit of the "I'll recap the rules so we're all clear. 301 is one of the most common games to play
with darts. We both start with 301 points, and we take turns throwing three darts each. Our scores for each round will be subtracted from the 301 points. Whoever gets their score down to zero first wins. But it has to be exact. You can't just score a bunch of points until you've scored over 301. If your last throw takes your score past 301, it doesn't count. You have to keep trying until your score adds up to 301 exactly."
They each took one shot at the dartboard. Darryl's dart was closer to the bullseye, so he
was to go first. He stood in front of the dartboard, leaning forward slightly and holding the dart in his right hand. He moved his throwing arm forward and backward a couple of times, then threw his first dart. It hit the small green area just above the bullseye.
"How come Darryl's dart is so far away from the center?" asked a female student who was watching.
Her boyfriend laughed and said, "Darts isn't like archery where you always aim for the
center. In darts, the highest score isn't the bullseye."
He continued to explain to her, "The dartboard is divided into different scores. If you hit
the bullseye in the middle, you score fifty points. The areas around it score one to twenty.
The highest score is the "triple area" of twenty points, which gives you sixty points."
Darryl quickly threw his three darts, scoring sixty points, forty points, and twenty points.
This gave him an impressive total of one hundred and twenty points.
"Nice one, Darryl", shouted one of his friends.
Another said, "He's amazing. Nearly as good as the professional players."
His friend agreed, "His score will be reduced by 120 points. So he's down to 181 already.
That's a great start."
Several of Darryl's followers praised him and most people watching commented to each
other that he was a very good darts player. They were sure that he would beat Alex.
Myriam walked over to Darryl, handed him a drink, and said with a smile, "Darryl, you're so good at darts. I don't think that loser could compete with you even if he had ten years to practice."
"What's your name?" he asked her with a smile.
She was very pleased that he asked. She smiled and replied respectfully, "My name's
Myriam. I'm a student at Richmond. I came here today to sign up to volunteer."
"You should definitely be one of the lead volunteers," Darryl said loudly and the staff
manning the recruitment tables nearby readily agreed.
"Thank you, Darryl, thank you so much," Myriam said. She was so happy and grateful to Darryl explained to her, "As a lead volunteer, you'll be one of the beautiful young women
who will hold the name of our country on a banner in front of you as you enter the stadium. Your salary will be higher than the other volunteers, and you're likely to be seen on live TV. It's a position that everyone wants but since you're now a friend of mine, I think you'll be perfect for it."
"No need to thank me", he said. Then he looked at Alex, who was standing in front of the dartboard, getting ready to throw his darts.
Alex held up his first dart, looked at the dartboard, and threw the dart. It scored him
twenty points. The second dart also scored twenty. The third dart only scored one point.
One of the spectators laughed, " Haha, his three darts only scored forty-one points. What
does that take him to, 260? Darryl's nearly eighty points ahead of him."
"I could throw with my eyes closed and still beat his score",said his friend.
When the people watched saw Alex's score, they all laughed at him.
Darryl said triumphantly, "Boy, I'll let you give up gracefully now if you like. There's no need to prolong your suffering."
Alex replied, "It's not over yet. You'd do well to hold your tongue and not brag too soon. I just haven't had as much practice as you."
"Okay, your choice. We'll see what you have to say after the next round", Darryl said
triumphantly. He went and stood in front of the dartboard again. He was already seventy-
nine points ahead of Alex and he was feeling very relaxed. His next three darts did even
better than the first round. He scored sixty, forty, and then another forty. Now his total was down to only forty-one points. He was confident he would easily win the game on the next round.
His supporters cheered when they saw that he had scored 140 points. Some people yelled
at Alex that he should give up the competition and start begging Darryl for mercy.
Phillipa took Alex's hand and said anxiously, "Alex, let's go. There's no way you're going to
beat him."
Alex said with a small smile, "It's not over yet. Don't worry. Even if you're sure I'm going to lose, I know that I can still win."
She quickly shook her head and said, "No, I didn't say that you were going to lose. I still
hope you win."
Alex smiled and walked back to the dartboard. His expression was dignified. He held up his first dart and focused on the board. He scored triple twenty taking sixty points off his score.
Deep down, Alex felt quite confident as he had spent a lot of time practicing throwing knives and he felt there were a lot of similarities.
Although he'd not played darts before, he felt it should not be too hard for him. However,
the weight and shape of the darts were quite different from his knives, and he had to get
used to them. That was why his first three shots hadn't been very good. He was slowly
getting used to the feel of the darts. He adjusted his technique slightly, and with a little bit of luck, he had managed to score sixty.
His excellent shot filled him with energy, and he quickly threw his next two darts. He
scored another sixty and then a twenty.
In this round, he had also scored 140 points, taking his total down to 120.
Someone commented, "Hey, how did he do that? Perhaps he does have some skill."
Someone else replied, "He only scored forty-one points in the first round, and then 140 in
the second round. It doesn't make any sense."
"The second round was just a fluke. He was lucky. I bet he'll score forty-one again or even
less in the next round",said another spectator.
The first man said, "What next round? Darryl only has to get forty-one points to win. With
his skill he'll do that easily, don't you think?"
Most of the people watching thought that Alex had just gotten lucky in the second round.
They didn't believe that he had any skill.
Darryl said to him, "Hey loser, I'll give you a chance. If you admit defeat, I'll let you get on
your hands and knees and kiss my feet here. But if you want to carry on playing until I beat you, we'll go out to the square, and you can kiss my feet there in front of everyone. Do you know how many people there are in the Olympic Park right now?
Unfortunately for you, I also ate a bag of popcorn this morning and my stomach is gurgling. I just hope I don't fart while you're down kissing my feet. I'll do my best to control it, but no promises!"
When they heard what Darryl said, everyone burst into laughter.
One man said, "Yes, Darryl's a man after all. His fart won't be pleasant."
His girlfriend said, "Haha, if he's on his knees when he farts, he'll get the full blast of it. It's making me feel ill just to think about it."
"You should take up his offer and kiss his feet here rather than in the square", advised the first man.
"What do you think, loser? Do you want to get it over with now?" Darryl asked with a smile.
Alex replied, "Darryl, you're one of the most popular gentlemen in D.C. and now you're threatening to fart on someone. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"Okay, loser, it's your choice. You'll regret it in a minute, but don't blame me", Darryl
replied with a chuckle. He went back to the dartboard and threw his next dart.
He was feeling great. To win, he just had to hit forty-one points with his next three darts. He felt very confident that he could do that. He planned to shoot a double twenty, and then a one to win the game cleanly.
He aimed at the double twenty and threw his first dart. His aim looked perfect.
At that moment, Alex's eyes tightened. He was holding a small knife in his hand.
No one was watching him as he quietly threw the knife at the dartboard. The blade gently hit the bottom of the board and landed on the carpet beneath. It landed quietly, and no one noticed it.
However, the slight impact of the blade hitting the dartboard made it shake slightly.
It was enough to cause Darryl's dart, which should have hit double twenty, to land instead on the double five.
"Oh," he said. He was surprised, but he quickly calculated where to aim next.
He aimed his second dart at double fifteen and hit it perfectly. He had one more shot and could still easily win. He just needed to hit the single one. Darryl thought this would be the easiest shot of all.
However, Alex threw another knife at the board and the same thing happened. Darryl's dart scored eighteen points.
As per the rules he himself had explained at the start of the game, this took his total above 301, so his last shot was discounted. He still had one point left out of his three hundred and one to score.
Darryl was shocked. He couldn't work out how he had failed to score forty-one with his three darts.
Someone said to their friend, "Darryl must have deliberately messed up his last shot so the boy doesn't lose too badly. He's being kind and trying to save him from the embarrassment."
His friend replied, "Yes, that must be it. There's no way Darryl couldn't score forty-one points with three darts. He's too good. He should've just ended the game though. That
boy has only got himself to blame."
Another guy said, "Actually, I bet Darryl wanted to humiliate that loser even more. I reckon
he left one point on purpose. He could have won that round easily, but he didn't. I think he
deliberately left one point so he could watch the boy get up his hopes just so he could destroy them again in the next round. That's so cruel", he said, but even as he said this, he
laughed.
The crowd seemed to be split on whether Darryl had messed up his round to be kind or to embarrass Alex further. But no matter what they thought, they all agreed that he was still going to win.
Darryl heard their comments and said to Alex, "Well, I've given you a chance. Don't let me down. If you really have any skill, you could still win by scoring 140 points with your three darts. Otherwise, you'll lose, and you know what's coming."
He knew full well that he hadn't deliberately shown Alex any mercy, but he wanted people to think that he had. Fortunately, everyone seemed to think that he had done it on purpose.
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