The impetus for this thread came from Kickycan.

I just happened to be reading Kickycan's post regarding his making out with a gay friend while under the influence of tequila. I really had nothing to add to that thread -- kicky is dealing with demons and I didn't want to disturb him -- but the situation, for some reason, reminded me of an incident from years gone by.

It involved a Saturday afternoon poker game. My friends and I would get together every Saturday and play a game of poker at his parents' house. We were all in college and the poker game was a nice escape.

There were usually five to seven of us. Anything less than five would make for an undesirable game. One afternoon.... that's what happened. Only four of us showed up.

What to do? We pondered the situation for awhile, considered calling the whole thing off, but then Rob looked out the window and pointed to a guy cutting the grass. "Let's ask him if he wants to play", said Rob.

The guy in question was this character of slight build, probably in his thirties. He owned a lawn service and had quite a few customers in this particular area because he always seemed to be cutting someone's lawn in our vicinity.

I strode outside and presented him with our proposal. He said, "Yeah, I'll play." He played for four hours, lost about twenty bucks, and told us he had to go. We invited him back and he became a regular after that, always showing up, rain or shine.

He was a taciturn individual with an extemely deep voice. Through the months he kept his talking to a minimum, speaking only when calling or raising a bet. He's say, "Call" or "Raise". When he folded a hand he would simply toss his cards.

We nicknamed him "Sunshine".

Then one day the floodgates opened. Out of the blue he started talking like a madman. "You guys ever been to Rocky's?", he asked. We all had been there and told him so. Rocky's was a popular bar in the city with a very diverse customer base.

Sunshine keeps talking. He says, "I was there last night. Met a couple of guys. They seemed real friendly, bought me some drinks, played pool, stuff like that. Then, when the bar closed, they invited me to their house. I figured I had nothing to do in the morning so I went with them. We started drinking some more at their house and then they started smoking some of that pot. I tried some. I don't know what was in that pot or in those drinks, but something wasn't right because I passed out and I never pass out. And when I woke up one of those guys was fockin' me in the ass. I asked him what the hell he was doing and then I pulled my pants up and got the hell out of there."

You could have heard a pin drop. Dead silence around the table. Finally, I broke the silence and said, "Thanks for sharing that, Sunshine."

The game continued on as if nothing had happened.

I swear to you on a stack of bibles that this is a true story.


Thanks for listening,

Gus