Uncharted: the lucky lighter

There was only one dim light in the corner of the cramped room. It was almost like standing in a storage closet. The table was large enough to sit five men, yet there were only two. The man sitting next to the old wooden door had a bushy mustache that seemed nicely cared for. Although he was nearing the age of 65 he had a full head of silver hair and had a nice physique. He wore a red Hawaiian shirt slightly unbuttoned, just enough to notice his unshaven chest, which made him look like he’d been planning a vacation. The man across from him was dressed almost like he’d just left a wedding, or maybe a mafia meeting. He wore a black suit and tie which didn’t seem to have even a single wrinkle. His hair was pale white and slicked back so you could clearly see he had started balding. He was only in his mid 50’s and well toned, but had many wrinkles. It was almost as if he’d lived a decade longer than the man sitting before him.

The man in red took a puff of his cigar “I’m gonna call your bluff, Xavier. I’m raising.” He pushed money into the pile in the center of the table. Xavier laughed, “Okay, I’ll call.” The first man confidently threw his hand down in front of Xavier. He wore a wide grin. He had a flush with a bright red ace that he pointed out had matched his shirt. Xavier chuckled and laid down a four of a kind. He started sweeping up the pile and said “ I win, Sully.”

“Damn. Let’s play one more round. I got a good feeling. I’m going all in.” Sully pushed his pile into the center of the table and coughed on the smoke of his cigar. He seemed a little frustrated. Unfortunately, Xavier had more money and Sully wanted to win the game. He was getting tired and Xavier could tell he felt defeated. Sully reached into his shirt pocket and threw a silver lighter into the pile. “Why the hell would I want that?” Xavier exclaimed. “It’s lucky! Saved my ass a handful of times… especially when I was working with Nate “ Sully said, taking a drag of his cigar. Xavier didn’t look too convinced. “Those were the days. I’m willing to pass it onto you. Only if you win, of course.” Xavier sighed and figured he might as well give Sully another shot at winning. Hell, he wouldn’t mind having the notorious lucky lighter either. He dealt a new hand for the both of them.

Before they could lay out their hands, a slightly tanned man with dark brown hair barged in. He had a receding hair line and had a small tattoo of birds on the left side of his neck. His voice was aged and deep. “ Hey sully, I got it, but um.. we need to go,” he said as he looked back at the bar. Sully looked at him and let out a sigh, “Can’t you see I’m playing a game, Sam? I’ll be out soon.” When the door shut, he put back on his game face. He put down his cards to show a straight flush. His hand was a good one, and he knew it. It wasn’t good enough, though. Xavier didn’t look defeated. Sully looked down at his cards to see a royal flush. In amazement, Sully stood up and said, “That was a damn good hand, Xavier.” They stood and shook hands. “Till we meet again, huh professor.” Sully laughed. Xavier nodded and replied, “Good game, sir.” As Sully opened the door to leave the room, Xavier overheard Sam asking if that was all their money before the door closed behind them. Xavier sat back in the chair and looked at the pile of money. He grabbed the lighter to study it. It had playing cards on one side with the word “lucky”. Xavier shook his head and laughed. “That’s a lucky lighter, all right.” He stuffed it into his pocket and heard his phone start to ring. He looked down to see the name Owen Brown. He knew this call was only the beginning.