Bear:
Age 14 This Chapter
"Boy, it sure is hot out today," I say as I fan myself. We're in our current hangout spot, a treehouse closer to my house that we set up ourselves last week. Franklin agrees as we sit and roast. "How much longer until Fox and Goose get here?"
"Yo, sorry to keep you waiting," a familiar voice calls from the bottom of the ladder. I look outside to see Fox looking up and waiting down below. "Goose will be here later." He climbs up as I sit back down. "She told me to tell you that she's inviting Beaver since she's having a bit of a dispute with her parents right now."
"Gee, what could they be fighting about," Franklin asks in a bit of shock. "She's the smartest and most hardworking student I've seen and always does what she's told."
"Maybe she's had enough. Let's just hope they get here soon. It's real hot out." After a little while we hear a duet of cheerful voices singing from close by.
"I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's true. And I don't wanna spend my whole life just a-waiting for you." We look out to see both Beaver and Goose jamming out to their song on Gooses' mp3 player, each with a single earbud in. Goose is pulling a wagon with a cooler in it.
"Our saviors have arrived!" We quickly lower our cargo lift as they get closer.
"Thanks for lowering the cargo lift," Beaver tells us as Goose puts away her mp3 player. They put the cart on the platform and we lift it up as they climb up.
"What were you and your parents arguing about," I ask as they come into the place. She sighs as I pull out my two decks of cards from my bag.
"They want me to start focusing more on studies for college and less on spending time with friends. I study enough that I don't need to worry as much. I mean, yeah, school starts in September, but that doesn't mean I have to study like the fate of the world depends on it. So, what's the game this time? Bull Spit? Egyptian Rattlesnake?" I shake my head.
"Poker. I looked up the rules and jotted them all on a page in my notebook." She gets all giddy as I pull out my trusty notebook.
"If my parents knew I was playing poker, they wouldn't be too happy, so we have to keep this on the down low. Got it?" We all nod.
"About the soda you promised, Goose," Fox says all sly as he leans closer to her.
"Oh, thank you for reminding me." She goes over and opens the cooler, releasing a rush of chilled air from the ice inside. "They didn't have grape flavor, but they had vanilla and berry flavor. They were nearly picked clean at the store. Did you bring the poker chips, Fox?" He nods and pulls out a small wooden box from his bag.
"In here. My dad would be real unhappy if he found I had these. But he's gone outta town until later tonight, so we're free to play until then." He lightly tosses the box at me and heads over to the cooler, where he grabs a can of soda and chugs it. "Ah, vanilla soda really hits the spot on these hot summer days. Now, who's going to be the dealer for the first round?" We at least all know about the dealer rule.
"How about I do it since I have the rules?" They all nod in agreeance as Goose begins passing out drinks. "Alright, gather round and dealer Bear will dish out the cards." We all gather around as I begin dealing cards out on a mat we set out just for this occasion. "Three cards per player. After everyone bets, I flip a card that counts towards everyone's hands..." I rattle off the rules and then hand Fox the notebook and chips so he can divvy out the chips. We're only using a single deck per game, but switching each time to get things going faster. They're both already shuffled from the last time we played card games last Tuesday.
"These chips are super special to my dad, so we have to be extra careful with them or I don't think you'll see me until school starts." We all nod as he passes them out. "Alright, let's do this. Everyone put a chip with a one on it into the center for entry in the round." They all do it as I get two cards ready for my end of the deal.
"Alright, to my left is Franklin, so let's do this. Raise or fold? Max raise should be low to start to make sure we don't have anybody go out round one." He takes a moment to look at his cards.
"I'll raise three." He puts his three in the pot and it goes to Goose.
"I'll raise to five." She must have a pretty good hand. Next up is Beaver.
"I'll fold. I'm not too confident in my hand." That just leaves Fox.
"I'll call." He puts in five and I flip over one of my cards.
"King of diamonds. Still confident in your hands?"
"If I stayed in I would be. I wasn't expecting that."
"Luck of the draw. Raise or fold?"
"I'll fold." That leaves two players this round.
"I'll raise six." She must have a really good hand.
"And I'll raise seven." He's really confident as well. Either way I flip the other card.
"Four of clubs. Let's see the hands." Goose doesn't seem to thrilled about that card.
"You called my bluff well." She reveals only a five of spades, ace of hearts, and eight of clubs. Fox is boastful and showoff-ish about his hand as he reveals it.
"King of hearts, king of spades, and king of diamonds. My only bad card was that four of clubs." He takes the pot of twenty three as I take everyone's cards back and quickly shuffle them and the other deck.
"I should have done this before the first round, but thought it'd be random enough if I didn't." I then pass Franklin the deck we didn't use and he hands out the cards. We go round for round until I end up being the first one out. That takes a good few rounds since I'm getting pretty unlucky with my hands when I'm not the dealer.
"Alright, I gotta get back before my parents get too mad at me for leaving," Beaver says as she hands me her big stack of chips. She's got a slightly better poker face than the rest of us. After another swig to empty her soda, she heads down and out as we say our goodbyes. Our game then continues onward and I get a little luckier. Soon I hear Beatrice's voice from down the ladder as she begins to climb up.
"Bear, we need to help clean for our guests tomorrow," she calls to us. "It's time to go. You can see your friends another day." By the time she's finished her sentence, she's up in our spot.
"Alright, I'll see you guys later. The fun times have come to a temporary close." They all hand in their hands and we hand our chips in. I take my notebook and decks of cards and put them away in my bag and start heading down. That's after I grab one last berry soda...