7-26-2013
You have
not seen someone play cards if you have not seen Bucky and Dylan play cards.
You have not played cards if you have not played cards like Bucky and Dylan. If
you have seen them play cards, you will understand what I experienced today,
and if you have not, you should.
It was a
rainy day and no one came to swim at that small neighborhood pool, so Bucky and
I, the two lifeguards, sat inside the club house and chilled for the day. When
Bucky’s older brother, a lifeguard manager, was done at the water park he was working
at, Phillip’s Park, he came over with Bucky’s girlfriend Haley. They brought
Taco Bell …. and a deck of cards.
After Haley
left, I participated in one game of Egyptian Rat Screw with Bucky and Dylan,
but little did I know of their skill. I went through my cards, but ended up
being lucky because I had all the Jacks. I did eventually loose my cards in the
end.
When Dylan left to use the
bathroom, he gave me his stack of cards, thinking I would run out and loose
against Bucky. Little did I know that I was again lucky because I had some
strong cards in there. I held out until Dylan got back, but I had by then
shrunk his stack to a small size. He was surprised that I had held out, but not
too happy that I had shrunk his stack. He wanted me to just loose so he could
start a new game.
He took his cards back from me and
continued the game as I watched. It was hard and mind boggling to watch Bucky
and Dylan slam their hands on that table, every few cards as it seemed. Dylan came
around and started to gain his cards back from Bucky that I had lost. It was
obvious that Dylan was a better player than Bucky, but not by much. They were
both a pretty fare match.
Together, they bent over that table
with me watching intently from the side, the card stack in the middle, all
their minds and will focused on what was rapidly laying itself out before them.
Their reflexes were lightning speed. Cards went down, and suddenly hands shot
out from nowhere with a bang on the table. Whoever lost the slap would
sometimes let out a curse under their breath. They played cards like their life
depended upon it.
I was surprised how entertaining it
was. I watched closely because I wanted to get good at seeing those doubles and
sandwiches instantly. These guys made me suddenly interested in card playing.
They made me want to get good at it. I wondered if I would ever get to watch
them play cards again.
And then Dylan would goof up and
blame it on me for loosing all his cards. Ah! Well he DID entrust me with his
stack of cards. His excuse was he thought I’d loose them all, but I was too
clever and lucky for that. I mean, I did win two slaps against Bucky which
Dylan congratulated me for with a huge “TWO WHOLE SLAPS?!” sarcastically.
Don’t get me wrong, I knew they did
not intend anything mean, and I took nothing personally. I just thought they
were both pretty funny guys and I was seeing a side to them I had never seen
before.
I watched them play game after
game, and then they played Speed, which they called Spit because they played it
at about five times its normal pace. This one involved them flipping lots of
cards in rows and throwing them into two different piles faster than I could
blink. When they were finally done, we went to clean up the pool and put away
the equipment to end our day.
Sometimes brothers act differently
or share interests outside of public. This is obviously Dylan and Bucky’s
brother side. To those two guys, cards is not an old lady game, it is
competition and pure joy.
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