Each piece has a purpose, each with its own strength and weakness. The rook moves in horizontal lines and the bishop moves diagonally, but the knight makes an unorthodox move. Often described as an “L” shape movement on the board, the knight is the piece that most frequently catches an opponent off guard.
We had played four matches already, all of which Dietrich had won. In the fifth match, I managed to fork his rook and king with my last remaining knight. The loss of his rook evened the scoring.
Fourteen moves later, Dietrich managed a devastating blow and captured my knight with his bishop. I was left with only two pawns one of which could not move as it was blocked by one of Dietrich’s pawns. Dietrich also had two pawns as well as his bishop. The advantage was his. Still, I gained position on his king with my pawn and had a clear line on the queening square. Dietrich was forced to capture the pawn, which removed any available square for my king to move to and the game was decided a stalemate.
“A draw. Well done, Kendall.”
It was the closest I had come so far to a victory in our years of playing together.
“It was all I had left. I almost didn’t even see it. I was going to move my king.”
“With amateur players such as us, there is almost always a better move than our instinctual first glance at the board. It takes patience and observation, like in life.”
“Maybe, but life doesn’t always wait for you to make up your mind.”
Dietrich smiled. His Form became exposed to me for the first time. I watched a white badger blink his eyes once, and then he was human again.
“Every time I see you, the cuts are deeper and the bruises are bigger.”
He looked at me with genuine concern in his eyes. I didn’t know what to say. I had become used to people staring at my mangled physical appearance that it didn’t really affect me anymore.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
It was nice to have someone show a little interest in me for once. I scratched an itch on the side of my nose and sat up in my chair. I watched as a new batch of people came through the arrival gate.
“It’s not a fair place out there. I’m just trying my best to make do.”
Dietrich didn’t say anything and for a while there was a silence between us. We both watched families and loved ones reunited after long periods apart and friends welcomed each other home.
“Maybe it’s time to quit what you’re doing.”
I looked at Dietrich. I knew eventually he would say something like this. It was inevitable. He didn’t know what I knew, hadn’t seen what I’d seen—the money, the women, all of it. He just didn’t know.
“I should be getting back to the city.”
I stood up and tossed my empty coffee cup into the trash.
“I was hoping we might play one more match.”
“Can’t.”
“I see.”
Dietrich folded the chessboard and put the pieces into their respective containment slots.
“I’ll walk out with you.”
It was the first time he had offered this. Usually he was in no hurry and liked to stay behind and watch a few more sets of arrivals.
“You know, maybe it’s time for you to start figuring out what you really want for yourself.”
“That so?”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, we are all trying to figure out what really matters, aren’t we?”
“I know what matters.”
“You do?”
“Most definitely.”
We went through the revolving doors and stepped into the warm afternoon sun.