Playing Dirty

     Gloria headed to the door with her backpack.

     "Where are you going today?" her mother asked.

     "I'm going to hang out with Sammy." said Gloria "I'll be back before dinner."

     Her mother put down the romance novel she was reading "Wait a minute there Glory. You know I don't like Sammy. She always rubs me the wrong way."

     "She doesn't do it on purpose." said Gloria "Nobody else hangs out with her, and if I don't than who will?"

     "Well, be careful around her. Remember that time when you went to the flea market and Sammy didn't have enough money? You lost five dollars helping her pay for her teapot that day."

     "She paid me back." Gloria said defensively.

     "Yeah, after two months and one phone call from me." Mom replied "How about that time you went to the haunted house and had to leave early because it was too scary for her? Or that time you went hiking and she had to keep resting every few minutes and slowed you down?"

     "So what?" said Gloria "We just learned she doesn't like hiking or haunted houses from those trips."

     "How about your fourteenth birthday party when we went to the fair? That was the time she ruined our day by eating all of those nachos and churros, then she threw up on your lap while you rode the tilt-a-whirl?"

     "Mom, seriously? You're making it sound like we're going to get arrested or something. We aren't going to any flea markets or hiking trails or haunted houses. We're just going to draw with my new crayons and play chess."

     "You be careful anyway." Mom said "Everytime you play with Sammy something like that happens, and you always get the worst of it."

     "Yeah, but come on. It's chess and coloring. What can go wrong?" Gloria opened the door to leave.

     "Wait a minute. Did you fill up the Cricket's food and water dishes?"

     "Yes Mom."

     "Remember to be back in before dinner."

     "I know, Mom, I know. Sheesh!" Gloria said, and she was off. 

     While she was on her way she thought about the best color schemes for her drawings and the best ways to open a good chess game. Gloria loved chess and arts and crafts too. The other kids at school might have called Gloria a geek if she didn't have such a sharp attitude and good sense of style. 

     When Gloria got to Sammy's house the two of them began to draw. Gloria drew a spaceship orbiting Jupiter and some aliens, and Sammy drew a farm house with a goat in the garden. They chatted about boys they liked and funny things that happened at school last year. When they were done drawing they started a game of chess.

     "I'm saving up for my own chess set." said Gloria.

     "You should get one like this. It's wooden and the pieces are carved with little faces." said Sammy.

     "That's a nice set, but it's not the kind I want." Gloria said "I want a marble chess set where the pieces are sculpted smooth and glossy with crystal accents, and you can see the swirls of marble in the board. Mom used to have a chess set like that before I knew how to play, but now all we have left of it is one black pawn and one white knight. The rest was lost and broken."

     "That kind of chess set is no good." said Sammy "Everything breaks and gets lost until its all gone. Wood is much stronger and lighter than marble and doesn't break unless you take a hammer or saw to it."

     "Well. I'm still saving up for a marble set or maybe a stone or glass chess set." said Gloria.

     "How much have you saved?" asked Sammy.

     "Fifteen dollars and eighty-two cents." said Gloria.

     "How much is the marble chess set?" asked Sammy.

     "I'm not sure." said Gloria "probably twenty or thirty dollars." 

     "Probably a whole lot more." said Sammy "Probably fifty or sixty. It'll take a long time to save all that money."

     "I know, and I really want a chess set of my own."

     "I was just thinking..." Sammy began "Maybe I can sell you mine."

     "That's a nice gesture, but I don't know. I really wanted a marble chess set."

     "I'm not sure they make them anymore." said Sammy "I haven't seen any in the stores, and my friend Allen went looking for one. He told me he never found one so he bought a yucky cheap plastic chess set instead. Maybe you won't get a marble chess set."

     "Well, wood is better than plastic" said Gloria slowly "and if you let me buy yours I will have a nice chess set of my own."

      "It is a very good chess set." Sammy said again "Wood won't break and the grain of it kind of looks like marble swirls, and it even has two extra queens like a proper chess set should. I'm having second thoughts about selling it, but then again I could use the money for a new teddy bear."

     "How much do you want for it?" said Gloria

     "How about... Thirteen dollars." said Sammy "and no trade backs."

     "Deal." said Gloria, and she got out her wallet.

     Gloria handed Sammy thirteen dollars and Sammy packed up the chess set for her, carefully putting the pieces back in the velvet pouch.

     "There, its all yours. Remember, no trade backs." said Sammy.

     "No trade backs." Gloria repeated "Pinky promise."

     At the end of the day Gloria wandered home with a backpack full of art supplies and a wooden chess set in her hands. She thought to herself. "It may not be marble, but wood is better than plastic, and the figures are kind of cute. This was an ok deal after all.

     Just outside her house Gloria met her next door neighbor, Paul who was walking his dogs.

     "Ah, a chess set. You'll have to play with me sometime." Paul said "I'm going to get a marble chess set with crystal accents."

     "I heard they don't make those anymore." said Gloria. 

     "Really? Where did you hear that?" said Paul.

     "Sammy told me." 

     "I'm sure they still make marble chess sets." said Paul "The candy store got some in last week, and I saw a few in the drug store too. My friend Allen got one last week and showed it to Sammy, so Sammy should know they have them."

     "Hmm." Gloria said, wondering if she made the right decision.

     When she got into her house she set up her chess set and her mother looked at it.

     "Oh, you... You got a wooden chess set." she said, a little awkwardly as if she secretly didn't like it.

     "It's a nice one though." said Gloria "It's better than plastic and the pieces have cheracter." 

     Gloria's mother just made a weird face as if her daughter brought home a piece of smelly roadkill.

     "Alright, I'll bite. What's wrong with my new chess set?" Gloria said.

     "Nothing. It's just a little ugly." said Mom " The king looks like Papa Smurf and the queen looks like my boss, and the knights look like Justin Bieber. It's... cartoony. I like the smooth and shiny marble Chess sets better."

     "Aren't those expensive and hard to find?" said Gloria.

     "Not really." said Mom "I see them all the time at work. They're only twelve dollars and twenty-five cents. Even the toy store up the street has them."

     Gloria decided to take her dog, Cricket, for an earlier walk today. When she passed the toy store up the street she looked in the window. There was Sammy, buying the beautiful marble chess set Gloria wanted, with the money she had gotten from selling the wooden chess set.

     "What the heck!"

     Gloria pulled Cricket away before Sammy saw her and continued around the block back home. She sighed and felt terrible. "Stuck with wood and no trade backs." Gloria muttered as she stopped to let Cricket smell a lamppost "Mom was right when she told me to be careful. Sammy really had me fooled but she had better beware. Mess with me I'll mess back."

     By the time Gloria got home she had a plan. 

     Aftet she had finished her dinner she got a nickel and two pennies and slipped them into the velvet pouch with the wooden chessmen. Then she called Sammy on her cellphone.

     "Hello." Sammy said.

     "Hey, Gloria replied "Thanks again for selling me the chess set. Are you sure you want no trade backs?"

     "Yes, I'm sure." said Sammy. 

     "So I can really keep it? All of it? No trade backs." 

     "Yes. You can keep it all." 

     "Can I keep what I found in the velvet pouch too?" Gloria said.

     There was a pause on the other end of the line.

     "What did you find in the velvet pouch?" said Sammy.

     "Nevermind. We swore no trade backs so it's mine anyway." Gloria said "I have to walk Cricket now. I'll talk to you later."

     Gloria hung up the phone. She went to the fridge to get a slice of cake for dessert. "Check" she whisperd, very pleased with herself.

     Half an hour later her phone rang and Gloria answered it "Hello."

     "Um... Hi." Sammy said "I just thought of something. I kept a medal from one of my chess tournaments in the velvet pouch for a while. Did you find my medal?"

     "Mmm... Nope. I don't have to tell you what's in the velvet pouch because you said no trade backs." said Gloria.

     "I also kept some money in the pouch once. It was five dollars. Did you find money?"

     "You said no trade backs so I don't have to tell you how much money is in the pouch." Gloria said.

     "Hey, that's my money and I shouldn't have given it to you without checking the bag first. I want it back."

     "Oh, do you mean to tell me you want to trade back?" said Gloria.

     "Um... Yes... but you see. Um..."

     "It's no biggie." Gloria said "You just give me my money and I'll give you your chess set. When can we meet?"

     "I... I... I can't do that." Sammy said "I already spent the money on a new chess set. All I have left is three quarters. It's the marble kind you like though. If you're ok with it I can give you the marble chess set and the quarters if you give back my old chess set."

     "You said they didn't make marble chess sets anymore." Gloria pressed.

     "It was... a... a lucky find. If you still want it I'm still up for the trade." Sammy said.

     "Alright, you convinced me. Bring it over." Gloria said "I'll see you in a few." then she hung up the phone."

     Gloria took the wooden chess set outside. She was amazed by her own cunning. "Check mate" Gloria whispered to herself. Then she sat on the porch outside her house to wait patiently.

     In about fifteen minutes Sammy came walking swiftly up to Gloria with the new marble chess set and the three quarters. 

     "Ok Gloria. For real this time, no trade backs. I swear." Sammy said. 

     "Just to be sure there's no trade backs, let's make an unbreakable promise instead of just a pinky promise this time." Gloria said.

     Sammy looked at her old wooden chess set for a moment then at the marble one, then at Gloria who had been through a lot of trading today. For the first time Sammy felt a little guilty. She sighed and said "Alright."

     They took eachother's hands, and Gloria said.

By the sun and moon and stars

We now receive what's rightfully ours.

What we get is what we'll keep.

No trading back so may it be.

     

     Gloria gave Sammy the wooden chess set and Sammy immediately emptied the wooden chessmen out onto the porch and found the seven cents.

     "You little sneak! That was a mean trick to play on me!" Sammy said.

     "It was also a mean trick you played when you sold me that wooden chess set so you could buy the marble one yourself." Gloria replied.

     "I guess." said Sammy "I'll have to be careful around you from now on. I thought you were my best friend, but I don't blame you if you don't want to be friends anymore after that."

     "I'd rather be friends than foes." said Gloria "If you are kind to me I will be kind to you, but if you play dirty with me keep in mind that I can play back. I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. So... What's it going to be?"

     "I'm really sorry." Sammy mumbled "Can we still be friends?"

     "Yep." said Gloria "How about a trip to the Mountain Candy store before it closes? I still have two dollars and seventy five cents to spend on a little treat for both of us."

     So the two friends packed up their chess sets, and went to the candy store as the sun was setting. Sammy bought a chocolate bar with nougat filling and one with peanut butter. Gloria bought a bag of jelly beans and a lollipop bouquet. They shared their candy on the way home and told jokes about dorky dads and weird teachers. Gloria dropped Sammy and her wooden chess set off at their house and went home herself.

     When she got inside she set up her new marble chess set on the coffee table. The swirls were absolutely beautiful and the bases of the chessmen had little crystals set in them. The blacks had gold crystal and the whites had blue. The kings had red crystals in their crowns and the knights horses had emerald eyes.

     Gloria's mother came in the room with her hair in a towel after taking a shower. "Where did that chess set come from?" she added "What happened to the wooden one."

     Gloria just smiled and said "I exchanged the wooden one for it."

     Her mother looked surprised "That's a good deal."

     "You have no idea." Gloria grinned.