‘The Badger’

Photographer - Tobi Brun

The Badger

While the other residents of the Westchester Independent Living Facility got ready for bed, Badger lay dressed in his gray tracksuit on top of his sheets, staring at the ceiling. Large flakes of chipped paint peeled away from the surface and danced playfully with one another as the flow of the air conditioning ran across their party. The shards of dry paint were old, yet together, they clung to the ceiling, unaware that at any moment they might fall, never to return.

Badger rolled onto his side to look at the portrait of his wife. It had been a year since she passed away. Instead of enjoying their twilight years together, making new friends, and taking advantage of the organized pool aerobics, Badger felt alone among the other residents. The stubborn head nurse, Mule, had urged Badger to come to tonight’s poker game and socialize with other animals. Badger was apprehensive about spending time with anyone, especially a group of outcasts, but was enticed by the prospect of a late-night game of Texas Hold ‘em.

Taking the picture of his wife in both paws, Badger kissed it before ambling to his dresser. Sensing that his usual tracksuit may not be appropriate for the poker game, he pulled on a black button-down shirt that used to match the color of his now graying fur. His slacks were old and shiny in the seat. As he walked out the door, he stashed his wallet in his back pocket. He wasn’t going because of Mule, and he wasn’t going for his wife. If it were any other type of social event, he wouldn’t have thought twice about it. He was going for the thrill of gambling.

As he walked past the other animals in the hallway, they wished him goodnight.

“Sweet dreams,” said a beaver with a voice as raspy as a lifetime of cigars.

Badger looked away. His fellow residents reminded him of everything he’d gained and lost over his life. He’d been forced to retire from a job that gave him purpose, and his children had moved to the four corners of the earth to pursue their dreams. Irritated, Badger bustled his able body past the other animals using canes, walkers, and wheelchairs.

The game of poker was in the Washington Room, a small meeting space usually reserved for less popular activities, such as stamp or rock collecting. Badger stood at the entrance, listening to the familiar sounds of clinking chips.

Mule opened the door. “I'm glad you could make it, Badger. We’re just about to get started.” He was wearing his usual light blue orderly uniform with his short, dark mane spiked with gel. Mule gestured toward a round table where the other animals sat.

Fox sprung out of his chair and extended a paw to Badger. Badger took it as he slowly recognized Fox from when he had moved in a few months earlier. He had avoided him due to his shifty eyes. Up close, Badger noticed a chunk of fur missing from one ear. Fox’s dark blue suit contrasted with his red fur, and his dark tie matched his black nose and sullen eyes.

“Pleased to meet you,” said Fox. Badger nodded as he released his handshake.

The next to approach Badger was Wolf in his black thick-rimmed glasses and gray lounge suit. His elegance was offset by his coarse fur and callused paws. Dining hall rumors tagged Wolf as a New Jersey gangster in another life. He’d wound up in the retirement village after losing his memory. They firmly shook paws without saying a word. 

“Hola amigo!” Badger hadn’t seen Coyote before but immediately disliked him for his enthusiasm. One of Coyote’s eyes locked in on Badger while the pupil of the other drifted lazily toward the wall.

Badger waved apathetically.

“Lo siento,” continued Coyote. “Hablas espanol?”

Annoyed, Badger turned to Fox and Wolf for assistance.

“He speaks English,” said Wolf gruffly. “He’s just busting your, umm, ahhh, hmmm,” Wolf cleared his throat. “What’s the word?”

“Balls,” Fox chimed in as he shuffled the deck of cards. “He means busting your balls. And, Coyote, let’s speak English at the poker table.”

“Of course,” said Coyote. “Please excuse me, Badger.”

What a miserable group, Badger thought to himself. A sneaky fox, a half-witted wolf, and a coyote with a bung eye.

“I’ll let you fellas get acquainted,” whinnied Mule as he clip-clopped out of the room and closed the door behind him. The four animals looked blankly at each other.

“Well,” said Fox. “What’s the wager?” Badger rolled his eyes, suspecting the cunning animal might cheat somehow.

“What you thinking?” asked Coyote.

“The usual,” replied Fox. “Fifty.”

“Count me around,” said Wolf.

“Wolfie, I’ll assume you meant count me in,” said Fox. “Badger. Fancy a little wager?”

“That’s why we’re here, right?” said Badger, looking around the table. He knew he could at least outsmart Wolf, which meant he had a one-in-three chance of winning.

“I’m in,” said Badger, pulling out his wallet and placing a crisp fifty-dollar bill in the middle of the table. Coyote similarly reached for his wallet.

Fox pulled out a money clip. He placed his money in the middle, then helped Wolf, who was still fumbling with a roll of cash held together by a rubber band.

Fox dealt the first hand. Each animal crinkled their noses as they scrutinized their two cards. Badger peeled his cards back to reveal the two of clubs and the seven of hearts - the worst hand in poker. Being the first hand, Badger decided to toss two chips in any way, just to get a sense of whether anyone at the table knew how to play.

With everyone meeting the bet, Fox placed one card face down and three face up: a jack of clubs, nine of hearts, and four of clubs. Well-practiced in the art of gambling, Badger showed no outward signs of his terrible hand. Coyote raised the bet. Wolf called. Fox looked once more at his cards, sneered at them, and tossed them into the middle.

Badger wasn’t curious enough to waste good chips and also folded.

 Fox dealt one card face-down and another face-up: the two of hearts. Badger smiled. A less experienced gambler might have been frustrated that they folded their hand and then hit a pair. Badger knew that the pair meant nothing. The odds of probability were that Coyote or Wolf still held a better hand.

Coyote raised the bet. Wolf licked his lips, then folded.

“Ahhwooow,” Coyote howled as he raked in the pile of chips. Another strike against Coyote, Badger thought.

The four animals continued in silence for the next two hands. Coyote shuffled and dealt while the rest ran their claws up and down their piles of chips in boredom. Badger had felt this way since he arrived at the retirement village. Loneliness wasn’t so much the absence of others but a lack of connection. The presence of one another only accentuated their isolation. 

Wolf started patting himself down as though he had lost his keys.  

“I nearly forgot about this,” said Wolf as he pulled a flat glass bottle from his breast pocket and placed it on the table. The contents were clear, and the container was unlabeled. Fox, Coyote, and Badger leaned in to inspect the mysterious bottle. 

“Qué es?” asked Coyote. 

“Grappa,” replied Wolf. “My family’s traditional, ummm, well, my family made it. 

“Got anything else?” Badger sighed.

“Works for me,” chirped Fox, snatching the bottle from the table and unscrewing the top.

“Yo tambien,” cried Coyote.

“The hell did he say?” said Badger, irritated that Coyote lapsed back into Spanish.

“Badger, relax,” replied Fox. “Coyote said he’s having a drink. Out of all of us, you could use a stiff drink the most.”

The other animals chuckled while Fox took a swig from the bottle. He gritted his teeth as he pulled the bottle away from his lips and passed it to Coyote. Coyote held his nose as he drank, gasping as he finished. 

Coyote handed the bottle to Badger while the others stared at him. Badger was not keen on sharing a bottle of bootleg grappa with strangers. But looking at the deck of cards and the bottle of grappa, one suddenly felt like a prerequisite to the other. To reject the grappa was rejecting Wolf’s generosity. 

“Cheers,” said Badger, bowing his head toward Wolf. He took a mouthful of grappa and shuddered at its strength. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d drunk straight liquor. It felt good.

The bottle remained on the table and was passed around after each hand. Whoever folded their hand first was responsible for unscrewing the top and taking the first sip, then pass it to whomever folded next. When there was a winner, the final two players would drink.

“Whew,” said Coyote as he took another sip. “Where’d you say you got this from?”

“My cousin in Jersey makes it,” replied Wolf. “He brings me a fresh bottle when he visits.”

“Huh,” replied Fox. “It must be nice having visitors.”

“You have us,” said Coyote, placing his cards on the table. Fox nodded.

“Yeah,” said Wolf. “And, you lot break my money every week.”

“You mean take my money?” said Badger. The four animals laughed, and Coyote patted Badger on his back. Badger felt the warmth of the booze and the animals around him. Gambling and grappa were now their bond.

Fox dropped a card on the ground and kicked at it until he could reach down and pick it up.

“Are you cheating, Fox?” asked Badger with a smile, pleased to be able to joke around.

“Me?” queried Fox. “I’ve never cheated on anything.”

“Really?” pressed Badger, raising an eyebrow.

Fox put down his cards. “Unless you count taxes. I never paid taxes.”

“What?” said Badger.

“I don’t understand,” said Coyote. “You not pay taxes?”

“Yeah, so what?” said Fox. He got out of his chair and slinked around the room. “I ran a grocery store. Fruits, vegetables, meats - in New York City. During the first few years running it, I saw how much I was paying in taxes.”

Badger dug his claws into the table's edge as he resisted the urge to denounce Fox as the deceitful animal he was. 

“Let us not judge,” said Coyote. “I’m sure you had good reason.”

Fox continued to circle the table.

“I dealt mostly in cash and only provided receipts where I had to. In return, I was able to put my kids through college,” said Fox, taking his seat back at the table.

Wolf and Coyote nodded. Fox’s revelation annoyed Badger to no end. Badger paid his taxes. It wasn’t fair. But as he looked around the table, he decided the gambling and the grappa were enough to keep his mouth shut.

“I understand,” said Coyote. “My family, we immigrated to America from Mexico when I was just a pup.”

Badger wasn’t interested in Coyote’s story. He grabbed the deck of cards and began shuffling, spilling loose cards onto the table.  

“My father wanted a better life for us,” continued Coyote. “Me, mi madre, mi papa, and mi cinco hermanos y hermanas. Then, one of my sisters got very sick. She died, and mi papa became very depressed.”

Badger stopped shuffling as tears formed in Coyote's eyes.

“I quit school and got job at the church. It wasn’t enough for us to eat and pay rent. I feel ashamed, but I stole from the church.”

Fox handed Coyote a handkerchief. Coyote blew his snout and wiped his eyes.

“How much did you take?” asked Wolf. Fox took the cards back from Badger.

“Whatever I could,” sobbed Coyote. “Clothes from the donation bin, canned goods from the food drives, and money from the collection plate.”

“You were a scavenger?” asked Badger.

“Come on, Badger,” said Fox. “You would have done the same.” 

Badger growled softly.

Fox dealt the next hand while Coyote composed himself. They bet and raised until Wolf won his first hand.

“What about you? Looks like it is your turn, Wolf,” said Coyote.

“My what?” barked Wolf.

Badger spoke loudly and slowly. “I bet you’ve got a ton of great stories about your line of work.” Fox rolled his eyes.

“My pack was one of the best,” said Wolf, dragging the pile of chips in front of him with his massive paws.

Fox dealt another hand while Wolf stared at the ceiling, evidently deep in thought.

“Oh, yeah!” said Wolf. “I blew down a building!”

Fox, Coyote, and Badger put their cards down and looked at one another. 

“I think I understand,” said Fox. “You mean you blew up a building.”

Wolf smiled. “That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”

Fox, Coyote, and Badger roared with laughter. Coyote slapped the table with delight as Fox wiped the tears from his eyes.

“I was in the construction business,” huffed Wolf. “I took out a big insurance policy on a construction site, and, yeah, I blew it up.”

“Why Wolfie?” asked Fox.

“We didn’t have health insurance, and my wife got very sick. I needed the money. The insurance company investigated. They couldn’t find nothing. I got the money, and my wife got the treatment she needed.”

“Good for you,” said Fox. “Good for you.”

They dealt another hand in silence, pushing chips in and pulling them out. Badger looked around the table: One animal had defrauded the government, one had defrauded the church, and another had defrauded a company. Each of them thieves. Badger chuckled, thinking back on his long life of honest work. He’d followed the rules even when it wasn’t fair. 

“Badger?” enquired Fox. “Your turn.”

“I don’t know how you’re going to beat Wolf,” said Coyote as he checked his cards.

Badger scratched the white tufts of fur on the edge of his chin. “A little while ago, my wife passed away.”

“Lo siento,” said Coyote.

“Anyway,” Badger continued. “She received a bad diagnosis, and we had a caretaker move in with us to help her. She couldn’t shower or go to the bathroom so the caretaker was there around the clock. Totally devoted. Just before my wife passed away, she made me promise to give a sum of money to the caretaker on her behalf. But my wife was delirious. When she died, I kept the money and moved in here.” 

Badger looked at his cards. They were good.

“So then you needed the money to live,” Coyote said.

“Well, everyone needs money,” Badger replied as he counted his chips. 

“But you gave the caretaker some of that money, right?” asked Wolf.

“No,” said Badger. “It was my money. You all took money from others.”

“Was she a good caretaker?” Asked Coyote.

“The best,” said Badger.

“Caretakers make minimum. Couldn’t you afford to give up some of that money?” asked Coyote.

“Maybe it wasn’t that much money,” said Fox.

“Oh, no, it was a lot of money. But it’s not like I stole it.”

Coyote shook his head. His bad eye had turned so only the white was visible.

“What’d ya do with the money?” pressed Wolf.

“Took one of those bus trips down to Atlantic City,” Badger replied. “You want to talk about stealing. There’s a blackjack dealer down there I’d like to give a piece of my mind.”

Fox put his cards down. Wolf’s eyes widened before returning them to his cards with a sigh and said, “You did not honor your dying wife’s wishes.”

“Maybe you should reach out to the caretaker,” Coyote said. 

“I’m all in,” Badger declared.

Coyote wrinkled his nose. Wolf puffed out a sigh. Fox reached for the grappa and finished the bottle.

“All in,” said Coyote without looking at his cards.

“All in,” said Wolf.

Fox looked at his cards once more. “All in.”

Badger proudly flipped over a pair of kings. He leaned forward in anticipation of the other cards. Coyote had the two of spades and the seven of clubs. Wolf’s hand wasn’t much better. Fox had the four of clubs and the eight of spades. Badger scratched his head. None of them had a decent hand.

Fox placed one card facedown and slowly turned over three cards. The kings were still good. Fox placed another card facedown and turned over another. Coyote hit his seven and now had a pair. There was only one more community card, so long as it wasn’t a seven, Badger would win. Fox placed a card facedown and peeled the final card from the deck. An ace.

“Yessss!” Hissed Badger, wrapping his paws around the mountain of chips and pulling it towards himself. He was so glad to have left his room. It was a perfect evening of drinking and stories; now he’d made a hundred and fifty dollars.

“Well, I don’t know about you fellas,” said Fox as he pushed out his seat. “It’s getting a little late. Think I might turn in.”

Wolf stood as well.

“Let’s play again,” said Badger, pointing at the table. “Wolf, Wolfie, I think you may still have some chips left.”

“I’m not much in the mood anymore for, ahh, chess,” said Wolf.

Fox and Wolf headed for the door while Coyote shook his head.

“Malisimo,” muttered Coyote and walked out.

“What did you call me?” yelled Badger.

Coyote closed the door behind him. Badger sat alone in the room with the chips and cards splayed before him. The two hundred dollars was underneath the empty glass bottle where Wolf had sat. Badger didn’t understand. What he did wasn’t a crime. They were just telling stories. Just sharing experiences. Why had he been punished?

Badger picked up the money and hurried back to his room. The winnings of the poker table meant nothing. He would have preferred playing and drinking until the early hours of the morning. Changing back into his tracksuit, he crawled into bed and cursed himself for thinking he belonged. He burrowed himself into his sheets and fell asleep.

The next day, Badger woke to the sun streaming through his curtains. He showered, dressed in a fresh tracksuit, and went to the dining hall. As he drank tea, he furtively watched the entrance for Fox, Coyote, or Wolf. Coyote was the first to appear. When he saw Badger, he scrunched up his face and continued walking. Wolf and Fox stepped in together. Wolf averted his eyes while Fox snarled at him.

Badger left the tea on the table and scurried back to his room. He slammed the door behind him and sat on the floor. Each of them had shared a story that revealed a part of who they were. Badger knew his acts were selfish but couldn’t understand why putting himself first was any different from what the others had done. It didn’t matter.

A knock came at the door. Badger didn't reply. 

“Badger,” said Mule. “How was last night?”

“Fine,” Badger replied. 

“Can I come in?” called Mule.

“I’m not feeling well,” Badger yelled.

The clattering of Mule’s hooves disappeared down the hallway. Badger missed lunch and hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on his door.

Badger flailed around on his bed. He took the photograph of his wife and shoved it in the top drawer of the bedside table. As he stared at the ceiling, a lone paint chip broke free. It drifted down, spinning and twirling gracefully in its final dance. Badger closed his eyes and felt its soft tickle landing on his cheek. He took the now motionless shard in his paw. It was dry and lifeless. “Maybe it’s easier this way,” whimpered Badger to the paint chip. There was no way to reattach it alongside its friends. It would just have to lay alongside him, rejected and alone. 

Matt Eddy is a a New York based, fable and humor author who likes to write with a taxidermized raccoon by my side. He is fascinated with the macabre and art that brings us closer to understanding ourselves.