23 The Spirit of the Deck

"The commonest mistake in history is underestimating your opponent; it happens at the poker table all the time." --David M. Shoup

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"Me?!" Roselle exclaimed. The whole room was staring at her.

"Let's huddle up," Armani said.

Armani, Roselle, Eliot, and Antonio got in a circle with each other to discuss the fate of the poker game.

"Ro, do you know how to play poker?"

"Well--I mean--kinda. I only learned how to play this afternoon."

"She sucks," inputted Eliot. "She's so easy to read. She gets all happy when she gets good cards, and when she gets bad cards she pouts. That Marlie guy is gonna chew her up and spit her out."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the confidence, bud. I really appreciate it."

"What do you know about that man?" asked Antonio. "Are there any tactics you can tell Ms. Reyes so she can defeat him?"

"Well, to be honest, he's a terrible poker player." Armani ran his hand through his hair. "That's why he always cheats. He sucks. I will admit though, he knows how to bluff. Against someone who only started poker today, he'd be a tough one to beat. I wouldn't recommend it, Ro."

"Yeah," Eliot piled on. "I think you better take the L on this one."

"I agree," said Antonio.

"No." Roselle crossed her arms. "I'm playing."

"Dude, what?" questioned Eliot.

"If I back out now, he wins. That's what he wants, right? He wants me to get scared and leave so that he gets away with it. That's why he picked me. He thinks I'm incapable and weak. Well, not today, buddy. I'm bringing home the gold, baby."

The three guys looked at her, and then exchanged glances with one another.

Armani gave her a gentle nod. "Well, Ro, I admire your enthusiasm and fighting spirit. It kinda reminds me of when we'd play cards as kids. Just be careful, okay? Do me a favor and beat that guy. He deserves it."

Cards as kids . . . Roselle couldn't remember playing cards with Armani as a child, no matter how hard she racked her brain. Well, it wasn't as if a child's card game could help her anyway. This was the big league, now.

She nodded back at him. "I'll do my best."

They got out of their mini circle circle and faced Marlie.

"Okay," Roselle said. "I accept your terms.

Marlie chuckled. "Why don't you take a seat, little lady?"

"We'll be watching VERY carefully," warned Armani. "No funny business hiding cards in your sleeves."

The man glared at him.

She gladly complied and sat across from him at the poker table. They were the only players for this game. The room was completely silent, devouring the scene in front of them second by second. For a while, the two players only stared at each other, not moving or saying a word.

Marlie slid a deck over to her. "Shuffle it, girlie."

Roselle split the deck in two and tried to shuffle, but to her dismay, the cards flew everywhere, even hitting some spectators in the face. "Sorry," she apologized meekly, hiding her progressively reddening face.

Her opponent roared with laughter. "Oh honey, are we playing Texas Holdem, or fifty-two pickup?" He slid her another deck. "Here you go. Try not to mess it up this time."

She swiped the new deck off the table and shuffled it, slowly this time. The cards weren't shuffling very well since they were in big blocks, but at least she wasn't hitting anyone in the face. New strategy. She split the deck, and forced the cards into each other. That was a bit difficult too, but eventually it seemed sufficient enough.

"Ready," she said. And so, she dealt the first hand.

They had the first round of betting, and both sides were conservative. When it was time for the flop, she turned the cards around. Three twos. She looked at her own hand. She had the last two! Four of a kind.

Her mouth twinged into a smile, so she tried to cover it with her hand.

Marlie raised a brow. Did he notice her contentment? "Fold," he said, tossing his cards on the table.

Roselle's smile dissipated. Yeah, he definitely noticed. She put down her cards too. "But . . ."

"Congrats. You won the pot." He smirked. "But that's peanuts compared to what I won from YOU. Care to play again?"

"You're on."

She dealt the cards again. They did the initial betting, then there was a flop. Ouch. Her cards sucked. She glanced at Marlie, and he was unreadable as ever. She decided not to fold. She was going to bluff.

During the last round of betting, she was laying it on a tad thick. Okay, not a tad. VERY thick. She was shaking, but she forced herself to smile and bet. Was he not going to fold?

They revealed their cards.

"Two pairs," said Marlie. "You're cute when you bluff. Women are usually easy to beat, but that goes double for you."

"EXCUSE ME?" Roselle stood.

"Only being honest."

Eliot facepalmed. "Dammit Ro! Keep your face expressionless!"

"I'M TRYING!" she screamed.

This was ridiculous. At this rate, he was going to take all of her money. How could she beat an opponent when her face was too easy to decipher?

She glanced at Armani, studying the way he stood and pierced his lips. Wait a minute, the expression on his face flashed her back to memory of when they played cards together as kids.

* * *

One day, when Armani and Roselle were six years old, they were playing cards together--a game called crazy eights. In order to win, you needed to either lose all the cards in your hand, or have the other opponent grab all the cards in the stack until there were none left.

Roselle had just one card in her hand, and Armani had over a dozen. Not many cards were left in the stack, and it looked as though he was about to lose. He pierced his lips and stared at the remaining cards.

She tilted her head in amusement. "What are you doing, dummy? Just pick the next cards so you can lose already."

He took a breath. "I'm putting my faith in the spirit of the deck."

"What? What's that?"

"I saw it on my favorite TV show. When all hope is lost, if you have faith in the deck, the deck will help you."

"That sounds really stupid."

"It's true!" Closing his eyes, Armani slowly took the next card. He opened his eyes, and jumped in the air. "I HAVE AN EIGHT, I HAVE AN EIGHT!" He threw it down on the played cards. "I change it to spades."

Roselle looked down in horror at her last card. Oh no, it was a heart. There were two cards left in the stack. She took the first one. It was a heart. She took the last one. It was a diamond. "What? But--"

"WOO! I TOLD YOU TO BELIEVE IN THE SPIRIT OF THE DECK!"

* * *

After Roselle remembered that moment she had with Armani when they were children, she knew how to defeat her opponent. It was crazy and illogical. In fact, it was advice from a six-year-old, but it was the only way. She was going to have to have faith in the spirit of the deck.

"Let's go again," she said, shuffling the cards with a newfound confidence.

Marlie nodded. "Be my guest. We could do this all day."

She shuffled the deck. They had the initial betting, followed by the turn, and then the river. This time, Roselle wasn't confident, but she wasn't not confident either. There was no smiling, but also no shaking. Her face was completely blank.

Marlie kept peering at her. "Well, well, well," he said. "Someone looks calm. If I didn't have a good hand I might back out." He snickered. "But I do. Tell me, missy, how's your hand?"

"I wouldn't know," she answered. "I didn't look."

There were mutters that went around the room. 'What is she doing? Is she crazy?'

Marlie shook his head. "That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"You always feed off my reactions, so this way, I won't be able to give you one."

"How will you know if you can win then?"

"I'll have faith in the spirit of the deck."

"ARE YOU INSANE?" Eliot jumped. "YOU CAN'T BASE THIS OFF OF A TV SHOW!"

"That honestly is very reckless," Antonio joined in.

Roselle turned to Armani to hear what he had to say. He was blank for a few moments, but he suddenly broke out into a huge smile. The biggest one she's ever seen him wore.

She looked back at the table. "I'm all in," she said, putting in all her money.

He matched her bet. "Hey, you wanna make things a little more interesting, sweetie?"

"How?"

"I'll bet twice the money I took from you if you bet something of your own."

"I don't have anything of that kind of value."

He smirked. "Bet your shirt and bra. And you gotta take it all off right here."