An Anecdote

This is an excerpt from something that I have been working on. It is a dialogue between two men.

"I used to have this friend.  I don’t know how good of a friend he was, but he was a great guy.  Super nice.  He was really involved with this church.“

"Church-goer, huh?“

"Eh.  Maybe not what you think.  This was one of those non-denominational churches where they don’t look down on you if you bring your latte to the service.  They’d have a rock-group that played worship music, and they’d do some reflection on scripture.  It was one of the churches you’d find on college campuses.  I went with a girl once 'cause she was in to it.“

"That seem like a long way to go for a girl?  A church girl?“

"This was no girl.  She was all woman.  There’s no telling what else I would’ve done.“

"Sounds like some piece.“

"You should’ve seen her.  Brick house.  Back for days, big eyes, and these pouty lips.“ 

"So did it work?  You hit it?“

"No.  She was a marlin.“

"A marlin?“

"Yeah.  Real tough to reel in.  After a while she could see that I wasn’t interested in being converted.  She wasn’t going to let me into her pants, so I started chasing other tail.  Anyway, what were we talking about?“

"Some guy you knew in college.“
"Right.  So this guy I knew was really involved in this church, and he invited me to come play cards.  Poker with some of the guys in his church group.  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m down with Jesus, but I’m more down with cards.  Being on my own, no responsibilities other than homework, so why not?“

"Did you clean ‚em out?“

"No.“ 

"No?  Come on, man.“

"There was no money involved.  Either way, I thought I’d get some practice reading people, maybe get some spiritual guidance along the way.“

"So these guys didn’t play for money?“

"No.  Just guys playin‘ cards.“

"Really?  That changes the game.  Guys get a little reckless when they have nothing to lose.“

"Yeah, but it’s still value-added.  Guys play with their egos, which is much more to lose than a few duckets.  The thing is, no one wants to fold.  And they hang on too long.  Everyone wants to at least see the flop, so there’s a lot of betting.  Even though there’s no money, you still get the chance to analyze a number of betting styles at once.“

"Fair point.  So, what happened.“

"Well, there was this kid in the group.  He was the first guy Toby introduced me to when I got to his dorm.“

"Toby was your friend.“
"Yeah.  Anyway, this kid was scrawny, had thick glasses, and a scar on his upper lip.  Clearly had surgery to repair a cleft palette.  Like, when he was born with it.  Come to find out, he was the lead guitar player in the church band, so I was like, 'hey, man, you play? that’s cool, what are you in to?'  Turns out he was in to metal, prog-rock, stuff like that.“
"Haha, really?  Like what?“

"Ah, you know, Metallica, Dream Theater.  Bands like that.  Anyway, I was trying to be nice to this kid, but when we started playing cards, he turned in to a total jerk.  Totally started to grate on my nerves.“

"Yeah?  What did he do?“

"Whenever he would raise a bet, he would say ‚I call that.‘  So, I corrected him.  I was super polite about it, too.  I just let him know after the hand what it meant to call.  So, he acknowledged that he understood, but he kept on doing it.  I totally lost my cool at the table, got stupid and lost my stack.“

"That’s it?  You lost it over that?“

"It sounds like nothing, but it pissed me off.  I was brought in to play with some Christ-loving young dudes, casual game of cards.  I was very cordial with this dude, and he punked out on me.  I knew he was messing with me, and I couldn’t handle it.“

"He totally played you.“

"Yes. He did.  What’s worse was that Toby saw it happening.  He even admitted the next day that his buddy was messing with me on purpose.  I promised myself that would be the last time I’d lost myself at the table.  But that’s not the point of the story.  The point is, I was super nice to this kid, and he walked all over me.  Deliberately.  At a church-group function.  Not the best advertisement for your church.“

"Yeah, you were nice to him, but you judged him.“

"I beg to differ.  This kid was your typical social outcast.  I treated him with respect.“

"Maybe, but how do you know it wasn’t pity?  I mean, maybe he read you, knew you weren’t interested in the commradery or the church, just the cards.“

"Either way, my intentions were pure.“

"Yeah, but that was for you.  Not for him."

Drake paused for a long time, pondering this, knowing that Anthony was right. 

"Perhaps,“ he said.

"How’d this kid do, anyway? „

"I don’t know.  I can’t remember.  Heads up.  Here comes our guy.“