Alex Carter: A Red Band Society Fanfiction

Poker Night

An hour after Jordi and Alex got backed from their walk, Jordi sat at a table in the cafeteria, shuffling a deck of cards.

"How could you lie to us like that?" came Leo's voice.

Jordi sighed, but Leo wasn't finished. "I mean, especially after we let you into our little club."

"Yeah. I lied. So what? We all lie. You lie to get out of PT, Dash lies to score some pot, and Emma lies to stay skinny. At least I lied to save my own life." He gathered up the deck of cards, and angrily wheeled away. Leo and Dash just sat there, expressionless.

"Wow." came Alex's voice from behind the café counter.

"What're you doing over there?" Dash asked her the same time Leo asked.

"What?"

"I help out Ernie, the owner of the café." She gestured to the African American that stood behind the counter, preoccupied by scrubbing the counter. "He's an old friend, so I decided to help him out with his café."

Dash nodded. "Does it pay good?"

She laughed. "I don't get paid, Dash. I'm...volunteering. Besides, why would I need the money? I'll be dead soon." She said with a smile.

Dash and Leo stared at her in awe. Leave it to her to say the fearful truths so simply, fearlessly.

"And, I said wow, cuz of what happened between you guys and Jordi."

"Yeah, well, he did lie to us," Leo said, angry.

"But he did make a good point." Alex said, thinking.

"Don't you go falling for his 'my life is a sob story' problems!"

"I'm not. Look around us Leo. There's a lot of lives that are sob stories. I didn't fall for any of them!" Leo sat down at a table nearby wearily,put his crutches next to the table, and looked out the window.

Alex sighed. "Look. I'm just saying that he had a good point. But he did lie, and now he has to deal with the consequences along with his mother being here." Alex walked around the counter, whispered something to Ernie, who nodded, and then stood in front of them. "C'mon. Let's go find him."

They nodded, stood up, and took off after her.

They found Jordi in his room, a deck of cards splayed out on his bed. "What're you doing?" Alex asked. He looked up at her and smiled seeing who it was. But his smile faded when he saw who she'd brought.

"I'm getting ready to play poker with my mom."

"Well, you might be able to get a few more opponents if you set up by the café."

Jordi sighed. "True."

A few minutes later, Dash had agreed to play, and Leo and Alex sat and watched. The game was finished in a matter of minutes, with Jordi winning.

Dash stood, as Jordi smiled. "Whatever, man."

Leo stood up. "My turn."

The same thing happened. "Dang, how are you so good?"

Jordi just smiled, innocently.

"Jo-Jo?" Came Eva's voice from across the café. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, mama."

Alex left to go lay down, the chemo from the morning taking it's toll. Everyone else cleared out of the way, giving Jordi's mother the seat across from him. Eva sat down, smiling, and pulled a jumbo bag of jelly beans out of her bag. "For the game," she said, and divvied up the jelly beans accordingly.

After the cards were dealt, Jordi cleared his throat. "Do you mind rolling up your sleeves?" He said, coolly.

His mom stared at him and smiled. "Really? You don't trust me?" She rolled up her sleeves to her elbows.

Jordi nodded, and turned back to his cards. Emma came, to see what was going on. Kara dropped in, too. "Wow. Jordi's sister really knows how to handle a deck."

"That's his mother," Leo said, correcting her.

"Wow. Note to self: Ask her about her skin care regimen." Kara said, clearly impressed.

They laid down their cards, the game beginning.

"You sure, Jo-Jo?" Jordi's mother asked, questioning his move.

"Just hit me, mom."

The game moved on, and nobody who was watching knew poker well enough to tell which one of the experts was winning or losing.

"I raise you five," Jordi said, sliding the jelly beans forward.

"Careful," his mother said, smiling, "You're biting your lip." Jordi quickly returned to his straight face, caught. "I'm all in," she said, confidently, either because of Jordi's bluff, or because she had a good hand, no one was sure.

Just then, Alex came back, to catch the end of the game. She took in the situation, and realized the game could either end very quickly, or get even more interesting. Jordi looked at his mother, and said, " I fold."

Everyone shifted, uncomfortably. They'd been counting on Jordi. Alex looked confused.

"It was that lip," Eva said, smiling.

"Good game, mom," Jordi said, disappointed.

She smiled at her son. "Thank you." She turned to the audience. "Anyone else want to play?" she asked, jokingly. Only a fool would cross her after that eventful game.

"I will," Alex said, casually.

"Uh," Leo said, "You didn't see the game, but I wouldn't play her."

Eva smiled, smug.

"Yeah, well, I want those jelly beans."

She turned to face Jordi's mother, pulled up a chair, and sat down.

"I'm in."

Eva smiled. "Okay,"

"Alex, I wouldn't," Jordi said, warningly.

"It's okay, Jo-Jo. She wants to." His mom said, smile sly.

The cards were dealt, and the audience could see that Alex had no idea what she was getting into. Suddenly, during the rounds of betting, she turned very aggressive, throwing Eva off. However, she quickly recovered, and bet higher. They both kept raising the other's bet, and by the end, no one knew what had happened. Eva smiled, smugly, and Alex's face was impassive. Eva put down a straight flush, of: 4,5,6,7,and 8, all in hearts. Alex, smiled, sadly, and said, "Wow. They're right. You are good," But then, her smile turned smug, "You're just not good enough." She put down her cards. Eva's face dropped. Alex had a straight flush, of: 10, J, Q, K, and A. Eva was beat.

Alex gathered up all the jelly beans into a bowl, said, "That was fun," and walked away.