Prodigy

Prodigy

*Author's Note: I'm still plugging away without much enthusiasm, so I'm giving writing shorter stories a try.

In the past mine averaged about 20,000 words. This one, and the last two or three have been closer to ten or twelve thousand. How a couple meets and why they fall in love are always the main focus along with character development. The time they spend together after they fall in love just won't be as detailed in the hope that writing might again become a passion rather than a chore.

As always, I hope you enjoy it.

*****

He picked up the phone, heard her voice and immediately called out, "Mom! It's Aunt Candy! Tell her we gotta go, okay?"

His mother called back saying, "Okay, honey. I got it."

She picked up the other phone in the landline she kept meaning to get rid of and said 'hey' to her sister.

"Case? What's going on? Where do you have to be that's making you get out of Dodge so fast?"

"City hall."

"City hall? What for? Did you get arrested or something?" her older sister, Candy, teased.

"No. It's for Owen."

"Ah, okay. Must be something to do with chess. Am I right?"

"Ha! What else? He's so excited, you know?"

Candy Williams was 41 and had two children of her own who were ten and twelve, and both of them had passions she shared. In a way, she felt sorry for her younger sister, Casey, who was 38 and didn't even know how to play chess. She felt bad for her in other ways, but in terms of shared interests, she wasn't aware of any her sister and nephew enjoyed together.

Casey had tried to get her son, Owen, who was now nine, to play T-ball, but he hated it. She had him try soccer, too, but he didn't like "running around chasing a stupid ball." Then came bowling, and when he hated that, too, she was looking at ideas online and decided on a whim to download a chess app for her desktop.

Owen preferred his tablet, but he loved playing a game called Minecraft on the larger screen, so maybe, if he liked the game, he'd sit there and play it, too. It was free, so even if he hated it, the worst thing would be wasting a few minutes finding out.

Her son's mind seemed to always be in high gear. So much so that she'd thought about having him checked to see if he might be 'on the spectrum', a nice way of say a child was autistic. There actually was a spectrum where autism was concerned and it ranged from highly intelligent but a little socially awkward to some very profound disabilities that made her shudder to imagine having to deal with. Thankfully, there weren't any of that magnitude.

She knew that in spite of her current situation things could be a worse. A lot worse. So she did her best to deal with stuff as it came and not think too much about what might be down the road.

The app she chose had a tutorial so they could both learn how to play, and for a modest fee, it also connected to other players which meant they could play one other on different devices once they understood the rules. With any luck Owen might enjoy playing, and since playing against other people online didn't require social interaction, it could be the thing she and her son needed but needed for different reasons.

It was simple enough learning how the pieces moved and took, or rather, captured, other pieces which were known collectively as 'material', two terms she'd not known before getting the app. She didn't say anything but thought it was unbelievably boring, but from the moment he finished the tutorial, Owen was obsessed with the game.

Within two hours he crushed her. By the next day he was destroying her every time they played, and she new she could never challenge him. A couple of days later he was playing games online, the modest fee something his mother was more than happy to pay. Within a month he was winning nearly all of them, but even those few games he lost didn't anger him. Owen used the losses to learn from them and never forgot the move that cost him the game.

One day she kind of jokingly asked him how he got so good so fast. Without hesitation her son replied very seriously, "I see the moves before they happen."

She didn't think much about it until she started watching him play against online opponents. As long as his identity and location were unknown to other people his mom had no problem with him playing, and Owen loved challenging players who were better than him.

It was also wonderful for her as it gave her some time for herself. She felt guilty for even feeling that way, but she couldn't change that and did her best to be grateful for this rather odd 'win-win' situation she and her son now found themselves in.

Owen blew through the novice and beginner categories in a few days and was soon beating players with intermediate ratings. One day he came running into the kitchen to find her, a huge smile on his face.

"What's going on, chess master?" she asked as she bowed slightly.

"Mom! I just beat someone with an Elo rating of 1,200!" he declared less than four weeks after his first-ever introduction to the game.

"Oh. That's wonderful!" his mom told him, having no idea what kind of score was good or bad. But without asking Owen explained something called 'the Elo rating system' in chess.

"It was named after a Hungarian-American physics professor who was an eight-time state champion chess master, Arpad Elo. He originally devised his rating system around 1960."

"Originally devised, huh?" his mom said with a laugh as she was used to his adult-like vocabulary, but her son didn't laugh back.

"You really like chess, don't you?" she correctly intuited as she got more serious.

"Uh-huh. I wanna be a grandmaster," her son informed her. "That requires an Elo rating of at least 2,500. I'm already at 1720 according to the way they calculate ratings, so I'm over half way there!"

"Wow. That's...amazing," his mother replied, still unaware of what a phenomenal rating that was for someone with so little experience or how long it took a person to gain an additional 100 points let alone the 800-ish her son needed to make his goal.

What she also didn't know was that he really could 'see' moves in advance. When he learned how the pieces moved and captured material, his brain tapped into an area that had been waiting for him to put to use. He could also divide the board into quadrants in order to maintain control over territory he owned and from which he could attack his opponent.

For some children with a gift of this kind the impetus was music. For others is was mathematics. For Owen, it was chess, and each time he played he was able to visualize more moves further into the game to attack or counter his opponents' attacks.

He was doing his school work, and he still ate with his mom, so she didn't worry too much about him spending every spare moment on his the computer either playing chess or watching videos of games played by grandmasters. She tried watching one with him, but after just two minutes she gave up. She had no understanding of why either player made the moves they did, and were her son not in love with the game, she wouldn't have cared. But Owen cared, and as long as it made him happy, she was fine with it.

She was fine with it, not only because she needed alone time, but also because since the death of his father a little more than two years earlier, Owen had drawn deeply inside himself. That's when she began wondering about the possibility of autism.

After months of debating she did have him seen. The psychiatrist who examined him told he thought there was a possibility Owen might have Asperger's but informed her that without further testing he couldn't say. What he did tell her that Owen seemed to dealing with the loss on a par with other children his age who were dealing with similar tragedies.

"He just needs time," the doctor told her. "That could be a few months or it could even be a few years. Maybe try and find something that really interests him and see how it goes."

That's where the experiments with T-Ball and other sports came in only to no avail. So if chess was what it took to give her back her son, then so be it. She would do her best to tolerate the game while supporting him all she could.

"So what exactly is going on at city hall?" Candy asked in response.

Having momentarily drifted, Casey need a second to process the follow-on question.

"Oh, sorry. The guys at the park told us about a tournament...."

"You mean the old men that play chess there? The uh, the smelly, homeless men?" her sister asked, interrupting her explanation.

"They're not all homeless," Casey said a little too defensively.

"Oh, right. Sorry, you did tell me that. Anyway, Owen beat all of them, right?" Candy asked, knowing her nephew had.

"Crazy, right? Owen says one of them said has an Elo rating of 2,200."

"Okay, you just lost me. Unless you mean the group, ELO, and even there I'm uh...all out of love."

Her sister laughed then said, "That was Air Supply, not ELO."

"You sure about that?"

Casey laughed again and told her sister she was very sure.

"Just know that's a really good score for a chess player."

"Okay. And?"

"And...I signed Owen up for the tournament, and I was just getting our things together."

"Is it an all-day affair?"

"It's speed chess, so no. Not all day. But if Owen, or someone else, wins every game in a few moves, it could be over fairly quickly."

"What time does it start?" Candy asked, having no interest in chess, either, but wanting to be supportive. Not just of her nephew, but her heart ached for her sister she knew was more lonely than she would admit.

"In...."

Casey looked at the clock in the bedroom then said with some urgency, "In 17 minutes!"

"Oh, gosh. You go ahead, and I'll try and make an appearance, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Owen would love that."

"Okay. Bye!"

They screamed into the parking lot of city hall with just three minutes to spare.

"Let's go!" his mom said as she turned the car off.

She almost reached for his hand to lead him through the lot but remembered his reaction the last time she'd done that, so she just kept an eye on him while feeling a twinge of panic that he was growing up too fast.

As they walked inside, Casey heard people applauding. She had no idea why and was too focused on getting Owen registered to find out. By the time she got to the sign-in desk whatever caused the commotion was over, and she forgot all about it.

They got him signed in with a minute to spare before the start of the tournament, and that's when Owen learned he'd been paired with his first opponent, a man who looked to be in his mid-to-late 40s.

Having no idea how players were matched up Casey initially thought it was unfair to pit him against someone so much older than her son. But when Owen defeated him in just 22 moves she reconsidered. He won his second game in 31 moves, and Casey overhead the other player mention that he had a rating of 2,135.

"How about you, young man?" his third opponent, a man in his late 60s asked. "What's your Elo?"

"I just recalculated mine this morning, and I was at 1825," the boy told him so matter of factly it made the man chuckle, the laughter going right over Owen's head.

"I'm impressed," the man said just two moves later as Owen checkmated him.

They shook hands, and as the older man got up, he told Owen, "Keep playing, okay? Because you may just be the world's next chess prodigy."

The way her son beamed after the compliment made her so happy she had to choke back the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Just as she did she became aware of someone standing beside her and hoped he hadn't noticed.

"Is that your son?" a male baritone voice asked.

"Oh. Um...yes. Yes, he is," she answered without turning to look.

"He's very good," the voice said as Casey slowly did turn her head she who she was talking with.

Other than him being a lot younger than her and also rather handsome, she had trouble describing him, even to herself. He had a look about him that she couldn't quite pinpoint, but it seemed to be an air of confidence. She despised cocky men, but she found self-confidence appealing, and as her brain sought to work through its mental description she was suddenly hit with the word "intelligent."

"You look like a...a college professor," she said, not sure why she said it.

He turned his head her way, smiled, then chuckled quietly.

"I'm not sure what that means, but I'm taking it as a compliment," he told her.

Casey hadn't so much as looked at another man since a drunk driver took her husband's life on a cold, dark Saturday night some 27 months ago, but the way he smiled at her made her body react in a way it hadn't since her late husband was alive.

"It was!" she assured him while reaching over and putting a hand on his lower arm. "That was definitely a compliment."

He laughed quietly again then said more as a question than anything else, "Thank you?"

"I'm sorry," Casey quickly replied, now wondering if he really didn't consider it a compliment or even worse, if he thought she was some kind of...weirdo...as she quickly pulled back her hand.

"I'm sorry. I don't have any idea why I even said that. Please forgive me."

"No. It's okay. I'm glad you said it," he told with a look and in a way that caused a second reaction.

His eyes were so blue that another word popped into her brain: mesmerizing. Considering her reaction to his next question, she realized she'd been mesmerized.

"How long has your son been playing?" he asked even as Casey tried to stop staring.

"Um...he uh. He's only been playing...."

She was no longer looking at him, but she couldn't stop whatever it was she was feeling and felt even worse as she forced herself to look back at the area where the games were being played.

"I downloaded an app for him about...."

She thought for a moment then said, "I guess it's been a little more than four months ago? Four...ish?"

"Really," the younger man replied as he, too, turned his focus back to the game.

"Do you play?" she asked, feeling a little silly for bothering him as he was now staring intently at the board in front of Owen.

"I do," he told her without looking away.

Thinking that was his way of letting her know she really was weird or annoying, she said, "I'm bothering you, aren't I?"

Before he could reply she also said, "It was nice talking to you. I'll uh, I'll leave you alone."

"What? No," he told her as she began moving to create some space between them. "You're not bothering me. At all."

The smile and the facial expression she saw hit her so hard this time she felt like someone had opened a spigot to the source of pleasant chemicals in her brain.

"Oh," was the only response she could think of as she nervously looked away after staring at him again for a few seconds too long as the cascade of hormones made its way to every part of her body.

"I actually heard about this new 'prodigy' from an old friend at the park," he informed her.

Casey knew who he meant and said, "Right. Yes, he played there recently and evidently did pretty well."

"Pretty well?" the younger man said with another little laugh. "He destroyed them! Even Chad who's the best player there."

"Chad?"

"Chad. My dad. My dad, Chad," he said, trying not to laugh. "He taught me to play when I was five, and I fell in love with the game."

"So you still play?"

"All the time," he told her just as the game ended with Owen checkmating his opponent.

He saw his mom and smiled. Then he noticed the man next to her and got up and walked over to them.

"Hi there!" the man said as he bent down a little and stuck out a hand. "I'm JJ."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Owen."

The boy shook his hand then asked him so directly it sent chills through his mother, "Do you like my mom?"

JJ stood up, looked at the boy's mom, then shrugged.

"I don't know. I just met her."

JJ glanced at Casey then said, "But yeah, I think I kinda do."

Horrified, Casey said, "Owen Michael Lewis!"

"What? I was just asking," her son replied as though he'd just been scolded.

"You play very well, Owen," JJ said, rescuing Casey from an uncomfortable situation.

"Thanks. I'm really starting to understand the middle of the game. I know almost all of the openings now, and I do pretty good with the end game, but it's the middle that's the hardest."

JJ laughed then said, "You're smart, too."

He looked at Casey and told her that her son was correct and why he was, as well, without going into any real detail.

"Hey, as long as Owen enjoys it, I'm happy."

"Owen? I think your next...victim...is waiting for you," JJ said as he pointed to the open chair at the table.

The boy laughed that boyish laugh his mother loved but hadn't heard for over two years, and when he did, she found herself on the verge of choking up again.

"Okay. I'm playing black so I hope I get a chance to use the Sicilian Defense!" he said before looking around for his new table.

JJ wished him luck and also noticed the emotion in the very attractive, older woman standing next to him and asked if she was okay.

"Yes. It's just so nice to see him laughing again."

When she looked at JJ, she could tell he was confused, so she began explaining just as another person walked up from behind them.

She'd just gotten to how and why Owen no longer had a father when she heard a voice she recognized and turned around and spotted her sister.

"Candy!"

"Hey, sis. And who is this?" she asked as she gave the nice looking man standing next to her sister a twice-over glance.

"I'm JJ. It's actually Jonathan James, but I've been JJ since I was maybe two years old."

"Hey, you can be anything you want," Candy told him as she elbowed her sister who winced and asked what that was all about.

"Oh, nothing," Candy replied, never taking her eyes off of the younger man with the dark hair, the piercing blue eyes and an amazing smile.

"So...how do you and JJ know each other?" Candy asked her sister while ogling the eye candy.

"I...we...."

"It's my fault," JJ began. "I heard about this new chess prodigy in town, and I wasn't about to miss seeing him in action. The same person who told me about Owen also told me his mom was...."

He looked at Casey and said to Candy, "Very attractive."

Candy finally looked away, and when she did, she saw her sister was blushing. That only made her smile as she turned back toward JJ.

"You got that right. My sister is...hot. Smokin' hot!"

Candy leaned a bit and added, "And single."

She saw him look at the large diamond on her sister's left hand, so she quietly told him, "She lost her husband a couple of years ago," unaware that Casey had just explained that as Candy was walking up to them.

This gave JJ the opportunity he'd been waiting for to tell Casey how sorry he was for her loss.

"Thank you," Casey told him, now feeling more awkward than she had since he first spoke to her.

JJ watched as Owen make his first move. White had moved his pawn to E4 giving Owen exactly what he'd hoped for and moved his pawn to D4.

"There it is. The Sicilian Defense," JJ said.

Both women heard every word but didn't understand any of them. He saw the confusion, smiled--at Casey--then said, "If we ever have the opportunity to talk again, I'll bore you to tears with what that means."

"We'd love to hear all about it!" Candy replied as she pulled her sister in closer.

JJ also noted the uncomfortable look Casey gave her sister, and turned away to avoid making her feel even worse.

"If you ladies will excuse me, I gotta go watch the prodigy," he said with a smile that made both women feel a little woozy.

He stopped, though, then turned to Casey.

"I just realized I don't even know your name."

Before Casey could answer, Candy said, "I'm Candy. Williams. And this is my baby sister, Casey. Casey Lewis."