Integrity Accusation

Last night I was at the pool room watching my boyfriend gamble.  He played a guy he hadn't played before, but we knew of him and several of our friends knew him.

I'll call the guy he played, "Rick James," because Eddie Murphy's song played on the jukebox last night and we all made fun of the actor trying to sing "Party All the Time," in collaboration with Rick James.  lol.

I hadn't seen Rick James in a while.  But I knew he played pretty decent but also traveled a lot for work.  He's also a man of God now, so he is pretty tame compared to his past.

On the fourth set, my boyfriend shoots a jump shot.  He jumps over the 7 ball and hits the 3 ball nicely, altho it doesn't fall, at least he made a good hit.

Up until this point, there have been no issues, no words, nothing - just pool playing.

Rick James asks my b/f if it was a good hit.

He replies, yes.

Rick James looks deflated, can't believe his ears.

"Really?  You think it was a good hit?  Well, why don't you ask your wife about the shot, she saw it."  Referring to me, since I was watching the match.

My boyfriend knows that's a conflict of interest, so instead of asking me, he asks the two guys next to me who are also watching.  One of the guys (I'll call him Greg), is already chomping in my ear behind me, "That was a good hit, what is Rick James talking about?"

So, Greg answers, "that was a good hit, man."

Rick James still can't believe it!

"Really?" he asks dumbfounded as he shakes his head in disbelief.

"Yes, he jumped over the 7ball cleanly."

The other guy sitting near us, Tanker, is a friend of both the players, and he doesn't want to answer.

Rick James asks me directly and I say the same thing, "Yea, I thought it was a good hit, also."

By now Rick James and my boyfriend are arguing about the shot and having some choice words.  Eventually, my boyfriend gets so upset with him because he's being accused of not telling the truth and doesn't want to deal with it anymore, he tells Rick James, "Just take ball in hand if you think it was a foul.  I didn't foul, but I'm tried of arguing and want to play pool."

Rick James tells him, "no, no, that's fine, whatever."

While they were exchanging words, Tanker says softly to Greg and I, "I didn't see the 7ball move, either.  I thought it was a good hit."

So, 4 people say it didn't move, but the guy truly believes the 7 moved.  Which is fine, that's not the issue.

Here is the issue:

Rick James walks over to Tanker after he misses and starts to ask him what he saw.  I don't know what the Tanker told him, but he tells him right in front of me that the 7ball moved.  I simply state to him, "it didn't move."

He then looks at me glaringly, "Of course you are going to say that.  He's your man."

Immediately, my blood boils.  Immediately. 

"What?"  I say loudly, "You say I'm cheating??"

"I didn't say that," he tried to explain. 

"Yes you did, you said I would say it was a good hit just because he's my b/f."

"Well, you would," he says, standing by his opinion.  Then he adds, "hey, you involved yourself, I'm having a conversation over here."

By now I'm really pissed.

I raise my voice even more, "Seriously dude?  You asked me my opinion!"

I continue, "and you obviously don't know anything about me, because if I thought it was a bad hit, I wouldn't even hesitate to tell the truth!"

Question MY integrity?  Really?

Who the hell does he think he is accusing me that I would LIE?!

I then spout off, "Even Tanker said it was a good hit."

He quickly tells me, "He said he didn't see it."

"Really??  Well, he just told us he DID see it and that it was a good hit."

As he walks away from us to shoot he mumbles, "This is why I don't play anymore."

WTFever gonna accuse me of something like that.  If it was a bad hit, I'd freaking say it.  In a heart beat!  I'm not here to try to win money by cheating.  I believe in being a good ambassador of the game foremost.

It puzzles me even MORE because his first instinct was to ask ME about the shot.  Then he tells me I wouldn't tell the truth anyway.  O M G!

Boy did he rile me up at lightning speed!

I can understand if he really thought it was a good hit, and he wanted to make his case.  But don't assume NOR tell me I would lie.

Oh and it also reminds me I never did share the integrity issues I ran into in April that deeply hurt me.  I will try and write about that soon.  Especially since I'm riled up again just typing this out!