Chapter Four

Part 3

Big mistake. Huge, awful, horrible, horrifying mistake. An hour later my winning streak had stagnated. Not just stagnated, but reversed itself. My pile of chips had been all but effaced. I was losing. Big time. On every hand. The cards were not there. And as the guys around me grew more and more relaxed, I grew more and more disheartened. Why had I let them exhort me to play more hands? Why had I let Ian convince me to stay in the first place?

Of course, there was one little misstep that I couldn’t blame on anyone but myself—the fact that I had broken my own rule. I had dipped in to my extra chips—the ones Ian and I had decided that I wouldn’t touch. I was fairly sure that Ian hadn’t even realized that I made this illicit move, that the few chips I had left represented, in fact, the last of my money.

If I didn’t win this hand I would be screwed. So very, very screwed.

“So, whadaya say, Riley?” Lucas asked, grinning. “One more hand. I believe you’ve only got the cash for one more hand.”

I stared at the wily bastard, wishing I could incinerate him with my eyes, Superman style. It was his fault—his fault I was still there, his fault I was down. I could have walked out of here a winner, but he had goaded me into staying. Well, I couldn’t back down now. I still had one more shot, and I wasn’t going to let this jerk run me out of here.

“Sure,” I said genially. “One more hand.”

“You sure about that, man?” Ian asked.

“Just deal me in,” I said through my teeth. I knew it was probably a fatuous decision, but I didn’t need my best friend calling me on it.

Ian did as I said. As I pulled my hole cards to me, I said a little prayer. It didn’t work. I had a two and a queen, unsuited. Not that it mattered. What the hell was I going to do with a two and a queen?

“You folding, Riley?” Lucas teased.

I made my face impassive, even though inside I was a maelstrom of doubt, guilt, and fear. I picked up a couple of chips and threw them in.

“What the hell,” I said, lifting a shoulder.

The second my chips were in the pot I wanted to retract the bet. What was I doing? Did I think I was invincible or something? I mean, this night had proven the exact opposite. Had I lost my mind? At least if I held on to the few chips I had I would be walking out with something. At this point it would be a miracle if I didn’t go bust.

I glanced furtively at Ian as he dealt the flop.

Gimme a miracle here, buddy. Give me anything, I thought.

The flop was a ten, a two, and a king. I had a pair of twos. Total suckage.

But Topher and Jonah both folded, good sign. Maybe everyone had crap cards.

The fifth guy at the table, Thomas something or other, threw in two chips. I took a deep breath. Lucas watched me carefully. My stack of chips was pathetic. I had already lowered myself into the quagmire. My sole hope of redeeming myself was to somehow win this hand. And I did have a shot. With a queen I could pull out two pair. Or maybe even a full house. I looked at Lucas and my pride won out over my logic. I saw Thomas’s bet.

Lucas tapped his foot under the table as he considered. A feeling of sudden hope permeated my soul. This was a classic tell. He was nervous. He didn’t have the cards. He took a deep breath and saw my bet.

“Dealing the turn,” Ian said.

It was a queen. I had to concentrate to keep from sitting up a bit straighter. I had my two pair, and if the poker gods were smiling on me, I might even have a shot at a full house.

Thomas folded. It was between me and Lucas. Feeling slightly more confident, I threw in a couple more chips. It was a decent pot. If I could take it, I would be back in the game.

“Like you said, what the hell,” Lucas said. He tossed in two more chips, seeing my bet and barely making a dent in his winnings. “Let’s see that river,” he said to Ian.

Ian looked at me. We were all holding our breath. In my mind I could hear the death knell sounding. What were the chances that one of the two queens was still in his hand, let alone sitting atop the deck? If I wasn’t so nervous, I might have been able to figure out the math, but as it was, you couldn’t even have elicited the answer to 2 + 2 from my brain.

“Dealing the river,” Ian said.

He turned the card over. The queen of hearts.

Yes! I thought. Full house.

I threw in my last two chips. I was back in the game, baby.

“I call,” Lucas said, placing his bet. “What do you have?”

“Full house,” I said triumphantly, standing up as I threw my cards down. “Queens over twos.” God, it felt good. I was still so, so, so down, but at least I had been granted a reprieve. “Whadaya got?” I asked Lucas. Like it mattered.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lucas’s mouth twisted into a wry, victorious grin, and just like that I hit the nadir of my short existence.

“Full house,” he said. “Kings over queens.”

He stood up and placed his two kings down on the table. The room spun as he and his buddies cheered mercilessly. Lucas had totally schooled me. His foot tapping wasn’t a tell but a flagrant ruse that I should have seen coming from a mile away. It was all part of the game. He had beaten me fair and square. I looked at the empty space of felt in front of me—the space where much of my life savings had once been.

“Hey, man. It’s gonna be all right,” Ian said, stepping up next to me.

“No, it’s not,” I said. “It is so not going to be all right.”

I appreciated his effort, but as of that moment, I was inconsolable. As of that moment, my life was over.