Acting Phony: A Short Story

“Young man, you have two choices! Either pay up or find yourself laying in a coffin under the sea.” “Listen, guys,” I say, trying to sway away from several loaded guns. “Can’t we talk about this like civilized men?” “Kenneth, you lost those rights when you chose to play a grown man’s game without a dollar to your name. What were you thinking?” Says the female owner of Hickory Mike’s bar and grill. It’s a local hotspot where roughnecks come to win money and drink their selves broke. Normally, it’s very crowded and music greets you at every angle. However, tonight, nothing but silence surrounds me, the owner and the bar’s five guests, due to our annual, closed-off poker tournament. “Melissa, why are you acting phony?” I say in a panic. She’s