Encountering the Real You
Laughter, giggling and unison jeer filtered in the back of the overloaded truck. Boisterously, kids in school uniforms chatted and cheered as reminiscing the day's events. I sat quietly, trying to avoid becoming the subject of the conversation, knowing no one would say anything positive about my day's picking. Most of the chess players from my school, who filled the back of the truck like a pile of pumpkins heading out from a Halloween farm, expected me to win the competition. Unfortunately, I made a dangerous blunder in one of the matches and lost. When I had a draw in another, any hopes of being the top chess player in the district evaporated.
It is common for high school kids to pick on one another. My turn was come soon and it did. My teammates and I always ridiculed anyone who lost a match or made a mistake during a match. It was our culture, a post-match commentary so to speak. Sometimes a hero will be born and we will sing songs about that person and make jokes about them too. This was not that day. People picked on me, saying funny things and ridiculing my type of play. I kept trying to find the best response.
"What does, the Black family and Williams family have in common?" I asked, fully loading my ammunition ready to silence my critics.
"They all have siblings who are good at tennis. Byron, Wayne and Cara Black were leading Zimbabwean tennis players. Venus and Serena Williams are top US tennis players."
"Well, my family is in chess what the Williams sisters are in tennis." My younger brother, Allen, who played chess at another school, had won the tournament because of a technicality. He was not that good, but played against weak opponents and out of good fortune won most games. A few years back, my youngest brother, Elton was ranked second best chess player in Zimbabwe and won many awards in the subsequent years. That silenced my chess buddies.
Elton as a chess prodigy; I taught him chess when he was in first grade. When he was in third grade, many grownups avoided playing with him to save themselves from potential embarrassment. He was that good. Resources and proper training limited the development of his game; he could have been an International Master by now. His favorite quote is by James Mason, "Every pawn is a potential queen." Even though a pawn is the weakest chessman, when it reaches the opponent's end, the chess player can promote it to a queen, the strongest and most mobile piece.
Who Am I?
Despite the cool names, elaborate surnames and jaw- dropping titles people have, few if any can convincingly answer the