"Allowing such filth in here," another voice added.
"She probably doesn't even know how to set up the board properly."
But Maya didn't let their words affect her. She had faced worse than wealthy people's scorn. As she sat down at the beautiful chess table, her fingers trembling slightly as they touched the expensive pieces, she thought of Grandma Rose: Sometimes, baby girl, her grandmother had said, you got to let them underestimate you. That's when you show them what you're really made of.
The entire club had gathered around now, forming a circle of expensive suits and designer dresses around the table where a homeless 12-year-old girl sat across from a successful investment banker. The contrast couldn't have been more stark: Ted Banks in his three-piece suit, gold watch glinting on his wrist, versus Maya in her dirty jacket and worn sneakers, her dark skin still bearing traces of street grime she couldn't wash away.
"Ladies first," Ted said mockingly, gesturing for Maya to make the opening move. "Though I use the term 'lady' loosely in this case."
More chuckles from the crowd. Maya didn't respond. Instead, she reached out with steady hands and moved her king's pawn forward two squares.
The game had begun, and with it, a chain of events that would change not just Maya's life, but the lives of everyone in that room. They just didn't know it yet.
As Maya's fingers left her pawn, positioned perfectly at e4, the crowd around the table pressed closer. The smell of expensive perfume and cologne was overwhelming, mixing with the lingering aroma of cigars from the smoking room. She tried not to show how the proximity of so many hostile bodies made her uncomfortable, keeping her eyes fixed on the board.
Ted Banks leaned back in his leather chair, making a show of examining his fingernails before lazily reaching out to move his pawn to e5.
"The king's pawn opening," he announced to the crowd, his voice dripping with condescension. "How terribly predictable. I suppose they teach that in—where exactly did you learn chess, child? In some shelter's recreation room?"
The comment hit closer to home than Maya cared to admit, but she didn't flinch. Instead, she developed her knight to f3, a classic response that drew snickers from several observers.
"Oh, look at that," Margaret Sinclair cooed mockingly. "She knows how the horsey moves. How adorable. Richard, are we really going to waste our entire evening watching Ted destroy this poor creature? I have a charity board meeting at eight."
"A charity board meeting?" Victoria Peyton laughed, touching Margaret's arm. "How ironic, darling. Perhaps you should bring the girl with you. She'd make an excellent cautionary tale about what happens when we don't properly fund education programs."
"Or birth control programs," someone muttered from the back, earning a few cruel chuckles.