6-The Game

6

The Game

The game had been long and tedious.  It had started with eight players and was down to only three after almost four hours of play. Bob, Tobias and Savannah remained.

Bob couldn’t be happier.  He was high stacked on the table, which meant he was the chip leader.  This would allow him to really throw his weight around when the time came to go heads up, one on one, with whomever remained.  Even the cards were dropping his way tonight.  He was on the roll of his life.

He was so close to beating Savannah Burton.

He worked to keep the excitement inside as Tobias and Savannah dueled in epic fashion.  He had folded out early in the hand, not feeling secure with his cards.  This put Bob in an excellent position to watch, and he had been doing so for quite some time.

His focus was on Savannah.

Bob was smart enough to not get sucked in by the obvious beauty angle that Savannah worked.  Instead, he had been learning her tells.  Bob thought he had it down to a science.

“Eight thousand,” Savannah said as she pushed the proper chips forward.

 “Call.” Tobias said without emotion.

That’s when Bob saw it again.  Savannah pulled on her earring.  It was so blatant, Bob could hardly believe it came from such a renowned player.  Every time she had bluffed, she had pulled on her earring.  If Bob was right, she had nothing.

The dealer dealt the flop, a two of hearts, a seven of clubs and a four of spades.

Not a whole lot anyone could do with that unless they were holding two of a kind in their hand.

“Sixteen thousand,” Savannah said and pushed the chips forward and tugged at her earring again.

Tobias shoved forward the chips needed to call.  “Call.”

Bob realized Tobias had seen her tell too, and was going for the kill.  Tobias was good. Bob was not looking forward to playing him at the end, but Savannah would never get there with an obvious tell like that.

“All in.”  Savannah said and Bob had to keep himself from gasping.

Savannah was high stacked.  To call, Tobias would have to go all-in.  She was playing ‘chicken’ with him.

“Call.” Tobias said with confidence.

Tobias’ chips where pushed to the center.  He had to win or go home.  There was no longer any reason for secrecy and both players showed their hands.

Tobias had a four of clubs and a seven of hearts.  He had two pair.

Savannah had a two of clubs and a three of diamonds.  She had a pair.

Tobias smiled because he was the clear favorite.

“My stars, Tobias.  It seems I have met my match.”  Savannah said, frowning.

“It’s all in the cards.”  Tobias responded.

The dealer flipped the fourth card, a three of hearts.

Savannah now had two pair, but they were lower value then Tobias’.  He had the victory almost assured.

The dealer flipped the fifth card… a two of diamonds!  Savannah had pulled out the full house on the river!  Tobias cursed and Savannah smiled.

“The river can be strong, got caught in the under-toe Mr. Snyder.  Until next time.”

Tobias took a sighed deeply.  “That was everything I had… damn, Savannah.”

Savannah scowled.  “I am appalled by your language.  Now give us a hug and go see Marshall.”

Tobias nodded, surrendering and hugging her before walking past Bob.  “See you in the car.”

 Bob scoffed at that.  He had Savannah right where he wanted her.  He was going to win the pot and walk out of here with enough to pay off Simpson in full.  Then, he could reap the profits of the restaurant.

It was Bob’s lucky day.

“Just you and me, Mr. Stanoski.”  Savannah said with a grin.

Bob grinned back.  “Indeed, it is.”

They put in their blinds and the dealer dealt the cards.

Bob had pocket aces!  An ace of hearts and aces of clubs

Bob came out shooting.  “Twenty four thousand.”

Savannah was taken aback.  “Strong bet.”

Bob shrugged.

Savannah thought about it, then called.  The dealer dealt the flop, the four of hearts, the four of clubs, and the seven of hearts.

Bob had two pair!  He had the best hand, unless she had another four.  Bob watched her as she stared at the cards.

She didn’t touch her earring.  He couldn’t be sure, so he checked, placing no bet. Savannah followed suit and the fourth card dropped.

The ace of diamonds!  Bob had a full house.  Bob’s hand improved and so did his chances.  She now needed to have pocket fours in order to win.  Only four of a kind would do.

Bob watched her closely.  Nothing.

Bob checked.

Savannah checked.

The fifth and final card was dealt.  It was a two of hearts.

The river, neither helped nor hurt anyone.

Bob watched.  Savannah’s hand slowly went to her earring and tugged.

I have her!

Bob knew she had nothing.  It was now or never.

“All in.”  Bob said and pushed forward the chips, smiling.

“I call.”  Savannah said immediately, without hesitation.

Bob raised an eyebrow.  Why was she so confident?  She had used her tell.  She shouldn't have squat…

Savannah grinned and flipped her cards…

…The four of diamonds and the four of spades.

She had four of a kind.

Bob went pale and looked from the cards to her.  She was grinning, as if she knew all along that she was going to win the hand.

Savannah suddenly feigned concern.  “Why, Mr. Stanoski, you look like you have seen a ghost.  I know it’s hard to lose when you are positively sure that you are going to win, but, like I said… no one plans to lose.”

Bob gritted his teeth and became enraged.  “You… You set me up!”

Bob stood and raked the chips off the table in anger and they crashed to the floor.  “This is bullshit!  You think you can-”

Bob’s thought was cut off by Marshall, who had moved into the room and swooped in behind him.  Marshall twisted Bob’s arm backwards with one hand, then used his other to slam Bob’s head to the table in front of them.

Bob whimpered as the fight left him, replaced with only desperation and fear.

“I do think I can, Mr. Stanoski.  To answer your accusation, of course I set you up.  Did you really think that I would have a tell as obvious as that?”

Savannah walked around to his side of the table where Marshall had him pinned.  “Now, there is the matter of the money that you owe me.  Twenty thousand dollars?”

Bob was nearly sobbing now.  “Oh God, I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.  I don’t have it.”

“You don’t have what?”  Savannah asked, inquisitively.

“I don’t have the money!  I don’t have any money.”

Savannah bent down into his face.  “Well then, let’s talk about what you do have.”

Marshall let go of Bob and he seemed to calm down.  He then looked at her.  “I have a restaurant, but I can’t give it to you.”

Savannah grinned.  “Oh, a restaurant.  I have always wanted to own one of those.”

Bob shook his head.  “You don’t understand, I seriously can’t give it to you!”

“Now, that’s just silly talk.  I mean, what else do you have that I would want?” Savannah questioned.

Bob took a deep breath.  “I can’t give it to you because I don’t really own it.  Leroy Simpson does.”

Savannah raised her eyebrow, “Now that is confusing, do explain.”

“I owe Leroy Simpson a lot of money.”  Bob began.  “Simpson is an all around terrible criminal who extorts money, loan sharks, and runs illegal gambling games and casinos around the city.”

“I don’t need his biography, dear.”  Savannah directed him to stay on track.  “I need to know why you can’t pay me.”

Bob nodded and continued.  “I’m flat broke.  My bitch ex- wife took me for everything I have and I have been floundering ever since.  I’m up to my ears in debt.  So I had to try and strike some kind of deal with Leroy.  I came up with an idea to launder some of his money.  I look for a good standing restaurant, with an owner, desperate to sell for whatever reason.  Then Leroy gives me the dirty money.  I buy the restaurant in cash, then sell it to a corporation and dump the funds into Leroy’s account.”

“And the money dumped into his account is clean?”  Savannah asked, nodding.  “Not a bad scheme, but the problem is that Leroy Simpson is not here right now.  I, however am, and so is Marshall, and I want my money!”

Savannah yelled the last part and Bob recoiled.  Marshall stood, every inch of his body oozing violence.

“I can’t!”  Bob yelled, almost blubbering. “Simpson isn’t stupid, and he has insurance!”

 “What kind of insurance?” She asked, interested.

“Leroy doesn’t want his name anywhere near this, but he’s not stupid enough to give me the whole she-bang, so he had me deed the restaurant to him.”

Savannah put it together.  “So if he thinks you’re trying to pull one over on him, he takes the deed to the recorder’s office and the restaurant is his.”

Bob nodded.

Savannah seemed to consider this.  “Alright, here’s how we do this, I am going to tell Tobias to go home and my friend Marshall, here, is going to drive you.  Then he is going to stick around and watch you, because you are officially under my protection now.”

“What about the restaurant?  What about Simpson?”  Bob whined.

“Stop trying to sell the store.  Take it off the market.  Call all your potential buyers and tell them the deal is off.  I will deal with the colored gentleman.”  Savannah answered.

Savannah turned and left the room before Bob could ask any more questions.  Marshall bent over and gripped Bob’s shoulder, forcing a small timid yelping noise from him.

“Let’s go, Bob.”

****

Once out of the room and out of Bob’s sight, Sidney grabbed the blonde wig and pulled it off, quickly undoing the tight hair net and pony tail that restricted her brown hair.  It tumbled down over her shoulders.

Sidney took off her shoes with a sigh of relief and went into the kitchen grabbing a scotch.  She turned and jumped slightly when she saw Tobias sitting at the counter, a glass of water in his hand.

“Jesus!” she said.  “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

He shrugged.  “Sorry, it’s kind of a habit.  What’s the next move, boss?”

She frowned.  “Since when, am I the boss?  I thought we were partners.”

His face dipped.  “I don’t think that was ever true.  Not really.”

“I never screwed you over.”  Sidney frowned pointing at him, “You were the one guy I never tired to screw over.  The one person I could trust.  The one person who was always there for me, then you deserted me.”

Tobias’s jaw worked.  “I needed a change.”

Sidney’s eyebrow went up.  “That’s it?  A year gone and that’s the best you can do?”

Tobias couldn’t meet her eyes.  “What’s the next move?”

Sidney sighed and took the scotch like a shot.  “It’s on you.  We need the signed deed that Leroy has.”

Tobias nodded and Sidney knocked back the scotch before pouring herself another.  “You can’t get this with the family life.”

Tobias raised his eyebrow, “And what exactly is ‘this’?”

Sidney smiled and walked towards him, her demeanor going form outrage to seduction, “This!  The intrigue, the adventure, the thrill, the chase.”

Tobias responded, “Who says I want any of that?”

“Because I know you.  I know that this is who you are, not whatever you show Suzie Home Maker, or the people you work with, but this, right here.”

Tobias stood and snatched the scotch out of Sidney’s hand before knocking it back in one go.  He then stared into Sidney’s eyes.  “We’re all bad, Sid.  We’re just not all as okay with it as you are.”

Tobias walked past her and out of the kitchen.

She poured herself another glass in the silence of the kitchen and realized in that moment, she had not recovered her friend.  She realized that when this was over, he would walk again.  The only person she had ever let herself trust had betrayed her.

Maybe it was time to return the favor.

End Episode 6