Rashad, a kabadayı (a swaggering street-bravo of the quarters), is known for his rough manner and his fidelity to an informal code of his own. He takes his place at the high-stakes tables of a clandestine club, where he plays at cards with such notable hands as Gizem Faruki and Chique Manu. An irritable creature, and the more so for finding himself winless whilst others prospered, he has the strong build of the street-fighter and carries a blade — which he turned upon Chique Manu in an attempt at abduction.
As the game wore on, Rashad's frustration got the better of him, and he fell to violence, pressing a knife to Chique Manu's throat and making to drag him toward a concealed exit. This set off a train of confrontations that ended in a melee: he was set upon by Jean-Zera Mongé and put off his stride by a spell of Gizem Faruki's, and for all his opening ferocity and his bids to escape, he was in the end subdued by coordinated blows and knocked senseless. Afterward Chique Manu laid a single para coin in Rashad's hand — a mocking wage for his failed attempt at abduction.