It was a cool Saturday night. October had definitely arrived and the "trailer park boys" (as we called ourselves after the crazy Canadian comedy on Netflix) were seated around the small dining table in the dining area of Joe and Jill's new two bedroom, single wide mobile home.
If you're not familiar with mobile homes, a single wide is about 15 feet in width. The two bedroom variety is a little over 55 feet long. This one had a bedroom on each end a combination kitchen/dining area/living room in the middle.
When we had arrived, Joe was there alone. Jill was working her shift down at the Waffle House and Joe assured us she wouldn't be back until after 10. He gave us a quick tour of their new home and then we got down to playing cards. I was seated with my back to the rear wall. I had a view of the kitchen area on the opposite wall and, if I looked left, I could see the front door which opened directly into the living room.
Joe and Jill lived in the very last lot on Maple Drive. Joe had had the trailer parked in their lot so that the front door opened onto the woods surrounding the park and not toward his neighbor's trailer. 'Smart idea,' I had thought. 'He has a front porch with a view', even though the 'porch' was just a wooden deck.
On my right sat Billy. We had known each other since we were kids and now we worked together at the Wal-Mart Tire Center. Billy is kind of skinny with longish black hair that always looks like he should have had a haircut a couple of weeks ago. Across from Billy, sat Ed. Ed was about ten years older than the rest of us -- forty-something. He kept his hair buzzed, but you could tell he was balding in front. For an older guy, Ed was in extremely great shape. He had retired from the Marines a couple of years ago lived by himself over on Oak Court. Ed was always 'strapped'. He openly carried a Beretta M9 on his right hip. And I could see it from where I sat.
Across from me, with his back to the kitchen, would be seated Joe, but right now he was up and gathering up some beers from the refrigerator. He turned back to the table and placed one in front of Ed and Billy. He looked at me, "Beer tonight, Don?"
"Not tonight, Joe," I grinned because we always went through this same ritual. I don't drink and Joe knows that. I have a problem with alcohol and Joe grinned and pushed a bottle of Sam's Club water in front of me. I grinned back and nodded.
Joe went back to the kitchen counter and returned with an almost full bottle of Jim Beam and three shot glasses and sat them on the table and settled into his seat. By this time, Ed was shuffling the cards and Billy had counted out the usual $200 in chips and pushed them in front of each of us.
Ed poured three shots of Jim and they each knocked them back and washed them down with beer. A couple of hours and several shots later, we had most of our chips in front of us and he was whining and not having a very good time. "Who wants another god dammed beer?" he asked and rose to his feet. He was slurring his speech and wobbling. Ed and Billy were tipsy, but Joe was drunk. 'How in the hell can he even walk?' I wondered.
Joe staggered to the refrigerator and stumbled and caught himself on the counter. Just then the front door opened and Jill walked in. "Hi, guys! Who's winning tonight?" Joe answered by vomiting into the kitchen sink. He tried to right himself, but then bent over and vomited again. "Oh, shit, Joe! Not again!" Jill dropped her handbag on the couch and ran to her husband's side just as Joe started to topple over.
Ed jumped to his feet to help and caught Joe just before he crashed to the floor. "Let's get him some air," Ed said as he pretty much carried Joe to the front door. I opened the door and Ed carried him out onto the porch and sat his on the 'porch' sofa. Joe sat there for a second and then fell over sideways.
"I think he's out, boys," Billy announced.
"Ya, think?" Ed said a little sarcastically.
"How much did he have to drink?" Jill asked of nobody in particular.
"About a six-pack and half a bottle of Jim Beam," I volunteered. "He's going to be out for a while."
"Yeah, a long while," Ed grinned at Jill who smiled back.
"How much did he lose?" Jill asked Billy.
"'Bout four hundred, I think," Billy answered.
Jill looked at us. "You boys are gonna give me a chance to win it back like usual, right?" She had a twinkle in her eye.
"As usual," Ed laughed.
Jill went back inside and we followed. We took our seats at the table and Jill went to change out of her Waffle House uniform. When she returned she was wearing white gym shorts and a red tube top.
Let me tell you about Jill. She's about 5'4" with curly dark hair. She is what some might call 'curvy'. Others might say 'chubby'. She has a big ass and even bigger tits. She's quick to flash a large toothy smile. She is always made up and prefers bright red lipstick.
Poker at Joe and Jill's almost always ends up like this. Joe gets knock out drunk and loses most of his money. Jill comes home and we, being the gentlemen that we are, give her a chance to win Joe's money back. This consists of playing cards where we use real money and Jill uses 'favors'. Eventually, she gets most of his money back plus a little extra. Joe wakes up the next morning with little memory of the night before, but more cash than he started with. This keeps him happy and he keeps inviting us back to play cards.
Jill grabbed a ginger ale out of the refrigerator and settled into Joe's chair. "Whose deal?" she asked flashing those pearly teeth and red lips.
"Mine," I said. "Ante up!" Billy, Ed and I each pushed in a white chip. When it was Jill's turn, she smiled and pushed down the left side of her tube top until her boob popped out. Her areola was large and brown and her nipple was slightly erect. She cupped the tit with both hands and sort of aimed it at each of us in turn like she was showing us a little puppy. Then she put it away.
I dealt each of us five cards. We picked them up and Ed went first. He threw in a white chip. That was a dollar. It was Jill's turn and she looked at her hand. "I'll stay in for a kiss," she said. We had sort of worked out the chip-to-favor values over the previous games.
Billy was next and he threw in a white chip. I looked at my hand. I had a pair of eights. I pushed in a white chip and Ed said, "I'll take three cards!"
I dealt them to him and looked at Jill. "Four cards," she said solemnly and I dealt them to her.
"Four for me," Billy said. I dealt them to him.
"Dealer takes three," I announced as I threw away everything but the eights. I slowly looked at my new hand. I had drawn another eight.
Expressionlessly, I looked at Ed. He pushed forward a red chip and said, "Five bucks."