𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭 ♕From Beth the Eyes of Beth Harmon

XXV - Reconnecting/Disconnecting

Episode 7

Endgame

Part 1

Kentucky, 1967

Reconnecting/Disconnecting

♕♛♕♛♕♛

"This whole house belong to you?" Jolene said as she roamed around the living room. "You're no orphan. Not anymore." Even her voice sounded the same. It felt like I haven't missed a single day without her. It was like we were the same people, just grown up. It was an eerie feeling.

"You've been in Lexington this whole time?" I asked as I took the kettle off the stove because the tea started whistling.

"Uh, Louisville."

"What brought you back here?"

"You don't seem to like answering your phone." She said as she hung up the phone onto the receiver. It had been making a dull ringing in the background of our conversation this whole time, which I hadn't noticed until it stopped. "Mr. Shaibel died."

My breath caught in my throat. I hadn't thought of him much recently. I knew he must've been getting old, but I just couldn't see this coming. In my head, he was still sitting on that ratty cushion in the dank Methuen basement, playing chess under a single dangling lamp.

"There's a funeral day after tomorrow I thought... we could go together?"

I poured the tea into cups and walked over to her, handing her the mug. She said a quiet thank you. It still hasn't really hit me yet, I felt light and shaky. Empty.

"God, Beth." She whispered, turning around and looking at the disgusting mess of discarded alcohol bottles littering the coffee table and couch.

"Yeah. I know."

"I'm working as a paralegal." She told me one night as we brushed our teeth. It was just like we were back at Methuen, brushing our teeth together before bed, enjoying an evening bathroom talk.

"You went to college?"

"I did, Kentucky State." She said, combing out her hair with a pick. 

"I got in on a physical education scholarship, but switched my major to poli-sci. I'm saving up for law school." She said proudly.

Jolene was so accomplished. I was incredibly proud of her. As we both knew, life is more difficult when you grow up as an orphan, especially being Lifers as we used to call it at Methuen, and on top of all that, being a black girl. But here she was, getting into college with a scholarship, now a law student, and soon to be going to law school. To be honest, I never would've guessed she could make it here.

"I know, me, a lawyer, but the world is fucked up! And if I'm gonna change it, I can't spend all my time teaching white girls how to hold a badminton racket." I chuckled after spitting out my toothpaste.

"I'm gonna be a radical."

"Didn't know that was a career choice."

"It will be."

I left the bathroom and began setting up the master bed for both of us to sleep in. It again gave me flashbacks to my upbringing, sleeping right next to Jolene every night. I started pulling the covers up over my legs when I saw her figure enter the room silently. She was looking at my dresser and picked up a carelessly placed tiny bottle of green pills.