Devil's Gambit

"You ever play chess, Harley?"

"No ma'am."

"Well, chess used to be papa and I's favorite game to play before he passed. There's a special move you can play in chess, it's called a gambit, when your opponent sacrifices a piece to gain a positional advantage."

"Sounds like it would be difficult to pull off."

"Oh no, no, not difficult at all if you have some situational awareness about you. There's a lot of different pieces you can sacrifice to gain different advances. I loved chess because it reminded me a lot about life- taught me a lot about life, as well. Gambits happen all the time in life."

"Do they?"

"They do. Looks like we've got ourselves caught up in a gambit, and I'm afraid to say that we're the sacrificial pieces for political gain. But unlike chess, we are not mere wooden pieces in a lighthearted game during a spring afternoon. We are people. We have lives, and families, and feelings, but are being treated as though we are only cheap wooden pawns. You know who would do something like that, Harley? A devil. We are in a devil's gambit."

~

Story contains strong sexual themes (everything is done only between consenting adults!), recreational substance use, violence, graphic emotional scenes, and intense language. Themes of religion, bigotry, classism, and real world challenges that some people must face are present in this book which may be triggering, however these themes are not explicit in nature or well explored. This book is not meant to educate on these issues, only to bring awareness, and further research and education must be done to better understand these issues that significantly influence people's lives, especially for marginalized communities.

This story is set in a fictional version of Chicago.

You do not have permission to use these characters.