Chapter 12 Arnie joins the game

Fifteen minutes into the game every one of the women had swallowed a pill and downed at least one glass of wine. Not to mention Sylvie’s magic brownies. It didn’t have a noticeable effect on any of them.

“I see your one and raise you two,” Mae said.

Sylvie called Mae’s bet.

“Kaulana,” Francesca said. “It eez your bet.”

“I fold,” Kaulana said.

“Why are you folding before you take any cards?” Tiare asked her.

“Because I know I’m gonna lose this hand,” Kaulana said with a glance at Sylvie. “Why should I give away more of my pills on a losing hand?”

“You don’t know that,” Coralee said. “Sylvie could be bluffing.”

Kaulana shook her head and lay down her cards. Everyone else called Sylvie’s bet.

“How many cards, Tiare?” Francesca asked.

“Two.”

“Vee-oh-lette?”

“Give me three.”

Coralee took three cards.

I took three and ended up with a pair of sevens.

Mae took one, Sylvie took two, and Francesca took three.

It was Tiare’s bet. She pushed a white caplet into the center. “One Ambien.”

Violet and Coralee called. I folded. Sylvie saw the bet and raised her two more. Violet and Coralee folded. Francesca and Tiare saw the bet. They showed their cards. Tiare had three Jacks. Francesca had a pair of sixes and a pair of queens.

Sylvie revealed a pair of aces. “I win!”

“No, Sylvie,” Tiare said, scraping the pile of pills to her side of the table. “Three of a kind beats a pair.”

“But—no fair!”

Tiare was already dealing the next hand.

“Deal me in,” came a man’s voice behind me.

The women all smiled at Arnie as he settled across from me in the only empty chair—presumably Pearl’s place at the table.

His gaze locked on me as he scooted the chair in and set a cut crystal glass of amber liquid on the table. “You girls’ve been holding out on me. Who’s the new hottie?”

Smiles dropped. The women stabbed me with lethal stares.

Kaulana finally spoke. “Arnie, you remember Lillian.”

Arnie shook his head. “Can’t say I do. I’d never forget a face like this.” He winked at me, leaned back in his chair, took a swig of his drink.

Violet was the first to recover, plastering a fake smile across her face. “Arnie, let me fill a plate for you,” she drawled in a syrupy southern accent. She scurried to the bar, drawing glares from the other women.

“What’s the ante?” Arnie asked.

Tiare said, “One regular strength pill.”

“Sorry, no pills for me.” He tapped his forehead. “Gotta keep the ol’ mind sharp.” He took out his wallet and threw a ten dollar bill into the center of the table.

Violet returned with a plate of food for Arnie while Sylvie dealt.

“What are those little red pills?” Arnie asked.

“Lillian brought stool softeners,” Mae volunteered.

Arnie gave me a grin, then picked up his cards and studied them. He kept up a good poker face. He played conservatively, winning some hands, folding on others.

Between hands, Francesca stood. “I go bazzroom.”

By the time she returned, we’d built up a good-sized pot. Instead of taking her seat, she moved in behind Arnie, leaning over him to study his cards. With one deft move, her hands were on his shoulders, kneading them with strong fingers.

Arnie froze, his eyes growing wide.

A minute passed, maybe two, while Francesca massaged Arnie’s muscles, ignoring seething glares from Violet, Tiare, Kaulana, and Sylvie. I sensed Coralee and Mae bristling on either side of me.

Arnie snapped out of his shock and lay down his cards. “I’m out.” He ducked under Francesca’s arm, out of her grip. He pocked his cash, left the pills he’d won on the table. Glass in hand, he hurried out the door and disappeared into the night.

Francesca took her seat.

“What’d you do that for, Francesca?” Coralee demanded.

“We were enjoying his company,” Violet said, her southern accent gone.

““Belief me what I say. He like it,” Francesca said with a knowing smile.

“C’mon, everybody ante,” Tiare said. “Deal the cards, Coralee.”

While Coralee dealt, I covered a big yawn. I was down to my last four stool softeners, but had a collection of drugs that would fetch a decent price on the street if I ever decided to sell them. “After this hand I’m gonna to have to call it a night,” I said.

“You can’t leave now,” Violet said. “You need to give us a chance to win back what we lost.”

That was precisely my plan. Hopefully I could lose the whole lot of pills in the next hand. I checked the time on my phone. A little after ten. “Okay, ladies. This is your chance. It’s way past my bedtime.” I had a pair of eights, a pair of aces, and a three. “I bet three,” I said, selecting a brown thirty milligram Oxycontin and adding it to the pot.

“She’s bluffing,” Mae said. “I see your three and raise you one.”

Tiare, Kaulana, and Sylvie folded. Francesca, Mae, Violet, Coralee, and I saw Mae’s bet.

I lay my three face-down. “I’ll take one card.”

I took a peek at the card Coralee dealt me. An eight. My competitive side—the part of me that loves to win—kicked in. I held back a grin and tried not to yell hoo boy!

“Give me three cards,” Mae said.

Francesca knuckled the table. She was standing pat. Either she had a made hand or she was bluffing.

It was my bet. I pushed four random pills into the pot. “Four.”

“I vill see your four und raise you one Adderall,” Francesca said, adding her pills to the pile. Her pale blue eyes bored into me.

Violet saw the bet, but looked worried.

Coralee lay her cards down. “Too rich for my blood.”

“I’ll see your Ambien and raise you three stool softeners.” I said.

Francesca and I eyed each other. What she didn’t know was that I planned to lose as many pills to her as I could. “I see your stool softeners und raise you four.”

I was falling asleep. It was time to end this. “I call.”

Francesca had a pair of jacks and a pair of sixes. 

Oops. “Full house,” I whispered.

The others watched me rake the pile of drugs across the table and plunk them into my pill bottle. I shoved the rest into my pocket and stood. “I’m sorry but I really have to leave.”

“Next time,” Tiare warned, “we’re going to win those back from you.”

I was barely out the door when I heard Tiare hiss, “Follow her. See where she goes.”

Footsteps echoed behind me. I pivoted. Kaulana stood on the walkway, holding the remaining half of her Bundt cake. “Lillian,” she said. “Please take this with you. We won’t finish it.”

“Oh, thank you. Mahalo. That’s sweet of you.” I took the cake from her and headed home on wobbly legs.

After unlocking the door, I chanced a look back at the clubhouse. Kaulana stood at the entrance, watching me. I gave her a nod, went into my condo, and closed the door behind me.

Why had Tiare sent Kaulana after me? Where did she think I be headed to?