Thank you Rochelle for the prompt and thank you Liz Young for sharing a picture of your collection of Joker Cards.
Like everything in life, you learn the rules of the game. In poker you take calculated risks and you learn the psychology of bluff and counter bluff. However, there are no rules when the emotions of love are humiliated.
More stories from Friday-Fictioneers here.
Naïve Card
By my bedside, I keep our framed picture. We hold hands and Carol is smiling.
Not now, she said, when I asked. She let me down gently; I was her special card.
Carol couldn’t settle until she won every poker tournament, her paramount ambition.
She promised, soon.
The games were in Chicago, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Macau, and Las Vegas.
She never wrote or called, but occasionally the jokers from card packs arrived.
I read the news from Rome; a multi-million-dollar winner married his croupier.
Carol looked treacherously stunning in white.
I telephoned Alfonso in Naples to return an outstanding favour.
James McEwan 