The Greys Chapter 15: Bridge
#16 of The Greys
It was a fifteen minute drive from the actual town to the Hopps Family Farm, and it didn't really help that Stu had two hundred and seventy six children, around one hundred and seventy of which were too young to leave home. Between having to do riot control to get the younger ones to bed and the older ones to at least turn down the plethora of different music that they blasted throughout the home, he was already going to be late. "Not like this has never happened before," he said to himself, brushing off the tardiness as if it were dandruff on his shoulder.
Kody hadn't expected his cousin's hospitality, and he also hadn't expected his cousin to have guests over that night either. The heavy fox had watched as Bill Blake and a weasel named Jeb Varlet entered the upstairs apartment, all of them exchanging hugs with Gideon before turning their attention to Kody. Jeb gave him a firm handshake, but like that afternoon, Bill had grabbed the tod and given him the biggest hug he'd ever gotten in his life, somehow more powerful than the one from that afternoon.
The three of them gathered around the dinner table, a large pile of chips in the center with a full deck of bridge cards. There were two empty seats however. "You can join us if you like," Jeb said as Gideon made his way over to the fridge, getting five beers out. Kody looked at the chair, "Sure, but who's the last chair for?"
Bill laughed, "Stu Hopps. He's always running late though."
Jeb just chuffed, "He's been running late since the day I met him back in high school."
Almost on cue, Stu walked into the apartment. It really couldn't have been scripted any better as the fat old rabbit made a b-line for his seat. "Sorry bout that," he said as looked around the table, not really registering the new guy he was sitting right beside as he reached out to grab the beer in front of him.
The tod leaned forward in his seat, hand reaching out to grab his beer. He took one sip before he asked, "So. What are we playing exactly?"
"Bridge," Stu replied as he finally looked over at Kody. The fatherly rabbit had to blink a few times as he looked from Kody over to Gideon and then back again. There were two Gideons. No, there was one Gideon and one fox that looked a great deal like him. Before Stu could ask, Kody piped in, "No. We're not brother. Just cousins."
"Ohhhh," Stu said nodding his head, "By the looks of you two, I'd have to guess first cousins, but everyone knows Josephine never had kits."
"Well," Kody started to say, but then decided to hold off on answering, just turning his gaze away from the old rabbit to look at the wolf, "Isn't Bridge a four-player game?"
Bill nodded, "Yeah, but I'm gonna sit the first round out and replace the first loser."
The chubby wolf gave Kody a smirk as began to deal the cards out clockwise, almost tasting what he thought would happen later on. The first card went to Jeb, second card to Gideon, third card to Stu, and the final card to Kody. This went on and on again until their hands were built, 13 cards in all.
As expected, Kody lost the first game to the more skilled players, then again, he'd almost never played bridge, so he'd fumbled through the game spectacularly. This meant he had to sit out as the wolf, weasel, fox, and rabbit continued their game. The tod flopped down onto a nearby couch as he lazily watched the other men trade wins before turning his attention over to Gideon's television.