SYMBIOTIC

"I'm calling you out! Ya damn cheater!" the man yelled as he pushed away from the table, dramatically allowing his chair to crash to the floor. The man was red-faced, his eyes blazing as he tried to draw himself up as tall as possible with his hand hovering over his holstered gun. The other players scattered, but looked longingly at their winnings, hoping the altercation would end peaceably and quickly. Obviously the man had no idea who he was threatening.

Hannibal Heyes sighed. He couldn't count the number of times he had been accused of cheating by bad poker players. Guess their arrogance wouldn't allow them to accept the fact that they were just bad players and had to blame someone else rather than accept responsibility for their lack of ability.

Heyes thought about standing up but decided to remain seated so as not to escalate the situation. He already felt Kid Curry move protectively behind him. He knew he couldn't be predictable, and as in cards he needed to calculate and recalculate his odds. Kid standing behind him and ready to cover his back were damn good odds that he would take every time.

"Having this hired gun makes me think my reasoning is sound." The man concluded.

Heyes paused and turned his head to the side, keeping an eye on the irate poker player, "You a hired gun?" he asked Kid, over his shoulder.

"Hired? Me?" Kid said, cocking two thumbs at himself with an overexaggerated look of confusion on his face. "Hired implies some kind of payment and I don't recall you ever paying me anything. But being my cousin, if I were, I'd feel right bad about charging you" Kid addressed the man, "The war took all my kin but my cousin here", Kid said nodding his head towards Heyes "I guess you could say I'm trying to preserve what's left of our family tree."

Dropping his right hand, Kid slowly flicked the leather guard off the trigger of his gun with his thumb.

"I don't give a damn if he is kin. He is a damn cheat and I don't mind ending your pitiful excuse for a family right here. What name ya want me to put on the tombstone?

"Heyes and I don't mean like the town in Kansas. Anyone ever tell you, you are a bad poker player?"

The man was instantly insulted and puffed up in indignation.

"Says you! A cheating…"

Heyes held his hand up, stopping the man from continuing his tirade. Heyes was tired of hearing the word cheat. And if there was anything Heyes hated more, it was stupid. All he wanted to do was to get back to an amicable and profitable game of poker the quickest route possible.

"Let's look at this last hand you played," Heyes took the voice of a teacher with more than a tinge of annoyance, "You have to admit you were drawing mighty thin. Your odds of getting the cards you needed on this straight were not only bad but damn near impossible." Heyes motioned to a hand on the table, "His nine was turned up for all to see. You know I had the other nine...so your odds were just cut in half. Add in the odds of drawing it from all those other cards. That's not smart poker, that's just...well dumb."

Kid and the other players were nodding their heads in agreement.

"Now if you think your odds are better going against Kid..."

The man blinked. "He your kid brother?"

How can a man play poker with such a poor memory Heyes wondered.

"Didn't we just have this conversation about him being my cousin?"

"But you called him...Kid"

"I did."

"So is he your kid brother or cousin? Seems like you can't keep your stories straight which proves besides a cheat you're a damn liar."

"You need to go back to them smaller games where the losin ain't so painful and deep thinking ain't a necessity. I'm going to make this easier on you...What name do you want on your tombstone...besides being a bad poker player and your earthly demise due to one well placed bullet from Jedidiah Kid Curry's gun."

"Kid…", the man gulped and his face paled, "Curry?!"

"Actually I think it would be a charitable act being this world don't need more feeble minded folks bearing…"

"TheKid Curry?!"

Exasperated, Heyes said, "YES!" He turned his head towards Kid and shook his head in disbelief.

"It's all about odds. See these men figured out early on who we was. And even knowing how much money was on our heads they understood the odds of staying alive over some spending money."

The other players vigorously shook their heads in agreement. Heyes saw the man's hand slowly fall away from his gun, as he backed towards the door.

"See you're not as dumb as you look. You're getting the hang of understanding the odds. And the odds were...you were going to die iffing you pulled out your gun or iffing I got tired of you calling me a cheat one more time"

The man continued his retreat to the door. "I hope you will accept my apology."

Heyes pursed his lips together as if deep in thought. Finally he said "I will, if you buy a round for the house. My throat got a might dry trying to save your life." Heyes gave the man a serious stare, " And don't think I didn't save your life...So it seems fair," his voice brightened.

The man quickly nodded his head as he fumbled in his pocket for his money.

"Now don't be a stingy ol' thing...after all it was your life, so I expect you to be generous."

The man nodded and emptied his pockets as he threw the money on the bar and backed out the door, fleeing into the night.

The other players quickly returned to their seats around the poker table as the bartender set glasses and a couple bottles of his finest whiskey down. After filling each glass with a generous amount, Heyes raised his glass in a toast, "The beautiful thing about poker is that everyone thinks they can play."

"Amen to that." The men said in unison.

Heyes turned to Kid, touched his glass with a nod and a grateful smile.

Partners.

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