Agent for a Cause (The Agents for Good) by Guy Stanton III

his own way he was enjoying the park even though he appeared to be just aimlessly wandering around it.
    Even with the autism I could sense that there was a very bright intellect at play behind his eyes. He stopped suddenly and stared intently at something. I followed Kevin’s gaze to where two men were playing a game of chess on a park bench. Now this I could do!
    I approached the men pulling out enough money to do the job. The men quickly moved off, their hands full of the money I’d given them. Gathering up the chessboard and pieces I led Kevin to a more secluded table and got him seated.
    Kevin’s form of autism rendered him nonverbal and instead of talking to him I found myself silent as well, favoring instead to just show him what I needed from him in order to play the game. The silence didn’t bother me as I was quiet by nature myself.
    I laid all the pieces to the side of the board and took each piece and showed the specific movements that piece could make on the chessboard. I did this for both colors and I grouped like pieces together and divided by color.
    Maybe I was shooting up the wrong apple tree, but heck I figured it was worth a shot and it was keeping him interested. I set the board and began to play. I played both sides illustrating further the possible moves of the pieces. I played three games by myself and I was getting a little tired of it.
    I started to reach for a piece on his side, but his hand was already on it. I withdrew my hand and he moved the piece correctly. He didn’t do so well on his next moves though. I had to keep him from double moving in a turn several times and I was starting to think that I should just let him move the pieces however he wanted to, but I didn’t give into that thought.
    He may be suffering under a handicap that most people didn’t have to deal with, but he should still learn and be taught how to do something right. Anything else wasn’t fair to him. We got through the game and started another.
    On a whim of thought I turned the board game around and gave him the black pieces, which was a concession on my part because I favored those over the white pieces personally. His moves were correct and he stopped trying to move twice in the same turn. He’d gotten radically better in just one game and I couldn’t but feel excited for him. I was sort of proud of myself for sticking with it to. What had changed?
    Then it dawned on me. He been fixating on my pieces instead of his own, but moving his own instead of mine which had caused the mix up. Note to self Kevin gets the black pieces from now on.
    We continued playing game after game and then he beat me! I stared at the board and his finger pointing to my checkmated king. I hadn’t lost a game of chess since I was a very young kid. I wasn’t an average chess player. I’d been taught by masters of the game and I was very good at it. I looked up at Kevin and he met my gaze with his usual, vacant of emotion, gaze.
    It hurt to lose in something I prided myself about, but I got over it, just barely. What was important here was Kevin’s amazing mastery of a complex game he’d never played before. I nodded my head and toppled my king over. Game on little boy!
    I won the next game, but it was no cakewalk. I lost the next three. The kid was a genius! I should know, as my own IQ put me fully within the parameters of being one and this kid was mopping the floor with me! What else was he capable of?
     
    Anna got out of the cab in a bit of a panic. She told the taxi driver to wait and hurried away from the curb and into the park. She really had only bought a few things, but the stores had been busy and then she’d gotten caught in rush hour traffic. Now three and a half hours later she was back and very anxious over what she would find or who she wouldn’t find.
    One always had to be watching Kevin. He wondered off without a moment’s notice. Had she put too much confidence in Tyre to watch over him? Oh God she hoped not!