Of Kings and Aces

37| New Year, New Complications

"Hey, Ace, how about that game of poker that we never played? It's already a new year, yet you still don't put out," Brigs teased on New Year's Day. He had spent New Year's with his family, but now he was also raring to go. So the minute he had a plan, he called me.

"You're out of your mind. It's New Year's Day, and you want to spend your money gambling. Way to go, man! Keep it up," I replied sarcastically. I was getting my things ready to head back to Makati in the evening. I didn't want to do it last minute because I was hitching with Chino, and he gets prickly when he is made to wait unnecessarily.

"You believe in that crap? Fine. Then, let's play tomorrow. It won't be New Year's Day anymore. Happy?"

"Why do you want me to play poker anyway? You know I'd most likely just fold or lose. It's really not my thing," I complained as I packed my things, making sure I did not leave a shred of evidence behind, except for Jaxx's copy of the Blitz's files.

"Because we're too old for bars, you're not supposed to drink, and I think it would be weird if I asked you for dinner and the movies," he said blankly.

"All right. I guess poker is the best option. Tomorrow." It was settled, but my gut was all over the place. I decided that if I didn't find out the reason for this by tomorrow afternoon, I would cancel on poker night.

Chino was two hours early and invited himself up to the room. He could not work at home because his older brother, Albert, was having a grand party with his friends.

The moment he dropped his bag on my desk, it titled, and a lot of the things spilled out – pens, markers, pen drives – and some of the papers scattered on the floor. He groaned while I laughed. He left them on the floor and proceeded to work on his laptop. I repressed the desire to pick them all up. I had a huge pile of my own mess that I needed to work on.

Eventually, he picked them up and stuffed them back in his bag. However, not ten minutes after, they all came spilling out again. He stopped working and reluctantly picked them up.

"Taxation law is a fucking bitch. I should have gone into business." He straightened his back and roughly stuffed his things inside. This time, it really ticked me off, and I had to intervene.

"You're supposed to be a neat freak too, man. What happened?" I threw his laptop on the bed, grabbed his bag, and emptied his things on my desk. We both suffered from a little bit of compulsion to keep things organized and neat. It was not a horrible condition or disease that needed medications. It was just difficult to shake off, especially when the pile of junk could be organized, the furniture could be aligned, and the pens could be neatly arranged.

"What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?" he stared in horror at everything that just came out of his bag. Dozens of loose pages fell on the desk and the floor like autumn leaves, dancing and swaying in the wind.

"What do you keep in here? Your entire library and a vending machine?" I stared at his things in horror.

"Those, and a couple of cockroaches, too." He deadpanned. I hesitated for a bit to hear the word 'cockroaches' but realized he was just being an ass. So we both started picking up his things and re-organizing his library/vending machine – pens and markers in one pocket, thumb drives, and hard drives in another, papers and folders in another compartment, and so on.

He hogged the bed and slept while I made a few phone calls and sent some emails when we finished. An hour later, Jaxx arrived in a jovial mood and kicked the bed until Chino woke up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he cursed Jaxx as he rolled to lie on his belly, hugging my pillow. And because we were boys, he did not get to sleep peacefully thereafter. It all started with Jaxx jumping on his back.