Haircut (Beth Harmon X Benny Watts)

Chapter 11

It was already dark, when I walked outside. Another winter thing I wasn't fond of. It was only 5 pm! I wrapped my coat tighter around me, hoping it would hold of the freezing wind little more. Luckily, I wasn't going to be a long walk to my destination.

Benny told me about this place, when we're here over a year ago. I wanted to visit it after I beat him but he said he was done with chess for that night. Cause we was like, raging inwardly, or something. So we went to a cafe instead. But this place had been stuck in my head since I jumped on the train to Ohio.

I had to ask a guy on the street for a direction, because I thought I was walking in the wrong way. He raised his eyebrow at me once I said the name of the cafe.

"What is a young girl like you, going to a weird place like that?"

He definitely didn't know me, or he wouldn't have said something like that. "Sexist." I said in my head. But I stayed polite.

"Searching for a friend." I said. It wasn't a complete lie.

He shrugged his shoulder and gave me the directions. The second left and then the third to the right.

I was relieved when I saw the name of the cafe on a signboard. "Andy's Rook." I remembered that I had to laugh when I first heared the name. It's so stereotypical.

I pushed the heavy door and was immediately greeted with voices, music and most of all heat. As I walked through the door my stiffen fingers started to defrost, just as my toes and my nose. The interior was a cozy and firm at the same time. There were a lot of big brown couches and dark oakwood tables. Warm light fell on the room from a  couple of nice lamps on the ceiling.

There were so many people around me, mostly man, that were talking, laughing and drinking with each other. And of course, they were all playing chess. Little crowds had formed around a couple of tables and I saw people playing two against two with one board. I felt warm inside and it wasn't only because of the heat in the room.

It was the same feeling I got at the first tournament, so many people sharing the same ambition. And I was a part of it.

I took of my coat and hung it over one of the overcrowded coat rack. If I wasn't getting caught up in the convivality, I'd probably would have been worried that I wouldn't find it again.

I immediately walked to the bar, but as I stood before it I hesitated. Would it be okay if I ordered a beer? Would I be okay? I hadn't had one in over two weeks.

"What can I getcha, miss Harmon?" The man behind the bar smiled at me. "It is a honor to make your drink."

I hesitated, but the smile of the man was waiting on me. I had to decide.

"Thank you, but please I'll just have a coke." I said with a sad smile.

"A coke is coming right up." He smiled. Well, at least he didn't care. After ten seconds he walked back to me with a coke. As I tried to give him the money, he raised his hand. "This one is on the house."

"And why's that?" I asked.

"For bearing his arrogant ass last year." He pointed over his shoulder to the table with the biggest crowd. Between the people's heads I could see the tip of Benny cowboy hat.

"Well he had it coming." I smirked.

"We're all thankful. I hope you'll beat him this time too."

"I'll try." I smiled as I walked away from the bar, towards the crowd. I could hear the quick movements of the pieces, so I was pretty certain they were doing speed chess. "How suprising." I thought.

I quietly found a spot in the crowd where I could watch the whole game. Luckily, everyone was focused on the game, so nobody recognized me.

The guy opposite from Benny was already sweating. There movements were so smooth, that it was satisfying to watch. Benny had a hidden smile on his face. I you didn't know him, you wouldn't have recognized it. But I could see the corners of his mouth slighty going up.

He knew he was going to win. And because of the barman, I thought he always did when he was here.
With Benny sitting so still, I could finally look at his hair well. Of course he still had his hat on, but you could clearly see that it was a bit shorter.

I found it weird, I knew how much Benny hated doing his hair, let alone going to a barber to cut it. "Maybe he was drunk?" I thought to myself.

Suddenly the sound of movement stopped and Benny and the other guy stared each other in silence. The guy had a little spark of anger in his eyes, but Benny looked as calm as always. Atleast when he played chess. Finally, after a few seconds, the guy layed down his king. He got up angrily and pushed himself through the crowd, who were applauding for Benny.

The applause died out and Benny started to have a conversation with one of the men beside him. I didn't know if there were rules here. I once read that there are certain chessclubs were you have to challenge someone a day before, like making some kind of reservation. But the ambiance in the room, made me feel confident. I breathed in and out. It was now or never.

I took two steps forward, so I was close to the table. The chess board on it was beautiful and shiny. I really wanted to play on it.

With just a him of hesitation, I put my coke down with a hard blow. Most of the noice in the room continued, but it was loud enough to get Benny's attention. Without saying anything else, I sat down in the chair, where the man who had just lost sat in and moved it a little closer to the table.

Benny watched me with a confused face. The guy he was having a conversation with had continued talking without noticing that he wasn't listening at all.

"What are you doing here?" The tone of Benny's voice was on the edge of being angry, but I prepared myself for this.

I had already guessed, that he might not like it, if i came to his safe haven.

"Just getting in shape for tomorrow." I said without looking him in the eyes.

"Okay..." He said. "How did you even remember this place?"

"I don't forget things that easily, Benny." I said with a  sly smile.

"No, I've noticed." He said as he started to put all the pieces on his board. I did the same as I took a sip of my coke.

Benny glanced at me for a few seconds, with I face I had seen a couple of times before, but couldn't quite read.

"I see, you're still doing well. With the sober thingy." He said quietly, which I respected.

A lot of the people in this room, probably know that I've been absent for almost a year, but not all of them know why. And I preferred it that way.

"Yeah... It ain't easy." I sighed, looking over to the bar. God, what I would do for a beer right now.

"I know, the first month is the hardest." He almost whispered. When I looked at him, he didn't meet my eyes. He had a disappointed look on his face, but something gave me the feeling he wasn't talking about me.

Did Benny really have a drinking problem after I left? Was it my fault? Why would I do that to him? The bucket of guilt in my body started to fill again and I was scared it would go over the edge. I looked away for a few seconds taking another sip of my drink. When I dared to look at Benny again, he was staring at me confused. Than he sighed.

"But luckily, bad times end as well." His nodded at me. For a second it felt like an encouragement or a reassurance, but he looked away so fast, that I wasn't absolutely sure.

"Well alright, enough of talking. Let's do speed chess." He said as he rubbed his hands together.

I straightened my back before I bented closer to the board. I look in Benny's brown eyes, seeing that he was excited too.

I smiled.

"You're on."