Chapter 50

We found ourselves sitting in the parlor, the eight of us, when the night officially turned to day (aka midnight). The sun had drained everybody so we’d all taken a short nap after supper (or at least returned to our separate rooms). Liz and I slept, but we’re old. At 30, we were the eldest of the group. It was new for me. Rick is the only one of my friends younger than me – and I’m older than him by a whopping 22 days.

Through the course of our afternoon together (during which I managed to get used to seeing Jill, Skye, Jessica and Kristin topless) I’d learned that Dom was 27 and Skye had just turned 25. I knew Jill was 29 (and would turn 30 a month after Liz’s Dallas concert). Brian was 28. I’m not sure why I thought Dom was older. I guessed it was because Dom had started to work for Liz earlier.

Jessica would be 22 a day before Jill’s birthday and Kristin was 18 years old and a high school graduate (instead of being a 16-year-old high school junior as I initially estimated – I guess the mistake just proved how old I was getting).

The youngest of the group were surprised to learn a few things. First, they thought Dom, Brian, Jill and Skye might be Liz’s backup dancers (despite the fact that Jill Clay was barely 5-feet-2 and Skye Bennett was better than 6-feet-1). It was a revelation to learn that Jill was part of Liz’s management team and that Dom and Brian were her security. Skye just winked and said Liz would never let her be a backup dancer because Skye had longer legs.

According to the Internet (multiple sources, I’m afraid), Liz had a 32-inch inseam with her legs taking up almost 45 percent of her 5-feet, 10-inch frame. I was two inches taller than Liz and I wore a 30-inseam. Dom was four inches taller than me and wore a 33-inch inseam. Liz had long legs. Skye had longer legs. She proved it by pulling on a pair of her boyfriend’s pants. They fit her perfectly everywhere but the waist and the butt.

That led to a spirited discussion about body types and body images (along with body shaming). Jessica and Kristin were shaped similarly (and what I would consider normally). Jill was petite. Skye and Liz were tall. Jessica and Kristin were in the normal range for females (or so I suspected). Jessica was 5-feet-6 and said she weighed 125 pounds. She was neither fat nor skinny. Her bust was 33 and her hips were 35. Kristin was an inch shorter than her older sister but a little curvier up top. She had a 35-inch bust to go along with 36-inch hips.

Their waists were both 25 inches, they said.

The newcomers paid rapt attention as the older women (Dom, Brian and I wisely kept our mouths shut) talked about society’s ideas of beauty and fitness.

We had learned that the boat usually had a crew of six – with a backup captain and another steward working alongside the family.

Since Liz had booked the trip late (and didn’t care if we stopped overnight), the second part of the crew stayed behind to work a fishing charter while the family took us out.

We learned that the young women were both college students that took classes only Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to free up their weekends to help out aboard the yacht. We also found out that the family would drop us off in Cabo Sunday evening and immediately head back to San Diego (sailing throughout the nights to get the girls back in time for classes).

Liz had offered to fly the girls home again but they had declined. They explained that they both had been checked out on operating the large boat so they would alternate. Kristin and her father conned the bridge for a few hours and then Jessica and her mother took over. The only restriction came from their charter license. The mother was qualified to pilot the craft on tours but neither of the girls was old enough to seek certification yet.

We finally broke out the cards for a poker game once the sun was down and the yacht was anchored for the night.

No one was really drunk. We had all imbibed fairly freely during the day but we had snacked and been pretty active, too. We had all swum in the pool and strolled around the 112-foot yacht.

Of course, we kept sipping on our drinks during the game, too. I figured the two young women would be the first to get tipsy (conveniently forgetting that 18-22 was the span when I had built up my greatest tolerance to alcohol) but they hung tough.

The card game was spirited. We’d each dropped in $50 to get $1,500 worth of chips. It was Texas Hold ‘Em (the only game all of us really knew) so it was going to be winner take all. The game had its ebbs and flows. Dom went out early and Brian soon followed. I got a good hand early and made it stand up – even though the gender lines were firmly drawn.

The females (by spoken or unspoken agreement, I don’t know which) rarely went head to head. If one of them pushed a hand the others would back away. They kept their money pretty well split up. I took Skye out first when my kicker was higher than hers as we both had a pair of queens. Then I managed to get Liz and Jessica out at the same time. We all had straights (because the eight, nine, 10 and Queen were showing on the board). Jessica had six and seven. Liz had a Jack. I had Jack and King.

“Damn it!” Jessica rumbled. “I knew I should have pulled out when she stayed in but I was too far along to stop!”

The younger girl was a conservative player. Two hours into the game, I think she had the same amount of chips that she started with. She only bet if she was sure should could win. I pressed a gambit with a pretty hefty re-raise on Jill. She quickly folded but Kristin went all in. I had decent cards (and a lot of chips) so I called.

We soon saw why she rarely bluffed. She had gone out with practically nothing in her hand.

By the time it was just Jill sitting across from me the gender lines were firmly in place. Her entourage had stationed themselves behind her and Dom and Brian had returned to take their places next to me.

Jill had bided her time after knocking Dom from the ranks. She had taken a few small pots but stayed out of the ones that could damage a chip count pretty quickly. Although I didn’t count what I had in front of me (Kenny Rogers would be so proud of me) I thought I had about three-fourths of the money. As I’d done with Kristin, I started to push but Jill would always back away, leaving me to take a few chips here and there.

She played when she had the cards and we were pretty close to where we’d started 45 minutes after Kristin had left the game.

We were taking turns dealing and it was her turn. She shuffled and flipped the cards out. I lifted the edge and liked what I saw. I was the small blind (and the blinds were $100 now) so I slid my chip to the center.

“Raise $250,” Jill said instantly. I lifted the edge of my cards again (just like I’d seen on TV ... and they hadn’t changed in the 10 seconds since I last saw them).

I nodded and pushed the chips forward.

“Check,” I said after the flop came out. The three new cards didn’t hurt me but didn’t help me either.

“Raise $500,” Jill said instantly. I had seen her stacking her chips the moment she saw the new cards.

“I’m gonna put you all in,” I said. “What do you got there?”

“Oh, you are going down,” Jill said.

“Not for a few more days I don’t think,” I answered.

Jill didn’t break her table persona by even cracking a smile. She just started to count her chips.

“I have another nine-fifty,” she said.

“Christ,” I grumbled. “That’s not even worth my effort.”

I purposefully used only the $25 and $50 chips to match her offering, pushing the stack of $100 chips well to the side.

Jill watched me and I could see it pissed her off. I knew I would win eventually even if I lost this hand.

“Side bet,” she asked with narrowed eyes after looking at her cards again.

I rubbed my cheeks. The stubble had already started to form where it had been almost 24 hours since my last shave.

“Let’s hear it,” I said.

“You go all in,” Jill said. “You win, you get the pot and I go topless all day tomorrow.”

I rolled my eyes.

“You pushed those things in everybody’s face all day today!” I said. “You mean to tell me that you aren’t planning the same thing tomorrow? Get real.”

“I did not push them in anybody’s face,” Jill hissed.

“Think what you want, girl,” I said, winking at her across the table. “I have about ten grand sitting here. Your bikini top isn’t going to buy that. Now ... if you want to rope in your cheerleaders to the bet, we might have something.”

I used my fingers to gesture to either side of her. She turned to Liz on one side and then Skye on the other.

“Don’t draw me into your battles,” Liz said, smiling and backing away with raised hands.

“I got him,” Jill said with assurance.

“She don’t got me,” I corrected with a shake of my head. There was a two, a seven and a king showing on the felt.

“I got you, though,” Liz winked, winking at me as she leaned forward to see what cards Jill had hidden.

“True,” I agreed. “But she doesn’t.”

Liz inspected the cards and then gestured Skye forward. They huddled together and then whispered with Jill.

“OK, we’re in,” Skye said, crossing her arms defiantly.

“For ten grand, I was talking about the entire squad, not just the junior varsity,” I said as I pointed to the two sisters that had bookended the entire procession. They had been left out of the conversation. The older women had turned to look. Neither Jessica nor Kristin had been shy about taking their tops off around anyone so I didn’t think it would pose a problem or create an issue.

Liz tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at me. I just offered her a wink to show I wasn’t trying to score with anyone but her. That led to another huddle and my two companions leaned forward to see what I had.

I turned the cards upward to show a pair of kings.

I got a pair of pats on the shoulders when the female side broke up.

“We’ve determined that the nubile young breasts of our hostesses are worth more than the chips you have in front of you,” Jill announced.

I held my hands apart.

“Your choice,” I said.

“So, when I win, I get your chips and you and your butt-buddies have to go without pants tomorrow,” she declared.

I lifted an eyebrow and glanced toward Liz. She just smirked at me. I glanced to my left and my right. Dom and Brian were obviously thinking things through. They looked at each other.

“We’re in,” Dom announced.

“Turn ‘em?” Jill asked but I held up a finger.

“Not yet,” I said. “Unlike you, I put a pretty high value on my friends’ virtue. So when I win, you don’t get any clothing at all tomorrow.”

“Deal!” Jill said. She turned over the only hand that could have been better than mine with what was showing ... a pair of aces. She went pale when I turned over my kings. With the one on the board, I had three of a kind.

“Fuck!” Jill said, standing so quickly her chair almost flew backward.

I could see she was pissed off so I stayed quiet.

“Maybe you should spin around so we can inspect the merchandise,” Dom suggested.

Jill glared at him but Skye bit back a laugh. Liz seemed amused at her friend’s anger and even the two people that didn’t know Jill were enjoying her plight.

“We’re not done,” Jill said, sitting back down. She discarded the top card and flipped the next. I barely contained a groan when the ace of hearts came up.

“How do you like me now, bitches!” Jill said, jumping up again and getting high fives from her contingent of (now-adoring) fans.

I offered a silent apology to my friends but neither seemed too upset.

“Well, as you said, we’re not done yet,” I said.

“You are,” Jill said. “And I am going to spend all day tomorrow making fun of that shriveled little weenie of yours.”

“Now you’re just being hurtful,” I said.

“Yeah, sorry,” Jill admitted. “I’m a little competitive, I guess.”

“No?” I asked with mock surprise. “I didn’t see that at all!”