Word: Cozen

cozen

[kuhz-uh n]

verb (used with or without object)

to cheat, deceive, or trick.

**********************************

               “Four of a kind, boys!” Jack roared in triumph as he slammed the four queens on the table. 

The other players growled as he collected his winnings.  Carl eyed the victor through narrowed eyes. 

“Hang on.” Carl said.  “This isn’t right.  You’ve been winning too much.”

“What’re you saying?” Jack asked.

“Roll up your sleeves.” 

Jack froze.  He knew.  Carl knew.  How?  Jack had been careful.  He had masked his motions so well that nobody should have been able to see anything unusual.  The lack of motion was gathering suspicion.  Jack needed to do something, fast.

“Well what about you then?” He said.

“What?” Carl asked, stunned by the turnaround. 

“How’s about you show us your sleeves?  You’ve been winning just as much as me.”

Carl rolled up his sleeves, showing nothing but his own arms.  Jack swore under his breath.  He had been hoping for a miracle.  Carl just looked smug.

“How about your belt.” Ray said.  The gruff man was looking at something under Carl’s shirt, near the belt.

Carl swallowed a lump in his throat.  This was seen by everyone at the table.

“I’m not the one on trial here.” Carl said quickly.  “Jack’s the one who’s cheating.”

“Apparently, both of you are.” Tom said.  He was eyeing the deck cautiously. 

Jack looked around, all of them were focusing on Jack and Carl a bit too much, in his opinion.  All three of them were acting off.  A lightbulb went off in his head.

“Okay, fine, I admit it.  I’m cheating.” He rolled up his sleeves, revealing the hidden cards.  “Now, let’s all come clean.  Who else is cheating?”

The other four players shifted and looked away.  Carl hesitantly raised his hands.  Then Tom followed suit, followed closely by Ray and Sam. 

“So, we’re all cheating?”

Carl slipped a few aces out of his belt and set them on the table.

“I’ve been dealing from the bottom.” Tom said with a hung head.

“Stacked shuffles.” Ray said.

“I’ve got mirrors around the room, to see your hands.” Sam said.  He sounded almost proud of his elaborate cheating method.  Th rest of them looked for the mirrors, and sure enough, they were there, so that only Sam could see them.

               “So, we’re all dirty cheaters.” Carl said.  “What should we do about it?”

               “How about anyone caught cheating just has to pay an extra five?” Tom said.

               The others looked at each other.  They all heard it.  And all of them were already deep in thought about how to avoid detection.  All of them agreed to the new rule.  Then they all got up and moved to a different table on Sam’s suggestion.  He did not want to be accused of using his mirrors and having to pay that much more.  He already had a backup plan anyway.

               “Okay, so, with the new rule, I bet we can all trust each other to not cheat, right?” Jack asked.  All agreed.  “Great.  Now, who’s dealing?  And make sure to keep it clean.”           

              

**********************************
Could've been worse.  At least everything ended without something like this happening.