(no subject)
The cards are dealt and everyone's eyes are magnets stuck to their hands. Ricky and Vegas keep shooting glances over at each other and Ricky in between the two, he begins to realize that they're up to something. He steps on Vegas' foot, staring at him with eyes that scream, "Cut that shit out". Vegas’ breathes hard and stares down at his feet.
“Is something wrong, boys?” the Man asks.
All three of the boys just stare back at him, all of them scared to say anything.
“You’d better not be trying to fuck me,” he says.
“Nothing’s happening,” Ricky says, trying to sound calm. But truthfully, he’s scared shitless that his friends are about to get him killed.
“There’d better not be,” the man says, “This isn’t America, you know. I could kill you three, and have you erased. Then me and Paco, we’d go out back and have ourselves a drink and a laugh about it.”
The Bartender smiles wide at the thought.
“Everything’s cool,” Ricky says, trying to reassure the man. He raises the pot, damn near half his stack of chips. Martirio can’t see what he’s holding but there’s no way in hell it can beat the Man’s pocket Kings.
Vegas is next to act, matching Ricky’s raise. The man calls them both, with his King of Spades, and King of Hearts and Bones matches the rest.
Martirio, he’s watching these boys with their shifty eyes and the hair on the back of his neck begins to stand straight up.
“We never finished our conversation from last time we played, sir,” Ricky says.
“And what conversation might that have been,” says the Man adding, “Sir”.
“We were talking about Ricardo Luis Jimenez, Rico. Strange how a guy who’s been in the business all his life shows up dead in a gutter, then has his story printed in the newspaper but still there’s no one who knows anything,” Ricky says.
“Well, you live by the gun, you’d better expect to die by it,” the Man says.
“I don’t recall him ever killing anybody,” Ricky says.
“Well, I don’t recall you being around long enough to know shit about shit, Junior.”
The game is on pause as the two continue their conversation. Bones and Vegas continue speaking to each other with their eyes. Martirio lights a smoke. Ricky clears his throat.
“You said that it wasn’t somebody from your side of the border,” Ricky says.
“So I did, he was too well connected. Fucking with a man like that would have been bad business. As the old adage goes, ‘You don’t shit where you eat.’” the Man says.
Bones impatiently deals the flop. He’s tired of small talk and wants his money.
Ricky shoots an angry glance over at Bones who looks away.
Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts, and a Queen of Hearts all land in a row.
The Man, he’s got two pair.
The other boys look around at each other for a split second.
Ricky is first to act, and he checks. Vegas checks. The Man, his stone face calls out, “I raise.” His hands drop several chips into the pot. Bones calls the Man’s raise. Ricky folds. Vegas matches the Man’s bet.
“So, you’re sure this guy had no enemies here in Mexico?” Ricky asks.
“For the last time, no. If it was anybody, it was obviously somebody who felt threatened they’d lose their job because of him. It had to be somebody new,” the Man says as his voice sounds agitated with the conversation.
Ricky stares at the table, his eyes, they tell Martirio that he’s somewhere else lost in something else.
The Queen of Diamonds drops on the table.
Martirio can almost see Bones’ neck throbbing in excitement. Vegas, folds. Martirio has know idea why, especially with all these face cards lying on the table. The Man looks inquisitively at Vegas who looks away. The Man checks. Bones does the same.
Bones deals the River card, the fourth and final card and it’s a 3 of Diamonds.
“I’m all in,” the Man says.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Bones says, “I call.”
Ricky looks over at Vegas, who’s eyes are staring at the bar.
Martirio looks everyone over, and he feels it deep in his soul. Something is terribly wrong.
“Show em, boys,” Ricky says.
The Man, he drops his pocket Kings on the table with a smile.
“Beat that,” he says. He’s got a pair of Kings and a Pair of Aces. He’s so confident he’s got the pot won; he starts to stand when Bones drops an Atom bomb on the table.
He’s got the Ace of Diamonds and the Jack of Hearts.
Full House.
“Bullshit!” the man screams.
“Fuck,” Martirio whispers beneath his breath.
“That’s the fifth fucking time I’ve seen you with that Ace of Diamonds, boy,” he says.
He grabs Bones by the arm, and with a surprising display of strength, slams him straight down into the table. The table breaks under Bones’ weight, a card falls from Bones’ open jacket sleeve, and for a moment, no one in the room is breathing. Martirio’s cigarette slips from his lips and falls for an eternity before hitting the floor.
The Man reaches out for Bones’ throat, and everything happens so fast that Ricky and Vegas don’t even move. As the Man’s hands reach for Bones’ throat, Bones produces a knife from out of nowhere. The Man, he pulls out a shiny pistol and they’ve both got their weapons drawn at each other’s throats.
They’re both breathing heavy; Bones’ eyes are filled with fear, while the Man’s eyes are filled with rage.
“Boy, it looks like you just brought a knife to a gunfight,” the Man says.
The Bartender folds his arms across his chest and smiles at the action in front of him.
The knife is shaky in Bones’ trembling hand, reflecting the green light above the bar. Vegas takes two steps back and Ricky stands still like a statue.
“Here’s what’s going to happen, the two of you are going to leave and I’m going to do whatever I see fit with this cheater. Truth be told, I should be killing all three of you, but I think his death will be enough for you boys,” the Man says, his eyes still locked with Bones’.
As soon as the words leave the Man’s mouth, Vegas bolts out the door. Ricky doesn’t move. Bones on the floor is the embodiment of fear, a helpless human being with his last line of defense shivering in his hand.
“You can’t say I didn’t give you a chance to live,” the Man says to Ricky without looking up.
He cocks the hammer on his handgun. The Bartender begins to realize that he’s going to be cleaning up blood off the floor and sighs slowly.
“Stop!” Martirio screams at the top of his lungs.
The Man completely forgot about the boy at the back of the bar playing pool and looks over at him. Ricky, realizing he’s only got a moment to save his friend, dives at the Man and they roll on the floor for a few moments.
Two shots fire off into the ceiling.
Bones stands up and slowly backs away in fear.
Ricky is on top of the Man, trying to wrestle the gun out of the Man’s hand. The barrel is aimed at the ceiling and away from Ricky’s head.
Martirio, his legs begin running beneath him. He’s acting without thinking, surprising the hell out of himself. He cocks his left foot back and swiftly kicks the gun out of both their hands.
They roll over once again and the Man boots Ricky in the stomach, sending him flying. Ricky’s on his knees, gasping for air, and Bones decides its time to split. Martirio is motionless as the Man charges straight at Ricky, knocking him over yet again. He then stands to his feet, grabs Ricky and throws him at the door of the bar. Ricky goes tumbling out into the daylight outside.
Now its just Martirio and the Man.
The Man turns to face Martirio, takes a few steps over and picks up his pistol. Martirio is shaking so hard, his teeth chatter like he’s got hypothermia. Continuing over to Martirio, he grabs him by the throat, lifting Martirio into the air. He raises the gun at Martirio’s head and screams out as he pulls the trigger.
The bullets go sailing by Martirio’s head, one after another. The Man keeps shooting off rounds until the clip empties. Martirio’s eyes are shut so tight; he finds it impossible to open them in the silence of the back of the bar. The Man then tosses Martirio effortlessly behind himself and Martirio lands hard. He moans as he begins trying to get to his feet.
“Ill see you again, hero boy,” the Man says without turning around. “Count on it.”
Martirio takes to his feet and shoves the door open, escaping into the blinding sunlight outside.