Subscribe!Isaac sat thinking, sipping his beer. At a table in the front corner of the room sat a group of three men playing poker. Isaac had noticed them when he walked into the salon. Had this been a pay day for him, he probably would have asked to join in their game. The group had not been able to hear Issac and Charlie's discussion, but they did see Charlie give Isaac five dollars.
As Isaac was leaving, one of the men yelled to him, "Hey, partner. Would you like to join us for a friendly game?"
One of Isaac's weaknesses was gambling. He knew he should go straight to the tailor and buy a suit, but the offer was very tempting. "I don't know. I don't think I have time. Thanks, though." He replied, convincing not even himself.
"Oh, come on now. Just a couple of hands. You got time for that, don't you?"
"Are you playing for money?"
"Wouldn't be poker if we weren't, now would it?"
"No, I guess not. What's the ante?"
A smile crept across the man's face. "A nickel."
"That's too expensive for me." Isaac recoiled.
"What? I just saw your friend give you five dollars."
"That's not really money I should use in a poker game." Isaac put his hand in his pocket and began to unconsciously pick up the coins and allow them to fall back through his fingers.
"Surely you can spare some of it just for a couple of hands." He knew he almost had Isaac convinced.
"Well, my friend is expecting me. . ."
"A couple of hands won't take too long."
"Okay. Deal me in." Isaac walked over to the table and put a nickel on the table. The man that had been speaking was also the dealer. He dealt the cards to each player.
"Give me three." Isaac said. Two of the other players also took three, and the last took only two.
"What do you want to do?" The dealer asked Isaac.
Isaac looked at his cards. He had never gotten such a good hand in his life. He hoped that he hadn't tipped his hand by showing excitement. He didn't notice that his hands were also shaking slightly. With a slight nervousness in his voice he said. "I'll raise a nickel." Don't want to raise too much just yet. Maybe I can bait them into a big pot. The others saw his raise, and the dealer raised him another nickel. Uh oh. I wonder if he has a better hand than I do. He looked at his cards. A straight flush, jack high. There's no way he can beat that. Only two hands could beat that.
"Okay, I'll see your nickel and raise you a dime." The other men showed obvious surprise at this move. Ha, got them on their heels now. One of the men folded, the other saw his bet, and the dealer once again raised him a nickel. They must be just trying to bluff me now since the pot has gotten so big. Well, I'll show them. "I'll raise another dime."
The other man folded, but the dealer saw his dime once again and called. "Let's see what you got."
Isaac excitedly put his cards down. "Straight flush, jack high!"
"Dammit!" The dealer said, putting down a full house.
"I've never had a hand that good in my life!" Isaac exclaimed, pulling the pot toward him.
"Must be your lucky day. Alright boys, ante up again."
To his surprise, his won his next four hands as well. Must be my lucky day! He lost the sixth hand, but won the next three. He had won over dollar, and an hour had passed, but he hadn't noticed the time. He was on a winning streak the likes he had never been on. Once the tenth hand was dealt out, he had four aces. He once again started by raising a nickel, then a dime at a time. One of the other men continued to raise his bet. Once again, Isaac believed that since the pot had gotten so large he was just trying to bluff him into folding. I'll try raising a quarter. That should scare him into folding. The man saw and raised that bet. Dangit. Maybe two quarters will end this. It did not.
Isaac looked down at his cards. He knew he was going to win this hand. There was no way the man across from him could beat four aces. Was there? The doubts crept into his mind. But, he had already dipped into the money that Charlie had given him, and he had to get it back. He finally put down his quarter. "I see you and call."
"What do you have?" The man asked, flashing a quick smile towards the dealer.
Isaac gleefully put down four aces. "Four of a kind."
"That's a great hand. But, is that better than a straight flush, seven high?"
Isaac's heart sank. He had just lost over six dollars, leaving him with seventy-five cents.
"Well gentlemen, that's enough for one day. We should head back to the ranch."
Isaac protested "Wait, you can't stop now. Give me a chance to win something back. I can't leave here with only seventy-five cents. I started with over five dollars."
"Sorry, but we have to go. Maybe we'll see you around tomorrow."
"Come on, one more hand!" Isaac pleaded.
"Well, since you were such a good sport, here take this." The dealer gave Isaac a quarter.
"No, I need a chance to win my money back. More than just a quarter."
"We'll see you around." With that, the men left.
Isaac felt devastated. He had lost plenty of money in past poker games, but at least it had been his money. He didn't know if he could face Charlie. Five dollars was a lot of money. Maybe he could go to the tailor and get a suit for the dollar he had left. Maybe even on credit. If I give him a dollar as down payment, surely he'll extend me enough credit for the rest. Then after we're done with our robbery I can come back and pay him the rest. Or if that won't work, maybe there will be a nice fitting suit at the ready-to-wear store. He knew that wasn't likely, but he held out hope.
He stood up and walked slowly out the door. At the tailor he asked about credit, but was refused. A suit costs four dollars, and he couldn't just give anybody with a dollar in their pocket a suit on credit. Isaac then went to the read-to-wear store, but there wasn't a complete suit that properly fit him. He dawdled at the store until it closed, delaying facing Charlie for as long as he could.
As Isaac walked toward his meeting with Charlie, he thought about what he was going to say and imagined how the conversation would go.
Hey. He would say jovially. I was just reminded of another liability that I have.
Oh, what is that?
I have a bad habit of gambling my money away.
Is that so?
Yes.
What reminded you of that?
I lost most of the money you gave me playing poker today.
What!
Isaac didn't know what would happen after that. He imagined Charlie exploding in anger, but hoped the light hearted manner in which he was going to tell him would lessen the blow. Perhaps they could even have a laugh about it.
Isaac arrived at his door. He opened it and walked it, finding Charlie reading the newspaper, although it wasn't the same one that he had bought earlier. He saw a stack of newspapers, one from each of the stacks he had seen earlier at the general store. Before Isaac could speak, Charlie looked up. "Hey, when will your suit be ready?"
When will my suit be ready? You mean I wasn't expected to walk out with it? Maybe I don't have to tell Charlie I lost his money after all. He nervously responded, "Uh, a couple of days."
"Really! That's one fast tailor. Are you sure you aren't returning for a fitting?"
"Oh, maybe that's what he meant. I guess I misunderstood."
Isaac could see that knowing look in Charlie's eyes again, the same look he had when he figured out that Charlie couldn't read. Maybe he saw me playing poker when bought those other newspapers. He decided to change the subject.
"Anything interesting in the papers?"
"Nah, just the usual stuff. What were your measurements?"
"My measurements?" What is he talking about?
"At the tailor. What were your measurements?"
"Oh, I don't know. He didn't say. Just wrote them down."
"Oh, okay."
Isaac could tell Charlie wasn't convinced. I should just tell him the truth right now. No, tomorrow I'll get the tailor to take my measurements and try to find some way to come up with the rest of the money.
"Did you happen to get the price of a bowler hat?"
"A what? Uh, No. Should I have?"
"Why don't you go back tomorrow and get one. Here's some money for it." Charlie put five dollars on the table. "You'll look pretty sharp in a suit and hat."
Isaac's heart jumped into his throat when he saw Charlie put the money on the table. He does know! But, if he doesn't maybe I can get the hat and suit for what I have now. "I don't know how I'll ever thank you."
"If we succeed in getting that train robbed, that's all the thanks I need."
"I hope we do. I know how much you want to get back to your wife."
"Let's get some sleep. We have a full day of preparation tomorrow."
"Alright."
Isaac didn't sleep well that night. He felt bad for trying to deceive Charlie. He also worried that Charlie knew. That made it even worse. What does he think of me if he knows and I'm not fessing up to it? A few times he decided to admit his mistake to Charlie, but every time he looked over Charlie was sound asleep. After much tossing and turning, he finally fell into a restless sleep.
