The Poker Pot

"Grampa!!!"

"Little Girl!!!' The two glared at each other for several seconds. Bessie and Charlie held their breaths. As if on cue, everyone broke into laughter together.

When he recovered from laughing, Charlie wiped the tears from his eyes and asked "Are you two always like this? If so, I'm not sure I'll survive."

"You have to," said Marie. "At least for the next 35 days."

"Hmmm? Thirty-five days? What's that," asked Ed.

"I made her a promise," said Charlie. "A private promise," he said, forestalling the question he saw Ed about to ask.

"What kind of promise, Marie," asked Bessie with a sly smile, returning from ordering lunch.

"A really, really nice one."

"Ohhhh," smiled Bessie, "one of those promises. Do you think he can keep it?"

"He has so far," Marie returned, with a twinkle in her eye and a broad smile, making Bessie laugh, Charlie cough, and Ed look consternated.

"Will somebody tell what you all are talking about," Ed demanded

Bessie looked first at her daughter, then at Charlie. "Well, my dear father, unless I'm very mistaken, my recently returned to the fold daughter has been doing the horizontal polka with her other uncle."

Both Charlie and Marie dropped their silverware. As if it had been rehearsed, they exclaimed "Uncle?"

"Oh dear! You two didn't know? Neither of you? God, I'm sorry! Charlie, I thought you, at least, would have known. Didn't Sara say anything to you? Or, you, Ed? You didn't tell him? Oh, shit!! I really put my foot in it, didn't I?"

Marie and Charlie sat there, only half hearing her, shock and disbelief on their faces. Marie was the first to recover. She pushed her chair back and started to get up. Charlie grabbed her wrist and told her, "Stay. We need to talk and to get some information.

"Am I to understand that my relationship to the family is based on more than the adoption papers you told me about when Mom passed.?"

Ed cleared his throat. "They aren't exactly adoption papers, Charlie. They are, in fact, an acknowledgment of my paternity.

"You are my son, Bessie's half-brother. Your mother and I had been lovers since she started working for the family. Right up until you beat the crap out that little shit. I'm ashamed to admit that he, too, was your half-brother."

"Christ, Ed," Charlie asked, "is there any woman in this town you didn't screw?"

With an exaggerated expression of thoughtfulness, "Well, there's Marie, most of her aunts, all of her cousins and some of the newer company wives. I don't have the stamina I used to have."

"Only most of my aunts, Grampa?"

"Well, yeah. After your grandmother died, Bessie here offered to help me out now and then. And then when that sonuvabitch Nels Halloran, Harry's father, insisted on marrying Judy, I made a deal with her.

"We'd have sex two or three times a week, then she'd go home and make him eat her pussy before he could screw her. She told him it was the cost of blackmail. He ate her, or he and Harry could go to hell."

"So," Charlie observed, "the family is not exactly averse to incestuous relationships."

"You know that already, Charlie," remarked Bessie. "Although I guess, since you didn't know it at the time, it didn't count as incest, even if we all knew; well, most of us."

"Who," asked Marie, "not your sisters?"

"Yes, dear, except for the two youngest, we all were aware we were screwing our half-brother. It made it seem even naughtier than just a stranger pick-up in a bar. Especially since we all knew we were all doing it.

"But poor Charlie didn't know we all knew we were sharing until he came home to 'rescue' you. I'm not sure he knew that was why he was brought home.

"Your grandfather is as healthy as ever, dear. The wheelchair is just for show."

"Rescue me?"

"Yes. Our spies told us Harry seemed to be having more difficulty restraining himself from taking out his anger on you. We all knew how Charlie felt about Harry and convinced father to bring him home to see if he could find a way to get you away.

"We didn't know how he felt about you then. We just presented him with a chance to really hurt Harry. First it was just going to be financial--take all his money and break him, then we'd approach you to come home.

"When Charlie saw you and how Harry treated you, he made new plans." The sounds of "Home Sweet Home" interrupted them.

"We expecting some one, Bessie?" Ed spoke, pushing himself from the table.

"No one I know of, Father, but Rosa's on her way to get the door."

In a few moments, Rosa entered the room looking concerned. "Sir, it's a County Sheriff's deputy, for Miss Marie."

"Show him in, Rosa, and bring some coffee," Ed instructed.

Chap. 6 (Charlie and Marie get some more news)

Rosa soon returned followed by the deputy sheriff. " Good afternoon, sir," he said, addressing Ed, his eyes sweeping over the company, taking in their positions in the room, their expressions, and their postures.

"I'm Deputy Colin Carter. I'm looking for Mrs. Marie Halloran. I understand she's your granddaughter. Would you know where I might find her?"

Marie stepped forward. "I'm Marie Halloran, deputy. What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but I have to ask. Do you have any ID with you?"

"Deputy? Young man, do you recognize me?" Ed interrupted the conversation. The deputy nodded. "You may take my word, and her mother's word, here," he said indicating Bessie with a nod, "the young woman is my granddaughter, Marie Halloran. What can we do for you? Will you sit and have some coffee?"

The deputy looked at Ed, recognizing him from newspaper and publicity photos, as well as having provided security for him a few times. He looked at Bessie, seeing an older version of the woman claiming to be Marie Halloran. He went with his instincts.

"Thank you, no, sir. I'm afraid I have some unpleasant news for Mrs. Halloran. There was an accident early this morning. Your husband apparently stole a car and drove it at high speed into a bridge abutment on the interstate. He was apparently killed instantly.

"If you can, we would like you to come to the county morgue to identify the body this afternoon, or tomorrow morning, if that's more convenient.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Ma'am, and to have to tell you like this."

"Thank you, deputy, for your concern. I know you're just doing what has to be an unpleasant duty."

"Was your husband upset or despondent, Mrs Halloran? Witnesses said it looked like he was aiming for the abutment, that it was on purpose."

Marie hesitated before answering, choosing her words carefully. "Yes, Officer," she replied. "Just before I came to visit my family, Harry told me he had lost all of our money gambling.

"All the money, and a great deal more. More than he realized." She sat down. "I'll come to the morgue this afternoon. Will I still need to bring ID?" She gave the deputy a strained smile.

Deputy Carter looked at her, looked at Charlie, Bessie and Ed in turn. He remembered some of the stories he had heard about Ed, and about Harry. He had also talked with Tom and Paul, other players in the poker game Marie mentioned.

"That's okay Ma'am. You won't need any ID. Thank you for your help, and again I'm sorry for your loss."

Outside, in his car, as he made some notes he thought to himself, "If I had lost what he lost in that poker game, I think I'd take the bridge, too. All that beauty, and money, too. The poor son of a bitch."

In the dining room, the four sat, quiet, stunned by the news. Bessie, who had been least connected to Harry, was the first to stir. She reached for the coffee pot and started to pour. "Well, that certainly simplifies things a bit."

Ed asked, "Charlie, for the umteenth time, what the fuck happened last night?"

Charlie looked at Marie. She nodded. "Wellll," he started, letting out a long breath, "First, I cheated and stole a six thousand dollar pot playing seven card stud, after I convinced Harry to use Marie to cover his bet. Then I made him watch while I raped her, and then screwed her ass." Ed sat up and started to look angry.

Marie reached over and patted his arm and mouthed "It's okay, Grampa."

Charlie continued, "When I finished with Marie, I gave Harry the choice of cleaning her pussy of my cum, or fucking her ass, telling him if he chose the latter, I'd ream his ass at the same time,. He chose to bugger her, and I kept my promise. When I was done screwing him, I made him suck me clean.

"While he was doing that, he came all over my pants and shoes without ever touching himself. I guess he couldn't live with the implication." He shook his head and was silent for a long minute.

"God knows I hated the bastard. What he did to Mom, what he had done to you, sweetheart, and what he was doing. I could have cheerfully killed him any number of times, in my head. But this? I didn't mean for this to happen. I just wanted him out of our lives."

"This isn't your fault, son," Ed stated firmly. "Whatever happened to Harry last night, he did it to himself. If you had any role in what he did, you simply held up a mirror to his face and he didn't like what he saw, and tried to run away from it.

"Now we have to decide what to do about you two."

"I've had a couple of thoughts about that," Charlie said. "Other than the sisters, nobody in town knows of my relationship to the family." He turned to Marie. "You've been married, albeit miserably, to the bad uncle. Are you willing to try for a happier union with another uncle?"

Marie looked at him, beaming. "Uncle Charlie, is that a proposal?"