CHAPTER 5: Zero Percent

 

"Do you play chess, Saint?" Mr J.J. Gotcha prodded Jeremy Saint in the chest and stared intently at his young employee.

"Erm...not really sir"

"If you want to succeed in business, you need to succeed at chess. Mark my words!"

The implication was clear; if Jeremy was to get ahead at the company he was going to have to learn to play chess. Fortunately he had the day off tomorrow and could learn the basics. Heading down to the Willow Creek archive to find a book on the game, he was pleasantly surprised to find the library not only had a book about chess, it had a chess table as well.

"How difficult can this be?" he thought to himself. "Right, you have these prawns and they move one ahead, a horsey, diagonal bishops, rooks....rooks? Are they those castle things? Why not call them castles instead of rooks? Sheesh, this game..."

"Do you want a game, young man?" came a husky woman's voice from behind him. Turning around he saw a stern looking Oriental lady in a floral dress standing next to the library chess board.

"Well, I'm just learning at the moment" he replied.

"There's nothing like learning by playing" she said, beckoning him towards a chair.

He sat down and pondered the pieces. "By the way, my name's Jeremy" he said.

"Lilly Feng" she replied..."but you may call me Mrs Feng. Your move"

Jeremy was playing white so he had to make the first move. He did what chapter 1 of the book said and moved the prawn in front of the Queen two spaces ahead.

"Ah, the Queen's Indian opening...and you said you were just learning" Mrs Feng said. Pretty soon the game was in full swing but Mrs Feng started making cryptic statements.

"In life, Jeremy, one is either a Queen or a Pawn....you have to work out which one you want to be"

"Erm, what about being one of the other pieces?" he asked.

"Which piece appeals to your nature, Jeremy?"

"I guess it would be the knight"

"A white knight....is that how you see yourself? And have you encountered any dragons yet?"

Jeremy paused. Lilly Feng had the demeanour of a Jade Dragon right down to the jewellery she was wearing.

"Just that handsome jade dragon bracelet you're wearing" he said at last.

"You notice a lot...but, alas, you notice the wrong things. Checkmate!"

Later on, after his drubbing by Lilly Feng at chess, Jeremy headed downtown to clear his head and hopefully encounter Bianca...or Summer or even Liberty.

"Hey, guy, wanna shoot some hoops?" The voice was Bakko Jang's. That cool cat was everywhere!

"Sure, why not?"

He played one on one basketball with Bakko but, like with Lily Feng, his opponent was too good for him.

The game was suddenly interrupted by a loud shout from behind them.

"UP AGAINST THE WALL, MOTHER FLIPPERS!"

The shout came from an angry looking young man, brandishing a placard. He was joined by a few others, all holding placards and banners. They were chanting "WHADDA WE WANT? 0%! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!"

"Oh man, it's a protest march" said Bakko.

"What are they protesting about?"

"0%, man...can you dig it?"

"I'm not sure, it's not my scene" replied Jeremy

"Well, I tells you...this place is gonna explode one of these days. It's all about the young people fighting for peace, love and 0%. Soon we're all gonna have to pick a side"