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“I will… teeeeach you.” He set down the mahogany and oak checkered board with matching parts, then placed each piece in its specific location. The man seemed to be rather meticulous about it all, a look of stern concentration imprinted upon his face.
“Who taught you how to play chess, Eli?”
“Jeeeewd.”
“Figures.”
He began to explain the way he was setting up the board. The more Eli spoke, the easier it was for her to understand him.
“…Frooom, left tuh right… rook, knight, bishop, king, queen, bishop, knight, rook…” he continued. “Aaand thissss is…”
“Hold on, Eli… did you hear yourself?” He cocked his head, a quizzical expression on his face. “You did not stutter, slow down or nothin’ when you were saying the names of the pieces.” She pointed at the board. How could this be? “Say ’em again… Go on, start with brook!” She pointed to the piece.
“Thaaaat’s rook… not brook.”
“Oh, my bad. Rook… go on and tell me the names of the pieces again.”
“Rook, knight, bishop, king, queen…”
“You did it again! I wonder if Jude knows about this? He has to. Didn’t he say you have a speech therapist?”
“Mmm hmm, Mr. Dooougley.”
“That’s the darndest thing!” She clapped her hands, enthused, though he didn’t seem to notice what the big deal was. “You know what? Maybe when you’re confident, and it’s something you really like, something you’re really good at, you speak better. Could that be it?” Eli paused for a spell, then shrugged. She twisted the cap of her Sprite bottle and began guzzling it. “All right, go on and finish giving me my first lesson about chess.”
Eli did just that. Some words seemed to be jumbled as he spoke, but when it came to the names of the chess pieces, he never stumbled over the words. They began to play, and though she barely understood what she was doing, she was having fun. Eli put the game aside after a while, and they looked at one another, sipping their Sprites. She glanced at the time. A bit over an hour had passed. It felt like only a few minutes.
“You… can… go.” He looked so glum and sad when he spoke. Her heart felt heavy and tears damn near brimmed in her eyes.
“I wasn’t planning on leaving right now. Did you want me to leave?”
He shook his head.
“Is this when most people leave? After an hour?”
He lowered his gaze briefly, then nodded.
“Jude said I can stay a couple of hours, and that’s what I’d like to do, if that’s okay with you.” The man immediately perked up. “What would you like to do now?”
He slurped his drink one good time, grabbed the remote control, and turned on Cartoon Network. Gumball was on.
“Ohhh, so you’re a Gumball fan, too?”
“Yesss.” He grinned as he retook his seat.
“Let’s sit here together and watch Gumball, then. Now, from my recollection, it only lasts thirty minutes, so that means we’ll have to watch two episodes.” Without explanation, he popped up once again to go rummage in a big bin he had in the corner of the room. As she peered closer, she noticed it was full of books. The man pulled out a thick novel, wiped off the paperback cover with his hand, and handed it to her.
“Gift… for… you.”
She looked down at it and read the title, “A Man Called Ove,” by Fredrik Backman.
“Well, I don’t read as much these days, but thank you very much, Eli. I’m going to take a look at this.”
“Good… book.” He wagged his finger at it before settling back in his seat. Crossing his legs like some gentleman, he clasped his hands across his knee and stared attentively at the television. As she sat there, she flipped through the book, then read the blurb in the back. It seemed pretty interesting—something about a crabby old man who gets angry about the slightest things, and judges people…
That last part made her heart beat a bit faster. She swallowed, then slipped the book in her purse. She glanced at Eli a time or two from the corner of her eye. He was handsome and had a softness about the face. Not one pimple or blemish, but she noticed a slender scar on his scalp where barely any hair grew, perhaps from the car accident that had rendered him disabled.
Eli was a ball of light, shining bright. His light wasn’t new, it was old and wise, wrapped in youthful shades of love. Maybe it was in his forgiving spirit? It seemed as if he wore humanity and consideration like skin layers. He didn’t seem to notice her perusal, but she simply couldn’t help herself. Jude was right. In some ways, he was childlike and innocent. In other ways, he was full grown, all-man, and mature. She didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable, and dare she say it, she was looking forward to their next visit already.
