"Stuart, Dee - Easy Mark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stuart Dee)

coon.
"Poker's quicker than drilling for oil!" Smiley says.
And lots easier too, I think to myself. I say, "Just keep playing."
We play past buttes and mesas and the painted red desert northeast of
Albuquerque. They act like they don't hear the dinner gong and order more
sandwiches. We play on through Gallup and by now I know I've had it. Outside
it's dark as pitch, my friends is higher than a treed coon and I've lost
everything but my longhandles.
About five minutes out of Flagstaff, I say, "I've had enough of letting you
boys take my money." I grin and push back from the table. They try to get me
to keep on playing, but I tell them I got to save a few dollars to get me back
home.
"Okay," Smiley says, not too good a sport about it. "You're down exactly
two-hundred-and-fifty bucks."
I slide my billfold outta my jeans and pull out a $500 bill. "Sorry, boys,
that's all I got. You got change?"
"Sure have, smart-A" says Tex, whipping out his billfold. He thumbs through it
and passes me some bills across the table. I count out two-hundred-fifty skins
and shove them inside my pocket.
"Enjoyed meetin' you boys and enjoyed the game," I say, getting to my feet and
shaking hands all around the table.
"Not half as much as we did, cowboy," says Smiley, smiling.
I tip my hat and mosey through a few cars back to my seat. As the train's
pulling into Flagstaff, I get this real strong hunch that now's a good time
and place to cut loose. I pick up my gear and jump down the steps onto the
platform. I watch the train roll out of the station, smiling to myself,
thinking how friendly folks is. Then I slip the two-hundred fifty bucks inside
my billfold, right between two more five-hundred-dollar bills Old Grigsby
printed up for me yesterday. He sure was right. A fella really can see the U.
S. of A. and make money at the same time.


Dee is the author of three mystery suspense novels: CHRISTINA, BLOOD TIES and
DEADLY LEGACY. When not writing mayhem and murder, she writes for young
readers about armadillos, bats, motorcycles and WWII. She hangs out in Dallas
with her yellow lab, Star.