Seven Stud by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
Download the book in PDF, ePub, Kindle for a complete version.
Chapter 4
I woke up the next morning, considering what to do all day.
Butch said he didn’t want my company today and I didn’t have much on the agenda. I heated up a scrambled egg breakfast and made coffee. I brought them back to the well-used couch and. In desperation, put on the television. I was already accustomed to listening to the fat guy with the smirking round face berate everything the federal government did, claiming vast knowledge of every line item in the budget. He took calls, but usually interrupted the caller with some long winded brilliance, before they could finish their first sentence. If they said something he didn’t agree with he’d kill the line and safely say something deleterious about them. In the past I had considered calling in to see if I could drop a quick good one liner before he could interrupt or cut me. I decided against it mostly due to the fact that I didn’t have a good line liner. But, I also saw that fat boy’s show was sandwiched between a program about alien abductions with call in testimony and one concerning the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot, Chupacabra and the like. I needn’t do anything. I could see that “Programming” had already put him in his proper place.
Page 37
I thought I’d try out a new channel and picked up the remote control when I heard a car disturb the gravel in my driveway. It was Butch’s purple Mustang.
I glanced at the clock, noting that it was only 6:45AM.
The sun was just beginning to show signs of light over the eastern hills. I walked to the door and got there a second before he did.
I was shocked, not only because he said he didn’t want to see me today, but also because Butch had trimmed and washed his usually long, greasy, unkempt black hair and shaved his scraggly beard. His clothes looked as if they had not yet been worn two or three days. I opened the door just as he bounded up the stairs saying; “I’m excited as hell. I’m feeling really good and you know what?”
“What?”
“It’s Thursday.”
I just looked at him. He then continued; “The card game I told you about.”
“We didn’t expect to go until next week.”
“Well, I feel fine today. How about you?”
“So far, so good.”
“All right then, let’s go to the game tonight and see how much money we can expropriate.”
Page 38
I said; “I’m up for it. But as soon as you puke or stink out my bathroom, I’m changing my mind.”
He gave me a “Fuck you” look, entered the house, walked over to the couch, made a grimace at the television set, turned it off and sat down. I sat on a chair at the other side of the room and looked at him.
“Fair enough,” he said. “I’m feeling so good; I just know I won’t have to do any of the antics of the past few days. I’m ready to take on the world, again.”
“I’m not sure if I’m ready for the world yet, but I think I can handle a card game.”
“Talk about handling things. I’ve got something else for you. Tomorrow night you and I are going to dinner with Acheron and Alice.”
I really wanted to go on the date, but at the same time I was nervous about it, again recalling that I couldn’t even remember the last time I went on one. For all I knew, I never did. My hands started to get sweaty. I said; “Butch. What the hell am I supposed to talk to her about?”
He made a surprised laugh and said; “Anything that pops into your little head. Just don’t go on any of your long soliloquies about something everybody already knows.”
I looked at him for a second and when he started to smile, so did I and pretty soon we were both laughing out loud. When
Page 39
we stopped I said; “But seriously, if things start to break down, you’ll have something to say to tide things over, right?”
“No problem, man. I’m on top of the world today. I can’t remember the last time I felt this good.”
I just looked at him again, somewhat disturbed at the overly confident answer, which he must have sensed. He said;
“Look, if there’s a hint of a disaster, I’ll spill my ice tea on Alice. That’ll keep everyone occupied for a while.”
I again stared at him, not knowing what to say or ask. He continued; “I don’t mind getting Alice wet. It’ll give her an excuse to get her clothes off when we get to her condo.”
I just shook my head from side to side, smiled at him, now convinced of his acumen and said; “You are on fire today. I’m with you.”
He smiled, nodding at me, when I added; “What do you think I should wear?”
He stared at me for about five seconds, with a smirk on his face and then said; “Let’s play some cards.”
I said; “All right, but let’s play some gambling games this time, just to get re-accustomed to the feel and flow.”
We had an uneventful half hour of seven stud, five stud and five card draw. Both of us favored seven stud, because it had more possibilities and more betting. We both felt that we were going to be as ready as ever for tonight’s game. I said; “I was
Page 40
thinking. Why don’t we try out some of our plans in tonight’s game just to get that down straight?”
“I feel funny taking advantage of these guys. They’re my friends and I usually can beat them anyway without any schemes.”
“What rule will we be violating?”
Butch was silent a few seconds, then said; “None, really.
There’s sort of an unwritten, unspoken rule against playing partners, though.”
“Well, the only rules I understand are the clearly announced ones. And how do you know that nobody else has been playing partners against you?”
“Cause if they did, they didn’t do it very well.”
“All right, do you want to practice it tonight or do you want to practice it in a bigger game when we could lose our drawers?”
“Okay, I get your point. Let’s do it tonight.”
“Good. Just remember, we’re only going to use this in seven stud. If I bet the maximum on the last card and touch my left eye with my left index finger, you call me. And just watch for people looking and re-looking at their down cards.”
“Right, right, I remember.”
“What are the house rules?”
“$1,000 to get in the game, dealer’s choice, no bumping off a check, maximum bet per card $200 and probably some other stuff
Page 41
I don’t remember right now. We’ll clear that up when we get there. It’s been a while since I played with these guys.”
“If someone bets $200 on a card, can I call his $200 and raise another $200?”
“Oh, yeah. It can go on forever. I should have said $200
max per bet, not per card.”
“Good. Can the dealer call blackjack?”
“Yes.”
“They really shouldn’t. The dealer has a big advantage in that game.”
“Yeah, there has been some bitchin’ about that, but it doesn’t come up much. Everybody groans when someone calls it.”
“Is there anybody there who consistently wins or loses?”
“Jackie Owens wins most of the time and Frank Happle feeds the game.” Butch laughed, then continued; “It’s almost like he likes to brag about how rich he is by showing everyone how much he can afford to lose.”
“I hope he’s in the game tonight.”
Butch said; “We ought to go back to my house for lunch. I want to tell my folks I’ll be out late. They still worry about me at my age.”
“You give them good reason to.”
Butch didn’t respond quickly and shot me a look, finally saying; “Goddamn, nature is calling again.” He made a beeline
Page 42
for my bathroom, shut the door behind him and I heard a now familiar sound, something like ten people jumping into a pool, each a second after the other. Then I heard him mumble;
“Goddamn fucking shit.” He flushed and came out the door.
I said; “I hope you got it all in the fucking bowl, man.”
“I think so.”
“Did it all go down when you flushed?”
“You’re beginning to sound like Alice. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“It would be outrageously funny if you puked right on the table.”
“Don’t worry. If things come up I’ll make it to the toilet.”
I opened a kitchen drawer and said; “One minute, chief, let me get the money.”
We got in the Mustang and were at his house in a minute.
When we walked in the front door, his parents were sitting at the kitchen table eating.
Butch said; “Hi, mom. Hi, dad. I brought Ed over for lunch.”
Sam rose from his chair and replied; “Come on in. Ed, are you out here hunting again?”
Loretta smiled; “Good to see you. Have a seat.”
Page 43
I sat down; “Thanks, good to see you, too. Yeah, I figured I’d give this guy another shot at teaching me something.”
Loretta got up and started fixing up something for Butch and me.
Sam sat back down; “What are you guys up to today?”
Butch said what I didn’t want to personally inform his parents about; “We’re on our way to hit the big time.” He was obviously feeling very good and quickly added; “We’ve got a great gambling scheme.”
I almost bristled at how Butch used the word “we.” After all, the idea was really mine. I quickly lost that thought, however, because he did give me some credit and anyway, “we”
applies to a team and that’s exactly what we were.
Sam kept his eyes on his food and dourly said; “Butch, believe it or not, I’d be happier if you told me you got a real job.”
Butch took that as discouraging, his effervescence challenged. He disgustedly said; “You always have to throw in the shit, don’t you? Now you’re going to start sounding like Alice, too?”
Sam remained cool and played with his food; “If everybody’s saying the same thing, can’t you get the message through your thick head?”
Page 44
Butch complained; “Dad, for Christ sake, I came in here all happy and everything and you’ve got to bring me down. Give me a chance. I’ve only been relatively sober for a day.”
When Sam and Loretta were silent a while, I said; “It’s really my fault. I talked Butch into it. He’s a good card player and if we lose, it’s my money that will be lost.”
Now Sam was not very thrilled with either of us, threw down his napkin and said; “Your mother and I grew up during the Depression and lived through World War II. All we wanted was a little house of our own and kids, who would live in a better world. What the hell do you two expect?”
His question perplexed both of us. Were we really selfish, ungrateful, lazy snots, as we periodically heard before? Still, at this age? Or, were we natural born dreamers entitled to some kind of better, more interesting world?
Butch finally broke the silence with a dejected; “I don't know.”
I added more profundity to the conversation saying, “I don't know either.”
Sam got up and started to leave the room; “I’ve got some errands to run. Ed, what do your folks think about this kind of stuff?”
I was surprised and annoyed that at my exalted age anyone would ask me whether or not I had my parent’s approval for
Page 45
anything; “I don't know my parents. Maybe I’m the result of a childless marriage.”
Sam sighed and shook his head slowly, while continuing out of the kitchen; “One thing’s certain. You two belong together.”
Loretta changed the subject. She was standing near the oven and called out; “How do you like your hamburgers, Ed?”
I said; “Well done, please.”
Loretta followed with; “All the trimmings?”
I noticed the pissed look on Butch’s face and replied; “All the trimmings you’ve got, thanks. I am super hungry.”
Loretta prepared our meals and brought them over to us, sitting down to resume her own. She poured us drinks from the ice tea pitcher and cheerfully asked us about our prospective scam, offered encouragement and smiled a lot. Though she intently listened to our grand design, it was obvious that she knew nothing about gambling. I thought that if I had my choice of mothers, she would be near the top of the list. Butch’s exuberance returned, though he knew that when he was talking about gambling to his mom, he may as well have been speaking Swahili.
When Butch and I finished eating, we thanked Mom and went to sit in the family room. We had some time to kill before tonight’s game. He put on an Eagles C/D at a low volume. We didn’t have any brilliance to bring up, so the contented feeling
Page 46
of our full stomachs put us to sleep. We roused at 5 PM.
“Doolin Dalton” was playing. “Lay down your law books now.
They’re no damn good.” We both knowingly laughed. I put my right hand in my pocket and pulled it out quickly, extending my index finger like a gun barrel, with my thumb pointing up like a hammer. I said; “Got’cha, fucker.” He closed his eyes and put his head on his shoulder as if he were dead. I moved over to him and reached for the wallet in his back pocket. He picked up his right hand, imitating a gun as I had, pointed it at my head and said; “Pow. Don’t believe everything you think you see, sucker.”
Page 47