“You dummies.” Lars put in his thirty-five cents, and Leo dropped in another dime. Lars dealt the last card “down and dirty as doodoo.”

Leo didn’t want to look. He lifted the beer can from between his legs like Ryder and took two big swallows. His father whispered, “Let’s see it.”

Leo picked up the card and, without looking, handed it to Jim. Jim squinted at it in the light, then turned up the corner of Leo’s queen card and peeked at that. His face didn’t change at all. He handed Leo the card, a ten of diamonds. Leo held his breath and looked over at Lars looking at him.

“You get what you wanted?”

Ryder held his two down cards in his hands, studying them.

“Pair of tens still rules, Lars,” Jim said.

Lars kept his eyes on Leo. Then he smiled and flipped his up card over. “Well tens quit.”

“Uh oh,” Cody said.

“It’s up to you, Uncle Ryder,” Jim said.

“Two bits to my Young Buddy.” Ryder tossed a blue chip into the pile.

Leo added one of his own.

“You calling?”

“I don’t know, am I?”

Lars laughed so loud he had to tilt his bald head back to get it all out.

“If you’re not raising, you are,” Jim said.

“I guess I am, then.”

“I’m gonna smoke ya.” Ryder spread out his two fives. He pushed the king next to them, then quickly turned over his down cards: two queens. “Two pair, lady high. Now show us that wonderful bluff of yours, Young Buddy.”

Leo couldn’t help smiling. He started to giggle as he laid out the cards one by one in perfect order, first the eight, then the nine, he turned over the ten card and put it in place, he slid the jack next to that, then he took a breath and made himself get serious for the unveiling of the queen.

“It’s a six, I know it,” Ryder said. “Show me that silly little six.”

Leo flipped the queen card over so fast it fell back down on its face again.

“What was that?”

Lars was already laughing, Jim too. Leo turned the queen over and slid it up against the jack. He smiled up at Ryder.

“Nobody gets a queen high straight in the first hand of the first game of their life!” Ryder shook his head and smiled right at Leo. “That’s it, now. No more presents from me.”

Jim pushed the chip pile over to Leo and told him to keep it slow.

“Don’t listen to your old man,” Lars said. “Get as sloppy as you want.”

While Cody collected the cards and shuffled the deck, Leo stacked his chips. He wanted to count them but there wasn’t time with Cody already starting to deal and talking about what the game was, five-card draw.