Have A Little Fun With His Power

Alex looked down at his cousin, her eyes filled with a mixture of excitement and fear. He finally had her, ready to take what he had wanted all these years. “You’re sure you wanna do this?”

Alli looked back at him and bit her lip. She knew this day was coming, but she hadn’t expected it so soon. She wondered what her mom or uncle Ted would say if this actually happened. She knew Maggie had wanted this herself, and wondered how upset she would be to not be the one doing it. This is gonna hurt isn’t it? She thought to herself. Alex’s smiled at her, anticipating how good this would feel. Alli took a deep breath, and lowered her hand.

“All in.” Alli squealed as she pushed all her chips into the pot.

Alex bellowed out a maniacal laugh as he stood up, cards in hand. “Okay, okay, okay. You ready? At the same time.”

Allison stood up as well, ready to lay her cards down. “Okay. 3, 2, 1!” Allison closed her eyes as she layed down her Queen and Five, giving her the two pair. She waited for a reaction from the others to tell her her fate, but when none came, she peaked open one eye. She looked at Alex who quietly leaned over the table, whispering to her. “Flush.”

“Nooooooo.” With a defeated groan, Allison fell down to her chair, head in hands.

“I have defeated her! The Queen has fallen!” Alex lifted his shirt above his head and began to run around the room like a soccer player who just scored the winning goal. Sandy and Maggie began to cheer along, dancing around the room with him. “The tyranny has ended! The seven year reign of The Queen of Spades is over!”

Putting his shirt back on, Alex sauntered over to Allison, looking as smug as ever. She looked up at him, shame and exasperation blanketing her face. Alex reached across the table, picking up the King of Hearts, the river card that had won him the game. “Bow to your new king!” he said in a mock accent.

“Oh calm down. You won one game, I have seven years on your ass, I’m not bowing to shit.”

“Allison Victoria Little,” Alex gaped at her with mock surprise, “I never took you to be a sore loser.”

“Only because I know you cheated. I don’t know how, but there is no way your ass managed to beat me after all these years.”

“I won fair and square, babe.” That was a lie, technically. For the past seven years, Allison had dominated every single poker game the family ever played. Early on in her win streak, she had a particularly big win with the final card that won her the game being the Queen of Spades. After that she began to refer to herself as such, much to the dismay of the family. So, today, when that river card was being drawn, Alex used his power to see it was the heart card he needed for his flush. After all these years of Alli dominating them however, he really wanted to rub it in her face, so, he switched the card for the King of Hearts, figuring it would make a better title than Four of Hearts.

“Fine, enjoy your victory today, because next time we play, I will reclaim my crown.”

“Well, as your new, very gracious King, I’ll allow your to remain as, say, The Duchess of Spades. That is of course if you will come over here, and join us in celebrating.” Alex extended his hand to her as a peace offering.

“You want me to celebrate getting my ass handed to me?”

“Yes. But, also, as you two have enjoyed reminding me all day, I owe you guys a birthday.” Alex looked back between Alli and Maggie. “How about you guys go pick out some scary movies or whatever, then we can curl up on the couch?”

“And cake. You owe us that too,” Alli reminded him.

“Right. How about while you’re getting ready, I’ll run to the store and pick one up? I say that, but I’ll need to borrow one of your cars since Kev can’t drive mine down for a couple days.”

“Want me to drive?” Sandy asked, grabbing her keys off the hook. With his headaches under control, he had completely forgotten about telling her he was afraid to drive.

“No, I’m good. Feeling a lot better.” He opened his arms in a gesture to let her know he meant he was happy to be home. “Or at the very least, well enough to run to the store and back.” He took the keys from her hand and gave her a hug and peck on the forehead to let her know he was okay.

[End Chapter Two]