Awake Unto Me (4 page)

“Look now,” Leo whispered.

Jack turned on his bar stool. One of the working girls, Sally, had sauntered over to the gentleman’s table. Without being able to hear a word in the noisy saloon, Leo and Jack knew what she said.

Remarkably, though, the gentleman smiled and responded, but instead of settling in his lap, Sally flounced away with a frown. Jack and Leo rubbed their chins in bemusement.

“He’s not here for the girls,” Leo said. “He’s not a drinking man, that’s for sure. He’s had that one whiskey for an hour.”

“Well, that leaves just one thing.”

Jack slid off his bar stool and strode over to the stranger’s table. He decided to put on his best manners, having long ago learned what type of speech would do for each man. He would curse rough and raucously with the sailors, and he could sound dangerous enough for the hungriest murderer on Barbary Coast to leave him be. He could lull this one with politeness and lure him into a game where he could easily take him. The gentlemen were always like that.

“Good evening, sir. May I buy you a drink? My name is John O’Shea. Friends call me Lucky Jack.”

“Good evening, Mr. O’Shea. A drink would be most welcome and some information would be even more welcome. Addison Grant, at your service.”

Jack waved two fingers at Leo, who sent one of the girls over with two glasses of whiskey. “What brings you to this part of town? Not a lady’s company, I take it?”

“Ah, no.” The man smiled. “I was hoping to find a card game.”

Jack smiled broadly. “Well then, sir. You’ve come to the right place. I believe I may be able to accommodate you. Your game, sir? Five-card draw?

“Blackjack.”

Jack drew back, surprised but intrigued. He had learned the deceptively simple game from a fellow from Reno and had liked it because the odds were decent.

“Well, then, sir, let us get comfortable and begin. Do you want a bottle?”

“Indeed not, sir. I prefer to keep a clear head.”

“Then I will as well,” Jack said, disappointed that the fellow wasn’t a drinker who would be reckless or become befuddled.

Jack pulled out his cards and shuffled. “Let’s begin.”

They dealt ten hands between them, and the stranger won every game. A crowd gathered and Leo spotted Jack two hundred. They’d done this before to good effect: the Grey Dog could make a profit and Jack took a healthy cut.

“Who’s in?” Jack asked. Three besides Mr. Grant signaled and the four men started a game. Blackjack wasn’t as well known in San Francisco as it was in Reno. They went another five rounds and the stranger won four and the house won one. The other players weren’t skilled and were drinking heavily, so it was basically a duel between Jack and Grant. The others dropped out and Grant bet all he had one on one hand. It looked to be suicide, since the house had a nine showing and Jack had a ten as the hole card. Grant showed a two, a five. He signaled another hit. Jack dealt him a ten. They turned over. House showed twenty; Grant blackjacked. The crowd cheered.

Afterward, Grant bought Jack a drink and thanked him for the game as the crowd dispersed.

“Where are you from, mister, and how did you manage to play cards like that?”

“I’m matriculating at the University of California Department of Medicine. I’ll graduate in June. I expect to practice medicine here. Although I come from Boston, the good city of San Francisco suits me. I learned to play cards when I was a freshman. I enjoy the diversion.”

“You don’t say. A doctor. I’ll be damned. You’re a hell of a card player, and although I don’t think I want to play you anymore, we could do something for each other. Can you tell me how you play the game like that?”

Addison laughed. “I count cards. And I figure the odds. It’s not foolproof but it is serviceable. I can tell after every hand what’s left in the deck.”

“Is that a fact?”

“It is, Mr. O’Shea, and I can show you. I must leave but I’ll be back in two days. Thank you most kindly for the introduction, the drink, and the company.” Dr. Grant slapped his bowler back on his head, waved genially to all present, and walked out of the saloon.

*

Addison, as everyone called him thereafter, returned as he’d promised, and he and Jack sat playing for hours every weekend. One evening, Kerry came over to the table and stood next to Jack and observed the play.

“Who’s this, then? I never expected to see children in these parts.”

“This is my daughter, Kerry. She’s ten.”

“I see. Kerry? Would you like to learn to play cards with us?” Addison asked kindly.

Kerry nodded silently. Jack nodded to her and she sat down next to him and helped him with each hand.

“Does her mother know where she is and what she’s doing?” Addison asked.

“Nah. Mother’s dead. Doubt she cares now. Molly told me if nothing else, though, to not let Kerry go bad.”

“And how will you do that?” Addison asked in a genuinely curious tone.

“I don’t intend for her to be a whore.”

Addison paled. “Good God, of course not.”

“As long as she stays close to me, she’s safe, I reckon. She’s a smart kid.”

“I can see that.” Addison grinned at Kerry, who grinned back.

Jack was surprised that Addison got a smile out of Kerry.
She likes him. He’s a good man.

“Get upstairs, girl. Me and the doctor got to talk.”

As Kerry nodded and walked away, Jack watched her. She’d grown taller in the last year, and her pants were too short and her shirt too small. He figured if she was going to dress as a boy, he might as well go ahead and give her money to get some clothes that fit. He turned back to Addison.

“Doc. I want you and me to do some business. You got that system you got and I can get you the marks. If there’s a game going, you get more idiots than you can handle. They’re all figuring to win some money. I know you’re a respectable-like fellow but…” Jack looked at Addison. “I’ll be the dealer, you’ll be the ringer. We can clean up, I tell you. Split fifty-fifty.”

“I’m your man, sir. We can have a go at it during the weekends. I have classes during the week. I’ll use the money to pay back some of my educational debts.”

“No worries.” They shook hands.

Leo was skeptical when Jack told him their plans later. “It sounds like a winner, Jack, but too good to be true. They ain’t all
that
stupid down here in the terrific Pacific.” He used the Barbary Coast’s nickname sarcastically.

“Ah, you’re like an old woman sometimes, Leo. The doc looks like an honest gentleman who’s ripe for the taking.”

“Yeah, but word travels fast, Jack.”

“We got it all figured, Leo.”

*

The next year was lucrative for Jack and Addison. A seemingly endless stream of greenhorns and old hands wanted to take on the fine young doctor. Leo served him cold, strong tea so it would look like he was tossing down the whiskey, and he and Jack used signals to telegraph their strategy, leaving no one the wiser. They all went away shaking their heads, with empty pockets.

“I do believe, Jack, I’ve made enough to pay my parents back for both my baccalaureate and medical degrees, thanks to you.”

“You’re a clever fellow, Addison. I’ve made me so much money I started an account for Kerry at the Bank of California. I’ve never saved a penny before I met you. I don’t know…if something ever happened to me…” Jack fell silent.

Addison sipped his drink.

“I never met anyone like you before. I never made so much money from cards as I have with you. And you make me think about things when we talk, you know? Things I never cared to think about before. You’re a good man. One of the best I’ve met.” Jack stopped again, trying to get up the courage to ask Addison what he wanted to.

“I want you to be a co-signer on the bank account so’s you can help Kerry and get the money to her if…well, if something should happen.”

“With pleasure, Mr. O’Shea.” Addison shook Jack’s hand tightly, and Jack knew he’d made the right decision. Grant would take care of Kerry and Kerry’s money if he wasn’t around to keep an eye on her anymore. He ground his teeth as the same sense of dread came over him as it had been doing for the last few days. He ignored it, like he always did, and swallowed past the lump in his throat when he watched Kerry laughing with some of the bar patrons. He couldn’t imagine not being around to see what she might become one day. Slamming his glass on the table he stood abruptly. “What say we go find ourselves some games outside the Grey Dog, Addison?”

They went around to a few different bars and found themselves in one of the lowest of the many deadfalls on the Coast. The crowd was rougher than usual and hard drinking.

Addison won a couple a rounds and big tough stood up and said, flatly, “Yer cheatin’ and I can prove it. Let me see the deck.” Jack handed it over swiftly. The man couldn’t prove a thing since it all resided in Addison’s agile mind.

The hoodlum made Jack and Addison stand up and he searched but could find no cards on either of them, naturally. He growled and frowned and they went back to playing. Addison won again and then again.

The ruffian stood up, his face purple. “That’s it! I don’t know what yer game is but I’ve had enough.” He pulled out a gun, causing all to dive for cover except Addison and Jack. Addison was taken by surprise, but Jack wasn’t. He’d figured it might get ugly, since this wasn’t the kind of place where men easily parted ways with their money.

“Easy there, pardner. You saw for yourself he’s clean.”

The hoodlum snarled and grabbed Addison’s arm suddenly, got him in a headlock, and with the gun at his temple, looked straight at Jack and said, “I say he’s a dirty rotten cheater and you give me back all my money or he gets a slug in the head that will spoil his nice looks.”

Jack stood up slowly, his hands in the air. “We don’t want no trouble, pard. I’ll get your money. Just give me a moment.”

Jack reached into his shoe and brought out a derringer, and as quick as could be he shot the hoodlum in the arm. The gunslinger howled in pain and let Addison go. This time Addison used his head and dropped to the floor.

Jack grabbed the ruffian’s gun, and he and Addison got on either side and hauled the man outside and threw him in the shallow muddy water under the boardwalk. Jack hefted the man’s gun and joked, “I’ll give it Leo and add it to the collection!” He glanced at Addison when he didn’t get a response.

“How’re you doin, Doc? You’re lookin’ a little shook up.”

Addison put his hands in his pockets, but not before Jack saw them shaking. “That was close,” Addison said.

“It was bound to happen. This ain’t Nob Hill with the swells, Doc. This is the Wild West. Let’s us go back to the Grey Dog and get a drink to settle your nerves.”

They walked down the Embarcadero. From melodeons they could hear the singing and the pianos. A couple of drunks staggered out of a saloon and nearly ran into them. Jack pushed them aside, shouting, “What’s the matter, you can’t see in the fog?” Jack laughed, but quieted when he noticed how pale and silent Addison was.

Back in the comparative safety of the Grey Dog, they sat and talked.

“I—I think I may have made all the money I need, Jack. Tonight made it clear to me that I should retire from the card business. If you ever need anything, Jack, you can find me easily. I’m taking a position as house staff at the City and County Hospital right after I graduate. I’ve come to consider you a friend.”

“Well, I’m sorry to see you go but it was a great lark while it lasted,” Jack said, sipping his whiskey and avoiding eye contact. He didn’t want to seem soft to Addison so made sure he couldn’t see the disappointment he knew would show in his eyes.

“It was indeed. Something to tell my children about if I should be so lucky to have any. Keep a close eye on Kerry, Jack.”

“I sure will try, but sometime, some hoodlum might get me at last, and then Kerry will be alone.” Jack contemplated his whiskey for a long moment and then leaned forward, looking Addison in the eye. “Could I ask you something, Doc? I ain’t ever asked no one for a thing in my life. But you’re a good man and the closest thing to a friend I’ve had next to Leo.”

“Good God, man, you saved
my
life. Just ask.”

“If something happens to me, I want Kerry to come to you. If I ain’t around to protect her, I want her out of the Barbary. You’re already a co-signer on that bank account I set up for her.”

“Of course, Jack. Don’t worry. I’d gladly take her in and look after her. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thanks, Doc. I ain’t going to let her know. I don’t want to worry the child, but I’ll leave word with Leo so he knows what to tell her if it goes bad for me.”

“Well done, Jack. You can depend on me. Take care of yourself and your girl.”

“I will. God speed, Doctor.”

Jack swirled his whiskey in his glass and stared into space long after the doctor had left. A chill crept up his spine but he shook it off. If someone did get him one day, Kerry would be safe. And even though he never would have thought he’d give a damn about anyone, he realized his daughter could be the only thing he’d ever do right. With a deep sigh, he downed the rest of his whiskey and motioned for another.