Chapter 21 Chapter 21

Ugh, that's how I became a poor bastard. Dan and I stayed at the apartment that night, but packed up early the next morning because there was no reason to stay in Indianapolis anymore.Dan came up to me and said, "Now, Gump, take this money." He handed me the two thousand bucks Mike gave me for wrestling. "I don't want it," I said. "Well, you better take it," said Dan, "because that's all we have left." "You keep it," I said. "Take half at least," he said. "Listen to me, you need money to get where you want to go."

"Aren't you coming with me?" I asked. "I'm afraid not, Forrest," he said. "I've been in enough trouble. I didn't sleep last night. I figured I wanted you to promise to put all our fortunes on the line, and Jenny was going to get tired of us, and I wanted you to keep wrestling, you were It's not your fault that the 'Professor' beat. You did the best you could. I'm to blame. I'm not a nice guy." "Oh, Dan, it wasn't your fault," I said. "If I hadn't gotten carried away with some 'dumb' title, thought I was great, and believed the shit they said about me, I wouldn't have gotten into these things at all."

"Anyway," Dan said, "I don't think I should follow you any more. You have other things to do now. Go for it. Forget about me. I'm not a good man." Well, I talked to Dan for a long time, but I couldn't persuade him, and then he got his things, and I carried him downstairs, and I saw him sitting on the BMX with his clothes piled on his lap. He rolled his wheels onto the street. I went to the station and bought a ticket to Mubier.The trip was scheduled for two days and two nights, passing through Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, and then to Mobil.I, a miserable idiot, just sat in the car all the way.

I passed through Louisville at night and changed buses in Nashville the next day.There was a three hour wait to change cars, so I decided to take a walk around town.I bought a sandwich and an iced tea at a lunch stand and was walking down the street when I saw a big sign in front of a restaurant that read, "Welcome to the Masters Chess Invitational." The sign piqued my curiosity, as I had played chess with Big Sam for a few years while I was in the jungle, so I went into the restaurant.They held a chess game in the ballroom, and there was a large crowd watching, but there was a sign next to it saying: "Entrance fee is five yuan."

I didn't want to spend a dime, so I just looked in through the door for a while, and then I sat in the lobby by myself. There was a little old man sitting on the chair opposite me.He was wrinkled and grumpy, in a black suit and tie, and had a chess board on the coffee table in front of him. I sat there watching him move a piece every few moments, and I gradually realized that he was playing chess with himself.I figured the bus wouldn't leave town for more than an hour, so I asked him if he wanted someone to play chess with him.He just looked at me, then looked down at the board without saying a word.

After a long time, the old man had been studying the chessboard for nearly half an hour. At this moment, he moved his master to Black Guard Seven, and was about to let go, when I said, "Excuse me." The old guy jumped up as if sitting on a tack, and glared at me across the coffee table. "If you take this step," said I, "the door will be wide open, and you will lose first your knight, then your queen, and you will be cornered." He looked down at the board, never letting go of the bishop, and then he moved the pieces back to their original positions and said to me, "Maybe you're right."

Well, he continued to study the chessboard, and I figured it was time to go back to the station, but as he was about to leave, the old man said, "Excuse me, but that comment you just made was very perceptive." I nodded, and he said, "Well, obviously you've played chess before, why don't you sit down and finish this game with me? You play white chess." "I can't play chess," I said, because I had to catch a bus and all.So, he nodded, gave me a little salute with his hand, and I walked back to the station. When I arrived at Xing Station, the bus had already left, and the next bus would not come until tomorrow.I can't do anything well.

Well, it was time to kill the day, so I walked back to the hotel, and the little old man was still playing chess with me, and he seemed to be winning.I walked over and he looked up and motioned for me to sit down.The game I'm playing is in bad shape - half the pawns are dead, the castle is gone, there's only one bishop left, and my queen is about to be eaten. It took me nearly an hour to get back on track, and the little old man grunted and shook his head every time the odds improved.In the end, I sacrificed a son to lure someone else, and he fell for it.Three more moves, I will kill him.

"Damn," he said, "who the hell are you?" I told him the name, and he said, "No, I mean, where did you play chess? I don't even know you." I said I learned to play chess in New Guinea, and he said, "Jesus! You mean, you've never played a regional game?" I shook my head, and he said, "Well, whether you know it or not, I'm a former international master. You couldn't have won the game just now, but you eliminated me!" I asked him why he didn't play against other people in it, and he said, "Oh, I used to. I'm almost eighty years old, and now it's all about the young people. Now the glory goes to the young people - their brains are sharper. "

I nodded, thanked him for playing chess with me, and got up to go, but he said, "Uh, have you had dinner yet?" I told him I had a sandwich a few hours ago, and he said, "Well, how about I treat you to dinner? Anyway, you gave me a good game of chess." I said yes, and we walked into the hotel restaurant.He is a good man.It's called Mr. Tribble. "Listen," said Mr. Tribble over dinner, "I'll have to play a few more games with you to be sure, but unless you just won by fluke, you're probably the brightest undiscovered One of the talented chess players in the world. I want to sponsor you to participate in one or two competitions and see how the results are."

I told him I was going to go back home and start a shrimp business and all, but he said, "Well, this might be your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Gump. You could make a lot of money playing chess, you know." He wanted me Think about it tonight and tell him the result tomorrow morning.So I shook hands with Mr. Tribble good-bye, and I went back down the street. I wandered around for a while, but there wasn't much to see in Nashville, and I ended up sitting on a bench in the park.I've been trying to figure out what to do right now, but it's not easy for me to think.Mostly I think about Jenny and where she is now.She told me not to look for her, but I had a feeling that she hadn't forgotten me.I made a fool of myself in Indianapolis, I know.I think it's because I'm not trying to do the right thing.Now, I'm not sure what's the right thing to do.I mean, I ain't got no pennies on me now, an' I gotta get some money to start a shrimp business, and Mr. Tribble says I can make a lot of money going on the chess circuit.But it seems like every time I don't go home and start my shrimp business, and instead run off to do something else, I end up in dire straits.So, I don't know where to go. I didn't think long before a policeman came over and asked what I was doing. I said I was just sitting there thinking and he said no one is allowed to sit in the park at night thinking and told me to leave. I went down the street and the policeman followed me.I didn't know where I was going. I walked for a while and saw an alley, so I walked in and found a place to sit down and rest my feet.I sat for less than a minute when the policeman passed by and saw me again. "Okay," he said, "come out." I went out into the street and he said, "What are you doing in the alley?" I said, "Nothing," and he said, "I think so—you're wandering the streets and you've been arrested." Uh, he took me back and put me in a cell, and the next morning they said I could make a phone call.Of course, I had no one to turn to but Mr. Tribble, so I called him up.About half an hour later, he came to the police station to bail me out. Afterwards, he treated me to a big breakfast at the restaurant, and said, "Listen, why don't you let me sign you up for the Inter-District Tournament next week in Los Angeles? The first prize is $10,000. I Take care of all your expenses, split the bonus equally. I see you need a bonus or something, and, to tell you the truth, I'd be happy too. I'll be your coach and advisor. How about it?" I'm still a little skeptical, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.So, I said I would try it out for a while, and then quit once I had saved enough money for the shrimp business.I shook hands with Mr. Tribble and we became partners. Los Angeles is so colorful.We arrived a week early, and Mr. Tribble spent most of the day honing my game, but after a while he shook his head and said there was no need to teach me because I was already "mastering every move".So, we went into town for sightseeing. Mr. Tribble took me to Disneyland, played some of the rides, and arranged for a tour of the studios.The studio was recruiting all kinds of films at the same time, and people were running around, shouting "first time", or "blocking", "shooting" and other nonsense.One of the films they were doing was a western, and we saw a guy get thrown through a window like ten times—he just got good. Anyway, we were standing around watching them do this scene, and one guy came up and said, "Excuse me, are you actors?" I said, "Huh?" and Mr. Tribble said, "No, we're chess players." The guy said, "Well, that's a shame, because this big guy looks like he'd be right for a role in my movie." He turned and squeezed my arm and said, "Wow, you're such a big guy—are you sure you can't act?" "I did it once," I said. "Really!" said the guy, "what show?" "'King Lear'." "Great, little brother," he said, "Great, do you have a 'fool' card?" "what card?" "The Screen Actors Guild Card—oh, never mind," he said, "Well, boy, that thing is available, no problem.' What I want to know is, where are you hiding? I mean, look You look like this! The standard silent strongman model - another John Wayne." "He's not John Wayne," said Mr. Tribble gleefully. "He's a world-class chess player." "Well, that's better," the guy said, "a smart silent brawny typical. Very rare." "It's not as smart as it looks," I want to be honest, but, it doesn't matter what the guy said, because actors don't have to be smart or honest or anything—just to be on camera and say their lines. "My name is Feder," he said, "I make movies and I want you to audition." "He's playing chess tomorrow," said Mr. Tribble. "No time for acting or auditions." "Well, can you spare a little time? Anyway, this might be just what you've been looking for. Why don't you come along, Tribble, and we'll audition for you, too." "We'll try our best," said Mr. Tribble. "Come on, Gump, we've got a little work to do." "See you some other day, lad," said Mr. Feder. "Don't forget Doo." So, we left.