Post by Brianna Casablancas on Mar 18, 2014 19:28:01 GMT -5
It is a beautiful spring day in Miami,Florida.It is a city known for both its beautiful bronzed bodies as it is for its ugly wrinkly ones. Our story features on the old wrinkly ones ...at least for the time being. In a park that is close by to one of its retirement communities, the older folks flock like children; like VERY SLOW and decaying children. In the center of this luscious green park is a pavement full of benches of senior citizens sitting across from each other and taking part in an activity that includes deep thought and concentration. For the most part, they are a quiet sort, only voicing anger when making a wrong strategic move. These people have been playing chess their whole lives, but it is such a difficult game to master that for some mistakes are STILL easily made. A stunning lady, who is in her sixties but still ravishing while being very proper, sits at the only table that doesn’t have a counterpart. She looks at her pieces cautiously as she waits. Her hair is pulled back and her glasses are masking her beautiful hazel eyes. An elderly woman begins to take a seat but the lady holds up her hand to her. “I would ask that you kindly halt. I am expecting someone.”
The other lady who seems to be in her 80’s gives her an angered expression. “But there is no one here. You know the rules.”
The beautiful sixty year old lady shakes her head at the senior citizen who is falling apart at the edge of her walker. “Bloody hell Agnes,” The lady began with a VERY sharp British accent. “I told you, this seat is saved.”
The older lady, Agnes, flips the pretty sixty year old the bird. “Screw you Bethany.”
The sixty year old gives the backwards peace sign. “Sod off, you tosser.”
The eldest lady shoves off with her walker dragging against the pavement.Right as she doe so, a younger lady immediately struts forward and takes a seat at the beach.The eldest lady looks at the younger with a cold stare while the younger young lady gives her normal welcoming smile. She is about to talk when she is interrupted by the older lady hitting the timer on the clock next to the chess table. She immediately moves a pawn 2 spots forward. She gives the younger lady a smug expression. “It is your turn.”
“It is good to see you too, mother.” Brianna says as she hits the timer on the clock as she makes her first move by moving the knight over one of her pawns.
“Please hold the pleasantries until you win, Bianca.” Bethany coldly states before looking at Brianna move her black knight. “And that was a very flawed move.”
Brianna hits the timer as her mother immediately moves another one of her pawns. “I go by Brianna now. And I am going to play the game the way I want to.” Brianna hits the timer again before moving the same knight piece and hitting the timer. “And I am changing our deal. You are going to speak to me whether I beat you or not.”
“That is because you know you are going to lose.” Her mother speaks as she moves her rook on the board and hits the timer. "I showed up here under the conditions that I would let you speak to me if you were able to defeat me."
"Yes mum," Brianna began as she moved one her pawns two spaces before hitting the timer. "But seeing that you are a grand champion at this game, I just told you that to lure you here to put some issues at rest."
"There is nothing to put at rest, love." Bethany says as she hits the timer and immediately moves her queen. She hits the timer again ...leading Brianna to do the same. "Your father and I did our best to instill a form a discipline and hand fed you a career that would take you to riches. We provided you with what you needed to be THE BEST in that industry. And what did you do when you got there? You threw it away to be 'your own person.' And now I hear you are partaking in a sport that is only watched by children and toothless gentlemen in rural states."
"Mother," Brianna began as she smiled at her while pressing the timer and holding her hand on her bishop ...but not moving it just yet. "We are British ...we have not earned the right to mock people over their oral care."
"Yes," Bethany began while looking at her with a look that said 'stop talking and make your move.' "I saw that you got those done. I take it your p.h.d paid for for the work and not this deplorable endeavor you are involved in? It was only eight years ago that you were a SWAN!"
Brianna takes her hand off the bishop but instead moves another one of her pawns. "It was only eight years ago that I was miserable. I am happy with both of my careers and you should be happy for me. Plus, I think you might make quite a few comparisons with the game we are playing now AND the position I am in now with my grappling career."
"Dear, do not be daft. Please do NOT compare this sophisticated game to that human demolition derby. We raised you better than that. you ARE better than that." Bethany says while capturing one of Brianna's pawns. She raises an eyebrow to her daughter with an expression that OOZED of pretension. "Your move, love. If grappling is like chess for you, clearly you are quite bad at it."
"Actually, I am told that I am quite gifted in the ring. I even won a championship." Brianna said moving another one of her pawns forward.
"Clearly it isn't important because you do not have that title with you." Bethany says hitting the timer again.
"It is a long story, mum. It is important in what it represents for everyone else, especially my opponent. It is ironic. His last name is Bishop but he is a terrible chess player." She begins moving a piece before pausing as her mother has decided to humor her. "Yes, worse than me. I will say that while compared to you, I am bad but what you have taught me in this game has rubbed off. I have even been using one of your strategies."
"You are referring to making small little moves while your opponent gets overzealous making grand moves that he thinks will win him the match ..."
"But in the end has only kept himself busy while achieving absolutely nothing." Brianna said with a sparkle in her eyes as she captured one of her mother's pieces and hits the timer. "He forgets that the most important strategy is to protect his queen. He is too busy surrounding himself with pawns that he forgets he is only a mere Bishop. The most powerful piece is out wide in the open, ready to get taken out by mere pawns because he is SO transfixed on his Bishop, the most flawed piece in the game ...but flaws that can be masked if played right. He says he is playing a game; he says that he is a team player ...but if that were the case, he would realize that on his side, he isn't the most important piece on the board. And when it comes to me, he is focusing too much on my pawns rather than trying to capture my king. It is a fatal mistake."
"I would say so." Bethany began. "I take it, he is more occupied without making sure somebody goes after his king more than the game as a whole."
"Yes," Brianna began moving her piece. "And he relies too heavily on a group of pawns to be around to get his job done. Our first outing, he couldn't beat me even with his most powerful piece in play. And from there, it has been a numbers game and a game of 'big moves.''
"While you bide your time?" Brianna's mother asks moving her piece.
"Precisely!" Brianna moves her queen forward as she speaks with excitement now. "I know I do not need to make a whole lot of big moves because by even trying to checkmate me early on with his first move, he has let me know that he KNOWS I am a threat to him. I controlled the board the moment he made his presence known to me. And from there it was nothing more than him desperately trying to do things that would get that board back."
"Which is quite foolish." Her mother adds to the conversation. "He already showed you his weakness with his first turn. He already showed you that he knows you have the ability to defeat him."
"The odd thing is that he picked this match with me. I was just minding my own business and focusing on my career, match by match and he heard that ONE appearance I had made me high with management and being the poor chess player he was ...he made a move on me without doing his research; with not knowing what I am capable of as a player. But mum, it got even more humorous as he started whining and crying that he wanted his king while I was just happy to have a little playmate. Eventually, his pawn is kinged, not because of how he played ..but because of how I played. He was originally supposed to be facing an underling, but since I was chosen to contend for a title, management had no choice but to promote him as well ...even though he wasn't ready for said promotion which he proved at Resurrection."
"But you couldn't let that go." Bethany Winifred says as she raises an eyebrow while also concentrating on her game ...but maybe getting a little too carried away in a conversation about pro wrestling. "Anybody who really plays the game knows that beating him isn't good enough. You exposed him didn't you? You didn't just make him know how bad of a chess player he really was but you made sure the rest of the world did to. Exposure is the only way to deal with a poor, aggressive player."
"That is right mum." Brianna says with an excited look on her face as she moves her chess piece "And then, as pointed out, his big moves got even bigger and more boisterous and I let him do that. Because..."
"You already controlled the board." Bethany exclaimed quite loudly for a woman that did not care for pro wrestling
"Yes mother." Brianna smiled at her in the sunny spring day in Miami as she held her piece up to annoy her mother before sliding over another space.
"And I suppose like most novices, he believes that he is in control; he cannot even see that he isn't making those plays NOT because he can ...but because you let him." She said as she slowed down her game to mess with a daughter that she has been messing with her whole life. Like most parents, smirk said that she knew that she had complete power of her daughter in more ways than one.
"Indeed. And its sad really.Because he REALLY wants to win this second match but like most bad players who want to win IMMEDIATELY, he never bothered to learn the rules. He never bothered to ask anyone how to play correctly. Like a kid who has played checkers his whole, he believes it is the same game and that he already knows everything there is to know about it. And it isn't like he isn't surrounded by people that can show him how to properly play or give him pointers. He is just stubborn and unwilling to admit that he is clueless as to what the best strategy to take is. Still, I understand his determination and his passion ..." Brianna tries to continue but her mother, who believes she is in complete control of the 'OTHER' chess game going on, cuts her off.
"But determination and passion means bollocks all when you have no idea what you are doing and refuse to believe that your way is not the smartest way to go about it."
"Yes and ..." Brianna nods in agreement of her mom, but once again finds herself cut off as her mom wins the game and the literal game of chess the two are playing. But both are now aware that that the figurative chess game continues.
"Checkmate." Bethany responds to her daughter as some of the older people surrounding her roll their eyes over this 'proper' British lady who is behaving just as obnoxious as a popular Canadian wrestler "I beat you. I do not have to listen to you..."
"Mother I am sorry." Brianna says with genuine guilt to interrupt her mother and keep this battle of wits alive between the two. The smile is not on her face anymore, but her expression is still sweet; she is STILL coming from a pure place; a place that just wants people to get along.
"Well, isn't that nice?" Bethany began. "Don't you think that you should have apologized while your father was ali..." She LITERALLY has her nose up in the air as she puts her pieces back and begins to lecture her daughter on her ex husband.
"I visited..." Brianna cuts her off knowing that that is now apart of the game they are playing. She didn't like it, but she knew that her mother could be a stubborn sort. But her mother, still thinking she is the more powerful of the two, cut HER off.
"You visited his corpse." Bethany began while motioning for Brianna to put her pieces back ...Brianna does as such with a smile on her face none the less as she listens to a monologue from her mother. "And as much as you want to romanticize your relationship with him, he was just as disappointed in you as I was. You can tell yourself that he forgave you on his deathbed; you can tell yourself that he forgives you from beyond the grave; and sweet sweet Bianca, you can tell yourself that whatever misguided podunk olympics you are taking part in is somehow honoring his memory ...but I was there with him when he passed. He never forgave you. I never forgave you. You turned your back on your family. It doesn't matter how much you achieve as a psychologist OR a sideshow freak, to the only people that should matter, you are a complete failure." She looks at her daughter for a quick moment and smiles as she notices that her eyes are starting to water. As strong and as unvexed by most things, apparently she does have somethings that set her off. "I would give you a handkerchief but I am just clean out, love."
"Mother ...I ..." Brianna says as she begins to pull herself together and force that smile she promised herself that she would never lose. If she loses that smile for an extended period of time, she loses. And living in a world where you don't feel like smiling is a torturous existence.
"Yes?" Bethany says as she begins to get up and leave, knowing full well that she won this mental battle of wits.
"I can't hate you." Brianna began FORCING that smile on her face and as she did that, her mother began to slightly cower ...and soon she was sitting back down and listening to her daughter that she considers SO beneath her. "But what I can do is tell you the truth. What I can do is analyze you. Most parents are supposed to love their children no matter what ...but some parents are different. Some parents are vindictive. Some parents force their children to do something because they failed at it at an early age. You didn't care about me or my future. You failed as a dancer at an early age because you were physically incapable of doing such. And when you found out that I was gifted in the areas you were not, yes, you tried living vicariously through me ...but through THAT ...you were jealous. But you got your revenge for Darwinism favoring me didn't you. You turned me into a monster by instilling the WRONG values in me. Teaching me to get what I wanted to by hook or crook. Though that wasn't your main punishment. No, your main punishment was that you would hold your love from me. While father had his moments where he SHOWED me that while he wanted the best for me that he DID support me. Sure, you roped him along but that seems to be what bitter and petty people do. They get the weak to follow them blindly even though the things they are saying are nothings." As she speaks her confidence is back and her tears are gone. She is sitting up tall at her chess board and looking directly into her mother's cold eyes. Her mom is DESPERATELY trying not to make contact with her. In fact, Bethany's posture transforms from proper into having her back slumped forward and her shoulders lowered. To her, Brianna seems to be getting taller and taller, something she is not comfortable with. But Brianna isn't finished.
"Mother, not having you in my life was painful and I am sorry that you cannot be changed." Her smile is even wider as her mother crosses her arms as if to protect herself from the verbal arrows that her daughter happens to be shooting at her. "I am sorry that I cannot change your mind on myself and what I have chosen to be. But the fact remains that you are just another aggressive player who wants to control the board ...because they want to feel like they control something. You are not going to control my board any longer. I am never going to let the power hungry EVER control the board again as long as it is a board that I play on. I play because of my enjoyment of the game. If you play because you want to win? That is all well and good, but do not go and start something and get all up and arms because YOU picked a fight with someone that you thought you were better than but realized that they had more talent and skill than you gave her credit for. I didn't break free of you to disgrace or besmirch ...I was just wanted to play the game the way I wanted to play it. I wanted to be an individual. I wasn't going to be an updated version of you. And I am happy being me. I love my life. And I stand by my decision."
"I apologize because I DO love you and did love father as I cherish his memory." Brianna now stands up as she knows that she has finally gotten to her mother. She felt that her mom might have understood that her controlling and manipulative behavior hurt her."And it would mean more than anything to have my FAMILY behind me again. But I can go this alone without the support of a family. I have done it up until this point and I will do it with every chess match I play if I have to. But if you want to continue to be THAT person that is YOUR choice. Please mother, I want you in my life."
"Are you finished?" Suddenly, her posture is back to being that of a prim and proper British lady as shirks off
"Yes." She slightly cowers at her mom once more ...but she isn't out.
"Good." Her mother gathers her purse and is about to attempt to leave again. "I have a mani-pedi I am late for because you called me to this ridiculous gathering hoping to get what some ..."
"I forgive you." Sincerity OOZES from her tongue as she speaks and that catches Bethany's attention.
"What?" Her mother asks as she puts her purse back down. She knows that this will be fresh.
"I forgive you mother. You might not think you have done anything wrong ...but clearly you couldn't afford to live in London after your husband passed and now you are in a retirement community in the states and playing chess by yourself. And you are clearly here because you are stubborn and you refuse to believe that your actions are self destructive as well as self defeating. The pettiness, the jealousy, the wanting to believe that the chess game revolves around you, the using me ...I forgive you for all of that. You are clearly just a sad person who is going to need all the forgiveness she can afford when she sets aside her pride and realize what she did to other people in the name of controlling the board. I know there is a good person in there ...I just hope you would realize it. I forgive you." Brianna again says this with great sincerity and her mother doesn't say a thing. Her smug look is gone. Her pretentious tone is a distant memory, all that is left is a woman who is speechless.
"You ...you ...I ..." Bethany stammers TRYING to regain control of the board again.
"Do you know why you showed up today?" But instead, Brianna just cuts her off with a simple question. The smile on her face isn't that a sweet caring girl anymore ...it is of a woman who is RIGHT. Her motives are good and she has a superior moral stance and she KNOWS it. "Do you know why you called me everyday for three years telling me how insignificant I was? Do you know why you STILL call me every year to remind me that you don't care about me? Why you mail me every two years to tell me that you are done with me?"
Bethany Winifred is fumbling for words to fight back, to win but the young lady known now as Brianna Casablancas continues her road to a checkmate."Because without me, you are not relevant. Your own self-worth and your own existence depends on me. Since day one, it has depended on me; that was why you got your hooks into me at an early age. You knew I was the only thing that would keep you note worthy; that would have people talking about you. I hate to blunt here ma ma, but you just piggy backed off my talent so you could take all of the credit. So go on mum, tell me how unimportant I am while go out of your way to demean me. Tell me how you are done with me while you take personal shots at me trying to make me crack. You know and I now know that you do it because without me you are irrelevant. But don't feel too bad, there seems to be a lot of that going on nowadays. But now I realize that to you and to others that I am not a pawn nor am I a bishop. For those that cannot stand out on their own two feet, I am the most important piece. I am the queen. And it is your own hateful attitude that has given me the board. I didn't TAKE anything from you. You did this to yourself." Brianna stands up and gathers her purse well looking down at her mother who is cowering under her shadow on this bright Floridian day.
"Well, I never..."
"Shush mother." Brianna holds her hand up just as Bethany did only a few minutes earlier to the old lady known as Agness. Brianna is still smiling but her voice is stern as she speaks to her mother."We are through. This is done. I hope that as you are watching me walk away from this game, that you realize the mistake you made when you planned out your moves and strategized this game. I love you but you need to get used to watching people just walk away from you into a better life where they are happier without you." Brianna begins to walk away from Bethany for what she thinks will be the last time but tilts her head back to the weakened matriarch with a half smile. "TTFN."
