Humanity of the Broken [ Band of Brothers ] 2

FORTY-THREE

June 1, 1945

"Goddamnit, Alley, you have got to be cheating."

Alice groaned as she threw her cards onto the small table they had commandeered for poker. As Moe Alley snickered, she shook her head. They'd set up shop at one of the picnic tables near the airfield. Not far away, a baseball diamond had been pulled together. She could hear some men from D Company going at it with the replacements from Easy. To her left, Alley grabbed the discarded cards from herself, Johnny, and Spina.

"No way," Alice snapped. She grabbed the cards from him. "I'm shuffling. And I'm dealing."

"Be my guest," he said, smirking at her around his cigarette.

She narrowed her eyes at him. Somehow Alley had managed to win five of the last ten rounds, and she'd had enough. Alice shuffled them in a bridge. To her right, Spina wrestled a cigarette from his pants pocket. Across, Johnny watched her.

"Deal the goddamn cards," he ordered. "Come on."

Alice scoffed. "Sorry. Right. Ante up."

As she and the boys put their starting ante into the center of the table, she passed them out. They decide nothing would be wild. Once everyone had five, Alice slammed the extra stack to her right and picked up her own. "Alley, first bet?"

He thumbed the cards. A long blow of smoke left his mouth. Then he glanced up at her, smirked, and threw three dollars into the pot. "Three bucks."

Johnny put three in to match him. "Can't decide if you're lyin' or just your regular level of smartass."

"That would be telling, wouldn't it," Alley said.

"Yeah, it would." Johnny scoffed. "Fine. Raise you two."

Spina snorted as he took the cigarette out of his mouth. When Johnny told him to bet, he scoffed. "Calm down. I'm thinkin' here."

"We know how that goes with men from Philly," Alice teased. To her joy, both Johnny and Alley cracked up.

"Hey, watch it. That's Philly you're talkin' about," Spina muttered. But he grabbed the money owed and added it to the pot. "Raise one."

"What's that? Six to me?" At their nods, Alice pulled six bills from her stash. "Fine. There's six. Alley how many cards?"

"Two."

She handed him two and took his discards. In the end, Johnny took two and Spina took three. She decided to just take one. Her hand consisted of one card short of a flush. Just one more heart. Alice flipped over the card.

Six of Diamonds. It took all her training not to groan in annoyance. Now all she had to her name was a pair of sixes. Alice glanced up. "Alley, your bet."

"Two bucks." He tossed them into the center. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he dropped it to the ground and stomped it with his boot in the grass. "So, Lieutenant. Any more word on what the brass are doing for the one year?"

"Maybe," she teased.

Johnny scoffed. He raised the bet by four, causing the others to straighten up in a mix of annoyance and sudden interest. Johnny looked across at her as Spina matched his bet. "Care to share?"

"Fine. We got word from Colonel Sink; General Taylor is letting each company hold a raffle to send one man home." She shook her head. "I fold."

Alley laughed at her. "You got no luck today, Alice."

"Nah, she's got plenty 'a bad luck," Spina heckled.

In the end, Spina won the round. As he collected up his winnings, the rest of them just yawned and stretched. They'd been playing for nearly an hour. Just as Alice went to throw in the towel and call it a day, Johnny glanced past her and waved someone down. She turned. Liebgott, Bull, Ramirez, Malark, Perco, and Shifty strolled across the grass.