Slice of Life: The Entertainer

“Wanna see a card trick, eh? Pudin' asks, “Come over here, come on and come over here. I’m going to show you something you ain’t never seen before, I promise you this, I sure do.”

Jeramiah "Pudin'" Scott knows a thing or two about a thing or two, especially when it comes to entertainment. This afternoon, it’s card tricks with your lunch in the old, rickety Clarksdale Café, but tonight, tonight there will be some fine finger picking and maybe a full band with your beer, who knows?

“Come on, pick a card, there ya go, that one, that one will do,” Pudin' says. “Okay now you shuffle ‘em. See, see, I ain’t got nothing on me, not a single extra card. Nothing.”

The card is a three of diamonds. I put it back in the stack, shuffle, and hand him the pile.

“Ya see the trick here is the eyes, watch closely now,” he says. “Come on, watch closely, no one does it like me, I promise you this, I do”

He whirls the cards fantastically about, all the while keeping his eyes locked with mine.

“Alright, alright, alright, here we are, here we are, HERE WE ARE,” he exclaims. Pudin' pulls out a card and smacks it face down on the table. “Go on, pick it up. I promise you, it’s your card, it is.”

I pick up the card. I notice that the edges are worn and smudged with countless fingertips and although the three is faded, the diamond shines through like a beacon.