Gail Warning

“Will you lay down a card, you old cow?”

“Shut up, you sow,” Mabel replied as she extracted a three of clubs and placed it on the pile. She then stuck out her tongue at her partner and childhood friend, Gail.

“Nan? Nan, dear it’s your turn,” Mabel gave Nan a gentle nudge on the arm.

A soft snort issued from Nan as she lifted her chin from her chest and her eyes blinked open. Those pale gray eyes darted to Mabel, then Gail, before coming to rest on her partner, Edna. Edna gave her an annoyed look as her eyes darted from the cards in Nan’s hands to the cards on the table. Nan’s eyes followed. She snatched up the three of clubs and discarded a seven of clubs. This set Edna off.

“Damn it, Nan, please stop napping when you’re suppose to be playing Canasta. I have sevens laying in front of me.”

“I don’t know why you girls have to play cards at one o’clock when you know I like to take my nap at that time,” Nan replied in a croaky voice.

“Nan, we have played Canasta at one o’clock for years; ever since the four of us became widows. In the beginning, you didn’t need a nap at one o’clock,” Edna offered with a hint of irritation.

Nan grunted as Gail chose a card from the deck.

“You know, I’ve been watching that handsome fellow who lives two houses down from me,” Mabel commented.

“You old cougar. You wouldn’t know what to do with him if you caught him,” Gail huffed.

Edna snorted.

“Well, if I was a wee bit younger, I’d make a move on him, but that’s not what I mean,” Mabel said.

“Well, what do you mean?” Gail asked as she tossed a four of spades onto the discard pile.

Edna snatched it up and with a giggle placed four fours on the table in front of her.

Mabel grumbled and said, “I’m seeing some funny things going on at that house.”

Gail’s attention focused on her Canasta partner. “What funny things?”

“Lots of coming and going. A strange man showed up yesterday.”

“What’s so unusual about that?” Edna asked.

“Well, he’s the third strange man I’ve seen going in that house in the last week.”

“It’s your play, you old witch,” Gail said.

Mabel looked at the cards in her hand, then at the discard pile. She picked up the ten that Edna had discarded and laid out three tens on the table. She tossed a four onto the pile.

Edna moaned and shot a look at Nan, who was once again napping. “If that hussy keeps falling asleep, I’m going to put a hex on her.”

“Now, now, Edna, you know you are not allowed to use magic on your friends,” Mabel replied.

Nan snorted softly in her sleep as if she’d acknowledged Mabel’s wisdom.

Gail peered over her reading glasses at her childhood friend. She thought that Mabel dyed her hair too much. The brassy red only washed out her already pale skin. And, she was forever forgetting to touch up the gray roots.

“Why do you think there’s something going on just because you’ve seen three strange men coming and going?” Gail asked. “Besides, your eyesight isn’t what it used to be, so maybe they only looked different.”

“My eyesight isn’t all that bad, you old goat. Stop referring to my age, too. Just because I recently turned seventy-eight doesn’t make me too old to know the difference if I see different men going into that house,” Mabel finished with a huff.

Nan snorted again and lifted her chin from her chest. “What?” she asked.

Her three friends stared at her for a second and then howled with laughter.