All In or Fold

The game had been going on for an hour and the play had been slow and conservative. It was always like that on poker night. Everyone showed up with high hopes of being the night’s winner and setting their strategies before the game. Play smart and tight and wait for that big hand. Of course, that always changed as the beer bottles stacked up and play progressively grew more aggressive.
Tonight was no different in the play but the air was filled with apprehension and reflection. No one wanted to talk about it but all knew it was there. It might have been the reason the game was small tonight with only four players showing up. Most game nights had ten people and a few times a second table had to be set up to accommodate everyone. But not tonight, everyone had called and seemed to have a good reason not to come. The person no one expected to come, and never would have judged him for not showing, had shown up and seemed to be in good spirits.
Matt had arrived right at 8pm, the scheduled time that no one ever arrived at, with a case of beer and a cheerful attitude. Shawn, who was hosting the game, tried to hide his shock and greeted him warmly while taking the beer.
“Let me get these in the fridge” Shawn said, “Chris and James are the only ones who said they wanted to play. I almost canceled the whole thing, cuz who wants to play with only three people. Its good you showed up and bearing gifts.”
Matt took the beer Shawn handed him and offered, “Yeah, sorry I didn’t call to say I was in but the games are always close to full so never thought it would be canceled. What is everyone else doing?”
“Hell if I know they all had good excuses but damned if I remember any of them.” Shawn took a swig of his beer not knowing what to say next. He wanted to ask Matt what the hell he was doing here. It was the anniversary of his brother’s death. Shawn contemplated it for a second and guessed Matt wanted to be with friends. Hell if I am going to be the first to bring it up, Shawn thought to himself.
“So how’s work going?” Shawn asked Matt trying his best to have a normal conversation. “Anything new?”
“It’s good”
“How’s the wife?” Shawn asked feeling stupid.
“She’s good too. Hey, did you see the game last night?” Matt blurted out with excitement, “I never thought we were going to pull it off in overtime. The Lakers had comeback so hard and had the momentum I thought for sure we were finished in overtime.”           
Shawn, happy for the subject change, easily forgot everything and added his two cents on the game, “I was worried too, but our guys don’t crumble. I have no idea why the coach didn’t call a time out……….”
And so it went for the next twenty minutes until the garage door burst open suddenly with Chris and James on the other side yelling, “Police, put your hands up and give us your beer!”
Matt and Shawn both startled at first, quickly recovered, and greeted their friends. They all made idle chat about sports and work until they all sat down for the game. That had been an hour ago.  Now the garage was filled with smoke and the beer bottles were stacking up at a good pace. None of the four had really gained any ground in chips but all were having a good time.
Into the second hour, the conversation turned to local news and politics. Shawn and Chris doing most of the bickering back and forth over conservative and liberal issues. James would add his two cents in every once and awhile, still not being one hundred percent comfortable since he was relatively new to the group. James had just moved from the other side of town which was a good distance at 60 miles. This allowed him to hang out with his best friend, Shawn, of 23 years. Matt and Chris were Shawn’s friends and James really liked them. He didn’t agree with Chris’ politics but at least Chris took both sides of any argument and never made it personal. Shawn was the same way, but James and Shawn agreed on almost everything to begin with. What kept that from being boring was that they usually came to the same conclusion in two different ways.
         Matt didn’t like to talk politics and always used this time to make his money at the poker table. He would let everyone else get worked up in their conversations and quietly use it to his advantage. He didn’t cheat or steal chips.  He just knew that if the conversation was going hot and heavy he could easily raise and get people to fold because it was easier then thinking about their cards and trying to provide an intelligent debate.
         Matt and Chris had known each other for five years. They had met when both lived in the same apartment complex after they had moved to Arizona. Chris had come from Maine while Matt and his wife moved from Illinois. Matt’s brother, Brian, followed shortly after Matt had left and Brian moved into Chris’ spare room. Brian and Chris quickly became best friends and all three of them hung out regularly. That was until a year ago.
          “RAISE! RAISE! RAISE!” Matt yelled as loud as he could. He had already said it a dozen times in a normal voice but Shawn and Chris were arguing over Michael Moore and Universal Health Care.
         “Damn, man, no need to yell.” Chris said in a hurt voice, though he meant it mostly in jest. “I fold.”
         “Me too.” Shawn said quickly but not before Chris could start the conversation again.
Matt just smiled to himself as he took the pot down with 7-2 off suit.
“You guys hear about this crap at the border?” James said as he set down a new round of beers, “Another person was found killed while hiking.”
James sat down and took a swig of his beer.  He looked up, surprised there had been no quick response to his statement. Surprised, he saw that Chris and Shawn were looking at different parts of the room while Matt just looked at his cards. The silence was deafening.
“What I say?” asked James
No one answered for a good minute. Shawn and Chris had been avoiding anything to do with Mexico the whole time they were talking politics. James didn’t know it since he was new to the group. Shawn knew because he had joined the group just before it happened. He had started dating Chris’ best friend and was quickly accepted by Chris and all of their other friends.
“Um…” Shawn felt he should say something since it was his friend who brought it up. “Matt, it’s kinda hard to avoid now. You cool with talking about it?”
“Hey, it’s been a year. I’m cool” Matt said.
To Shawn’s surprise he really seemed cool with it.
“Will someone tell me what’s going on? The vibe just got really dark. I am not sure what I said to cause it.” James said feeling a mix of indignation and curiosity. He couldn’t think of any reason his question would be out of line with the normal political crap Chris always brought up.
“Matt’s brother was killed a year ago while hiking in San Diego near the border.” Shawn said bluntly, wondering if he could or should have put it some other way.
“Damn, I am sorry Matt. I never would have brought it up if I had known.” James said to Matt.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a year.” Matt told James.  “You know the worst part though? Is they never caught nobody. They said it was most likely drug smugglers and Brian was just in the wrong place at the wrong time”, Matt said with anger clearly in his voice.
“That’s such bull crap. How can a person be in the wrong place when he is hiking on a trail in a National Park? This is why that guy started the Minute Man Project. He went hiking and saw these guys with pack mules and asked the ranger about them. The ranger said they were drug smugglers.” Shawn told everyone while standing up. He grabbed another round of beers for everyone and returned saying, “The guy asked the ranger why he didn’t do anything about it. You know what the ranger said?”  Shawn paused for effect and to get the words as clear as possible, “I ain’t got no guns and the government won’t take care of it, so what am I supposed to do?” Close enough Shawn thought,  “Isn’t that some Bull Crap?”
“We should start our own group but not one that just sits around with binoculars,” James said just to add something to the conversation.
“What did you say?” questioned Matt.
“I am talking about a small sniper team sitting in the mountains. Two men could take out the drug smugglers as they are walking through. Might send them a message.”
“You really think that would work?”
“Hell, I think it would be easy.”
“How so?”
“Well, these guys think they own the place and know the United States Government isn’t going to ambush them with bullets. Their only fear is being busted, not being killed. We could take out the smugglers and burn the drugs.”
“Hmmmm’
Chris wanted to agree but was starting to get the feeling that his conversation was taking on a real tone of planning and not one of mild what ifs and imagining. Surprisingly, to Chris, Shawn had not added anything to the conversation yet. This was just up his alley of eye for an eye justice. Chris figured he would be the first to jump on the idea not Matt. That’s what worried him the most. Chris loved Brian but Matt was his brother and they were very close. This might be something Matt might actually jump on and seriously contemplate doing.
“Heh, sure is a great thought but what good would it do, just be more the next day or even an hour later,” Chris interjected hoping it would dissuade the conversation. He dared not come out against it or Shawn would take it as a debatable challenge. Chris liked debating Shawn but sometimes the guy would argue the opposite point even when they both believed the same thing. He liked debating that much.  Unfortunately, Chris really feared Shawn would like this idea.
“What if it wasn’t done just once?” Shawn said slowly.
DAMN!!! Chris thought to himself. “Look guys before we get too carried away I want to be clear that this is just a conversation or a fantasy if you like. This is not going to become some drunken plan that we are going to all be attached to and no one will be willing to break when we sober up!”
“I am not agreeing to anything. I like this talk and want to discuss more. I really want to get these bastards who are doing this. I know I might not get the actual guys who killed my brother but they are all criminals if you ask me.” Matt said putting aside what Chris had demanded.
“If you ask me, no one's going to be too upset with finding dead drug smugglers.” James added.
Chris couldn’t believe his ears. “You’re a freak’n police officer James. What the hell are you talking like this for? Couldn’t you get in trouble for just talking about this?”
“If we were to do this, James would not take an active part. He would be better to us as an inside informant. Phoenix PD wouldn’t be involved in the case but maybe there is a way for him to get some sort of information?” Shawn stated as he looked to James for an answer. “What do you think?”
“Well, I don’t like being left out of the fun but I can see your point. I could offer intelligence and logistical support. I might be able to find out details from criminal reports. When it becomes too hot to operate in the mountains we can move to the city and take out drug dealers. I know where all those bastards are.” James was getting excited just thinking about dealing justice to the punk drug dealers who flaunted their freedom every chance they got.
“We know nothing about sniping, hunting, or soldiering.” Chris shouted again trying to get the conversation ended.
“Correction, you don’t know any of those things,” Matt spat out with almost a disgusted tone to it, “I have been hunting since I was little and these Two” Matt pointed at James and Shawn while staring at Chris, “both served in the military.”
“Well to be perfectly honest I was an aircraft electrician, not a soldier, but I do know how to shoot quite well and have hunted since I was young. James was a grunt in the Army however and could train us. Remember he only got back from Iraq ten months ago.” Shawn told the stats about himself and James with pride and an actual belief that they could pull something like this off.
“That’s right,” Matt said as he quickly turned to James with a deep look of respect, “Have you been trained for this exact sort of thing?”
“Not this specifically,” James offered, “but I have been trained in small man operations and long term observations. I was a forward observer so its similar except I didn’t shoot my targets directly. I called in bombs and blew them up instead. Don’t think there will be much chance of us getting access to artillery.” 
         “That would be nice” chided Chris to no one in particular, “just blow’em all to hell and let God sort’em out! Just like a neo-con.”
         “You know what? You can just shut the hell up” yelled Matt, startling everyone. Matt never raised his voice and hardly ever got excited about anything other then sports. “You were Brian’s best friend and you think taking out drug smugglers like the ones that killed him is murder and wrong? These people care nothing for human life and therefore deserve what they get.”
         The atmosphere was alive with the excitement of all the planning and no one had noticed that James had dealt the next hand. James had not wanted to interrupt the conversation and was enjoying the heated debate. It did seem a cooling down was needed so he quietly mentioned that the hand was dealt. Matt sat back down since he had stood up during his angry outburst. Everyone looked at their cards.
         Matt was first to act and he tossed out the minimum bet. James did so as well. Shawn looked at his cards and slowly set them down. He studied every one’s chip stacks and called out a raise. He then made a reasonable sized bet. Chris looked at his cards and immediately re-raised double the pot. Matt threw his cards in the middle of the table and got up to go to the bathroom. Everyone shouted for him to bring back another round of beers. James folded as well and said he would grab the beers.
         Shawn looked at Chris and contemplated a third raise. He had a high pocket pair but felt Chris’ quick re-raise meant he either had a high pocket pair as well or something he would not let go of. Shawn called. Since James had, Shawn dealt the cards. The flop was one ace and two jacks all different suits. Both Shawn and Chris were in poker mode and neither showed any sign of whether the flop had been good for them. Shawn contemplated for a few seconds and called out check. Chris did so immediately. Shawn dealt out the turn card that was an eight of clubs making the board a complete rainbow with all being different suits.
         Shawn had been thrown by Chris’ quick raise and then quicker check. Shawn had no idea what Chris had but knew he wanted maximum value for his hand. Shawn threw out a feeler bet at three times the minimum. Chris contemplated for a good minute and then called. Shawn then dealt the river card a seven of diamonds. Shawn tried to remain calm and made a weak bet of three times the minimum hoping to get just a little more money out of Chris. To Shawn’s surprise Chris called out, “I am all in!”
         At the moment of Chris’ declaration, James and Matt came back into the garage both talking excitedly. They had burst through the door not knowing the drama that was ensuing at the table. This threw both Shawn and Chris out of their poker paralysis and they looked up.
         “We could train for a year and do it on the next anniversary,” exclaimed Matt. “You can put us through the paces and get us all in shape and prepared. We can even do some scouting and start gathering intelligence on their routes and schedules.”
         “That would be perfect. We could start stock piling ammunition and purchasing weapons at gun shows. That way there would be no way of tracing them back to us.” James added with a smile on his face.
         “Damn it, I had hoped we were done with this conversation. Look Matt, I loved your brother as if he were my own. But I do not plan on killing people for him.” Chris said with irritation in his voice.
         “What if you didn’t do the actual killing? What if you were only support? Would you be willing to seek justice if you didn’t have to dirty your hands?” Shawn asked with an undertone of disgust in his voice.
         “Listen, I think this is all just drunk talk, so yeah I would support you guys in any way I could. I just don’t plan on going out and hunting drug dealers. Now let’s finish this hand.”
         Shawn never took his eyes off Chris. He had his cards face down and his hands clasped above them.
         “Well you going to call or fold” asked Chris.
         “I raise,” proclaimed Shawn.
         “You can’t raise I am all in.”
         “I raise you a deal.”
         “What?”
         “I will call our bet and raise you the proposition we have been discussing. If I win we go through with it. If I lose then we change the subject right here and now.” Shawn said and then looked at Matt and James, “Agreed?”
         “Agreed,” both said in unison.
         Chris looked at his cards and then at Shawn. Looked at his cards again and then at James. One last time he looked at his cards, then at the board, and finally at Matt. He kept his eyes locked on Matt just as Matt had his eyes locked on him. There is no way I can lose this hand, thought Chris, but I do not have the nuts. Shawn could have pocket Jacks but what are the odds, he reasoned. I have pocket aces and a full boat aces full of jacks. No way he has the other two jacks. He probably has ace king or ace jack and thinks he is good with his two pair best kicker or his full house jacks full of aces. It’s a one in a million chance that he has the jacks.  Matt sure seems pissed and ready to go with this idea. I know Shawn will go for it and James scares the crap out of me. I can save Matt and the rest of them if I make this call and win.
         “I call,” Chris shouts out laying his cards down face up. “Aces full.”
         All eyes on Shawn as he looks at Chris’ hand and slowly shakes his head. Poker face still on no one knows what it means. Slowly he lays his hand down face up.
         Matt looks at the hand and says with a slight growl, “Now we plan.”