It's the summer of my senior year in college. My name is Ricky and I share an apartment with my best friend Eric and he's a sophomore. Although he's a young man, he's very naΓ―ve. We are only an hour away from home so our friends from home come down for the weekend at least once or twice a month. We all love to play poker, except Eric, so we play at least once a month when they come up. On the weekends we play, Eric goes home.
I've been dating Punkin for about a year now. She's also a sophomore but she lives on campus. Punkin and Eric don't really get along but they tolerate each other because of me. However, they do have one thing in common though, neither of them like when my friends from home come up to play poker. On the weekends we don't play, we all hang out together and have a good time.
It's Friday morning of poker weekend. I go into the kitchen to get breakfast and Punkin is cooking for Eric and I. We sit down to eat breakfast and it's quieter than normal. I know the usual poker party complaints are coming. Punkin says in a very sweet nonchalant tone, "Babe, is this poker weekend?"
Then Eric says, "Oh no, this is poker weekend, isn't it? I don't have money to go home this weekend. Can't you play next time?" See, I knew this was coming so I told the boys to come early so we could play and be done by midnight. This way, Punkin can come over after they leave. So I tell them my plan but Eric isn't happy.
The guys arrive around 8 pm, a lot later than expected and it's only 3 of the usual 5 guys. However, I didn't tell Punkin because I didn't want to hear her fuss. We get the game going and I'm on hot! I win 5 out of the first 6 hands but then I cool off and win only every 5 or 6 hands. The night is going well and we are having a great time! We are drinking shots and chasing with beer. We are all talking junk reminiscing on our high school football days. I look at the time and it's midnight. Eric is staying at a friend of ours and Punkin is minutes away. I try to find a way to wrap the party of but everyone is having such a good time and I'm getting hot again. I won the last 3 hands and I'm feeling good about my game! Then I hear keys in the door knob and I start to panic.