Poker With The Brainless - Sophie's Story

     “Now, are there any questions?”, asked Sophie as she was sitting near the campfire, looking at her cards quickly before asking her companions.   The light coming from the fire gave the surrounding dark lands a warm look and illuminated the area well enough to see the playing cards that Sophie had in her hand.
      Scare frowned and pulled up his hat enough for Sophie to see his good eye looking confused through the smoke.  “So the 'A' card can be a high or low card?”
      Sophie gave a tired smile, as she figured Scare would be the first to ask.  “When dealing with a straight hand it can be high or low, but it is usually a high card when it is a pair, three of a kind, or four of a kind.”  Scare had a blank look and didn’t even breathe in his cigarette stub as he looked at Sophie.  Sophie could see that none of this was sinking in, sighed, and thought of something simple for him to understand.  “Think of it as either a low 'one' or a high 'fourteen' depending on the situation.”
      Scare smiled with recognition and slapped his fake leg, “There we go.  Now numbers is something I can understand.” He pulled down his hat down and his smile once again had turned into an arrogant smirk as he lounged back.   “How 'bout you, Dim?”
      Even kneeling, DM’s body seemed massively big to Sophie. His skull face had no reaction, but his blue flame eyes and white rubber eye sockets made him seem like he was concentrating hard.  His body clicked, clanked, and whirred as he looked at his two cards, which seemed miniature in his large metallic gloves.  The digital noise that DM used as a voice sounded perplexed.  “So which suit is the highest?”
      “Doesn’t matter for this game, it is just to separate the card flushes,” she answered.
      “What do you mean by ‘this game’?  There is more than one way to play with these paper strips?”
      “Yeah, but we will just try this game first.  When we have time, we can try the other games.”
      That thought seemed to make DM even more frustrated, which made Sophie struggle to not laugh.
Finally, she looked over at the shadow creature known as Nul, who was crouched in his usual pose holding his cards closely to what she defined as his unmasked face.  “How about you, Nul?  Any questions?”
      His low quiet voice produced one word.  “Nope.”  He didn't sound like his usual fear filled self, which caught Sophie a little off guard.
      “You sure?”, she asked.
      “Yep, lets play.”
     Sophie looked at all her companions and then picked up one of the silver coins that DM had provided for the game.  “I start the game with one coin.  Now, it's Scare’s turn.”

      Without much of a thought and with the smile still on his face, he threw in one of his coins in the middle.  “I’ll match with a coin.”
      “Good Scare, now it’s your turn DM.”
      DM clicked and growled as he thought about his choice.  Sophie noticed that even in a game, he seemed to be picky about spending money.  “I call.”
      “Great, now...”
      “Call.”  Said Nul quickly.
      Sophie hesitated.  “That was quick… you sure?”
      “Yes, go on.”
      Sophie looked at his blank face and shrugged.  “Alright. Now I place the top card of the deck to the side, which is called ‘burning the card’.  Then I place three cards in the middle, which is called ‘the flop’.”  Sophie picked up the deck, burned the first card, and dealt three cards in the middle.  “Now we have an eight of hearts, a jack of hearts, and an ace of clubs.”
      “What’s the difference?” Scare asked.
      Sophie blinked in surprise.  “What do you mean what’s the difference?”
      “What’s the difference between those cards and these cards?”
      “I don’t…” Sophie started.
      “They are more numbers for you to hold on so you can win.”  DM said in a board tone.
      Scare nodded his head and grinned again. “Oh, ok.  Let’s continue.”
      Sophie looked at DM as he gave her a look that, even without a face, told Sophie that he knew Scare still didn’t understand.  She held in her laugh as she looked at her cards again...

       ...and raised two more coins.  Scare called and DM thought for a minute before he called as well.
      “Call.”  Nul said as soon as it was his turn.
      Sophie looked at him with suspicion.  “Are you sure…”
      Nul didn't raise his voice from his usual whisper, but it felt deeper.  “Keep playing.”
      She frowned, unaffected by the change, and burned another card off the deck.  “Now I play the turn.”
      Scare stopped grinning. “Whose turn?”
      “No one’s turn.  That what it’s called.”
      Scare looked genuinely confused.  “Why?”
      “Does it matter?” DM spoke in an aggravated tone.
      Scare looked insulted.  “If I am going to play a game that deals with money, I would like to know all the rules to better my chances of gaining more coins into my empty pockets.”
      Sophie, DM, and even Nul looked at Scare with surprise.  Scare moved his head constantly to look at them back with his one eye.  “What?” he asked.
      “Why is it you only say smart thing when dealing with money but say confusing things the rest of the time?”  Sophie asked.
      “What is that suppose to mean?”  Scare asked.
      “Maybe it means your brainless head is only filled with cigarettes and cash.”  DM said bluntly.
      Scare gave a sarcastic laugh.  “That’s funny coming from someone with only ball bearings and alcohol in his skull.”
      DM looked up from his cards and gave Scare a mean stare with his eyes.  “Better than you’re dried up blood and hallow organs.”
      Scare started to get up.  “At least my organs aren’t visible to everyone.”
      DM sat up.  “Well it lets people know that I don’t sell pieces of myself for drugs.”
      “And that you’re a heartless son of a…”
      Sophie broke chain of insults with a commanding clap.  “Guys!”  Scare and DM hushed but tried to stare each other down with one eye and two glowing eye sockets.
      Suddenly two of Nul’s shadow arms came from behind the two of them and pushed them back down.  They turned to Nul, who was still looking at his cards.  His voice still had that deep feeling.  “Play now, fight later.”  They both looked at him with surprised anger, before he shielded his face again with his cards and barely whispered, "Please?"
      Scare and DM continued to stare until Scare’s cigarette was just a glowing ember.  He pulled another stick and lit it with the remains of his last hit.  Then after a few puffs, his eye glazed over and then blinked back into life.  He looked back at Sophie as if the past few seconds hadn’t happened.  “So why is it called a turn, Sandy?”
      Sophie had to hide the tick that was developing on her forehead.  “My name is Sophie.  Try to remember it, please.”
      Scare had no reaction.  “Sorry 'bout that.”
      Sophie sighed as she knew it would only be a matter of time before he forgets again.  “It’s called a turn because it sets up the pathway for the river.”
      Nul looked up, and his voice returned to his normal low whisper.  “What’s a river?”
      DM automatically answered, as if he just pulled it up from his dictionary brain.  “River - a large stream of water on land, which flows from a larger source of water.”
      Nul turned his head like an owl in question.  “Like rain, but on land?”
      Scare then tried to follow Nul, but only got his neck to turn half way.  “What does a puddle of water have to do with this game?”
      “I’m guessing it’s a metaphor for the importance of the card.”
      Sophie continued explaining.  “The river is the last card I can deal.  It means that for each player, it can be a helpful to you or for the other players.  It can be your card of salvation or your card for damnation.  It means sink or swim.”
      Scare nodded in understanding while Nul and DM looked suddenly serious.
      Sophie put down the turn.  “An eight of clubs.”  The group stayed silent and concentrated on their cards.  Sophie looked at her cards again and then looked again at her companions.  After years of playing cards with her family and friends in college, she had gotten use to reading the facial reactions of other players and had become very good at telling when people had good hands or not.
      Those years of experience did nothing to help her with these creatures.
      Scare looked calm and breathed in the smoke of his cigarette with ease.  It was impossible to tell if he was confident or just didn’t understand what was going on.
       DM’s lack of a face made it very hard to tell what emotions he was giving, and it was only his eyebrow/eye sockets gave her a clue what he was thinking.  However, it was mostly the same look of that he really didn't want to play with his money.
      And Nul, the chained shadow creature with a weapon fetish, had no facial reactions with the darkness that was his face.  It would have made no difference if he was wearing his mask.  She was expecting him to be more doubtful about this game and she expected that he would be needing more help, but he seemed very confident, which completely threw Sophie off her expectations.
      Sophie had second thoughts about betting in this game, so she said, “Check.”
      “What’s check mean?” Scare asked innocently.
      “It means I call without betting.”
      Scare’s eye widened.  “Oh, then I check too.”
      Both of DM’s eyebrows went up.  “No betting?  I check too.”
      “Check.” Said Nul, without looking up from his cards.
      Sophie burned and placed the river card down.  “Ten of hearts.” 
      She noticed it right away, and gave some time for thought.  She thought to herself, how should I play this?  How would they react if raise?  Time to test the waters of the river.  With a calm expression grabbed her coins.  “Raise five coins.”

      Scare grabbed five and threw them in as well. “Call or fold, right Dim?” DM looked annoyed at the idea of putting in money, but he threw in five coins as well.
      Nul put in all of his coins. 
      Sophie looked surprised.  “You’re going all in?”
      Nul looked up from his cards and with his light eye stared back at Sophie.  “What’s that?”
      “It means you bet all your coins.” she answered, trying not to turn away from his face.
      “Yep.”  He answered.
      Sophie looked and felt completely unsure.  “But…I…”
      Instead of being mad or confused, Scare looked really interested and smiled with an evil grin.  “That sounds like fun; I’m going all in too.”
      Sophie felt even more confused.  “Hey, wait!  It’s not your turn yet.”
      “Oh sorry, I guessed I jumped…”
      DM looked even more aggravated than Sophie.  “How can you two just bet everything on this game?  Do you always treat money this way?  No wonder you are all broke.”
      Scare just grinned.  “What’s the matter Dim, afraid of losing?”
      “Is that a challenge?” DM squinted his fiery eyes.
      “All or nothing.  It’s how I live my life.”
      DM clicked and then groaned.  “Fine, I accept the challenge.”  And he pushed his chips into the pile.
      Then all three of the companions looked at the Sophie like hungry dogs looking at a juicy steak, ready to eat as soon as it hit the ground.
      She sighed and gave in to the pressure.  “Fine.  I’m all in.”  And the pile was complete with all the coins that they had.
      And then a minute passed before Scare asked.  “Now what?”
      “Well now we show our cards to see what hand combo we have, and the one with the highest is the winner.”
      Scare nodded.  “Ok…who first?”
      Sophie started.  “Well, it should be Nul, since he made the bet.”
      Nul slowly looked up from his cards and looked back and forth from player to player, before he pointed a finger at himself.  "Me?  Wait, I go first?!"  Nul placed his cards down and started to back up on all fours.  "No, no, no, no... I was just... going with the... oh, no..." He then huddled up and started shaking. "I can't handle it, I was lying about it, I can't do it!  I can't..."  He started tearing up.
      And he was doing so well until then, she thought.
      "NUL!"  Sophie yelled out, then quickly calmed down as he started to sink down into the ground and whimpering.  She sighed and spoke slowly to him. "Calm down.  It's just a game, and you're just starting.  I can hold your hand for a while till you settle down.  How about you watch us first and then you can show your cards?"  She reached out her hand like a caretaker does to a little toddler, and Nul slowly came close and grabbed her hand.  His hand wasn't cold, but there also wasn't any weigh in it.
      Silence filled the area again as Sophie took a deep breath and asked, "So, who wants to go first?"
      Scare and DM looked at each other, not wanting to say anything after she yelled.  Scare took a drag and pointed the lit cigarette to DM with a smokey smile.  "Gentlemen first."
      DM clicked and put down his cards first.  “Remind me of what combos can be made.”
      Sophie looked down at his hand.

      “You have the king of diamonds and the ace of diamonds.  That gives you two pairs with aces and eights.”  Sophie had to push aside the irony that DM, the Dead Man, had gotten the 'dead man’s hand'.  “That beats a high card combo and a single pair.”

      DM grinned in the only way a skull could do.
      Scare looked unaffected and he placed his cards down.  “What bout if you have them in order numerically?”

      Sophie looked surprised.  “You have the king and queen of spades.  That gives you an ace high straight.  Pretty good for a beginner.  That beats two pairs.”
      Scare grin grew wider.  DM went back to looking annoyed.
      Then she smiled as she flipped her cards to reveal the nine and queen of hearts.  “But it doesn’t beat a heart flush.”

      Scare almost dropped the remaining cigarette out of his mouth, while DM broke out into a mechanical whir that Sophie guessed was a laugh.
      Sophie hoped the three wouldn't realize that she actually had a straight flush.  It was amazing that everyone went all in at once, and it was amazing that they all had high hands.  But the fact she got a straight flush on the first deal is very unlikely.  Even in her world, she never gotten this high of a hand while playing a real game.  If she had said that she really got one of the highest card combinations in the game, it would have probably put the guys out of playing anymore with her. 
       Scare, after he lit another cigarette in his mouth, took another look at the cards and then grinned as he looked at Sophie.  His eye still hypnotized her every time, giving her a hot flush feeling.  Then he winked with his one eye, and looked back to the others. "Well, looks like she beat us."
      Then Nul, still holding Sophie's hand, asked, “What about a pair and three of a kind?”
      It took Sophie a while to register what was asked.  “A full house?  That beats a flush.”
      Nul didn't raise his voice as he said simply, “Oh, then I win.”
      Sophie couldn’t help but say, “What?”
      “See.”  And Nul turned his cards around.
      Sophie was expecting multiple cards, but she wasn’t expecting the two cards that Nul flipped over.

      “Two jokers?” she exclaimed softly.
      Scare and Nul both looked confused.  “Jokers?”
      “Wild cards that can be any card that the hold wishes it to be.” DM said quickly from his memory of Sophie explaining the cards earlier.
      Sophie looked stunned.  “But I thought I took those out.”
      Nul quickly grabbed her hand with both of his and spoke quickly with a pleading voice, "I'm sorry, I thought they were jacks like you said, because of the 'J'.  I'm sorry, can we try again?"
      Sophie felt stunned.  She tried playing back when she shuffled the cards if she pulled out the jokers first.  But she couldn't remember.  And, for a moment, she was scared.  She couldn't remember basic moves to play, and she kept seeing signs that just seem to odd.  Things were out of her control, and for a card player, that is the worst thing to happen. 
       Yes, technically, she and Nul tied, but because she called the lower hand he was the winner.  And what is with these high hands so early in the game, and all at once?  This game seemed too controlled, like someone sending a sign.  More mind tricks and who knows from what side.  This was too much for anyone. 
       Like this trip, she thought.  How could I make such a stupid move?  The first thing they teach you about decks when you play poker is to take out the jokers.  Am I losing it?  I mean, the only time you use jokers in a game is...
      "Are you alright, Sophie?"
      Sophie looked up at Scare.  It wasn't the first time he got her name right, but it was enough to awaken her from her trance.  He looked at her with a expression of genuine concern.  She also looked over to DM, for as silent as he was, gave her a look of confidence and willingness.  She felt a warm feeling in Nul's hands and looked at his bright eye in his dark face.
      ...with friends.
      She patted on Nul's hand and spoke with a smile.  "Yeah, just... that was a really good game."
      Scare took a deep breath and laughed.  “Interesting.  You’re a tricky bastard, Mr. Body.”
      “I like this game.”  Nul's bright white smile was amplified by his dark face.  He let go of her hands and pulled the coins closer to his body, then started to split them into other piles.  “Want to play again?”
      Sophie sighed and then grinned.  “Ok, but this time I’m not going to go easy on you.”
      Nul continued smiling and DM sulked some more at the idea of playing with his money.  Scare scratched his head and slowly breathed out his smoke.  “Since when have you ever been easy, Sonya?”
      Sophie hit him in the shoulder and passed the cards around again.  It was going to be a long night with the people she had decided to travel with.  And maybe she needed that.