Chapter 16: A Gamble for His Future
Tonight was the night of the big game. Albert had counted his fifty dollars in cash at least five times and prepped his last hit of morphine. Now, all he needed was to make sure Willie would be at the saloon too. Catching the Oleson boy right as he walked out from the mercantile, Albert ran up to his friend and tried to pull him off to the side.
"What is it, Albert?" Willie asked in slight annoyance.
"I just need to talk to you about something. Come on." Albert dragged Willie behind the mercantile, away from anyone that may pass by. "I'm going to the Silver Coin tonight. Can you come?"
The other boy stepped back from Albert. After hearing about what had happened to Andy when his parents found out, Willie thought that the three of them were giving up their outings to the saloon. "I don't know, Albert. It's not really a good time. What if we get caught?"
Albert became instantly frustrated with his friend's hesitations. "Damn it, Willie! We're not gonna get caught! We've been sneaking out for months and haven't gotten caught."
"My sister knows!" Willie yelled out. "Nellie saw me going to the saloon one night and I promised her that I wouldn't go back or else she would tell our parents. Albert, I was going to tell my ma about Rachel soon and I don't want to get into any trouble that might ruin my chance at me being in a serious relationship with her."
Albert took a deep breath to calm himself. Things were just not going as smoothly as he would have liked them to. "Willie, you have my word: we are not going to get caught. I need you and Andy to have my back for this game. It's gonna be big."
"You seriously got Andy to come." Willie was shocked when Albert nodded his head to confirm the other boy's attendance. "How big of a game are we talking about?"
"More money on the table than I've seen in my entire life."
Willie knew better than to go along. He had a strong feeling in his gut that agreeing to this plan was wrong, maybe even dangerous. The first time they all went to the saloon, the three of them were just naive, stupid kids. But now they knew the worst parts about that kind of lifestyle. From the drinking and gambling to the hard drugs, all of it was bad. Willie knew better. "Fine. Only because you're my friend, but if things go bad-"
"Then you'll take it out on me." Albert cut Willie off. "Fine, but we won't get caught."
"You better hope so."
Time moved so slow for Albert the rest of that day. All he could think about was the pending game. Part of him wondered if he really had what it took to play with the big gamblers. But sure enough the darkness of the night had finally come and there was no more time for hesitations.
Now sitting up in the loft, Albert peered over to confirm that Carrie was asleep. Then, he held his head over the railing to see if his ma and pa were in bed as well. All seemed quiet in the little house. He was careful not to make a sound as he put his shoes back on and gathered a few things to bring to the saloon. When it finally came time for him to leave, Albert snuck down from the loft and made his way over to the door. He moved extremely slow as he opened the door, stepped outside and shut it closed behind him.
Albert dashed away from his home into the night, his heart feeling like it was already beating out of his chest. He knew that he needed to take his last hit of morphine, but wanted to stop by the Garvey's first to make sure Andy was not flaking on him. Just before Albert was able to go down the road to his friend's home, a voice caught him by surprise. "Albert."
"Who's that?" Albert stopped and looked around, realizing that his breath was already becoming hitched.
"It's just me." Andrew appeared from the darkness.
"Oh, Andy." The boy sighed. "Did you get the gun?"
"Yeah." Andrew pulled back his jacket to reveal he had a revolver tucked away. "You really think things might get that bad?"
"Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to people like this."
Andrew let out a laugh. "If you wanted to be safe, then we wouldn't be going to the saloon tonight."
"Whatever." Albert rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna take a hit before we head into town."
"Are you serious? You're planning on playing against big time gamblers high?"
"It's to keep my nerves down. Maybe you should try it some time."
"You know I never wanted that shit. I'm not even drinking tonight, if you really want me to be ready to shoot this thing."
Albert turned away from Andrew and took the morphine packet out of his pocket. He carefully unfolded the paper containing the powder and held it up to his mouth. He downed the last of the drug with ease, crumpled the paper in his hand and looked back at Andrew. "Let's go."
There was serious tension between the two boys as they walked into town. Albert immediately noticed Willie sitting on the steps of the mercantile and was happy that things seemed to be going the way he wanted them to.
"Hey, guys." Willie stood up when he saw them. "Listen after tonight, I'm never going to the saloon again."
Albert shook his head. "Whatever, Willie. Let's just get going."
It was turning out to be a busy night for the Silver Coin, if not the busiest there ever had been. Every seat at the bar and tables were taken, music was playing loud and the smell of beer was mixing in the air with thick cigar smoke. At the center of it all was a poker table with a group of well-dressed players stacking betting chips and dollar bills up high. Onlookers cheered and hollered when one player threw down a flush and snagged away the pot.
Mr. Edwards was part of the crowd that night. Knowing he would not be staying in Walnut Grove for much longer, he decided to spend one last night at the only oasis in this dry county. Edwards laughed and had just downed the last of his fourth drink when he looked across the room, shocked to see a set of familiar faces. Albert, with Andrew and Willie by his side, stood against the walls to watch the crowd of drunks stumble around. Edwards got a feeling that there was going to be trouble. Ever since he dropped the Garvey boy off at his home after Laura's wedding, he figured the boys should have learned to stay clear of places like this.
Edwards shoved his way through the crowd. "What are you three doin' here?"
"I'm here for the game." Albert stated bluntly. "You're not going to tell our parents about this."
"Damn it, Albert. This has gone too far. You and your friends better get out of here before you get into anymore trouble."
"Why the hell is everyone saying that we're going to get into trouble?" Albert lashed out at the man in annoyance. "You want to know how long we've been coming to this saloon without our parents knowing? Months, maybe almost a year! Want to know how much money I've won gambling? Hundreds of dollar! And I'm doubling that tonight once you get out of my way, Edwards."
Isaiah was shocked that Charles Ingalls' son would speak to him like that. "You're making the biggest mistake of your life, Albert."
Albert glared at Edwards and started to push by him. "Says the drunk whose wife divorced him."
But before Albert could make his way over to the poker table, a set of hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.
"What is wrong with you?" Andy yelled in frustration at his supposed friend.
"Albert, did you take any morphine tonight?" Willie asked, sticking an arm between Albert and Andrew after sensing the tension between them.
"Will the two of you shut the hell up!" Albert screamed back. "I know exactly what I'm doing. Now move!"
Albert pushed his friends away and started to make his way over to the poker game.
Before Andrew could go back after Albert, Willie grabbed his arm. "I don't have a good feeling about tonight, Andy."
"I don't either. He's gonna get us into serious trouble if he keeps this up." Andrew said. "If anything starts to go wrong, we're grabbing Albert and getting the hell out of here."
At the main poker table, Pierce, who had just delivered another round of shots for the men, spotted Albert appearing from the crowd. The bartender, with a smug grin on his face, made his way over to the boy. "I was afraid you weren't coming, Albert. Nice to see you decided to. We've got a good game going."
Albert nodded his head and let Pierce lead him over to the table where Albert finally got to see the guys he was squaring up against. Men with expensive looking suits, golden watches hanging from their pockets, brand name cigars in their hands and their noses turned up at the world. Looking at each of the men, one stood out as someone Albert remembered seeing before, but he could not place a name.
"We've got a new player here!" Pierced announced Albert and a chair was pulled up for him to take a seat at.
"This boy!" One of them snickered at Albert as he took his spot at the table. "You even know how to play cards?"
Now it was time for Albert to start his game. "I know the basic rules, but I figure I still have a lot to learn."
"I've heard talk that this kid is a good gambler." Another man added.
"I don't know how good I can be. I've only been playing for a few months."
Cards were distributed to the players and bets were thrown out. Albert kept a careful watch on the money he put down and if anyone was standing behind him. Just as always, he lost the first few hands on purpose. However this time, a nervousness was beginning to grow inside of him as he noted the amount of cash these men were throwing down. If he wanted to win this game, there was no way he could save any money. He needed to bet it all.
After a couple rounds, some of the men started throwing their hands up and leaving the table, but Albert stayed with it. And just like that, his luck was beginning to change. Albert was dealt cards he could work with, flushes, straights and three of a kinds. His first win was small, but it earned him a cheer from the crowd. The rush of excitement overtook Albert as the pot was slid over to him. Maybe that was the real reason why he continued to gamble.
"Looks like my luck really is starting to turn around." Albert smiled.
"Maybe it is." One of the men commented. "Pierce! Have another round of shots brought over."
Albert played another round with the men that were left, just as the bartender brought over glasses full of hard liquor. "Here you are, Mr. Brady."
Suddenly, Albert's mind flashed back to a time, three years ago now, when Charles paced around their home, yelling about how wrong it was that a Mr. Brady, some city slicker, could build a saloon in Walnut Grove. Was this truly the same man sitting across from him, the owner of the Silver Coin? A glass was placed down in front of Albert and he did not hesitate taking the drink.
Edwards, Willie and Andrew were carefully watching the game of cards unfold with the dozens of people gathered around the table. They all felt that something was off about this game, but there seemed to be no stopping Albert now. Andrew glanced over to Willie after seeing him pull something out of his pocket. "Willie, what're you doing?"
"It's chewing tobacco." Willie answered, tossing a wad of the stuff into his mouth. "You've got your booze, Albert's got his drugs and I've got this."
"Can I ask you boys something?" Edwards cut in after hearing what Willie had said. "Why did you start coming to this saloon? Guessing how each of you might have been raised, I'd think you would know better than to come to a place like this."
Andrew and Willie looked at each other, thinking back to that first time they all snuck out together. "I'd been watching men stumble out of this place for two years from my bedroom window. I just wanted to know what it was really like to experience a saloon and all it has to offer. Of course, now that I do know, I wished we would have stopped going as much as we did. Could have avoided this whole mess."
Andrew nodded his head in agreement with Willie. "I was tired of only being known as the good kid in town. Well, I got my wish...and lost my parents respect."
Back at the poker table, more of the men abandoned playing the game, but kept watching as there were now only two players left: Mr. Brady and Albert. The boy had won more money than what he came in with. He should have walked away, having enough to pay off Bret and buy another set of medical textbooks, but something was possessing Albert to keep on playing.
"I have to admit, Albert, you're a natural gambler." Brady commented with a smile, but Albert did not take it as a friendly gesture.
"I still haven't won yet."
"You're right. I'm still in the game." Brady reached down at the cigar he had been fiddling with since the games began and placed it back in his mouth. "How about we make things real interesting? I'll match all the money you've got and, if you can beat me in a single round, you'll get the whole pot and I'll throw in a nice bottle of whiskey as a thank you for being such a good opponent."
"You're serious?" Albert asked, immediately knowing that if he accepted this bet and lost, he would be left with absolutely nothing. But if he won, he would have the world. "What if I'm not a big whiskey drinker?"
The crowd surrounding them began to laugh.
"Well then." Brady smirked. "In that case, I'll throw down an extra twenty dollars to the pot, compliments of the house. Does that mean you accept my bet?"
Albert's mind was swirling out of control. He had enough money to make this trip out to the Silver Coin more than worth it, but, if he walked away from a chance to more than double what he had, he might just regret it for the rest of his life. Or, he could lose it all. Albert glanced over to Andrew and Willie, whose faces were telling him to take the money and run.
The young man's gaze then went back to Mr. Brady, sitting comfortably across the table with his lit cigar between his lips. Albert could barely read his stone cold expression, while he was certain Mr. Brady could read his face like a children's book. He could not remember a time he was this nervous...this terrified. One wrong move and Albert's life would be destroyed.
"I'll take your bet."
A hand of cards were dealt to the two players and the room went silent as onlookers stood on their toes to get the best view of the table.
"What's your move, Ingalls?"
Albert glanced down at his cards, for the first time feeling doubtful in his skills as a gambler and just as when this game was turning out to be the most high stakes gamble of his life.
"Three of a kind."
"Full house."
