Chapter 5, Part Two

No Honor - Ch. 5 Pt. 2: Thunder;

The rain kicked up, quite a bit. Geoff's music kept the place cheery though, despite the horrible weather. I had a few hours to go, before I'd leave Dave and Wally in charge, and I hoped it'd ease off, by then.

One of Marco's girls, the super-thin one with the curly hair, asked me for two tequilas. After paying me, she took the drinks over to him. Marco was so focused on his game of stud, he didn't even see her. The guy playing across from him, was a Mister James Sheldon.

Jim runs the one-and-only Station hotel, called "Henrietta's", on Second Street . Like me, he's one of the few folks, that was at The Station, for Marco's arrival several years ago. He built up his business from nothin', and he makes good money, maybe the best besides Marco himself. That belly o' his, is definitely, the mark of a rich man.

My eyes wandered over, to a table across from the bar, and back a ways. There sat a man, with the largest beard I'd ever seen. He looked like he hadn't shaved in five years. While I was watching him, he started fiddling with this small brown envelope, and soon enough, he was shaking this powder stuff from it, into his drink.

I grabbed Walt by the elbow, and I told him, "You got to get these morphine-freaks in line."

He followed my eyes, and then he made a face at the guy.

"Jake!", he said. "Jake...What I tell you about that shit? You take that crap upstairs, or you take it outside."

Jake said "It's pourin' out there, Walter."

"I don't give a damn. You pull that one more time and yer outta here, fer good."

Jake deflated. He got up, and then he walked towards the bar with his drink, mumblin' under his breath.

Wally said, "What's that Jake?"

"Nuthin."

Jake threw some coins onto the bar, and then he turned, and walked toward the staircase. It was right about then, when I heard a loud boom towards the back.

The piano tune died off, and just about everyone turned. Marco had Jim Sheldon's arms pinned, to a huge money pot, on the table between them.

"Hey!", Jim said. "What is th-"

Marco got up and pulled Jim's left arm straight out, and then he rolled up the sleeve. Jim started to holler and move a bit, but Marco grabbed him, and then he did the same with Jim's right arm. There was nothing to see there, but Marco paused for a moment, before he let him go.

Jim said "What you do that for? You think I would cheat you?"

He rolled his sleeves back down, and then he took off his coat.

"Here, look." He turned out his coat pockets, and then he shook it.

"I don't have no reason to cheat you, sir. In fact, I've never cheated you, or anyone else at cards. What I win, I win honestly, as a gentleman."

Marco didn't respond, and he didn't even move. All he did was stand there, and look at Jim Sheldon, and breathe.

Mr. Sheldon's posture changed a bit, and he started separatin' some o' that money from the pot. There was a lot in there too, maybe around seventy-five dollars, or more.

Jim said "Look, I'll give you a chance to win that back. You just made a mistake, that's all... Ten percent. We'll give you ten back, and we'll-"

"No", Marco said, and he stopped Jim's hands. "No, this is yours."

He started arranging the money, into neat little piles,

"Et's your money. Every cent of it. Fair es fair, and no one can say...I am not fair."

He pushed the stacks towards Jim, who said, "We can play another, if you like."

"No, no. I'm-"

Marco stopped short, and the bar got eerily quiet. He looked up, and then he swept his eyes 'round the bar, to see his audience. When the patrons met those eyes, they shifted in their seats, or looked elsewhere, or turned away completely. Tben his eyes fell on Geoffrey, at the piana.

Geoff just sat there, with his eyebrows raised and his hands in his lap. Eventually, he was able to manage a half-smile.

Marco said, "Es the party over, or what?"

Geoff turned and started back on the piana. After a moment or two, people were talking again, but it was softer, and quieter than before.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------