The Empty Seat at the Checkers Board

Chapter 1The Board Between Them

Pinny and his cousin Zalman played checkers at the small table beside the window. Their fathers were studying in the next room.

Pinny set out the red pieces. Zalman took black.

They had played there many times. Usually they talked about school while they played. Today Pinny kept hearing something Zalman had said at their uncle's house the previous week.

"Pinny takes forever to answer."

Their uncle had asked a question. Pinny had been thinking. Zalman had made the remark before he was ready.

Two younger cousins had laughed.

Pinny had answered the question anyway. He had not answered Zalman.

Now Zalman moved a black piece forward.

"Your turn."

Chapter 2A Game Somewhere Else

Pinny moved the first piece his hand reached.

Zalman studied the board.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He wasn't. He hadn't looked.

Zalman took the piece. Pinny stared at the empty square.

In his mind, he was still at the other table. He imagined saying something sharp enough to stop the cousins laughing. He imagined Zalman apologizing where everyone could hear.

"Pinny?"

"What?"

"You can move."

Pinny leaned over the board. He could see all the pieces, but he wasn't really in the game.

The empty seat was his own, although he was sitting in it.

Chapter 3Another Explanation

Perhaps Zalman had meant to embarrass him.

Perhaps he thought slowly answered questions were funny. Perhaps the remark had slipped out and he had already forgotten it.

Pinny had considered every version except the one he could hear from Zalman.

He wanted to ask. He also wanted not to ask, because a real answer might be less satisfying than the perfect one in his head.

Zalman pushed a piece forward.

"Do you want to stop?"

"Why?"

"You don't seem to be enjoying it."

Pinny looked at his remaining red pieces.

"Can we leave the board for a minute?"

"All right."

Zalman put his hands in his lap.

Chapter 4The Question Beneath It

"At our uncle's house, you said I take forever to answer."

Zalman blinked.

"I said you were taking a long time."

"You said forever. The little ones laughed."

Zalman looked toward the next room, then back.

"I didn't think it was a big thing."

Pinny felt the old scene grow louder.

"It was unpleasant for me. Were you trying to get them to laugh at me?"

"No. I wanted to answer."

"You could have waited."

Zalman rubbed one finger along the edge of the table.

"Yes. I could have."

He did not give the apology Pinny had imagined. He did not explain why the younger boys had laughed.

He could only answer for himself.

Chapter 5What Remained

Pinny wanted to ask the same question again with different words. Perhaps that would produce the answer he wanted.

But Zalman had answered it.

"I would like you not to make remarks about how long I take," Pinny said.

"All right."

"Even if you know the answer first."

"All right."

There was a quiet moment.

"I'm sorry I interrupted," Zalman said.

Pinny nodded.

It wasn't every part of the scene put right. His uncle's question had already been answered. The cousins' laughter had already happened. Zalman didn't agree that he had meant anything cruel.

Pinny could say what had bothered him without proving a worse intention.

Chapter 6Back at the Board

Zalman looked at the pieces.

"Do you still want to play?"

Pinny checked how many red pieces were left.

"Yes. Whose turn?"

"Yours."

He took time to look this time. Zalman waited.

The old sentence returned once while Pinny was planning a move. He noticed it, then brought his eyes back to the board.

He didn't have to finish the argument in his head before moving a piece in front of him.

Zalman won the game. Pinny didn't like losing, but he knew why his early careless moves had made it difficult.

They put the pieces in their box.

Chapter 7A Later Question

At the next family visit, their uncle asked the older boys what they thought about a story he had read.

Pinny had an answer, but he needed a moment to find its beginning.

Zalman drew a breath as if he might speak. Then he waited.

Pinny answered. Their uncle asked him to explain one part more clearly.

It was not a perfect answer. It was his answer, and he had time to give it.

Later, Zalman asked whether he wanted another checkers game the following week.

"Yes," Pinny said.

He didn't mention the waiting as if it paid off a debt.

He had noticed it. That was enough for now.

Chapter 8The Seat He Was In

The following week, Pinny set out the red pieces again.

Zalman sat across from him.

The old remark still existed in Pinny's memory. He hadn't erased it by asking a question, and Zalman hadn't agreed to every meaning Pinny had given it.

There was also a later afternoon when Zalman had waited.

Pinny moved a piece and asked how Zalman's school project was going.

Zalman told him. Pinny listened instead of preparing the next reply to something from two weeks before.

The game could be a game. The conversation could be the one happening now.

This time, Pinny was in his seat.