Xaene has a minion!

Deck the Purrglar

My story

His family could read the cards. It was an art passed down from his first ancestor who traveled to the new world, or so the family legend said.

His grandmother had taken the sweating palms of prospectors, her free hand hovering over a spread deck. At the moment she felt the calling she would make the selection that would predict ultimate success or total ruin. His father had been banned from every gambling den in town by the age of thirty, going on to open a casino of his own. Xaene mastered the art of shuffling a deck before he had mastery of his words.

He always shuffled the deck three times and allowed the person sitting on his left to cut. The gamblers in House of Cards were sometimes drunk and often rude but they never took out their frustrations on Xaene. He was well known as the college kid earning a little extra money by helping with the family business. Men grinned and women giggled when they saw him in his black vest with the little red bow tie. He never minded. Giving the people a good laugh was a sure way to bring in more tips.

At this game there were five players, playing with their chips or watching the motion of his hands as he dealt the first round. The cards flashed out – one, two, three, four, five – and the game began.

Xaene did not know their names. There were a few regulars who came most nights but the majority was tourists who had no reason to travel Route 52 a second time. The town had been booming once. Now the casino and one cheap café were its only points of interest.

He distinguished the players in his mind by whatever feature caught his attention when they first sat down. Aloha was a big guy with sunglasses and a shirt printed with pineapples. He had already consumed three pina coladas in a plastic drinking glass made to look like a coconut shell. Twitch couldn’t stop shooting looks at her designer bag. Fidget and Gidget were twins celebrating their 50th birthday. Shady was in bad need of a shave and he seemed incapable of blinking.

Xaene studied the backs of their cards. There would be no chips flying on this hand unless somebody bluffed like hell. The best hand around the table was a pair of aces and based on the stack of the deck Aloha would not make his straight.

All players stayed in to lay down their cards. Shady claimed the small pot without cracking a smile while Aloha scowled at the wedding band on his finger. Gidget gave Fidget a poke in the ribs.

“Just wait until the next hand, Sis. When that birthday luck kicks in we’ll leave ‘em crying.”

Twitch was the first to fold, backing out of the game with a muttered apology as her phone started to ring. As Fidget and Aloha eyed each other suspiciously, Xaene watched Twitch cash in fifty dollars in chips.

It took another three hands for Gidget’s prediction to come true. Aloha’s face reddened with each loss, giving up at last when his double pair of queens over tens was put to shame by a full house. Shady held his own, never falling below the number of chips he’d started with and taking the occasional win.

Fidget surrendered her last chip to Gidget in good grace. “Let’s try to keep it all in the family, Sis.” She gave her sister a wink and tossed Xaene a crumpled five. He tucked the bill away as Fidget moved on to the bar.

The next two hands were mediocre. Xaene had to work to keep a straight face as he read the newest hands. A flush against a full house and both players confident they had a winner. It was not a royal. Xaene had yet to see a royal flush in his father’s casino.

Gidget was the one to call for All In. Shady obliged her, pushing his remaining stacks of chips to the center of the table with a polite gesture for her to show her hand.

“A flush on hearts.” Gidget slapped her cards down with a grin, repeating the little dance that had sent Aloha away in a huff. By the look of things, he wasn’t much better with slot machines.

Shady said nothing as he placed two aces atop three queens. Gidget snatched up her coat and stormed across the room. Within the hour she would find solace in the arms of the guy who delivered Fidget’s champagne.

Shady picked up a chip worth a hundred dollars, flipping it to Xaene. “It’s not about the money, you know. You play for the money, you lose. I play for the thrill and nothing more.”

Xaene stuttered a thank you. He’d never done better than a twenty.

Shady touched the rim of his cap as he rose to leave. By the time Xaene had dealt a round to a group of four brothers and determined there was nothing better than an ace high, Shady was gone.

* * * * *

Xavier could always be found in his office, patting his wolfhound Chip as he looked over the financial reports for the day. He looked up, beckoning Xaene to the chair across the desk. Xaene remained standing.

“I only came to tell you that I can’t work tomorrow night. I’m starting a new round of classes and I need to focus on my studies.”

Xavier snorted as he poured himself a drink. “I founded this place with no more than a high school diploma. You’re making twice what I ever did on tips and you want to throw that away to be a moon monkey.” Xavier dug out three ice cubes, throwing one to the floor for Chip’s amusement. He took a long drink, staring at his son over the rim of his glass. “You’ve got talent, my boy. Don’t waste your gift chasing some boyhood fantasy.”

Xaene clenched his fists but said nothing. He’d made his argument so many times. Astronauts make great money. He would finally feel like he was doing something useful with his life. He was one of only three students in the history of his high school to get an A+ in AP Physics.

Xavier would never place his son’s dreams before his own. The casino was all that mattered to him. It was Xaene’s mother who gave him the money for his first year’s tuition from her own small fortune.

“I don’t want the family gift, Father. I have talents of my own.” Xaene turned his back on his father and walked out without waiting for a reply.

* * * * *

Xavier left three messages on the machine in Xaene’s apartment, his language growing nastier as he worked his way through a bottle. Xaene didn’t care. Good dealers were hard to find, especially in a dead town. Xavier would not turn him away from the table. The job was all he asked of his father.

He was early to class for once and no the only student cradling a foam cup. He met the eyes of a cute girl with chestnut hair, returning her smile.

They all came to their feet as a TA with bad acne hurried down the hall to unlock the room. She handed out course schedules as the students filed in.

The professor entered a few minutes after ten, grinning at the class as he set his briefcase on the desk. “Good morning, class. My name is Professor Aronson and I will be your guide on this journey to learn Statistical Probability.”

Xaene knew that soft voice. He met Shady’s eyes, earning a wink of recognition. He stifled a laugh as he lowered his head to read the familiar outline of a syllabus. Printed in funky letters at the top were four words.

What are the Odds?

Credits:
Profile by Ziva
Story by Pureflower