Bear came over to his side. “Pull the covers off for our friend. He’s lookin’ a bit nervous still.”
Bear glared at me and then walked over to the blankets. He pulled them off to reveal pallets and pallets of diapers.
Lincoln took a puff of his cigar as he grinned at me. “I buy and sell diapers, my friend.”
Relieved at the sight of the innocent diaper boxes, I smiled. My imagination made me think it was drugs or weapons or something crazy like you see in the movies. My nerves settled, and I felt my anxiousness fade away.
Lincoln, Robert, the others and I played poker for the next couple of hours. I felt all the more comfortable with every minute that ticked by. Lincoln told me about a trip down to Cancun he and his wife had just went on last week and about his daughter, Emalia’s, latest hobby of collecting rocks that she found around the yard. He seemed like a relatively normal guy. The fact that my chip stacks were growing quite nicely through the evening was also adding to my easygoing feeling. Each time I beat someone off the table and took all their chips away, my confidence swelled, and I could see winning the fifty grand within my sights.
By the eight o’clock hour, it was just down to Lincoln, the kid and myself. Frankie dealt the cards out to us as Lincoln lit up another cigar from his metallic cigar holder that he had sitting next to his bottle of whiskey.
I glanced at my cards. Ace of diamonds, king of diamonds. My face stayed stone cold and emotionless as I was bursting inside with excitement. I relaxed the cards back onto the table and waited for my turn.
I raised to four hundred.
The kid kept his usual one earbud in as he stayed stone-faced, debating somewhere in his mind what to do, I suspected. My eyes went to his chips. He had about two grand worth of chips left in his stacks. It wasn’t much compared to Lincoln’s or mine. The kid called.
It was now up to Lincoln, who seemed to be busy on his phone while he waited for his turn. He paused and looked at the table for a minute. There weren’t any cards down, just the ones in front of him that he had failed to even look at yet.
“How much?” he asked, looking at the both of us.
“Four,” I said.
“Thousand?” he asked.
I looked at the pot. “Hundred.”
“Okay.” He grabbed for his chips.
“You haven’t looked at your cards, though. Don’t you care what you have?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It will be okay.” He tossed in his chips to match and continued to do whatever he was doing on his phone.
Shaking my head a little, I thought to myself, this is easy money . I had hardly been there for three hours, and I was already almost done wiping the table clean.
The pot was good and Frankie burned a card. Then, he turned the flop. Three cards.
Ace of hearts, king of hearts and a two of hearts.
If my internal emotions had a set of external speakers, I couldn’t ever play poker. I was jumping up and down inside with excitement. On the outside, I kept my cool and raised the pot by a thousand dollars in chips.
The kid rubbed his chin as he removed an earbud. “Blaze . . .” he said, shaking his head. “Why you gotta kill me like this?” he laughed.
I said nothing.
“Screw it.” He shoved in the rest of his chips, which raised me another six hundred on top of mine.
Lincoln looked over at the cards from the flop and set his cellphone down. He looked to be a little more concerned now that there were a couple of grand on the table. Glancing at his cards, he laughed and then looked over at me. “Rick. You married?”
I nodded.
“Your wife ever get on to you about forgetting to take out the trash?” he asked, setting his cards back down on the table.
“Of course,” I replied.
“My wife is texting me to inform me that I haven’t taken the trash out in three days, and she’s looked every day to see if I would take it out, but I haven’t.”
I laughed. “My wife can be cute like that too.”
“When’s your
Bear glared at me and then walked over to the blankets. He pulled them off to reveal pallets and pallets of diapers.
Lincoln took a puff of his cigar as he grinned at me. “I buy and sell diapers, my friend.”
Relieved at the sight of the innocent diaper boxes, I smiled. My imagination made me think it was drugs or weapons or something crazy like you see in the movies. My nerves settled, and I felt my anxiousness fade away.
Lincoln, Robert, the others and I played poker for the next couple of hours. I felt all the more comfortable with every minute that ticked by. Lincoln told me about a trip down to Cancun he and his wife had just went on last week and about his daughter, Emalia’s, latest hobby of collecting rocks that she found around the yard. He seemed like a relatively normal guy. The fact that my chip stacks were growing quite nicely through the evening was also adding to my easygoing feeling. Each time I beat someone off the table and took all their chips away, my confidence swelled, and I could see winning the fifty grand within my sights.
By the eight o’clock hour, it was just down to Lincoln, the kid and myself. Frankie dealt the cards out to us as Lincoln lit up another cigar from his metallic cigar holder that he had sitting next to his bottle of whiskey.
I glanced at my cards. Ace of diamonds, king of diamonds. My face stayed stone cold and emotionless as I was bursting inside with excitement. I relaxed the cards back onto the table and waited for my turn.
I raised to four hundred.
The kid kept his usual one earbud in as he stayed stone-faced, debating somewhere in his mind what to do, I suspected. My eyes went to his chips. He had about two grand worth of chips left in his stacks. It wasn’t much compared to Lincoln’s or mine. The kid called.
It was now up to Lincoln, who seemed to be busy on his phone while he waited for his turn. He paused and looked at the table for a minute. There weren’t any cards down, just the ones in front of him that he had failed to even look at yet.
“How much?” he asked, looking at the both of us.
“Four,” I said.
“Thousand?” he asked.
I looked at the pot. “Hundred.”
“Okay.” He grabbed for his chips.
“You haven’t looked at your cards, though. Don’t you care what you have?” I asked.
He shrugged. “It will be okay.” He tossed in his chips to match and continued to do whatever he was doing on his phone.
Shaking my head a little, I thought to myself, this is easy money . I had hardly been there for three hours, and I was already almost done wiping the table clean.
The pot was good and Frankie burned a card. Then, he turned the flop. Three cards.
Ace of hearts, king of hearts and a two of hearts.
If my internal emotions had a set of external speakers, I couldn’t ever play poker. I was jumping up and down inside with excitement. On the outside, I kept my cool and raised the pot by a thousand dollars in chips.
The kid rubbed his chin as he removed an earbud. “Blaze . . .” he said, shaking his head. “Why you gotta kill me like this?” he laughed.
I said nothing.
“Screw it.” He shoved in the rest of his chips, which raised me another six hundred on top of mine.
Lincoln looked over at the cards from the flop and set his cellphone down. He looked to be a little more concerned now that there were a couple of grand on the table. Glancing at his cards, he laughed and then looked over at me. “Rick. You married?”
I nodded.
“Your wife ever get on to you about forgetting to take out the trash?” he asked, setting his cards back down on the table.
“Of course,” I replied.
“My wife is texting me to inform me that I haven’t taken the trash out in three days, and she’s looked every day to see if I would take it out, but I haven’t.”
I laughed. “My wife can be cute like that too.”
“When’s your
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