The Lesser Kelly

Chapter Eleven: Jack has a good idea (for once)

Davie took Les home and Spot and the Brooklyn boys headed back to Brooklyn.

As we headed back to the lodging house I listened to the chatter.

Mostly, the talk was about Jacks abandonment of the strike, but a few were talking about the rally in general.

When we got back to the lodging house Race was quick to start a poker game, to try to raise spirits.
I just sat back and watched.

Davie appeared at the door a while later.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I nodded and followed him out onto the porch.
"What is it?"

"Jack didn't hurt you too bad did he?"

I half laughed "I mean yeah, every slap does, but it's fine."

He reached out and cupped my cheek, "I don't want to see you hurt Em."

"It's fine Davie. Nothing I couldn't handle."

"I'm worried about what you can't handle."

I reached up and pecked at his lips, "Don't worry, Ain't much I cant handle."

I turned and headed back inside, Davie trailing behind me.

"Emerson, Davie, either of you want in?" Finch who was shuffling the deck again asked.

I sat down at the table "Sure."

Davie just shook his head "maybe next hand." 

Finch dealt the cards, a decent hand.
Two pair, 3s and 9s.

I looked around the table, examining the faces of the boys.

From what I could tell Finch, Albert and Ike had decent hands, Mike seemed to have a good one, Romeo definitely had a bad one, and Race, and Mush were somewhere on the spectrum of decent to okay.

Romeo folded as soon as he could, as expected.
After a few rounds of betting I folded, the other hands on the table were definitely better than mine.

"Why'd you do that you had a good hand?" Davie said from behind me.

I pushed my chair back, "Just watch, Everyone who had bad hands is gone, decent hands is stragglin, da one good hand is still on tap but, someone else is goin ta bluff ta win. The price 'ill go higher and higher but the best hand wont fold, the bluffing boy will lose a lot of money."

I gestured around the table as I spoke.
A few minutes later and everything I had said happened.

Race ended up failing to bluff his way to victory. As I had suspected Mike had the best hand.

"Told ya."

"How did you do that?" Davie was in shock that I had predicted everything correctly.

"I've known these boys since I was 7, and I've been playing poker with them for ten years."
Davie moved to be sitting at the table too.

"Deal 'im in too." I said as Finch started dealing again.

One pair, and not even a good one, just 6s.
Bluffing it is, none of the boys had spectacular hands, as far as I could tell so it was a sound plan.

I like to think I have no tells, Jack says he can tell when I bluff cause I scrunch my nose more than normal.

No one here has picked up on it though.
Betting continued till about 3 dollars were on the table.

When I raised another 3 cents to the pile just about everyone backed down.

Davie looked at me, clearly trying to see if I was legit or not.