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

VII- New Players, New Tactics

Episode 2

Exchanges

Part 3

Kentucky, 1963

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I was sick and tired of the bullshit I was enduring at school. Trying to ignore the idiocracy around me wasn't going to sustain me for long. So I adopted a different mindset. I decided it would be more satisfying if when I trudged through the halls at school, my eyes set on the stupid gaggle of Apple Pi's directly in front of me, to aggressively shoulder my way through all of them like a bull at his target. I figured a good old "Fuck you Margaret" would be a sufficient repsonse to "Excuse you Harmon!"

My day brightened when I received a letter from someone I had been hoping to hear from. Alma handed me the envelope from Mr. Shaibel and I smiled at her until she left the room, giving me some privacy to open  it. I peeled the paper off the backside and peeked in to find 5 dollar bills waiting for me. Looks like I was entering the Kentucky state tournament.

A few days later I headed over to Bradley's to pick up a refill of Alma's tranquility pills- that we shared. But before I could grab them out of his hands, the man behind the counter said something that made me think.

"Tell Alma to go easy. She's only got 3 refills left." He hesitated before handing me the medication. I would be lying if I said that was the first time I knew the pills weren't a good thing. But I'll admit it didn't feel good hearing the man telling her-- us, actually-- to hold off on the pills. An uneasy feeling settled into my gut.

As I entered the house Alma commented on the fact that I was home late. It was dark and she sat in the blue light of the TV that painted the whole room. We bid our goodnights but I stopped halfway up the stairs to tell her I would be late again tomorrow night. Because of my chess tournament. She wasn't too fond of the idea that I was filling my time with chess tournaments instead of girls clubs or social activities. I knew she didn't understand that for me, expanding my social horizons wasn't at the top of my priorities list, and I certainly wasn't going to do it with the Fairfield High girls. But there were a lot of things Alma and I didn't understand about each other yet, and I knew that once I won this tournament, things would change for both of us.

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I entered Henry Clay Highschool the next day and walked up to the desk where two boys, twins it seemed, gave me my playing card. I hadn't ever played it a tournament before so I can't say I was that nervous because I didn't know what to expect, except for one thing: I was going to win. I began to fill it my card as they were talking about the clock sharing system. I wasn't paying too much attention to what they were saying until they asked for my rating.

"I don't have a rating." I said without looking up from my playing card, eyebrows furrowed.

"Have you ever played in a tournament before?" One of them asked.

"No." I said as I handed him the five dollars admission. He took it and looked up at me puzzled.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

"I'm sure." I met his eyes briefly.

"We don't have a women's section." He stated as if he expected me to realize I was in the wrong place, sigh, turn around, and walk out the door. But instead I just looked down at him.