Pool Table

This week’s prompts involved comparing a person to an inanimate object, creating a metaphor and then extending it.

Kent’s object: Pool Table

Jerry had the same low center of gravity as the tables at the pool hall where he kept his “office,” and like them he usually had an 8-ball in one of his pockets. Unlike those tables, Jerry was on the level.

Granted, he was a loan shark (not a pool shark) and there were dozens of local legends about what that 8-ball was for. But he always stuck to the original terms of a deal, and never hurt people who didn’t have it coming.

He also upheld a sort of personal code against talking about his clients, understandably enough. But two underage hustlers had been dragged out of the river in the past week, both known regulars at Jerry’s establishment, and I had to know if they were also his personal customers.

Because if they were, that would put Jerry behind the 8-ball this time.