The final bell for Danville High had run nearly an hour ago on a Friday afternoon. Most of the students had poured out of the front entrance of the school to chat with friends while they waited for the bus. A few continued to loiter in the hallways, either bored, or they were losers who knew they had already peaked and would talk about the glory days in high school well into their forties. A fate truly worse than death.
One exception to this rule was walking down a particular hallway close to the back of the building. It was an older part of the school that used to be used for shop classes and other classes like that, but when the additions to the school had been made fifteen years ago these old rooms were just forgotten. Understandably, it was a bit rundown, even by public high school standards with half burnt out lights and dented old lockers that desperately needed a new coat of paint, but he liked it that way, it made keeping his secret easier when no one wanted to come down.
He stopped in front of one door near the end, identically crappy to the rest, and knocked. The number plate on the door suddenly slid to the side.
"Password," a gravely and gruff voice said.
"Buford's got a micro-penis."
"Eh, fuck you, Dinnerbell."
The plate slid back into place and the door opened. Phineas offered a good natured grin, fist bumping Buford as he walked in. The room had once been an old woodshop room, but now it housed Phineas's underground casino. Four tables for Blackjack, six for Texas Holdem, three for Craps and even one with a roulette wheel. If he was being honest it was a stretch to call this a casino, but it was a place the other students could feel like adults, blow off some steam and more importantly, blow their paychecks.
"Hello, Phineas." Baljeet said from the teacher's desk beside the door.
"Hey Jeets, how's business doing today?"
"In a word; excellent! Most of our usual big spenders are here today as well as three new players that were approved yesterday."
"Yeah, and from the looks of things they've got a lotta their parents' money to burn." Buford added.
"No kidding, what's today's revenue look like?"
"Let me see," Baljeet turned back to his computer. "Total cash flow minus dealers' pay... we are looking at nearly a thousand dollars."
Phineas whistled. "That's good profits for just the first hour. Tell you what; if we hit three grand today you guys can take home an extra five hundred."
"Really? Oh, that would be wonderful. There is this new chemistry set that I have been dying to get my hands on."
Buford didn't say anything, but offered an appreciative nod. Phineas knew out of all of them Buford needed money the most, but he'd jump off a cliff before asking for a handout. Suddenly, an angry player tried to roughly shove past them. Buford went into action immediately, seizing them by the wrist and pulling them into a bear hug.
"Get the fuck off of me!"
The shout drew the attention of everyone in the room, all games pausing to see what was happening. Phineas shot the room a glare and immediately they went back to what they were doing. He turned back and was surprised to see who Buford was still restraining.
"I said get the fuck off of me!" Ginger yelled, still trying to break out of his iron grip.
"You know, I expect better manners from guests."
Ginger glared, then went wide eyed.
"Oh, Phineas, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."
Her anger deflated, Phineas motioned for Buford to let her go. "You're forgiven, but do you wanna tell me what that was all about?"
"I… I lost the money I was gonna use to buy Stacy her birthday gift."
"Ginger," his voice dripped with disappointment, "rule number one: do not gamble what you can't afford to lose."
"I know, I know, it's just-"
"Rule two: no excuses."
She sighed and nodded pittifully. He should have let it go at that, he was the boss of this place and he couldn't afford to go handing money out to players, even if they were friends. However that didn't mean something couldn't be arranged.
"Look, if you're willing I've got something in mind."
She frowned slightly. "Are you asking for another-"
Phineas quickly slapped his hand over her mouth, glancing at Baljeet and Buford who just gave him confused looks.
"No! No, no, no, much as I'm sure Isabella would be up for it, I won't ask you to stoop that low. What I was going to say was Baljeet is probably going to ask me for next week off to try out his new chemistry set. I'll need someone to fill in for him and you're good with numbers, what do you say?"
"I… thank you, I accept."
"Good, I'll tell you more tomorrow. Now why don't you go home and try and clear your head a bit."
She nodded and headed out the door.
"Yer soft."
"Shut it, meat shield, you would've done the same and you know it."
"Does this mean I get next week off?"
"Yes, yes it does, but onto more important matters."
"Like what?"
"Ginger's not just good with numbers, she's great, she aces most of her math tests. I've also seen her play, she's not reckless with her betting and her pokerface is rock-fucking-solid. So the question is; how does a girl like that get cleaned out? Buford, who was she playing?"
"That guy there." He jerked his thumb to a table at the far side of the room where a blond senior played two other guys.
Baljeet chimed in. "That is Trevor Jiametie he comes only semi-regularly, he's on the football team and his parents own Jiametie's Pizza Parlour downtown."
"And if that fat stack of bill is anything to go by he's been on a hell of a winning streak."
Phineas silently took note as he watched another round play out, watching Trevor, the others he was facing, the crowd watching them.
He made his way over to the table. Attention was quickly drawn to him as he sat down in the empty chair across from Trevor.
"Mind if I join?"
"I'm out."
"Me too."
The boys beside him tossed their cards on the table and quickly got up with what little money they had.
"Well that's disappointing." He pulled a thousand dollars from his wallet and placed it on the table. "How about you?"
It had the desired effect. Trevor's nervous expression quickly turned greedy as he eyed the bills. "I'm cool with it, you sure you wanna, though, I've been cleaning house today."
"Haven't you heard that the house always wins?" He shot back. "Dealer, if you would?"
The deal quietly cleared his throat. "Um, should I write your name in the book, or...?"
"Everything goes in the ledger, no exceptions."
He nodded and quickly scribbled both Phineas's name and the amount he put down, before picking up the deck of cards.
"Since we only have two players for this round we will use an ante system of five dollars per hand, is this acceptable?" Both of them nodded.
The dealer shuffled and dealt both of them their hands. Phineas checked his cards; a two of clubs and seven of spades. It was the worst hand you could possibly be dealt in poker with only a thirty-two point four percent chance of winning and it was the best hand Phineas could hope for.
"Four dollars," he tossed the money into the middle.
"Call,"
The dealer laid down the flop.
Two of hearts.
Jack of diamonds.
Ten of spades.
Good. That two brought his chances of winning up to fifty percent.
"Five dollars."
"Call and raise five dollars."
Doubling the bet was usually a good way to pressure someone into folding. He either had a pair wired or a matching pair in the flop.
"Call."
The turn was dealt.
Four of spades.
Another good opportunity.
"Check."
"Ten dollars."
Phineas raised his eyebrow. A smart player would know that Phineas's check was a sign that nothing had changed with his hand. If he wanted to add more money to the pot, then a small bet would be more likely to coax him into betting. Either he was bluffing, or he was an idiot. Phineas could see why Ginger thought she could win.
"Call."
The river was dealt.
Two of diamonds.
That was lucky and it made winning almost certain. The only way Trevor could win was if he had a wired pair that matched any of the other cards on the table. Considering he raised last time, he would most likely do the same.
"Check."
Trevor glanced up from his cards. "Fold."
"Really, after all that?"
Trevor shrugged, not bothered by his loss. "My gamble didn't pay off."
It was more than that. The third two only showed up at the very end and Trevor had no way of knowing Phineas had a two in his hand.
"No sweat, not every hand can be a winner."
He shot back a smug smirk. "Yeah, I'm sure my luck won't fail me."
And it didn't. Over the next half an hour Phineas's money steadily drained away. Any time Phineas managed to get the mathematical advantage over him he would immediately fold, with only a few exceptions.
It was down to the final hand now. Phineas had a pair of jacks with a pair of eights on the board and the only way Trevor could have a better hand is if he had a king in his hand. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife as they both flipped over their hands. Sure enough the king of spades was in Trevors hand.
"Too bad, looks like the house doesn't always win."
Phineas was silent while he ran the numbers though his head.
"Guess not," he laughed and held out his hand. "Good game."
The second Trevor's hand touched Phineas's he was yanked forward into a brutal left hook. Trevor tumbled out of his chair, spots dancing in his vision.
"Phineas, what are you doing?" Buford shouted over the surprised cries of everyone else.
"Keep that fucking door shut!" He yelled, glaring at Buford and daring him to do otherwise.
Buford put up his hands and moved back. With the room secured Phineas walked around the table calmly to the guy on the floor.
"You must have been an idiot to think I wouldn't notice."
"What are y-"
A kick to his stomach cut him off and knocked the wind out of him.
"Do you have any idea the astronomical of you folding just at the right time, not to mention the only times you didn't fold was when you had a better hand than me, even though there was still a possibility I could have had a better hand?" He grabbed Trevor by the hair, yanking him up and making him scream in pain, before breaking his nose.
"I'd say the actual number, but I don't think your dumb ass would be able to understand it. So you're either packing golden horseshoes covered in four leaf clovers up your ass, or someone's been sending you signals." He stepped over him, pinning him down with a foot and pulling an arm behind his back. "So here's what's going to happen; I'm going to twist and you have until something snaps to tell me who was helping you."
Phineas began applying pressure and Trevor screamed, unable to get free. The pressure only continued to mount, farther and farther his arm twisted. Everyone watched in fear, too scared shitless to do or even say anything. Another few seconds and the bone would break.
3…
2…
1…
"Vince, it's Vince!"
Phineas let go, leaving him crying on the ground with a bloody nose and cradling his near broken arm. Vince was easy to spot, all he had to do was look for the guy about to shit his pants and sputtering excuses. A hard punch had him joining Trevor on the ground. With that he walked back to the table and grabbed the ledger book.
"As owner of this operation, I declare all games Trevor Jiametie participated in to be void. His winnings are forfeit and shall be used to refund the appropriate players."
His speech finished, he walked back to the door where Buford and Baljeet were waiting.
He handed Baljeet the book. "Make sure everyone gets their money back, if even a single penny is missing you tell me."
"Y-yes, of course." Baljeet took it with trembling hands.
"Buford," he stood just a little straighter as Phineas turned to him, "Trevor is good, but I want you to take a few guys, I don't care who, and make sure Vince knows the consequences for cheating. If anyone asks, just say they picked a fight and got their asses kicked."
He opened the door.
"Oh, and go ahead and take home that extra five hundred. Not fair to make you guys do extra work and not reward you."