Betting it All on a Partner

Charlie cursed himself for not adding another layer as he gripped his jacket. Hopefully the luck his outfit provided would outweigh the miserable trip to the club. He hadn’t come out flush in months and his roll was too thin to cover his debts. His stomach tensed as he walked down the stairs and opened the door to the familiar dank smell.

Fog quickly covered his lenses when he stepped inside and brushed snow off his arms. Dim light filled the narrow hallway and he shuddered at the mildew stains seeping through the peeling wallpaper above the door. At some point they’d have to invest in the building if they wanted to keep their tables filled.

Charlie pounded his fist on the door and took off his jacket. The collar of his crisp shirt rubbed against his neck as the coat slid down his arms, reminding him of the felt he would soon feel beneath his fingers.

The door creaked open and he ducked under the frame as he passed a burly man on the other side. He hadn’t seen him before and figured it must be his first night working the entrance. If the building were as fresh as the people inside, he might have enjoyed his late nights here. He turned the corner and set his jacket on the counter.

The club cashier, Eliza, sat behind the desk with her elbows on the marble. He’d contemplated asking her about a partnership on his first night here alone, but after a few minutes of conversation she turned out to be as exciting as a pair of deuces. Her long black curls glimmered in the bright light of the booth and Charlie avoided eye contact as he searched for his stake.

“Nice shirt, Charlie. You here to watch?” she asked, resting her head on her palm.

He slapped a wad of cash in front of her and pressed his finger on the stack.

She raised an eyebrow and looked up at him. “You sure you want in? I haven’t seen you cash out since she passed.”

“Just give me my chips.”

“That the last of your roll? You won’t make it ten hands.”

“Do your damn job.” The veins in his forearm bulged as he pushed the money to the end of the counter.

“You’re lucky Shannon was your wife.” She counted the bills and set a half-full rack in front of him. “At least she brought a little personality to the table. Keep it up and you’ll be blacklisted from the only club you can afford. Not that it’ll matter after you go down to the felt tonight.”

“I didn’t ask for the advice of a cashier.” He eyed the chips and sighed as he picked up the rack.

“You know where to go.” She shook her head as she entered his information in the system.

Charlie stepped into the main room and tightened his grip when he heard the clinking clay. If he didn’t find a partner tonight, he’d have to go back to collecting to pay off what he owed. His back tightened at the thought of returning to the industry. Cards had finally given him a ticket out of the broken bones and stiff mornings of his younger days.

He took a deep breath and looked for a place to sit, relieved to see all six tables were full of players he didn’t recognize. He checked his watch and swallowed hard as he put his jacket over the back of an empty seat. The sweet smell of felt hit his nostrils and the hair on his forearms stood on end as he sat. He rubbed his hands together and regretted not wearing a sweater.

If Shannon was still around, she wouldn’t have let him leave until he did. She spotted his poor judgment as quickly as the tells of the fish at the table. No one he’d met since had the ability to work a game with him the way she could. Her perfectly timed raises, banter at the table and flirtatious personality kept his dealing under the radar. All he had to do was win one hand and be sure his chips lasted through the evening. He picked up a chip and wondered if he’d set his expectations too high since her passing.

“Pretty cold out there,” a woman said, setting up her stack on the felt across from him. “How’d they let you sit with such a short stack? Assume it’s not to keep warm.”

He chuckled and stared the chip as it rotated between his fingers.

“Seriously, how’d you get in here?” she asked.

He shook his head and sighed.

“You won’t make it ten hands with what you’ve got in front of you. Are you on the payroll or something?”

“Ever hear of Shannon Teller?”

The woman laughed and put her hands over the curves of her hips. “The Black Maria? I got into cards because of the stories I heard about her.”

He raised an eyebrow while he watched the swirling circle dance in his hand. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Shame what happened to her. She was a legend.”

“She was my wife.” His hand froze when he met her eyes.

Her eyes widened as she covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry.”

Charlie stared at her soft face and immediately sensed her genuine emotion. He nodded slowly as he took in the beauty of another woman for the first time since his wife’s passing. Someone so striking at a time like this was as unpredictable as going runner runner to win the final pot. He cleared his throat and studied the disc in his hand, hoping he hadn’t revealed too much.

She sat and lowered her head. “My name’s Allison, by the way. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s alright. Eventually we all lose the final hand. Some of us are lucky enough to have another person we trust while we’re at the table. I’m Charlie.”

“You were her partner?”

“Until the day she died.”

“You play alone now?”

He set the chip on the table as two more players took their seats. He motioned his head towards the back of the room and stood up. She shook hands with the two newcomers and excused herself, staring up at him as she approached the brick wall. He breathed deeply and contemplated going all in.

“You ever wonder what made Shannon so successful?” he asked, scanning the room.

She eyed him curiously. “Her ability to read people. I heard she could play any table blind and still double her money by the end of the night.”

“She won because I was her partner.” He took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with his shirt. “Act like you’re interested in me.”

“What?”

“Pretend like we’re flirting. I don’t want anyone to get suspicious.”

She flipped her hair and giggled as her hand rested on his bicep. Not the most convincing bluff he’d ever seen but at the right table it could turn heads.

“How often do you play here?” he asked, putting on his glasses.

 “Once a month or so”

“You ever cash?”

“Most of the time.”

“What if I said you could triple your stake every time you sat down?”

Her face lit up and energized the stale air. “You mean I’d be your partner? How?”

“Don’t repeat a word of our conversation and pay close attention when I deal. You’ll know by the size of your stack at the end of the night.” He looked at the tables and was glad to see all eyes focused on the upcoming action.

“That’s all?” she asked.

“It is if we’re a winning pair. Play’s about to start.” He focused on the floor as he walked to the bathroom, figuring a delayed return would keep anyone from calling their newfound relationship.

Charlie returned to the table and introduced himself to the other players, including Allison. He folded until it was his turn to deal and smiled when he saw her keep her composure while she checked her cards.

His smile quickly faded when she raised aggressively, forcing the other players out of the hand far too early. He bit his lip as he tossed his cards angrily into the pile, hoping she’d learn from his display. At least she didn’t make eye contact and no one at the table took notice.

The deal came back around to Charlie and he quickly distributed the cards, eager to see how she would approach the second hand. He decided to start the action with a small bet. The other players called the raise until Allison put all her chips in the pot. He chewed the inside of his cheek as the pile of mucked cards grew.

“It’s all yours” he said, tossing his hand in the middle and sliding the deck to his left. He eyed his remaining stack and tried to calculate the odds of this partnership coming up flush. No one would ever be able to make it work like Shannon had. Memories of her towers of chips filled his mind as he folded hand after hand. If only he’d stopped betting when there was more than money at stake she’d still be at the table.

The hours passed and the room thinned out, leaving the final four players at their table. Charlie continued to play despite his dwindling chips, hoping Allison would finally learn how to cash in on a hand he dealt.

“Think you’ll see any action tonight?” she asked, staring coldly at him.

He focused deeply on her eyes and his hand shook as he tried to find the true meaning behind her words. Perhaps his judgment had gone colder than cards he’d been given. Was his newfound partnership anything more than a desperate attempt to double up after he’d let too many blinds pass? A gentle tap on his arm broke his concentration and he shook his head as he shuffled the deck and distributed the cards.

“Waiting for the right hand?” she said, quickly mucking her cards.

He cringed when he saw her throw the hand away. “Thought I had something worth betting on earlier. Not sure if I’ll get what I need tonight.”

She laughed and was silent until he made eye contact. “You have to go all in at some point.”

           Charlie watched her eyes move around the table and she nodded slightly. He couldn’t tell if it was a true sign or not, but there wasn’t time to decide. The other faces at the table were weary from the extended session and he figured the odds of the deck making it around more than once were slim.

He heard her laugh when the cards slid in front of him. All eyes focused on her as he started to shuffle, and he sensed his opportunity. He glided his thumb over the bottom of the deck when he made a final cut and started to deal.

“You’re done if you don’t go in now,” she said, raising her voice to cover his move.

The heads at the table nodded as they checked their cards. Allison raised and the other players called, forcing Charlie to push his remaining chips in the middle.

“Let’s gamble,” he said, eyeing the growing pot as he added his stack to it.

“Hold it,” she said, raising her hand to interrupt his deal.

“What’s this about?” He leaned back with a puzzled look.

“Take the deck.” She pointed to the man sitting next to him and flipped over her cards to reveal three kings and the queen of hearts.

“What are you doing?” Charlie asked, gripping the cards tight and struggling to pull his arm away.

The man from the front door ran to the table and pressed down heavily on Charlie’s shoulders as the man next to him wrestled the deck away. Eliza rushed out from behind the counter and stood next to them.

“Let me see it,” Allison said, taking the deck. She held out the bottom card, the queen of spades. “I’m pretty sure I’d have tripled my stake on this hand.”

“You could have been my partner. The next legend, like Shannon. Let go of me!” Charlie struggled against the doorman’s powerful embrace.

“And have another woman end up dead because of you?” Eliza brushed back her curls as she stepped closer. “Shannon always said you had poor judgment. Did you really think it’d be so easy to find another partner when you got to the last of your roll? Allison played great by the way, didn’t she?”

“You know how much Shannon meant to me. I’d never let the stakes get that high again,” Charlie said as another man stepped in to hold him down. “It was never meant to end like that. I loved her.”

“Be sure to tell her when you see her. Take him to the back,” Eliza said, sliding the queen of spades in his shirt pocket as the men taped his mouth shut and carried him away. “Fitting your hand should end on the same card you gave her.”