Canes and Gunshots

Game of Luck

The Colonels POV

I looked over at the door and saw a man wearing a detectives outfit, facial hair, and his smile made me nervous for some reason. Almost uncomfortable.

"So glad you could make it tonight. I was worried you were gonna be late." Mark told the man, who was shaking Marks hand.

"Why on earth would I miss a game of poker?" He said in a friendly chuckle.

He looked up at us and walked over, pulling a pipe from his pocket and lighting with a flip lighter. He took a slow, deep inhale on the pipe and sighed out a breath of smoke.

I cringed from it, smoking was never something I found good or even enjoyable.

"So may I ask who I have the honor of meeting tonight before I kick your asses?" He said, laughing a little from the joke he made.

"I'm Damien, the mayor and this is the Colonel." Damien replied, obviously annoyed of this guy like I was.

"Does the Colonel have a name?" He chuckled, now talking to me.

"I do. But I don't give that out easily." I said in a dark tone.

He looked at me and then just stared for a little while, his expression becoming darker and eyes going to a slight squint, his only reply to my comment being, "Right."

Mark could sense the tension and walked between us before a fight came on before the game.

"N-now that everyone is here, how bout we go to the dining room and begin?" He stuttered, smiling nervously.

I nodded and made my way to the room, already knowing where it was from when I was exploring earlier.

I took a seat near the front of the table, Damien taking a seat near to me, Abe in front of me, and Mark on my other side.

Mark grabbed the deck of cards that was in the middle of the table and the tray of poker chips.

"Alright men. Is there a set amount of money that you can only bet with or any amount good?" Mark asked before dealing out chips.

Damien and I said we didn't have a set amount of money, Mark giving us at least $50 worth of chips.

We all looked at Abe on his set amount, his body focused on me for some reason.

"Abe? The chips?" Damien asked to catch his attention.

Abe looked at him with a slight frown and then at Mark.

"No limit with my cash." He replied, getting the same number of chips as us.
We all threw in a $10 chip to the table. Mark then dealt out the cards to everyone, laying out the deck in the middle.

I examined my five cards and saw I had a pretty good hand, but I kept a pretty good poker face when it came to this type of thing.

"All bets begin now, if none then we'll start the game." Mark began, shuffling around the cards in his hand.

Damien shook his head on the bet, looking down at his cards with a deep focus. I almost admired it.

"I raise it five," Abe said, tossing in a five dollar chip. "Colonel you look familiar to me. Were you ever in the papers for anything... special?"

Mark threw in a five as well, already going through the process of seeing it and raising it.

"I can't say for sure Abe." I grumbled, throwing in a five as well.

Damien threw in a five due to the rules and then Abe had to throw in fifteen since that was the amount was raised.

"But you look so familiar to me. I swear I saw you in the paper before. Something about an expedition. Are you an explorer?" He sneered, looking at me more than his own hand.

"W-well I'm out." Damien butted in, trying to ease the tension between us before something bad happened.

"Yes, I am an explorer. I actually work as a hunter for rare species and other wildlife." I replied, switching out a card from my hand to the deck.

"I'm out too. How bout we get some drinks?" Mark said out loud, trying to get Abe to shut up. Or me. That part was unclear at the moment.

I sighed and looked at my cards, realizing I had a royal flush. I basically won unless that asshole got the same thing as me.

"Wow. Wildlife? I didn't realize you hunted those in the jungle. I figured you were too busy going for... another mammal species." He was growling now.

"High card." He said, reaching his hand out to grab the wins he earned.

I grabbed his wrist before he could tpuch the chips and pinned it to the table hard, looking him dead in the eye with a dark glare.

He looked up at me with the same expression, the room was filled with such high tension that it could be cut with a fucking axe.

"I have royal flush." I said, showing him my hand before letting go of his wrist.

He slowly moved back to his seat, letting me pull the money to my side. Everyone was putting their cards back in the middle as well as giving me my actual money from the win.

I sighed and threw my cards down, standing up and walking out of the room.

"Colonel? Aren't you gonna play another game with us?" Mark asked timidly.

I just looked over my shoulder quietly, looking at Marks begging expression, Damiens pleading face, and Abes smirking lips.

"I think I've had enough poker for the night..." I whispered, walking out of the room slowly.