Page 109 of Mafia and Gold Digger

I shake my head. I can’t think about that right now. “You ready?”

Jaspar nods eagerly, standing beside me. He barely comes up to the table’s height, standing on his tiptoes to see over the edge. I laugh, picking him up and placing him on my knee.

“Better?”

He nods.

“We’ll start pretty slow, okay?”

Jaspar eyes the board, picking up the carved pieces one by one. “Why are they all different shapes?”

“Because each piece does something different. You have to be able to tell them apart.” He sets the piece down as I push forward a pawn into the center of the board. “This is a pawn. It moves one square forward at a time. Unless it’s that pawn's very first move because then, it can move one or two squares.”

“It can’t go backward? Why not?”

“Well, it can be good to get them to the other side of the board,” I explain.

“Why?”

“Because when it gets to the other side, it can become a queen, bishop, rook, or knight.”

The scrunch of his nose shows his intense concentration. “Is that a good thing?”

“Yeah, it can be.”

He nods pushing another pawn forward on his own. “Why only one square?”

“That’s the rule.”

“What about this one?”

“That’s the knight,” I say.

“Why is it a horse?”

“Because knights ride horses.”

Jaspar nods, settling on my lap a little more.

“The knight moves in an ‘L’ shape. Like this.” I show him by sliding the knight up one, then over one. “He’s a pretty special piece. He’s the only one who can jump pieces.”

“He jumps?”

“Yeah. He moves over them.”

Jaspar’s eyes widen. “Like a ninja?”

“Yeah, I guess so. Silent but deadly.”

Jaspar hums before moving the knight in the same way I did.

So on and so forth, I move through the pieces and their basic moves.

Jaspar inundates me with questions, and I answer the best I can. “You’re a good teacher, Mr. Saint.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t like you still. But you’re a good teacher.”

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