A Little Game Page #4

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Uh, my nanny's no fun.

She doesn't do anything.

It's got to be

your nanny.

Okay.

Becky!

Gotta go.

Your dad has

a nice car.

Dad?

You're funny.

The rook,

also known

as a castle.

Cool.

A good piece,

useful piece.

Now go learn about it.

What are you

talking about?

Go out there.

Find a castle.

Learn how

the piece moves.

Let me get this straight.

To learn how this piece

moves on a chessboard,

I'm supposed to go look around

New York City for a castle?

Right.

And somehow that's going

to teach me something?

Yeah, if you got

your eyes open.

Look, you can

learn my way,

or you can learn

from somebody else.

Well, can you at least give me a

hint about what I'm looking for?

A hint?

You mean, like, is it

bigger than a bread box?

Bigger than an Xbox?

What's an Xbox?

What's a bread box?

Oh, get out of here.

Xbox.

It's gonna take

a little imagination.

Do you have

a little imagination?

I'm a 10-year-old girl.

What do you think?

Then stop

being so literal.

Chess player needs

to think creatively.

And don't come back

till you find it.

You need

to be inspired.

Inspired?

Sweetie, I am sorry,

but we just can't do it.

And I gotta get back

to work, so kiss.

Come on.

just one day.

Honey, we can't afford

a nanny. We just can't.

Don't you want me

to have playdates?

Or would you rather I just be a

hermit for the rest of my life?

Of course we want you

to have playdates.

Well, other parents don't let

their kids walk the streets alone.

Look, it's great

that you trust me.

This isn't about you.

I can't have a playdate

without a nanny.

Okay,

Here's an idea.

What if my sister picked you up one day?

She said she'd be happy to

do it if we ever needed her.

No. No one has their aunt

pick them up. That's so uncool.

What do you care what people

think? That doesn't matter.

Dad, I'm 10 years old.

It matters.

I need a nanny

to pick me up,

not my Aunt Diane.

Why can't Aunt Diane

be your nanny?

Are you sure your nanny

is coming today, Max?

You could always just

come over to our house.

Oh, no,

she's definitely coming.

She's very reliable.

Mom, you don't

have to remain here.

I'm sorry, honey.

I know it's

embarrassing to you,

but I don't let my

daughter walk the streets

with someone

I haven't met.

Hey, Max!

Come on.

You have to be

my nanny.

Oh, yeah, I heard,

so I'm not your aunt.

I'm just your nanny.

Got it.

And you

can't be American.

Nannies are

never American,

unless they're

young dancers.

I've got a dancer's body.

They're

in their 20s.

I've got

a dancer's body, okay?

This is my nanny,

Diane.

Hi, Diane.

Uh, habla espaol?

Oh, no. No.

No habla espaol.

Oh. Well,

where are you from?

Oh, I from... I from...

Eh, I from Kazakhstan.

Jak sie masz.

Oh. Kazakhstan.

Um... Ahem.

So, Diane,

where do you take

the girls today?

Uh, I take girls,

eh, wherever

they want to go,

except if it not safe.

Then... Then

I do not take them.

Excuse me

one second.

Is she drunk?

Well, have fun.

Call me at the first sign

of trouble.

I mean,

can you believe it?

You know, I can't

believe he'd do it.

I still have

to throw things out.

He's watching the

decluttering show, I guess.

Oh, I gotta refill

my MetroCard.

I forgot my wallet.

Do you have

any money?

Jeez.

Your mom's

going to kill me.

Okay.

My student MetroCard

can be used once every 17 minutes,

so we'll just wait for that.

No. I'm not gonna use your

student MetroCard, okay?

That's illegal.

Come on.

No one's watching.

They have

cameras everywhere.

There aren't

any cameras here.

No,

they disguise them, see?

You can't trust 'em.

You don't realize that.

You didn't live

through the sixties.

Neither did you.

Come on already.

No, put that away!

Okay. Then ask

for some money.

Excuse me.

This is ridiculous.

Excuse me!

My aunt needs to borrow

a couple dollars.

You should be

ashamed of yourself,

bringing your little

girl out here to beg!

Disgraceful.

I could've taken

the subway by myself.

I do it every day.

No. Not when I'm supposed

to be watching you.

I'd never hear

the end of it.

"Diane, just 'cause you

decided not to have kids

doesn't mean

you can just... "

What?

Inspired.

What?

It's a castle.

Heh.

No, that's a church.

You don't have much

of an imagination.

This is strange.

Yeah.

I'm going

to move him to here.

Then next turn,

I can capture the pawn.

Good.

Now I want you to learn

how to move the knight.

Listen, Norman,

this has been,

uh, interesting,

but you could save us

both some time

by just

telling me how...

I could teach you all the

rules of chess in two minutes,

but the rules

are nothing.

What's important is

how you see the board.

Now tell me

about the rook.

It sweeps across the board

in straight lines.

See? I'm teaching you

how to see

the whole board,

not just a single piece.

Anybody can move

a piece.

Takes a city kid

to make sense

of what seems

like chaos.

And I could tell you

that this is a good move,

but you would learn

absolutely nothing.

Is it better

to earn five bucks

or to find it

in the street?

Finding it in the street

would be okay,

especially if it kept me

from running around

like a crazy person.

You're not

a crazy person.

You're a weird person...

like most

good chess players.

I'm not

a good chess player.

Not yet,

but you

might be someday

if you learn my way.

I gotta admit

that was a pretty cool way

to learn about the rook.

How did you

do that, anyway?

Eh...

So tell me

about the knight.

An unusual piece.

Moves very strangely.

How?

Your board, your city.

So what am

I supposed to do,

go look for a knight

or a horse?

Figure it out yourself.

That's the whole point.

Don't let life

happen to you.

You happen to life.

Now get out of here.

Scram.

You look like a knight.

Okay.

Can I ask you

a question?

Yeah,

her name's Andromeda.

Who?

It's the horse.

That's what you were

gonna ask me, right?

Um, no.

I wanted to ask

how you, uh, move.

How I move?

Yeah.

Do you have

a special way you move?

I don't know what you're

talking about, kid.

Right.

Well, sorry.

Max...

that would've

been too easy,

but here's a clue.

You look for horses

that really move.

Hey, bug, stop running

back and forth.

You know how much Mr. Shawn

downstairs hates it.

Hey, Bug!

Do you want us all

to go to jail?

Kids don't go to jail,

Papa. They go to juvie.

30,000.

What's that,

a math problem?

Sort of.

How long do you think it would

take to count to 30,000, Papa?

I don't know.

Couple hours, maybe.

why?

Because that's how many days

an average person lives,

30,000.

That's it.

And I've already

used up, like...

4,000 days almost.

Maxie, I...

I don't know

what to tell you, honey.

Nothing, Papa.

Nothing.

Papa...

Yeah, Maxie.

Where are

those horses racing?

Oh, that's from today's

races at Aqueduct.

Where's Aqueduct?

It's in Queens.

This is ridiculous.

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