"Mercy"

A friendly game of dealer's choice poker turns into a game of survival...a game of Mercy!

“Mercy”

By Cody Williams

 

1.

            Jake Dawson let his feet down off of the footrest of his Lazy Boy recliner as he heard the sound of the doorbell ring and stood up from it. He took the cigar out of his mouth placed it into the ashtray for a moment. The doorbell rang again. He then pulled up his dark blue jeans that were beginning to fall down and he began to roll up the sleeves of his button up flannel shirt.

            “Coming!” he shouted as he began to make his way to the front door. When he reached the door he turned back to face his wife, Courtney, who was in the kitchen. “Hey honey, the fellas are here! Do you have all of our needs ready?” Jake asked her.

            “Yes honey!” She declared as she placed a big bowl of potato chips in the center of the table and French onion dip in a small glass bowl beside of it. Jake smiled and then turned back to face the front door. He reached out, turned the doorknob, and opened the door.

            “Hey!” Two men that were standing on the front porch said as the three of them exchange handshakes and hugs. Rufus Romero was one of them. Jake and Rufus have been best friends for as long as the two of them could remember. He walked in carrying case of beer under his arm. Rufus was about six feet tall and was slight overweight. He was wearing a pair of light blue jeans, cowboy boots, a button up flannel shirt, and a camouflage ball cap to top it all off. Jake pointed towards the kitchen and Rufus and began walking towards it.

            Next to come in was Hugh Sharp. Jake didn’t know Hugh as long as he knew Rufus, but the three of them are often called the Three Musketeers. Hugh, who also was carrying a case of beer, reached out and hugged Jake. Hugh and Jake met on the construction site where Jake is head supervisor. They quickly became good friends. Hugh had an average build and was five feet and eleven inches tall.

            “Nice to see you buddy! How’s everything?” Jake asked him. Hugh pulled back and smiled at him.

            “Everything’s great Jake!” Hugh replied. It was the weekly Friday night poker game that Jake hosted every week. It was the only thing Jake really had to look forward to all week. A friendly poker game with his two best buds. That’s what all men like I suppose. But then he realized they weren’t alone. Behind Hugh was another man. Hugh turned to his side to acknowledge the man.  The man was nicely dressed as he was wearing a button up dress shirt, a black tie, and a gray suite.

“Jake this is Evan Stokes. He just moved in next door to me and I thought I could treat him to a poker game. I hope that’s alright.” Hugh said. Jake smiled at him.

            “Of course it’s alright! The more of you losers who play, the more money I make!” Jake said in his typically joking tone and the men began to laugh…except for Evan. The laughter died down and Evan stared at him. “Hey Evan, why don’t you take off your coat and hang it here on the coat rack?” Jake suggested. Evan put up his hands and shook his head.

            “No! That’s okay! I’ll just wear it.” Evan insisted with a sneaky rat like voice. Jake looked at him surprised for a moment and then smiled.

            “Suit yourself!” Jake said as he closed the front door and led Hugh and Evan into the kitchen. “Alright ladies, gather around the table! It’s dealer’s choice!” Jake declared. Each man sat down forming a circle around the table

 

2.

            Jake reached into his shirt pocket pulling out a deck of Bicycle playing cards and opened them. He took the cards out of the box and began to shuffle them in his hands. He bit his lip as he looked around the table at everyone. He looked at his two friends who he knew all too well.

            This game is going to be a piece of cake! I know all of these losers tail! Jake thought to himself all so cleverly. Then he looked over to Evan who was sitting in between him and Hugh. There was something different about him…and Jake sensed it. Evan glared at him with a gray blank expression. He looked lifeless to some extent. There was something not right about him. Jake knew this. Just looking at him was like staring into an abyss. He also knew he would be a hard one to beat. He has no poker face. Jake knocked the deck of cards against the tabletop.

            “I’ll deal first!” Jake said. “The name of the game is 2-7 Low Ball!” He declared. He dealt the group five cards and the placed the deck at the center of the table. Each man looked around at one another and then backs to their hands. Jake took two cards from his hand and discarded them beside the deck. He then got two new cards from the deck and placed them with his hand. He looked over to his right where Rufus was sitting. Rufus bit his lip and took three cards from his hand and placed them face down on the table. He picked up three more cards from the deck and put them with his hand. Next up was Hugh.

            “S**t! I ain't got nothin’!” Hugh declared as he laid down all five of his cards and drew five new ones from the deck. The three men then looked over to Evan. They stared at him for a moment before he finally opened his mouth.

            “I’ll stay where I’m at!” Evan said with as much emotion as he possibly could. Jake reached out and laid down a poker chip.

            “I call!” He declared.

            “I see your five dollars and raise you ten!” Rufus said.

            “I call!” Hugh stated. The three men looked over to Evan again.

            “I see your ten and raise you twenty!” Evan said softly. The men looked around at each other shocked. Jake laid down his hand revealing 2, 6, 8, 10, & a Jack. Rufus got a big smile on his face. He laid down his cards revealing 2, 3,9, and a Jack. Rufus grew a big smile on his face knowing that not many people could have a better hand than him. Then the attention turned to Hugh.

            “F**k! I got nothing,” Hugh shouted as he threw down his Ace, two 10s and a Queen. Then the men looked over to Evan. He thought for a moment and then laid down his cards revealing 2, 3, 4, J.

            “Flush!” Evan said with a strange smile. Evan reached across the table and racked in all of the poker chips. The men stared at him at awe then Rufus began to collect the cards again for the second hand.

 

3.

            Rufus collected all the cards and put them in the deck. He began to shuffle. When he got done shuffling, he dealt two cards to each of the four men. He tapped the cards on the counter top to line them up. Jake reached back into his shirt pocket and pulled out four cigars and passed them around to table. He reached back into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. He lit all of the cigars. Rufus pulled the cigar out of his mouth blowing out smoke.

            “The name of the game is Black Jack!” Rufus declared. He looked down at his two cards and then decided that he would stay. Rufus looked over to Hugh and waited for him to say something. Hugh looked at his cards for a moment and pondered.

            “Hit me!” He said after thinking for about two minuets. Rufus reached over and handed him a card. Hugh grabbed it and looked at it.

            “Hit me!” He said again. Rufus then reached back over and gave him another card.

            “S**t! I busted!” Hugh told him as he threw his cards on the counter top. They all looked over to Evan.

            “Oh, I’ll stay!” He said. The men then turned their attention to Jake. He bit his lip and though for a moment.

            “Hit me!” he said. Rufus handed him a card. “Okay, I’ll stay!” Jake said.

            “Okay ladies! Place your bets!” Rufus said as the men began to slide their poker chips towards the center of the table. “Why don’t you go first Jake!” Rufus insisted. Jake laid the cards down revealing a 5, a 6, and a 9.

            “Twenty! Read ‘em and weep boys!” Jake said proudly. A smirk came across Rufus’ face and he laid down his cards, a Jack and a ten.

            “Twenty for me too!” Rufus said with pride. The men then turned to watch Evan. He still had the same blank expression on his face and the same creepy way about him. He laid down his two cards revealing an Ace and a King.

            “Twenty-one!” Evan said with the same wicked smirk from before. He reached out and grabbed his winnings and raked them towards himself while the three men stared at him with disbelief. Evan noticed this and smiled at them. “What do you know? I’m feeling lucky!” Evan said and the men continued to stare at him. Hugh then snapped himself out of it and began to collect the cards. It was his turn to deal.

 

4.

            Hugh began to shuffle the cards while he thought long and hard about the game they should choose. He then dealt out seven cards to each player and placed the remainder of the deck while flipping the top card over.

            “The name of the game is…Rummy!” Hugh declared. Jake and Rufus sighed and placed their hands over their face.

            ‘Rummy? That’s an old ladies game!” Jake shouted out with disbelief.

            “Yeah! It’s the game of p*****s!” Rufus said.

            “Hey, it’s dealer’s choice! What I say goes!” Hugh said.

            “But I don’t even know how we are going to bet in a game of Rummy!” Jake said.

            “Whatever point’s you are caught with, that’s how much money you give the winner!” Hugh explained. The men nodded and began to look at their cards. “Why don’t you go first Evan!”? Hugh insisted. Evan imminently laid down three 6s and three 4s. He drew a card from the center of the deck, it was a four. He laid down the four with the rest of them and discarded the last card.

            “I’m out!” Evan said with pride as the other men began to groan and complain. Evan reached out to collect his winnings when Rufus pulled Jake and Hugh in.

            “Okay, who the hell is this guy? Hugh! You brought him! Who the hell is he?” Jake asked.

            “I don’t know, but he’s the luckiest son of a b***h I’ve ever seen!” Hugh said.

            “I can hear you gentlemen! And I believe it is my turn.” Evan said in a snotty way. The men went back to their seats and looked at him. He grabbed the cards that he had already shuffled and began to deal each man five cards. He then took the remainder of the cards and placed them beside his hand.

 

5.

            “The name of the game is Mercy!” Evan told them. They all looked around at each other confused and then looked at Evan.

            “What the hell is Mercy?” Jake asked him. Evan grinned his signature wicked smile and glared at him.

            “It’s a form of poker! We play it quite often where I’m from!” Evan said.

            “And where is that?” Jake asked.

            “Let’s just say…it’s a bit south of here.” Evan told them.

            “Well, how do we play?” Jake asked him.

            “It’s easy! The three cards you need to have are three sixes. If you have three sixes, they your are already on your way to winning!” Evan said.

            “But what are the value of other cards?” Jake asked.

            ‘Does it matter? We go for sixes. If you get sevens you automatically lose.” Evan said.

            “Why?” Jake asked curiously.

            “Let’s just say that the number 7 and me don’t get along that great!” Evan told them. They glared at him for a moment and then picked up their cards. Each man got a huge grin on their face and shoved all of their money into the pot.

            “All in!” They said in unison as they laid their cards down. Revealing that they all had three sixes, an eight, and a five. The men looked at each other confused.

            “What? How is that possible?” Jake asked with wonder as he looked up from the table at Evan.

            “Umm…Jake!” Rufus said as he pointed down at the cards. They were no longer the same cards. Instead they were all now Jokers. But not just jokers. They all contained pictures of Evan with long red horns growing from his head. They all looked up at Jake who now had horns sprouting from his head. They gasped.

            “Mercy is the game of sin. Gambling is an evil thing gentleman! It’s risky business! And by betting all in you bet me your souls!” Evan declared. He stood from the table. He was now wearing a long black cloak and he pointed towards the floor. A dark red funnel shape began to form on the floor and lightning bolts shout out of it. Evan turned towards the three men and motioned for them to follow. The men screamed in fear.

Copyright 2014 by Cody Williams

Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

I wanted to write a story about guys and male bonding. So I began to think of poker and a life or death, all or nothing type game. I called it Mercy. I hope you guys enjoy it! I loved writing it! Comments are always welcome! Thanks for reading!

-CW

Reviews

[Dayran]

Randomness in life is not something we can replace ... but we take some initiatives to keep it in check when facing situations ... that appeal for mercy and perhaps some help. We don't always say it depends on the cards you're dealt. In that ... man alters the behavior of the random in the interest of human welfare. Well presented in story.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW

[Marie]

I first suspected Evan when he won every game. At the last game, mercy, I realized what three sixes mean...
So Evan won everything he could...including sould tht were probably innocent--just stupic...

[Cody Williams]

That's right Marie! Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Angel]

I saw that one coming...
You're getting better with the mechanics, I am happy to see. The only error that stood out to my eyes was where you told us about Evan's grey "suite". You meant to say "suit"...a "suite" is what you stay in in a hotel...and it is pronounced "sweet". One of those confusing spelling things...
It's not a bad story, for those who like poker, I suppose. Of course, being a girl, I'm not much into "male bonding"...but all the same, it is a good story.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Angel!

-CW

[Jackson H. Harley]

Great story, interesting plot and nice detail on characters, awesome write :)

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Jackson!

-CW

[Michael Stevens]

I think that guy played in one of our friendly poker games, although after about 10 beers, I can't quite remember! A fine story!

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Michael!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

“Mercy is the game of sin. Gambling is an evil thing gentleman! It’s risky business! And by betting all in you bet me your souls!”
Now that is what I'm talking about. Summed up marvelously. A wonderful story with male bonding and sharing ideas as well as beliefs...Bravo.................

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading Sami!

-CW

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:).......................

[AYVID N]

Very well drafted...Very much enjoyed!

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Lyn Anderson]

A nice twisted little tale - screamed IN fear maybe? There is a tense switch I noticed when Hugh first comes on the scene.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading KL!

-CW