Folded Hands

I looked across the table and tried to make eye contact with him but he was looking down at his cards. I held my gaze hoping that he would look up at some point but he just kept staring down at his lap where he held his hand. 

“Henry, c’mon man hurry up,” I told him while still holding my gaze. “There’s five of us. If everyone takes as long as you, we're gonna be here ‘til tomorrow.” 

He took his time to respond. John was about to smack him across the head but he spoke, 

“We didn’t establish a time limit,” he said with half his attention. He was still staring at his cards. “You guys can’t complain.”

Brian, who sat to the right of him, moaned loudly. “I got a good hand here bro, please I just want to play.”

This time Henry replied quickly.

 “You shouldn't tell people your hand, you won’t win that way.”

Brian grimaced.

“You know I could be lying. How ‘bout you stop acting like you know it all.”

“I don’t know it all, but I know you’re not lying.”

He was probably right, Brian wasn’t lying. Henry knew how to read people because he needed to know in order to win. He always wanted to win. He was always good at winning too. Trivia, video games, sports; basically everything that involved competition and a clear way to be first place. We met from being on the same freshman basketball team,

“Pass me the ball, I’ll win us the game.” he told me at the beginning of our first scrimmage. 

 I didn’t like him very much back then, and not much has changed about the guy except for the fact that somehow I grew to be his friend. So, here we were now, in the basement of my house playing cards with his nature showing as it always has.

Knowing it could take a while longer, I went for my phone in my pocket but dropped it on the floor. I ducked below the table to grab it and saw something wrong. There were cards sticking out from underneath Henry’s leg. I sat back up in my chair. 

“Henry,” 

This time he looked at me.

“Yes?”

“Why are you cheating?”

There was a very silent pause. 

“What do you mean?” his fair skin sold him out as he turned red.

“You know It’s just a game dude. You don’t have to go there, no one cares. We don’t even have money on it.”

The rest of the guys looked confused, so John looked at me and spoke,

“What’re you talking about?”

Before I could answer him Henry grabbed the cards from under his leg and showed him and then the rest of the table. 

“The hell's wrong with you?” John said, staring him down. 

You could really feel the sentiment of the room. There was a little bit of frustration, but really we were mostly embarrassed for him. I actually started to feel guilty for calling him out like that, but then he changed tune.

“Oh get over it,” he snipped. "If there was money on it you know I wouldn’t have done that.”

Now the feeling went from embarrassment to anger. I leaned my head in towards him so that he wouldn’t avoid my eyes. 

“You’re kidding me right?”

He turned his face to the left but his eyes flicked back and caught mine. He looked cowardly but feigned confidence. Now the rest of the guys started putting their piece in. I really didn't get it. I truly didn’t believe that he was that naive, so I started to accept that it wasn’t about that.   

      “Enough, guys.” I spoke out slowly. Mostly everyone stopped except Brian, he needed to get out a few more digs on him.

“Let’s let him speak for himself a little more.”

“Yea I’d love to hear an actual explanation.” Tom encouraged him with a sneer.

Henry looked wrong, the same look he had whenever he failed to win something. There was something there beneath that though, at least that’s what I like to believe, and it looked right. I wanted that to come out. 

“Listen guys,” Henry started. “I know you're mad I get it, it's an asshole thing to do…” He looked down for a moment like he was rejecting spoiled food, “But I just don’t get why it’s such a big deal? Like we said, there wasn't even money on it.”

All I could think about was how the rest of the guys were gonna give it to me later. They were vindicated. I managed to keep my friendship with Henry mostly separate until this last year, but then we both ended up in the same biology class at college. He kept asking me what I was up to on the weekends and eventually I ran out of excuses.

“Why don’t you come to game night with me and my buddies?” I told him, hoping that it would be one or two times. It wasn’t. For the past year he has come to every single one of them. Not every time was bad, there were actually moments where I thought the group may have added a member, but the rest of them were always skeptical. 

I tried to put out the flames for the night. “All right, let's just get on with something else. We were bored anyway.”

I tried to offer up other ideas, like a movie or another board game, but the guys were unconvinced. It got quiet again and instead of trying to attack Henry more they started to talk amongst themselves. 

“John it’s getting late, you wanna get going?” Brian said, looking across Henry.

“Yea, I’ll start up the car and let it warm up.” He replied.

Brian stood up and picked up his keys off the table.

“Nah it’s okay, it’s not that bad out. Let’s just head out.”

It was twenty degrees out. Tom stood up along with them and told me he was heading out too. I opened the door for them, awkwardly said goodbye, and then it was just me and Henry. He was still sitting at the table in the basement when I came back down so I asked him if he wanted a drink. I really didn’t have anything else to say. 

“No, I'm fine.”

“They’ll get over it, but it was kind of weird of you to do that man.”

He had a glazed look in his eyes, like what I said was completely irrelevant. 

“People should be less sensitive,” he whined, “It doesn’t make sense why people are so over the top. Just get over it, y’know?”

His stubbornness was actually starting to disturb me in a sense.

“Henry. You act really dumb sometimes when I know that you’re not. If you're willing to cheat on a game that has no stakes, it’s obvious to people that you’d be willing to cheat for money.”

He looked up at me from his seat. I now stood across from him at the table. 

“I’m better than that, you know that. C’mon, just do me a favor and let the guys know we talked and that you know that I wouldn’t have f—d with them like that if money was involved.”

I kept looking at him but didn’t say anything back for an uncomfortably long period of time. Most of the games we played, we did put money on cards, and most of the time, Henry won. I didn’t want him in my house anymore. 

“Let’s just go to bed man. Did you drive yourself?” I asked as I started picking up half drunk beers off the table. 

Henry stood up, in a sort of panicked way, and put both hands on the table like he was holding himself steady. He was much taller than me. 

“Yo, c’mon. The f— is wrong with you? You’re being a shitty friend.” He said angrily and with an unsteady conviction. 

“You did this to yourself dude,” I felt very distant from him. “how do you not understand that?”

He looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “Whatever man, I see the kind of person that you are.”

He began to put on his coat that was folded over the chair when I started to raise my voice.

“You’re insane. You’re gonna say that when I’m the one who invites you to my house with my friends?”

  Henry forcefully laughed, “Oh yes, because they like you so much.”

I was confused by that and started to feel insecure but stood my ground. I told him,

 “F— yourself.” with absolute sincerity.

 “Get out of my house.”

He didn’t say anything else, but zipped up his coat and started up the stairs. I followed and unlocked the door. He opened it and looked at me as the cold came pouring in. 

“I really should have never let you be my friend.” 

That was the last thing that he ever said to me. He left through my back door so I knew that he had to walk up my driveway to get to his car on the street. I opened the blinds to make sure he was really leaving but there was no car. He walked up to the end of my driveway and took out his phone. I don’t know who he was calling but it must’ve been painfully cold. I sat there watching through the blinds for a minute or two more when, finally, he threw his phone at the ground. He threw it like a pitcher throws a curveball. What the hell. I wondered if I would need to call the police on him. But, within a few moments, he started walking. He didn’t pick up his phone, or what was left of it, and he just started walking across the street and down the sidewalk. His house was a very far walk from mine.