Dead Man's Hand (12 page)

After a
moment of consideration I made a comment on his bet.  “You must have
something special to make a starting bet like that.”  Which was not
entirely true, I mean his bet wasn’t all that lavish, at least not for the
moment.  But free information was always a good thing.  Not that I
was necessarily pressed to collect any more on him.

“No, no, no,
no, no Marcus.”  William rushed with just a little bit too much force behind
it.  He must have realized that as well because he quickly made a decent
recovery.  “If you want to see what I have here,” he busied himself
tapping the backs of the cards before him just the little bit of
emphasis.  “Then you’ll have to pay to see them just like anyone else.”

His busy
hands had told me that while he didn’t have anything solid as of yet, he was
chasing down a better than decent draw.  Like me, could he be hoping for a
flush?  It was possible, but that slight hesitation before his bet made me
think the chances of that were unlikely.  Even if he was after a flush, it
made little difference at the moment.  There were still two cards left to
shape the game and I liked my draw better, after all with a flush draw I was
holding the ace.  And that meant that I would beat any other flush so I
might as well see just how far I could push the pot.  “Let’s make it eight
thousand to see what’s next.”

Of course the
living statue tossed in the required eight thousand.  But Kelly took a
long look at what was out on the table and then thought about what she was
holding before looking back at the rest of us saying, “Looks like it’s time for
me to get off this ride.”  Then she slid her cards towards the dealer
before mumbling a curse under her breath. She needed to learn a little more
control.

Once I raised
his bet, William’s hands had been busy with a small stack of chips, and as soon
as Kelly folded he asked the dealer, “That leaves three to me, correct?”

“Yes sir.”
The dealer answered.

“Three it is
then.”  William replied as he added the required chips into the pile.

I kept my
eyes on William’s hands so I was barely aware of the dealer’s motions. 
But as I needed to watch William’s hands, and I knew the new card helped him,
but I also knew he still needed more.  And with a glance at the community
cards I saw that the four of spades had been added to the collection. 
Well that ruled out a flush for William.  So what was the man fishing for
with what was available?  Could he have been betting on a straight draw? 
A straight draw would be a good hand to bet on but not with the flush draw
right there staring up at us. 

William was
yet again playing with another stack and looking from the community cards to me
then Tyson and back down to his pocket cards.  All the actions were purely
there for show.  He had already made up his mind as far as this bet was
concerned.  He was just trying to distract us, well me, with some
indecision.  “Hmmm…  Well I think I’ll start this round out with ten
thousand.”  William said with all the apparent calm of someone sitting at
a bus stop casually waiting for his ride.

He was so
confident, but how could he be if he was really chasing down a straight?
  There was no straight flush available, was there?  In
play were the two and four of spades, I suppose he could have two low value
spades then he would need just one more.  Could he really be trying to
pull off a straight flush?  If he was he would be able to fall back on the
flush, which ordinarily would be a decent fall back hand but I still held the
ace so I would beat him.  I studied William and as I counted out the ten
grand.  “You said ten grand right?”

With a nod
William answered, “It’s not too rich a bet for you is it?”

He was
certainly full of himself, it was time I cured him of that.  “Certainly
not, Will.”  I answered as I collected fifty thousand dollars of chips,
“Not when I’m about to raise you forty grand.”

Slightly
annoyed William retorted, “Marcus you’re not going to be able to bully me out
of this hand.”  So we sat back and waited for Tyson to make his bet. 

William was
fishing for a straight flush, I had no way to know how I knew, but he was
fishing for the straight flush.  And I knew it just as soon as the words
left his mouth.  William was one card away from a straight flush, which of
course would net him the better hand, but I had to keep my rising fear
inside.  I decided to be a little flippant if only to lighten my
mood.  “I wouldn’t dream of it Will, though by the looks of it our friend
Tyson must have quite the hand since forty thousand is of no concern to
him.”  Unfortunately while William had been so busy talking to me he had
missed just how quickly Tyson collected his chips.  He was really eager
for this hand, it was the first time I had seen him excited.

Meanwhile
Allison, who had just returned, couldn’t restrain herself any longer.  “I
couldn’t be happier that I skipped the hand.  I hate giving my money to
Tyson.”

A blustery
William looked away from me and stared her down asking, “And just what makes
you think he’ll win this hand.”

And with my
mouth running on autopilot I answered for Allison.  “Well Will, I think
Allison is basing that statement on the fact that our, apparently mute friend
here has yet to actually lose a hand that he pursued.”  Looking from
William to Allison I made sure my logic was accurate.  When I saw her
looking down her nose at me I added, “At least I presume that’s what you
meant.  Was I wrong?”

With a
playful grin on her face she looked at me and answered, “No you weren’t
wrong.  But next time I would thank you to let me answer for myself.”

I knew that
she was only slightly serious, I just took my verbal slap and apologized. 
“I’m sorry Allison it will never happen again.”  I admit that I laid it on
pretty thick but she was only slightly serious with her admonishment so there
was no need offer her full sincerity.  “Next time our ears will be graced
by the perfection of your voice.”

Scoffing
Kelly couldn’t take my mock apology any longer and broke in.  “Oh please
Marcus.”   I guess she was just too confused by all the playfulness,
because she seemed genuinely upset over my obviously insincere words. 
“Allison might fall for your over-the-top complimentary nonsense, but I don’t.”

Now by this
time I was as sick of Kelly’s complaints as anyone else at the table but
apparently not as upset as Allison.  Because she beat me to the tongue
lashing that Kelly deserved. “Kelly dear I know you aren’t willing to listen to
compliments real or embellished.  But I rather like being complimented
especially when it’s over the top.  Unlike you I encourage this kind of
behavior, it makes me feel good.  And with just how prickly you are I can
see why you have yet to receive a single compliment about anything, ever.”

Allison had
done all the work and I should have left well enough alone and simply let Kelly
sulk but I couldn’t help but add, “The one thing I cannot stand is wasting my
breath on someone.”

Allison must
have approved of my comment because she gave me a wink that seemed to scream
whether I won or lost the two of us would be winners in private.  But
after the quick flash of something intimate she returned her attention to Kelly
so she could stare down at the woman who, from the looks of it, had hate
smoldering in her eyes

“William the
bet is to you.”  Everyone, including the dealer turned around and looked
at Tyson, who had spoken for only the second time today.

The shock of
someone she thought of as mute actually speaking must have scared her witless
because Kelly jumped out of her chair and broke eye contact with Allison. 
When her heart stopped racing she turned to face the steely eyed man and
muttered, “It talks.”  I was sure she had not meant for everyone at the
table to hear her, but with the silence at our table we could have heard a pin
drop.

Fixing her
with his emotionless glare he responded, “Yes, I talk.  But unlike the
rest of you I simply prefer to hold my tongue while I play.  But none of
you were keeping your attention where it belonged and that was starting to
annoy me.”

“Well this
should satisfy you Tyson.  Here is my extra forty grand.”  William
placed his bet in front of him.  He was playing it very calm for someone
fishing for a straight flush.

After the
dealer collected the floating chips, he reached for the deck and burned the
last card before drawing the river.  I knew what William was looking for
so I decided to try and read Tyson.  But it was like trying to climb a
cliff without a safety line, suicidal.  I would just have to follow my gut
when it came to him.   And since I was pretty confident that I
already knew what William had, I really just wanted to know if the river helped
him or not.  So keeping my eyes fixed upon William I saw the slightest
twitch of a grimace but only for a moment, and that was when I knew I had him.
I mentally sighed with relief.

Looking down
I saw that the river had been the three of clubs, if it had been the three of
spades I would have lost to a straight flush, which meant he had the five and
six of spades.  So instead of a straight or a straight flush he had a
flush and an inferior flush at that.  But that still left me with the
mystery that was Tyson, what did he have?  His stony eyes kept me at bay
like a castle’s moat.  When I glanced back over to William he was busy
counting over his chips, and as he went he glanced at the piles in front of the
rest of us.  “Well since I’m the low man at this table I think I need to
do something to rectify that so… I’m all in.”

After the
dealer confirmed the count of William’s pile I sat there wondering if I could
possibly be wrong with my read.  But I kept coming back to his reaction
when he saw the river card.  No, all he had was a flush, normally a good
hand.  It was just unfortunate for him I happened to have the best flush
possible, I was certain that I would win the hand.  When the dealer
announced the confirmed count I was amazed, with two hundred and sixty-five
thousand I would be over my starting half million.  But that wasn’t my
immediate concern, instead I was idly wondering if I should try to take
something from Tyson’s stack.  Examining the cards laying in front of us,
a flush was the best available hand and I had the ace.  So what was I to
do?

I only
thought about it for a moment more before starting to separate my chips. 
“Well Will, I think I’m going to follow your lead.”  When I had finished
separating the piles one covered William’s bet, while the other stack would
force Tyson to pay another one hundred and eighty-eight thousand.  “Well
my reserved friend, its four hundred and fifty-three thousand to you.”  It
was a struggle to keep my voice from cracking as I asked, “Do you want to see
what I have?”

Tyson simply
stared at me, not with the lifeless stare from earlier but with a measuring
look, as if he was debating with himself.  With as long as he took to make
up his mind, I figured he must be up to something, because there was no way he
would fold if he had something.  That or he was trying to place doubt in
my mind for later on.  One thing was certain he was a very skilled player
and not for the first time I wished he had found a different starting
table.  Instead of simply pushing his cards towards the dealer like he
normally did, Tyson once again broke through the scattered conversations. This
time his words were directed solely at me, “Not this time Marcus.”

As I pulled
back the smaller pile William’s face was eager as he flipped over the five and
six of spades.  It was nice to get confirmation that I was right; too bad
he was going to join the audience here in a moment.  Through a smug face
he said, “Beat a flush there Marcus.”

 “Too
bad the river was the three of clubs.  If only it had been the three of
spades, you would have gotten a straight flush.”

“It’s nice to
hold flush when you’re chasing down a hand like that.”  William agreed
with that silly smile still plastered upon his face.

“That would
have been the best possible hand, had it been played.”  I said as I was
bobbing my head, I was trying to look like I was biding my time.  Make
William think he had won.  Yeah it was a mean thing to do but he was just
too pleased with himself right now.

“I know that
Marcus.”  He said as he folded his hands right in front of his chin, and
as he looked down at my cards he poignantly asked, “What do you have?”

I decided to
play it smoothly and so I turned over the seven of spades.  And in that
instant the smug look he had plastered on his face began to crack and peel
away.  Since the jack of spades was one of the community cards he knew the
next highest spade would decide the winner if we both had a flush.  And
since he had the five and six of spades and the four and two of spades were
community cards as well as long as I had another spade my flush would beat his.

I let the
time stretch out for as long as I could, but eventually the dealer prompted me
to show my last card.  I lifted it and slowly began lifting it up.  I
could see William’s forehead burst out into a sweaty mess.  I couldn’t
help but think that had William acted more like the gentleman he was supposed
to be, I would have put him out of his misery much sooner.  Had he been a
good sport I would have just let him see my flush and it would be over, but he
had to act like a spoiled child.  So he deserved to sweat a little, or in
his case a lot.