16(S2E5)-The Fear

16

(Season 2 Episode 5)

The Fear

Hank watched the man at the bar from his vantage point at the table.  He slowly took out his chew tin, flicked it twice, and then placed a large wad in his bottom lip.

Tobias’ friend Skeever had gotten the information on the dealers for the game and Hank had marveled at the amount of information that the informant could acquire there.  Hank used the internet, it was hard not to in this day and age.  He used it for all sorts of things like tips on fixing cars as well as his guilty pleasure, reading comic books.

This Skeever however, was something else entirely.

By the time they got into town it was too late to get at the first dealer so Sidney would have to make it through, of her own volition.  It would be hard but Hank and Tobias had watched her play before and knew she could handle herself.

Hank’s job now was to find Saturday and Sunday’s dealers and change their minds. They would be already getting large bonuses from the casino owner to deal Sidney (posing as Savannah) bad hands and make sure Markov got good ones.  This meant paying them off was out of the question, since neither Hank nor Tobias would have the money to out pay an illegal casino owner.

This left only one alternative.  Hank would have to put the fear into them.

Saturday’s dealer was a small, squirrely looking man named Matt Clamp.  He was dressed in a light tan suit with teased hair and bleach blonde tips.  He was drinking with two friends.  Both looked like they would put up a fight for Matt but neither looked like they had ever really thrown a punch.

Hank smiled at the situation.  This would make things easy for him.

****

Two cards slid Sidney’s way and she almost didn’t even have to look at them, another two-seven, off-suit.

One hour had passed on the first night and Sidney had gotten nothing but this hand, low pairs and cards six or higher, away from each other.  She had taken the first hour of folding to watch the table and gather info.  At one end of the half moon table and to her direct left sat Markov.  On her right side as a very fat black guy dressed like Biggy Smalls.  On his right was Savannah, doing her best impersonation of Sidney.  Then, to her right, was a very stringy, pale, Asian woman and finally at the other end was a white older gentleman in a cowboy hat.

The bet came to Sidney and in her sweet southern bell accent she folded again.  “Oh dear me, I just can’t seem to get any luck today, not like this big fella.”

Sidney again got flirty with Markov but the wall of Russian muscle was just that.  He had shown no emotion and made no sound except to bet or fold.  At first Sidney thought that he didn’t speak English, but she knew better now.

Most of the best players play one of two ways, loud or quiet.  Loud players are just that. They talk a lot, hoot and holler, make conversation and generally annoy every other player at the table.  They do this with strategic reason.  The constant movement hides their ‘tell’ in white noise.  On top of that, they irritate the other players, putting them on tilt, causing them to make careless decisions.  Quiet players, the debatably more dangerous of the two, play with as little noise or movement as they can.  They define the term Poker Face, letting the other players make their own mistakes.  They put all of their own effort into watching the other players and learning their habits and mistakes.  Quiet players let you eat yourself.

Markov had redefined the quiet player.  He literally reacted to nothing.  Sidney had been watching him more than anyone else.  He had no twitches to say he had a bad hand, no ticks to say he had a good one.  Markov was a poker robot.

This made him good, possibly the best at the table.  She didn’t think he needed a scam to help him win.

Sidney decided she might be in trouble later.

****

Hank had a long wait, but he was in no rush.  He watched from the table ordering a drink whenever the waitress got too irritated with him.  He watched as Matt and his small group drank, hit on women and yelled at the bartender.

He watched until 2:00 in the morning when Matt and his friends, good and tipsy, decided to call it a night.  The three of them paid their tabs and made their way to the door. Hank pulled out cash and put it on the table for the check with a fifty percent tip for the waitress.  He took his last empty bottle with him and followed the three out into the parking lot.

They were singing and loudly making jokes and had no idea of the hell that was about to reign down on them.  Hank decided it was time to put the fear into them.

Hank stepped in behind the three and put his foot into Matt’s back with force.  Matt fell forward into the front end of a car and crashed into the hood.  Hank stepped in between the two others and brought his hand in a big swinging back hand arc.  The friend to the right was completely taken off guard.  A sober man might have been able to defend himself, but these three were far from sober and the bottle crashed into the man’s face, shattering on his cheekbone.

The man screamed and fell backward, grabbing his face as he hit the asphalt.  Matt’s other friend’s surprise twisted to rage as Hank turned toward him.  The friend crinkled his fingers into a ball and proceeded to throw the worse punch that Hank had ever seen.

Hank stepped under the wild haymaker and gave the man a shove, sending him staggering to his knees.  Hank stepped forward as Matt started to stand up straight.

“What the Fu-” Matt began to say, but was cut off as Hank grabbed his head with his free hand and slammed Matt’s face onto the hood with a loud thud.

Hank could have destroyed Matt’s face with the blow but he restrained himself.  If Matt was too banged up, the casino manager would get suspicious and that could cause problems.  The hit was enough to make Matt’s knees go weak in his drunken state.

Hank turned back to deal with Matt’s friends when the standing member of the entourage struck him in the face.

It is widely believed that punching someone in the face happens naturally.  It doesn’t. There are loads of small, very breakable bones in someone’s hand.  If someone is un-trained, or un-tested in a fight, they can do much more damage to their own hand than their opponent’s face.

This is one such situation.

The blow hurt, sure, but Hank barley felt it.  The friend, on the other hand, just started screaming and cradling his hand to his abdomen.  He dropped to his knees, screaming in pain.  Hank turned back toward Matt.

Matt was fumbling with his keys in a panic to try to get into the car.  Hank grabbed him by the back of the neck, pushed his head into the top of the car and placed the broken bottle to the back of his neck.  This last part got a whimper from Matt.

“Hey Matt,” Hank said and then spit some tobacco.  “My name’s Hank.  Say my name, Matt.”

“What?” Matt asked confused.

Hank slammed Matt’s face on the metal car top and yelled.  “Say my name!”

“Hank!  Holy shit, it’s Hank!” Matt said, almost crying now.

“Better.”  Hank began to calm and spit again.  “Tomorrow you’re going to deal a clean game of poker.  You’re not going to tell your boss I came to see you.  Do you understand?”

Matt nodded.

“Gonna need to hear you say it, Matt.” Hank said.

“I understand!  Clean game!  I got it, I swear!” Matt blubbered.

Hank smiled.  “Good to hear.”

Hank dropped the bottle and left the three men to lick their wounds.

****

Halfway through the Friday session, Sidney had about half of the chips that she had when she started.

The cowboy and the rapper were low stacked, having made some bad bets against either Markov or Savannah.  Markov was in the lead and Savannah was close behind with the Asian woman in between.

Sidney had spent the entire day folding and she could tell that most of the people at the table were getting irritated that she wasn’t making any moves.  This was the plan and exactly what Savannah wanted.  She wanted her to keep folding and keep herself just barely in the game.

Sidney had other ideas.  She had one more move and decided to make it.

The dealer shuffled the cards and dealt them around the table.  Sidney received a two of spades and a three of hearts.  The betting came to her and she limped in.

The table’s energy shifted, this was a change and everyone was looking now.  Savannah was glaring, again Sidney was playing out of bounds and she didn’t like it. Sidney didn’t much care what she thought.

Sidney had all the power now, the table had watched her fold hand after hand but now she had bet, meaning she must have something.  Everyone folded except for the cowboy.

Sidney smiled at the chance to make some money.

The dealer dealt the flop.  It was a nine of clubs, a ten of hearts and a jack of spades.

The bet was to Sidney and she had one move.  She would have to try to convince the cowboy that her pocket cards finished the strait on the table and that his didn’t.

Sidney bet the minimum.

The cowboy gave her a hard look then re-raised her, putting in twice the bet.  He was calling the perceived bluff, which meant that Sidney had two ways to go; she could fold out and cut her losses or she could try to convince the cowboy that he was doing exactly what she wanted him to.

“Well sweetheart, I’m just gonna have to go all in.” Sidney’s perfect fake accent broke the silence.  Gasps and sighs from around the room followed.

Savannah’s eyes could have carved holes in the side of Sidney’s head.  She was one step away from ruining everything.  All the cowboy had to do was call and the scam was a success, and Savannah would have Sidney murdered in some gruesome way.

Sidney knew better.

With a scowl on his face, the cowboy folded the hand after almost a minute of staring. Sidney grinned.  “Sorry to see that happen dear, I like the hat but I prefer a man with big stones.”

The Asian woman cracked a smile and the fat black guy howled in laughter.

End episode 16

 Hy