Wanted (18 page)

“That I ain’t believing.” Vigorously, he worked to shade in something on the sketch. “Not possible…” His pressure on the paper became intense enough to break the point. “Your old man and brother probably killed more men than me tryin’ to keep ‘em away.”

I pretended to look at something on the wall, but really I was concentrating on getting my blush under control. From the corner of my eye I could see him smiling, which was doing nothing to help my cause, and that only gave me more difficulty concentrating.

It was something of an oddity to think that Charlie found me attractive. I considered that maybe he was putting me on, but I had caught the way he looked at me and didn’t think he could fake a reaction like that. While I was nothing much to look at, Robbie’s friends had shown some interest in me over the years, much to Dad’s distress. But unlike girls my own age, I hadn’t had much interest in socializing with people. The only solace I had ever really known I got from books and studying. Not knowing how I felt about something was like being in a foreign country—exciting and scary at the same time.

All at once the sound of the pencil snapping interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to Charlie. He threw them across the room. In one straight motion they hit the wall.

“I’m not, I—” He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. It was like watching a man drown. I reached my hand out and tried to touch his forearm, but he flinched away. I was beyond hurt.

“I’m a bad person, Addie. You shouldn’t be so good to me.”

I felt my heart stiffen. To some extent he was right and I knew that.

I did know that, right?

“Well, I don’t care, I’m going.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Bye.” It was hard to keep serious through my laughter.

“Get. Back. Here.” The words were almost grit through his clenched teeth.

I just laughed and ducked under his arms, which were blocking the door. I think we were both shocked I managed to evade his grasp, but he was behind me, quickly trailing me with long strides.

I began a full on jog ahead of him and he chased after me willingly. It wasn’t unlike two days ago, only this time I was endeavoring to let him catch me.

“This ain’t a good idea!” He was only a few steps behind and I anticipated the moment he would reach out for me. That realization within itself gave me a sense of glee, and I wanted the seconds to close in already so he would just take me in his arms. The anticipation of feeling his skin on mine again made my stomach flop after its standard flip.

“Lighten up, Charlie, you’ll live longer!”

We had been “arguing” for a solid hour about whether or not it would be wise to go to the recreational room for the crew’s card game. Charlie had instantaneously decided it wasn’t, while I had decided the opposite. He also decided he hated himself for accidently mentioning it at all.

“I won’t even bother you guys. I’ll be a silent cheerleader, I swear.”

He sighed. “It ain’t you I’m worried about.”

I tugged on the sleeve of his shirt and jumped up and down. “It will be fun. Come on!”

He grinned down at me and shook his head. “No more spending time with Polo.”

He tangled his arms around my waist and lifted me into the air as though I were no more than a paper sack. I was glad the melancholy that had gotten hold of him earlier had only been temporary. He now seemed restored.

“Gotcha.” His voice was hoarse in my ear. “You can run all you want.” He laughed. “I like chasing ya.”

I laughed and protested but still let him carry me all the way to a smaller set of doors labeled Rec Room. From underneath the sliding doors, smoke billowed in small tufts. It almost sent me panicking until I recognized the smell the roasting tobacco generated. The door to the Rec Room stuck so badly that even Charlie had trouble opening it, but it effectively blocked the noise of poorly selected rock music blaring from a radio and the voices of excited men blathering about the day’s events.

When I walked in, I was hardly stunned to see the dirty look Reid gave Charlie and me, but I was in such a good mood I let it roll off my back. What did surprise me slightly was seeing Ben Walden there at the folding table with the rest of the guys. Seeing him there so ordinary, the head of a mild criminal enterprise, with a cigar in his mouth and playing cards in his hand, was quite comical. He was entirely out of place wearing a crisp button down and what looked like a very expensive watch. Meanwhile, the guys were still wearing their soiled work clothes and were mostly dirty and unshaven.

“We were beginning to wonder when you kids would show up,” Ben said. His gaze lingered on me, though for a moment I saw his eyes dart at Charlie questioningly.

Reid mumbled something to Yuri that I couldn’t hear, but I was almost certain it was inappropriate. I tried to pretend I didn’t feel extremely awkward by staring at my feet. At this point, my shoes were graying from the dirt and beginning to fray at the ends.

“Hey, hey, hey! You guys are just in time, we were about to start a new game!” Polo slapped the table, causing Reid and Yuri to groan simultaneously.

“Knock that crap off, Polo!” Yuri smacked him upside the head and picked up his fallen plastic chips from the floor. I noticed Polo had the least amount of chips and hoped they weren’t taking advantage of him too badly.

Charlie shook his head and grabbed two folding chairs from the side. From what I could see, the recreational room wasn’t much more than some tables and chairs with an old television and DVD/VHS player hooked up in the corner. Both were dusty and looked unused. On the wall there was a relatively new dartboard and a decent stereo system, blaring music.

I sat in the seat Charlie offered, and the men continued their conversation as though I wasn’t even there. I was immensely grateful for this exclusion, because if they could speak freely around me then maybe it would help me feel less awkward. After a moment I realized this was an unrealistic expectation and concentrated on avoiding Reid’s glare while trying not to spend too much time staring at Charlie.

Yuri took the card deck and split it into two halves, shuffling it expertly. I tried not to look impressed, but when the most extensive card playing experience you have involves War and Go Fish, it’s easy to be impressed.

I watched with quiet fascination as he threw the cards out like so many small Frisbees. My only protest came when I realized that for each rotation of the circle he had included a place for me. “Oh, um, I can’t—I’m not playing.” I instantly hated the way I sounded so small and finite. I wanted to take the words away and make them sound like they belonged to someone who was older and more sophisticated. But whoever gets what they really want?

“Why not, Addie?” Polo’s concern was so over ambitious that it would have been comical if it hadn’t been so sweet. You would have thought I’d just told him I was dying.

I was embarrassed to admit I didn’t even know the basics.

“I just, uh–I don’t know how.”

Reid looked like he had fallen just out of the scope of irritation while Polo’s face suggested the notion was impossible. I could feel the light-heartedness of my good mood starting to slip away just a notch. I shrugged and looked for a way out.

“That’s fine.” Ben looked at Charlie with a bemused expression. “It’s even better, actually. Usually everyone comes in with their own falsified rules and regulations, now you’ll learn how to play properly.” He nodded to Yuri, who continued dealing to include me.

“First things first,” Charlie whispered in my ear. “You gotta know the hands. A flush beats a straight every time. A royal flush is a straight flush with an ace as the highest of the five cards, like…” To show me an example he stole up the remaining cards and laid out an ace of spades, a king, a queen, jack, and a ten. Reid swore, but Ben just gave him a warning glare and Yuri reshuffled the deck.

Charlie continued, “A straight flush is all the same numbers in the same suit. If two happen in the same hand, the highest card wins it. Four of a kind is the third best hand, which is just the same number from every suit. The highest four is four aces, then four kings right on down to four twos.”

“A full-house is three of a kind and two of a kind!” said Polo, eager to get his end in. “If there’s two during a game, then the biggest of the three wins it!”

Now it was Ben’s turn to break in. “A flush is just five cards of the same suit. In the event that two flushes occur during one hand, the highest card wins.”

“What if those cards are the same?”

He smiled. “It keeps going right on down to the very last card. If both hands are the very same, they split the pot.”

“With a straight, you only have five cards of any suit in order.” Ben continued “Similar with other hands, when there are two straights, the highest card wins. Aces can be used as a high card above a king or a low card below a two to make a straight.”

“Three of a kind is three of the same,” said Charlie.

Reid slammed a pack of cigarettes on the table. “They’re called sets!”

“No, they’re not. Just call them three of a kind like everybody else,” Yuri retorted.

Charlie smiled at me. “Two pairs is four cards of two ranks like two jacks, one spade and diamond, with two sixes, one heart one spade. One pair is the same thing.”

“And the highest pair wins?”

Ben pointed his cigar at me. “Precisely.”

I picked up my hand and kept my cards close. “What happens if no one even has a pair?”

“That’s called high card! Then the hand with the highest card is the winner!”

“Okay, thanks, Polo.” I stifled back my laughter as best as I could but found it difficult. From the corner of my eye I could see Charlie was making no effort to keep his eyes from me.

I was told it was a friendly game, although I got the sense that things could get competitive, particularly when Reid and Charlie started fighting over the odd number of green chips.

The ante up was the easiest part. Charlie took one of the white chips from my pile and tossed it in the center. I smiled gratefully. Then, since Reid was at Yuri’s left, he went first, putting a red chip in the center of the table. I endeavored to read his expression but saw little there beyond his own impatience. Polo threw in one red chip of his own. “I call! I feel like my luck is turning around now, you guys!”

“She’s lucky.” Under the table, Charlie’s foot kicked mine.

Reid scoffed, “Bad luck, maybe.”

I ignored him and threw in one black chip. “I raise.”

Ben smiled and Charlie tried to peek at my cards, but I held them close.

“Are you sure you wanna to do that?” he asked.

“Probably not,” I whispered back.

He shrugged. “Okay.” He threw in one black chip.

Ben became quiet, contemplative. “You all have so much to learn.” He tossed in one black chip and two green chips.

“Switch out, anyone?” Yuri asked.

Charlie leaned into me and I felt a shiver come on. “After the first bet, everybody takes a draw. You can switch out two cards or keep ‘em. But don’t let nobody see.”

I nodded and slid a single card across the table, trying to look like a professional. I imagine it was a fairly pathetic attempt.

Reid drew his cards and so did Charlie and Ben. The plastic chips started piling up on the table like colorful little centerpieces.

Polo began pounding his feet against the steel legs of the table. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Now it’s getting interesting!”

“Damn,” Yuri said. “I fold.”

“Whoo!”

Ben put out the remainder of his cigar. “Take it easy, Polo.”

I was having a very hard time not giggling. The uneasiness I felt was fleeting as I watched them come to life. Ben, Polo, Yuri, Reid, and Charlie were full-grown children. I thoughtfully put my chips in the pot and kept my face blank. I looked back at my cards and re-questioned my strategy. I hoped being an amateur would excuse how badly I was about to embarrass myself.

After a moment of studying his own cards, Charlie considered his options. “I fold.”

Ben straightened in his chair and looked back and forth from the plastic chips to his hand. I tried to decide if that meant anything similar to how Reid started using two hands to hold his cards and put his elbows on the table. It was difficult to multitask here and not be distracted by the smug way Charlie leaned back in his seat and rested his hands on his abdomen. The way he watched me was aggressive now, and although I couldn’t say I didn’t like it, I couldn’t help but wonder what it meant.

Ben offered the same amount into the table’s center. He wouldn’t take his eyes off Reid’s cards—his only real perceived threat. The two locked eyes and sent some silent warning we could all sense.

“Ah geez! I guess I fold!” Polo whined and threw his cards down.

Charlie laughed and leaned against me. “What are you gonna do?”

I raised my eyebrow and shielded my cards. “Raise.” I threw in an additional red chip.

“Well, goddamn. What do you know?” Yuri and Polo started cackling simultaneously and Ben put in his bet.

After a slur of profanities and throwing his cards across the table, Reid decided to fold. “I hate you bastards.” He then took out his anger by kicking Polo’s chair and shoving him to the ground.

Charlie tossed him the pack of cigarettes from his back pocket then bent to help Polo up. “That’s the sportsmanship we all know and appreciate!”

I wanted to laugh and join in, but Ben was staring me down. Strangely, it was like he was trying to read my thoughts, boring a hole directly into my head. I once again got the feeling this game wasn’t very friendly—it was downright intimidating to the point where the room literally started closing in. Counting down from ten wasn’t helping. Reciting lines from sonnets wasn’t helping. I thought maybe it was just how guys behaved when in groups, but then again, maybe it was an indication of something more hostile, something more dangerous. Whatever it was continued to loom over me as Ben stared me down—warning me.

I clutched my cards, telling myself mentally over and over not to bite my lip, play with my hair, or do anything else that might reveal me as the inexperienced child I was. I knew I had an extremely weak hand, but from what I already knew about poker, bluffing was a major part of the entire game. I realized I would lose this hand and many, many more after this, but I figured I would learn from my mistakes—a trial and error kind of thing. Besides, it was fun in a suspenseful sort of way, almost like living out an action scene from a movie.