Tanner and I grew up down the street from one another. Our younger days were spent running around the block making any trouble we possibly could. Well, more like Tanner was making the trouble and I was the quiet one that went along with his stupid-ass ideas. Noah may be my older brother, but Tanner’s the brother I chose.
We greet each other with our signature hand slap, one that we’ve perfected since elementary school.
“How’s everything going, man?” Tanner just got engaged to his girlfriend Kate over the holidays and he’s still beaming from it. The last time I saw him was a week ago at their open house after they moved in together.
“Everything’s going well. We just got a large contract with the city at work, so things are about to start picking up here pretty quickly.” He leans back, sipping his beer.
“You got that job you went on and on about for months?” I tease. “Huh, I’ve never heard of it.” Tanner raises both hands and playfully flips me off. “But seriously, how’s living with Kate?” Tanner moved into Kate’s apartment several weeks ago, which I’m surprised didn’t happen sooner. Tanner’s been head-over-heels for that girl since the moment he met her.
At the mention of Kate, Tanner’s face breaks out into the widest grin. “Fuck me, we should have done that a long time ago. It’s so goddamn perfect. I’m sure I’m driving her nuts, but can’t beat waking up next to the love of my life every morning.”
There’s no doubt Tanner’s driving Kate crazy. She’s all poise and put together and Tanner’s the mischievous, crazy one. They really do balance each other out though. It’s always amusing to watch Kate put him in his place.
We sit and talk for a while about work and life in general. I’ve been keeping myself busy at the fire station and helping out around the community. There isn’t much to do in this small town outside of the city but to give back so, I spend my time doing what I can for people. Just last week I helped Mrs. Clark with her leaking faucet and patched up some drywall at the Nelsons.
Before long, Noah’s booming voice snags everyone’s attention. “Alright guys, let’s play some poker!”
What started as a small get-together with the guys has grown beyond Tanner, Noah, and me. We originally started poker night after Noah moved back to town after college when I was going through training and Tanner was starting out at the bottom of a construction crew. Just three assholes who needed an escape.
Now, we have grown into a rather large group. We’ve added Mark and Cody, who are co-workers with Noah. Tanner brought in his friend Luiz and from there we have expanded to include Clark, Josh, and Alex. Every once in a while, our good friend James joins us if he has the night off from parenting duties, but it looks like tonight isn’t one of those times.
We all take our seats around the table, beers creating a barrier around us, as the chips are counted and cards are shuffled. Poker night always consists of 3 things: beer, pizza, and Texas Hold’em.
The game goes well into the night, and I’m starting to get low on chips. Normally I consider myself to be alright at poker, but tonight isn’t going my way. Round after round of shit cards is making my chip pile diminish along with my patience.
After several rounds, luck is finally on my side when I’m dealt a pair of three’s. Calling, I hope other players will continue, but Luiz and Josh both fold. The flop does me no good and Tanner raises the pot.
Narrowing my eyes, I study my friend sitting across from me.
Poker’s all about learning about your opponents and I know Tanner. He’s all about the long game, carefully planning and scheming, and I know he’s up to something. He could be bluffing; he’s also running low on chips and this could be his last-ditch effort to stay in the game. Matching his raise, we both watch as the turn is made.
Shit.
The turn reveals the eight of spades, the second eight to be turned over in this game. I’m now up to two pairs, but Tanner can still have a better hand.
The rest of the guys fold, leaving Tanner and me in a battle for the pot. We both check and wait for the river, the final card of the round. Noah burns a card before revealing the two of diamonds. Now I have no choice now but to go all in and hope that Tanner doesn’t have more than a pair of eights.
Quickly trying to mentally calculate my odds, I sigh. “I’m all in,” I say as I push the remainder of my chips to the middle of the table. The guys are silent, clearly interested in what’s going to happen. Leaning back in my chair with my arms crossed, I try to portray arrogance as Tanner stares me down.
"What do you have over there, Gabriel?” he asks.
Nonchalantly I raise my shoulders, attempting to get him to match my bold move. He continues to study me, eyes narrowing before standing and shoving all his chips right beside mine.
This just got interesting.
“Ok boys,” Noah interjects, “reveal your hands so we can get this over with.”
Silently praying Tanner has nothing, I boldly flip over my cards. The second Tanner reveals his cards the sounds the men around me make are deafening.
Tanner has three of a kind.
The damn eights.
The guys slap my shoulders trying to cheer me up while congratulating Tanner on his hand. I laugh as Tanner gloats, scraping his earnings back and stacking his chips, a mountain compared to what he started the round with.
Shaking my head in defeat, I use this time to grab another beer from the fridge, having finished my second bottle some time ago. Checking the clock in the kitchen it’s almost eleven. Just as I pop the top off my beer, my phone rings in my pocket.
I don’t even have to look at the screen to know that Mel’s calling. She programmed her ringtone years ago to some pop song that I don’t know the name of. Yes, it’s embarrassing at times to have this song as a ringtone, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
