As a new round of cards was being dealt around the table, players shifted in their seats and laughed and chatted while soft drinks were refreshed with refills and ice cubes. There were five players, Marion, Adeline, Esther, Jerry and Mom at the round kitchen table. They were playing Spite and Malice, a game the group played often and with great amusement.
It was early in the evening of a hot, sultry August night in south Texas. The only relief from the steam like humidity was the air being drawn thru the kitchen by the whole house fan in the small room off the kitchen where the refrigerator was.
As Adeline dealt the ‘pile’, which determines the length of a game, and the required cards for each ‘hand’, players teased each other with comments on their ‘almost wins’ and kept their eyes peeled for any flim- flam business Adeline was known to practice from time to time if she could get away with it.
The degree of competiveness differed with each of the players. There is very little strategy in Spite and Malice; it’s a game where one can gossip or chat and still win. Esther played quietly and seriously. Marion gabbed a lot and argued with Adeline, who wanted to change the rules in the middle of a game so she could have an edge. Mom always played to win and Jerry set traps and to get the best of the others as the game progressed.
A rivalry developed between Jerry and Mom when her winning streak dominated the game, and no matter how hard Jerry tried, his traps just didn’t work. Excitement began to build and Dad, who was watching baseball on TV, left the front room to watch the card game in the kitchen.
Eventually the card piles diminished and it just so happened that at the end of Jerry’s turn, he had one card left to turn over and hopefully be able to play it to win. Then it was Mom’s turn. She also finished her turn with only one card to turn over but could it be played, giving her the win?
Play continued with Adeline, Marion and Esther, all having too many cards in their piles to win. Then it was take or break time, would Jerry win this turn, or would it pass to Mom who might win? Or would the game go round another circle of play?
Jerry’s eyes were twinkling as he deliberately but forcefully slapped each of his cards on the table, and then he reached for the last remaining card and slowly turned it over.
YEP! It was a playable card and Jerry won the game! We all gave Jerry applause and Mom clapped the loudest. What a memorable game! We have often talked about it and how Jerry got such a big kick out of winning.
1 comment:
Well the Abbott players were all so darn good at these card games. I wish I could have been there to see it. But I can picture it as if I were. I miss the Grand Parents and Uncle Jerry, My Aunts Marion and Esther but especially Miss my Mom Adeline.
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