Real Magic Read Free

inflicted. While losing all their money didn't sit well with Duncan, losing his life sat worse.
    The Boss leaned forward. "Having trouble? Relax. We're all friends here. I mean, my boys wouldn't have invited you in to play unless they knew it was all good. It's not as if Dmitri took a look at that walking stick called Pancake and thought he'd be an easy target. Right, Dmitri?" Dmitri suddenly found something interesting to look at out the window. "So, there's no pressure. Just a friendly game. Bet, don't bet. It doesn't matter. It's all for fun."
    Duncan bet. More than he should have, but he knew he could back off later. A sliver inside him considered taking the Boss for all the money just to show up the bully, but as Pancake raised the bet, Duncan's sensibilities returned. Getting one up on a guy in organized crime was a fast way to die. If he played this right, he'd save Pancake's butt once again. Then when they got back to the apartment, he'd kick it all over the place.
    Muscles and Dmitri folded but Peyter called. The Boss raised again and so did Pancake, but it finally worked around with everyone calling. They drew one round of cards, and when Duncan's turn came, he asked for three cards.
    Though Pancake had missed or ignored Duncan's other signals, he couldn't mistake this one. Duncan had broken up his three-of-a-kind and Pancake should know that he had canceled the cheat. But when Duncan turned up his new cards, he found the fourth ace to be among them.
    The betting started with Peyter. He folded fast. The Boss tossed in a hundred dollars and Duncan had to call it. If he folded too early, Pancake would also fold since he knew he couldn't beat the Boss's three jacks. Duncan had to keep Pancake in for the whole bankroll. At least he had greed on his side. It had blinded Pancake into this situation, and if Duncan's plan worked, it would blind Pancake right out of it.
    The Boss raised, Duncan called, Pancake raised. They locked into this pattern and the pot grew richer with every pass.
    The Boss chuckled. "I like this guy," he said, pointing to Pancake. "He's crazy. Keeps raising and raising. I mean, look there, he's barely got anything left. That's America right there. All out. No holding back. Things look tough, what do you do? You double down. Am I right?" Dmitri and Muscles nodded. "I like you, Pancake. But I ain't going to go soft on you either. That would be an insult to you and to this incredible country." The Boss put in a final raise of one hundred dollars — large enough to commit the rest of Pancake's money.
    Duncan had about twenty dollars left. Though he put on a show of looking disappointed, he happily folded. He slid his cards in amongst the other folded cards, hopefully mixing them enough to hide his three aces.
    "What are you doing? You're folding?" Pancake asked. "After all this?"
    "I don't have enough to bet," Duncan said.
    "You should've asked me. I could've loaned you the money."
    The Boss sneered at Pancake. "Hey, stop worrying about your lover and get on with this. There's a lot of money on this table."
    For a second, Duncan feared Pancake would fold. The way the Boss eyed him, such an action would have screamed out that he had been cheating and something went wrong. After all the betting and raising, Pancake had no choice but to play on. Tight-faced and tight-lipped, he tossed the rest of his money in, his eyes locked on Duncan.
    As the hands were revealed, the Boss and his men laughed up the win. Duncan smiled and stood. "Well, it's been fun. Wish I had more to show for it, though."
    Peyter said, "You had a good run for a while, but nobody can beat the Boss. He's too good."
    "Maybe next time," Duncan said, inching towards the door.
    "Don't leave. We got beer, we got girls, maybe a little pot, a little coke. How about it? Besides, the Boss won. Let's have a party."
    Pancake perked up and leered at the girls. Duncan grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the door. "Thanks for the offer, but we've