“I am all in!” Asher proclaimed trying to hold back a smile.

“You’re finished! You know that right? Doesn’t matter how many times you go all in on a bluff, your luck is starting to look like a dry well in a desert ghost town,” said Isaiah, while he glanced at the two and eight in his hand, still debating over whether or not he wanted to place a bet.

“Can we finish the game already gentlemen? I was ready to go half an hour ago,” Micah said trying to sound bold yet coming off more sheepish than ever

“Yeah, I’d have to agree, this has got to be the longest poker night in years,” Amir stated softly, his voice trailed off once his sight settled in on the only empty chair at the table.

The others instantly directed their attention on the chair. they all gawked at the empty seat, a chair that hadn’t been vacant during a Saturday night poker game for close to three years. Still a shapely shadow sat there, a presence which was taking up space in their minds but also keeping that brown leather armchair cold. That damn chair was the only piece of furniture Tobias was willing to sit on during the group’s weekly poker game, wouldn’t even look at the cards if Isaiah stole the chair while he was in the bathroom or grabbing another beer. That was just the way Tobias was, just another one of those ticks he carried with him everywhere he went, like the way he switched the turn signal on and off three times while making a left hand turn only, never on a right turn. It was those little compulsions that stuck with the young men the most. They couldn’t quite remember all the details of his face but the way he passed out the cards, well that was burned into their memories for all time. The poker game never felt right again, even after the state police closed Tobias’s case, they could only sit through another two or three more games at most. Micah tried putting the armchair in a different room, hoping it might help, so they didn’t have to look at it after every hand. But it wasn’t enough, or maybe it was too much. They couldn’t focus on the game anymore, instead they sat there around the poker table all thinking about one of the last things Tobias said while they were all together.

“All we can do is try to live with the hand that god dealt us! NO more, no less.”

By C.L.Norby

From: United States