Not an Easy Win

Monday comes, and Lawrence is overwhelmed by fear and anxiety before the chess tournament starts at the rec center. He plays Lin first and tries to force himself to calm down. He imagines that Pop’s music is playing and that the choir is singing for him; he thinks of how chess is like music. Each move is a “tempo,” and he sets his own pace for the game, just as musicians set the tempo for their music. He beats Lin again.

Next, he plays Jada. Jada is likely the other option for the third spot in the Charlotte tournament, so Lawrence is nervous. However, he hears the music playing in his head and manages to beat her in 32 moves. Although the match was close, he starts to believe that he has a chance to get the third spot for the tournament.

Lin and Lawrence ride with Mr. Dennis to pick up new equipment for the rec center. They ride in the bed of the truck to make sure that the ropes don’t come loose. Lin asks Lawrence if he wants to go to the chess tournament, and Lawrence casually says that he does—while, really, it has become “the most important thing right now” for him (152). Lin tells him that he will go, assuring him that he is the third best.

Deuce comes into the chess room and slams his backpack down. Lawrence tries to speak to him, but he is angry, so instead, he offers Deuce an earbud. The two listen to music together without speaking until Junior comes in and interrupts them. He tells Deuce that he has to talk to his mother; he hasn’t seen her in a year. Deuce responds angrily, and then Junior leaves the room. Lawrence asks Deuce where his mom is, and he responds with “gone.” They sit and listen to music together the rest of the afternoon as Lawrence thinks about how powerful music is that it can take them away from their problems.

Mr. Dennis and Lawrence ride home that afternoon, mostly in silence, until Mr. Dennis tells him that sometimes, even when they’re at their lowest, they have to “pull others up” with them (157). Lawrence doesn’t respond. Instead, he thinks of how grateful he is to Mr. Dennis for giving him a place to belong.

Nikko stops Lawrence in the yard and tells him that they are going to the grocery store. She had been begging Granny for days to let her cook, and Granny finally agreed. She tells Lawrence that she wants to make Hamburger Helper like their father used to.

When they find the ingredients for Hamburger Helper, they realize that they don’t have enough money. Lawrence does not want Nikko to be disappointed, so he makes a new plan: hot dogs. They spend almost all their money just to get hot dogs and buns.

Back at home, Granny goes to her room and lets them cook. Lawrence finds canned vegetables to go with their hot dogs and struggles to open the cans—not wanting to ask Granny for help.

As they sit down for dinner, Granny tells him how delicious everything is. He wonders if she is lying but decides that he doesn’t care; he is happy that she trusted him and Nikko to cook.

The next day, Deuce is not at the rec center, so Twyla offers to play Lawrence in chess. He loses, feeling like he was never even in the match. However, Twyla gives him some advice, telling him to stop wasting his pawns and use them to protect his other pieces.

Deuce does not come back the next day either, and Lawrence realizes that he is worried about him. He asks Junior where Deuce is, but Junior insists that he’s fine and will be back next week.

At home, Lawrence is surprised to see his mom’s car in the driveway instead of at work. He finds her in her bedroom, and she assures him that she has just changed shifts. The two talk, for the first time in a while, about chess and work. When they start talking about Granny, Lawrence asks her why she is so strict sometimes. Ma admits that it is about “history” for her and that she does not want her daughter or grandkids to have the same life she had. Lawrence realizes that things must have been tough for Granny, especially living in Larenville, as he thinks about the Confederate flags.

Lawrence asks Ma if she ever misses Pop. She admits that she does, and then she assures Lawrence that his father loves him and Nikko more than anything else. When Lawrence asks why he doesn’t see or call them, she tells him that things are “bad” for him right now, so it’s hard to do “good.” She assures Lawrence that he is not a bad person; even though Pop has done wrong, he also had some things happen to him that were out of his control. She compares it to Lawrence getting in fights at school: They weren’t always his fault and instead were a result of his environment and the people around him.

Deuce does not come back to the rec center the whole next week. Lin tells Lawrence that he was at school for two days but still didn’t come to the center. However, Junior assures Lawrence that he’ll be back soon.

Throughout the week, Lawrence plays Twyla 17 times in chess. He loses every time, but he realizes that it is mostly because he is distracted by looking at her during their games. In their last game, he comes closer to beating her than he ever has before as he learns to focus on the music in his mind.

On Thursday, Jada challenges Lawrence to a rematch, this time for the right to the third spot in the tournament. Lawrence is unsure, but Twyla encourages him. During the match, he focuses on the music—matching it to the tempo of the game. He even imagines that he can hear Pop singing along with it in the back of the room. He wins.

On Friday, Kendra, Twyla, and Lin tell Lawrence that Deuce is sick. They say that he was sick like this before when his mother left but don’t tell Lawrence anything more about it. They agree to go see him after rec on Monday.

Lawrence thinks about how he felt when his father left. He missed a lot of school and rarely got out of bed, but slowly, he started to get used to life without Pop. He decides that if he talks to Deuce, he’ll tell him that “time” is the only thing that will fix it.

On Monday, Lawrence, Twyla, Kendra, and Lin go to Deuce’s house. He invites them in, and they sit on his couch and watch YouTube. He is watching a rap video, which he pauses, and then he raps a line. Lin joins in, then Twyla, and the three go back and forth, rap battling. Although Lawrence sits out, he realizes that he is having a lot of fun.

After a while, Twyla, Kendra, and Lin leave, but Lawrence stays behind to wait for Mr. Dennis to pick him up. Deuce asks if Lawrence only came to be close to Twyla, but Lawrence insists that he wanted to make sure that Deuce was okay. They agree that they might not be friends but that they’re definitely not enemies. Deuce then admits that he has been seeing a counselor and that she is trying to convince him to come back to school. Lawrence doesn’t know how to respond, but he thinks about how “it d[oes] sound nice to have someone to talk to about things,” like a counselor (185). He assures Lawrence that once he goes back to school, he can come back to the rec center.

As Lawrence leaves, he realizes that he and Deuce might be turning into friends.

That night, Lawrence thinks about how much Deuce must be dealing with if he is staying out of school for so long. He realizes that he feels similarly about Pop, but he manages to compartmentalize things in his mind. He learned to just put “all the bad stuff into a box and [leave] it behind” (187). He thinks of how, if someone started bringing those boxes back—like what is happening with Deuce’s mom—it would be extremely hard to deal with.

The next morning, Junior thanks Lawrence for going to see Deuce. He tells him that Deuce is happier than he has been in a long time.

With the chess tournament just a few weeks away, Lawrence focuses all his time on chess. At the center, Mr. Dennis starts having two chess days a week. He tells Lawrence to focus on trying to beat Twyla, which, even if he can’t, will make him better.

Lawrence tells Granny about the tournament and that he is going to play. All she says is that his hard work “paid off,” but Lawrence can see the “proud shine in her eyes” (190).

Just two weeks out from the tournament, Mr. Dennis increases the number of chess days to three. He also introduces them to the chess clock, which will be used at the tournament.

Lawrence has his last day of online school. He has managed to keep up with all his work and do well in his classes. He learns that he will be allowed to move up to eighth grade.

Deuce comes back to the rec center, and on the first day, he plays Lawrence. During their game, Lawrence is completely focused, tuned into the music in his head and the tempo of the game. He wins, and although he can see Deuce’s anger in his eyes, Deuce admits defeat. Lawrence tries to comfort him, but Twyla insists that Deuce needs to get better for the tournament.

That afternoon, Deuce helps Lawrence stack chairs and clean up the room. Lawrence plays a new playlist that he made of Pop’s music. Deuce asks Lawrence if he’s going to ask Twyla to be “his girl.” Lawrence grows nervous, not sure if Twyla likes him, but Deuce insists that she does.

Over the next couple of weeks, Deuce and Lawrence play each other regularly in chess, with both winning. They also listen to music together, and the other kids tease them about being in a “bromance.” However, Lawrence realizes that he doesn’t mind, as he has truly come to like Deuce.

The night before the tournament, Lawrence barely sleeps. He is nervous about the tournament, but he also realizes how happy he is. For the first time, he has several friends, has something he’s good at, and feels like he has “found [his] people” (200).

The morning of the tournament, Granny makes breakfast and gives him money. This makes Lawrence realize how much she cares since she doesn’t have a lot. Ma gives Lawrence a notebook for the tournament, which came from Aunt Carmen.