"Alright." A cigarette was placed on an ashtray. Four yellow chips were picked up from a pile, and placed delicately in the center of the pullout table. "Raise ya'."

"You don't have enough," the man across from him said. His cards were held close to his chest, in front of him a plentiful stack of chips, still more in the pile. Phil placed his cards face down on the table, picking up his smoke.

"Would you like to wager on that?" Travis, who sat across from him, frowned at the pile. Phil had put down plenty of chips, but no one had given up more than Travis himself. Glancing to his left he saw Malcolm smirking, Cliff drinking, and Angus coughing. To his right he saw Sherrie reading a newspaper, her hair rolled up in tight pin curls. Hannah had her lips wrapped around a straw which was sitting in a glass of chocolate milk. She watched the boys from afar, her big, curious eyes darting around the circle. An hour ago she sat with them, but was exiled from the table after giving away the men's bluff with her laughter or light tsk tsk of her tongue. Angus gave her a cheeky grin when she left, Hannah pushing her nose up with her finger as a response. Bon was also on Travis' right side, his chin in his hand, his stack of chips gone. They stood behind Phil's cards, along with the majority of the group's.

Sweat ran across Travis' forehead and he pulled a tissue out of his pocket to wipe it away. Phil's smile bore into his soul. The hole in his pocket was burning that minute, as if he had left a cigar in it. He almost wished he had one, though now wasn't the time. Looking down at the cards in his hands, the pair of queens not looking so royal. Whatever Phil had he seemed mighty proud of, then again, Phil had been playing longer than Travis had. Revealing his cards could be the ultimate embarrassment, yet folding would demand an immediate surrender.

Slowly laying his cards down on the table, he flipped them over. His queens faced the roof of the bus, the other three making hardly a difference. Phil nodded.

"It's your-your turn," Travis stuttered.

"How could I forget," Phil muttered. Taking his cards from the table, he revealed two threes and three twos. "Sorry 'bout that, mate, my cards were gettin' heavy." With that, he grabbed all the chips from the middle of the pile, and sorted them into their rightful stacks. Travis observed Phil's hand, then his own. "Lookin' for somethin'?"

"Didn't think I'd win," Travis admitted. "I'm not a guest to gambling but cards isn't my way of going about it." Phil eyed Bon who shrugged.

"Well, can't say Poker's for everyone. Takes a day to learn, an' a life to get it right." The cards were gathered in his hands and he shuffled them. "Who's playin' next round?"

"I'm in," Cliff said.

Malcolm sat up in his seat. "Rudd took my money, I have to play again." Phil smiled.

"Angus? You playin'?" The group waited for the man to answer. He wasn't paying an ounce of attention, and his eyes were focused a different direction. Phil snapped his fingers while Cliff elbowed him. "Angus!"

"Hmm?"

"You playin' or not?" With a stretch, Angus stood from the table and made his way out of the circle.

"Not this time, I'll watch." Phil nodded and passed the cards around.

"Like Hannah?" Angus tripped over his foot he stuck out for him. Giving him a dirty look, he walked to the other side of the bus.

"Yeah, like Hannah." He ignored the laughter of the group as he sat down next to his friend, the straw still in her mouth. Bon watched from his seat, as Angus surrounded himself in women. One of them sat apart, waiting for her hair to cool, the other staring back at the man, chugging the last of her drink. Malcolm raised his head when the liquid was almost gone, the silent drinking turned to loud slurping. He saw Cliff's drink sitting by his wrist, half gone. Malcolm thought it rude not to share.

The two kids held their staring contest as Hannah polished off her drink. The last of it was stubborn, never filling the straw all the way from lack of suction power. Angus smiled, humored by her own stubbornness. She laughed through her drinking, choking on it. Finally she set the glass down and gave Angus her full attention. "You 'bout sucked the whole bus through that straw," he said.

"You can't leave milk to spoil," she said. "Especially the chocolate stuff." He wrapped an arm around her and leaned his head on hers.

"You're right. You get a good sleep?"

"A long one, don't know about a good one. The mattress had a few loose springs." She wrinkled her nose. "Reminds me of my bed at home."

"You think about getting a new one?"

"Money is a bit tight over there, a new furnace would do better at the moment." Angus nodded and nuzzled his nose in her hair.

"I know that feelin'. My heatin' is fine, but...it's better than the night air outside, ya' know?"

"How do you mean?" Angus cleared his throat.

"Rent's due." Hannah nodded. "When I get back I'll have to take care of that." Sherrie lifted her head from her reading. She couldn't help but notice his arm, but simply excused it. The words of future payments however, she couldn't ignore.

"I can help pay for rent," she spoke up. "I live there too you know," Angus grinned, twirling the ends of Hannah's hair in his fingers. Sherrie didn't think he was aware of it.

"That's true, but you still pay half of your parents' bills at their place, I don't want you bein' a crutch for me," he declined.

"What do you work as?" Hannah asked.

"I'm a model for magazines," Sherrie answered. "Nothing big, it's mostly purses or shoes, and then they only show my arms and legs. And I hear you're a-" Sherrie cut her sentence short, eyeing Travis across the bus. "Uh..."

"An artist," Hannah finished for her. "Mostly drawings, some paintings. I play piano too, but that's just a side thing."

"She's good," Angus admired, pointing at her. Sherrie smiled and nodded, hoping he meant the piano.

"Does..." Her finger pointed to Travis at the table, who had his hands in his hair, facing another standoff with Phil. "...your roommate have a job?"

"Travis? He's a banker. He makes the most money, despite me paying for everything." Hannah's voice grew quiet, a hand reaching up to scratch her arm through her sleeve. Sherrie didn't say anything more, but watched Angus rub her arm with his free hand. She turned a page in her newspaper.

"Here we are again," Phil smiled, holding his cards out in front of him. "You an' me, your turn." Travis pulled at his collar, eyes darting from Phil's to his cards. Even more of his chips were gone from his stack. Slamming his cards on the table, he left them face down.

"I fold," he swallowed.

"Too bad," Phil said turning his cards over. None of them were special. Travis' eyes widened. "I could have used a challenge." Once again, all of the chips were taken to his side.

"This is incredible," Travis marveled. "Uh, would you mind teaching me how to play?"

Phil's chip collecting slowed. "You know how to play."

"Not like you." Phil laughed and shook his head. "Come on, please? I could make some real money off this game."

"Look, gamblin's really not the way to make money. You think we got here by Slapjack?" The cards were taken and passed to Malcolm who shuffled for him. "You have a job?"

"A banker," Travis answered. "But-but I play sometimes, you know, at tracks? I don't win enough, see, I think maybe this could get me on top."

"Does...your kin know your hobbies?" Phil asked, moving his eyes in Hannah's direction.

"Oh she's aware of my affairs, maybe not every last meeting..." Phil scoffed. "But this ought to win me back a few dollars, maybe change her mind about my endeavors." Travis waited for an answer. He let himself reach over and grab Phil's shoulder, to which the man shrugged him off. "Come on..."

"I'm not condoning your gambling, if you bet your income and end up losin' your house, it'll be on me."

"I wouldn't bet that high. And no one would know it was you, I hardly know your name." Phil couldn't keep the laugh in. "Can't exactly come after a man from a band, always on the move. So?"

Each man in the circle had a different expression. Malcolm was keeping a grin to himself. Cliff put his head in his palm, watching for Phil's answer. Bon was smiling wide, him and the drummer coming to a nonverbal agreement. "Okay," Phil said. "I can't control how you use the tactics...but I can at least show you how to really play." Travis sat up with rapt attention.

"Thank you, Mister Phil, I appreciate it." Phil's smile shrank.

"Jus' Phil, is fine."

"Oh, Just Phil then." He rolled his eyes and took the cards from Malcolm.

"Alright, pay attention. You gotta know when and when not to bluff. If your cards are absolute shit, you can fold or you can bluff as much as you can. But you have to do it right, yeah?"

Travis nodded, eyes watching Phil split the deck and pass the cards around.

"So when you've got a good hand, you don't have to bluff too much. Unless you want your mates to think you've got shit. That's when you start betting more money. The more you bet, the more you can lose however. You payin' attention?" Travis nodded again, picking up his cards.

"So...if I remember correctly, a pair is the lowest you can go." Phil shrugged.

"I suppose. I mean, unless you have absolutely nothin' on you you can try for a high card." Phil set his cards down, motioning for everyone except Travis and Bon to do the same. "Let's have you go against another man, one not so practiced as I am, yeah?"

"Uh, sure." Travis turned in his seat to face Bon, who had a straight face. "Mister Bon," he greeted.

"T," he responded.

"You havin' fun?"

"Yep."

"Remember, keep your face straight, and keep your hands on the cards," Phil reminded. Travis didn't notice the snicker he shared with Malcolm and Cliff. Bon reached a hand behind his ear and scratched it. This however, was noticed.

"You don't have any more money to raise, do you, Mister Bon?"

"I have money," Bon replied. "I jus' don't have any chips. And 'Bon' will do just fine."

"Here, I'll start small for you." Travis placed two blue chips in front of him. Phil passed a stack of them to Bon.

"Use these, I don't need all the money." Bon slid them closer to him.

"Hey, Phil, if you don't need all the money...does that include mine?" Malcolm asked. Phil shook his head.

"That's Travis', I don't need his. Yours I will gladly take." Bon placed three red chips next to the blue. It was a few minutes before Travis made a move.

"Your turn."

"No kidding." Phil, Bon, Malcolm, and Cliff laughed amongst each other as Travis rubbed a hand over his tired eyes. Malcolm leaned across the table.

"Bon doesn't seem to have the best hand, huh, Travis?" he asked. "Why don't you uh...raise the bar a bit?" Travis' hand hovered over his chips. Three were picked up, then a fourth added and placed in the middle. His hand returned to his cards.

Bon put a finger to his lips, nibbling it with his teeth. Four more chips were added to the pot. "You doin' okay, Bon?" Cliff asked.

"Just fine, Cliff. You wanna play?"

"I'll just watch, thank you." He took a drink of his beer, the bottle clanging against the table when he set it down. Malcolm heard it.

The pile slowly grew until neither man had any more chips. Bon had three fingers in his mouth now, eyes darting up to each man around the table, lingering on the three sitting away from them. Travis kept his cool, confirming each move he made with Phil's approving nod. "This is the end of the line," he told Bon.

"The end of your line maybe," he replied. "I'm right as rain over here."

"Rain makes mud."

"And pretty colors in the sky." Cliff hid his face as he laughed. "Are ya' gonna play or what, we're almost to Amsterdam."

"One of us isn't goin' Dutch tonight, eh?" Cliff chuckled out.

"Come on, Travis, surely Bon can't have a better hand than you, he's been playin' poor all night," Phil said. "You're both outta chips, jus' lay your hands down."

Travis waited for Bon to look at him. When his eyes glued themselves to the table, the cards were placed face up.

"It's all I had," he admitted.

"A straight is a pretty good play," Bon admitted as well. Slowly his mouth turned upwards, his tongue sticking to the inside of his cheek. His cards were placed down in the same manner. The ace was the first Travis saw, but the following groomsmen wearing matching suits soon touched the tabletop one by one. "Too bad it ain't the best."

A choir of laughter ignited at the table. Travis stared at the cards Bon laid down, the chips embraced and pulled in his direction. Malcolm had his head in his arms on the table, Cliff pulling his drink away so it wouldn't spill. Bon threw his head back when he laughed, catching the attention of the other three.

"What is it?" Angus asked.

"Saps playin' Poker," Phil called over his shoulder. "Got a bit sticky is all." Angus nodded, turning back around. The laughter made him jump, Hannah almost waking from her snooze. He brushed her cheek with his hand waiting for Sherrie, who had gotten up to finish her hair.

"All mine then, eh, T?" Bon shouted. Phil reached across the table to give Travis a light punch.

"You gotta know the other side of bluffin' too," he snorted. "Like I was tellin' ya'. When someone has a high hand, they make it look like they have shit."

"Every dog has his day, eh?" Malcolm said in a pseudo attempt to comfort him. Travis looked at each one of the men around him. The joke, if that was indeed what it was, was a poor one. Full of contempt and manipulation. It didn't strike him funny at all. Bon had given the chips back to their rightful owners and left the table. Travis watched him sit on the other side of Hannah, talking with Angus. His blood heated up and shot through his veins making his head pound. The sight blinding him, the laughter deafening him.

This was the perfect time for a cigar.