Part 3 - Dealt an Odd Hand

The Bell woke me up at 8.50, time for roll call. Well, Jase shoved me awake, and we stumbled on over to roll call, where the sane are gathering, people with normal subjects in normal class times. The kind that start after roll call. I’m already reaching around to the small pocket in my backpack to pull out a pack of cards, well worn and marked. There’s 10 minutes in which Shithead can occur, and we’d like to get at least three rounds in.
“C’mon, C’mon, deal. Right, who’s playin’?”, Fat’s well keen, it’s not like there’s anything at stake though.
“in.” “where are my cards?” “deal me.” Tilbury, Jase, and BJ make it in time, however-
‘dude, deal me in.’ Coote tries, no success though.
‘It’s three card this hand. Next one.’ I say, dealing around without him in. what can I do? Three card only works with 5, unless you get two packs and that’s a crappy game anyway. And, when you’ve got someone on the outside, they make the game go faster – loser gets left out, outsider gets put in, just like in handball. We’re old hands at this game now, it’s been a staple of Cold-Wet Days, Too-Hot Days, Lazy Days and The Teacher Didn’t Show Up Days.
Slip, slip, slip. Cards slide out of hands, laid on top of the pile, in silence. A hand picks up a pile, and another lays down an easy card right after. A pile gets burnt, and slid to the side. Smooth game so far – no-one’s slipped up, reversing direction when required, and reversing counting when the card demands it. I’m not Shithead before I know it – then Tilbury, then Jase. The battle of the Shitheads Begins – Fat and BJ. Neither are particularly good players, insofar as the game requires any skill at all. But no-one wants to be Shithead. It’s at this point where skill does become apparent though, selective use of good cards, forcing the other player to pick up your bad ones.
BJ flukes it, and Fat’s left holding half the deck. First Shithead of the day. The game can continue anew – at least, until Erin walks up. Oooh, a girl. Every single boy shifts slightly in his seat.
‘Hey guys, can I play?’, she awkwardly asks the group in general. Hell, someone has to give up a spot, but there’s no way a girl’ll get turned down like Coote was. I don’t think anyone else could’ve caught it, but Jase gives a massive, instant filthy to BJ in the seat next to him, a silent communiqué with the bold headline ‘get out of the fucking seat. Now.’ As BJ’s the only one who would get the hint, he gets up and says to Erin,
‘Sit here, I’m gonna go over and talk to, uh, Ruby’,
now it’s six players, I’m not going to ask anyone to sit out, it’s two card. Still, an interesting development nevertheless. Something to talk about in the break, anyway.