His smirks became something of a code too. Like a millisecond of eye contact told me everything I needed to know to make my next move. We’d known one another for an hour, and we were already speaking our own language.
As he lifted his cards and gazed over them, he rubbed a hand over his thick black scruff. His thumbnail scraped against his chin, deep breath broadening his chest.
Not a good hand, I took it.
I glanced down at my own, and then I was the one smirking.
Ace and king of clubs. King and queen of diamonds. Ace of hearts. And, most important of all, the king, queen, and jack of spades.
Eight. Every single one of those was worth counting, so I had to go eight. My only low cards were a four of hearts, a three of spades, and a two of spades.
Declan looked up, still rubbing his chin as he laid his cards face down on the table.
“Got a rough one over there, kid?” Tommy asked him.
Declan’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck off and place your bet.”
Tommy laughed and looked at Eric. “I’ve got two. You?”
Grinning, Eric slid one of his cards behind the other. “I’m gonna go with two, so” —he glanced at me, smirking— “someone’s got a kick ass hand.”
“Place your damn bet,” I said.
“Five,” Tommy said. “We’ll go five.”
I looked at Declan.
He rubbed his beard, inhaling deeply. “I wanna say two, but it’s a big maybe.”
Yet, if I was the one with the golden hand, and I made sure to not trump his books, there was a good chance he’d get those two. “I’ve got eight.”
His eyes widened. “Eight?”
“Eight.” I sipped my Pepsi. “Think we should go ten for two?” Meaning ten tricks for two hundred points which would immediately end the game.
“Whew,” Declan murmured, eyeing his deck. “That’s a gamble.”
“It is. But I’m telling you I have eight with a possibility of nine.”
Another sharp inhale, still staring at his deck. Finally, he nodded. “If you think you’ve got it, alright. Ten for two.”
* * *
There were four books left, and Declan and I had to get three of them.
We had seven books, and they had two.
What was left in my hand? Queen of diamonds, and the king, queen, and jack of spades.
If the ace of spades wasn’t out, I’d have the three most important cards in the deck.
I’d just trumped the last hand with a two of spades. Now it was on me to start the hand, and I didn’t know what to play next.
If Declan had the ace, he’d have given me a smirk that said so by now. But he looked as worried as I was.
My options were slim. I could lay out my jack to draw out the ace. But the chances of my queen of diamonds bringing in a trick was slim to none. I shouldn’t have counted my damn queen. I could practically hear Dad in my ear saying to never count a queen.
To my knowledge though, no one was trumping them. Clubs and hearts were being trumped. The ace and king of diamonds were already out. But it was a risk that’d set us back several hands.