"The newly elected governor!" one of the inmates said in awe. Everyone in the courtyard fell silent as they became conscious of my challenger.
"So, are you up for a game, mister..?" he asked as he stepped forward, inquiring my name.
"Dexter, sir, your excellence," I replied, bowing a little to show a bit of respect.
"Just call me Tom. No need for the formalities while we are here. Now, back to my question. Are you up for a game, mister Dexter?" he said, taking a seat at the table.
"Sure thing, mister Tom," I said as I sat opposite him, trying to still maintain my respect. It ain't everyday you get to stand face to face with a governor.
We flipped for sides and I ended up with white. (😂 sorryforbuttingin, butthatrhymes) I decided to start with my variation of an English opening. As he contemplated his next move, he struck up a conversation.
"So what were you put in here for?" he asked as he pushed a pawn.
"Well that would be a pretty long story, but in a one word summary, I'll say Surviving," I replied as I eyed his last move.
"Surviving. Hmm, that's a nice way to put it," he said with his hand stroking his beard and his eyes following my hand taking hold of a knight and moving him forward.
"Explain surviving. We have a long game ahead of us, so I'm all ears," he added as he dropped a knight he picked on the board.
"Okay, where do I begin?" I said, half thinking to myself as my hands hovered over the knight I had previously advanced.
"How about the beginning?" he said with a chuckle as he pushed another pawn forward, opening an attack on my knight.
"Well then, sir," I replied, placing a pawn diagonally behind the knight as a form of protection. "I was born into a poor home. My dad was a lazy slob, but my mom, on the other hand, was a blessing. She worked two jobs while also praying to God for a breakthrough. The funny thing is that she believed in God so much, and really looking at, I have no idea why she believed in him so much. In the long run, it sort of became contagious. Soon I was expecting a breakthrough, but like most fairy tale like dreams, the 'ALMIGHTY GOD' never came through." I started as we advanced two moves further in the game.
"How many siblings?" he asked as I deliberated my next move.
"My mom gave birth to six kids," I answered as I moved a knight forward. "Check," I added with a smile.
"Nice," he complimented as he moved his king a space forward.
"So, back to your story. Are you done?" he asked, shifting into a more comfortable position on the bench he was sitting on. I looked around a bit, and for the first time I noticed the heavy presence of security in the courtyard.
I sensed the time to be around ten o'clock by now. I was going to be executed at ten o'clock that night, so I had twelve hours, give or take, 'till I said good bye. I realized I was staring into space when the governor cleared his throat, and apologized for zoning out.
"Where was I?" I asked, passively remembering my position in the story I was telling, and continued.
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