A Debt to be Paid

(This chapter is dedicated to Tiffany for giving me the idea to write it.)

That first Friday after you honeymoon happened to be a poker night hosted at Buck’s house. You made sure to cook an extra large dinner consisting mostly of snack foods.

The men arrived all at once, and you greeted each one at the door. With all that had been going on in your life, it was sometimes hard for you to remember just how young you are. So much responsibility had been thrusted upon you in such a short period of time that you felt almost twice your age. But once Buck’s friends arrived, it became very apparent once again. Buck was was 24 years old, a whole 6 years older than you. Yet he was the youngest guy in his friend group. Everyone else was somewhere between their late 20s and mid 30s.

The finger foods were a smashing success, and the men couldn’t help but make you blush as they heaped praise upon your cooking skills and Buck’s choice of wife. After the men finished eating, they began to play poker. From this point until the end of the night, your main job became ferrying **** from the kitchen to the men.

As the night went on and more **** was consumed, you noticed that Buck was getting increasingly reckless with his gambling. And one player in particular seemed to be capitalizing on it.

Marcus was the only black man there that night. He appeared to be in his late 20s, and from what small talk you overheard it seemed that he and Buck had somewhat of a friendly rivalry when it came to poker. He had dark black skin and a face like a Roman statue. He wore a well-fitting white tank top and blue jeans, which only served to accentuate his toned and muscular body. Not to mention a deep voice that could bring any women to her knees. You hated to admit it, but he looked almost like a cross between Idris Elba and John Henry.

(Pictured above: John Henry, American Folk Hero)

As the night passed on, people slowly tricked out of the house until it was only you, Buck, and Marcus left. You watched anxiously as Marcus cunningly outplayed your husband. A task made much less impressive by your husband’s tendency to go all-in on crap hands once sufficiently liquored up. You could only watch as Buck’s chips were slowly reduced to nothing. But Buck kept betting, and Buck kept loosing. When all was said and done, Buck was $5,000 in debt to Marcus.