One More Chance

“Okay, so what are we doing tonight?”

Joey hesitated for a moment to give the illusion of contemplation.

“How about Monopoly?”

Lulu and Joey’s eyes met, her finger suspended in mid air next to the Monopoly game and not any of the other games stacked underneath it on the closet shelf. Once Joey realized his mother knew what her boy was going to pick, he let out a giggle of defeat.

“How did you know I was going to pick Monopoly, momma?” The truth is Joey did not himself understand why he kept choosing Monopoly every week for at least a month. His mother knew everything, so naturally he would appeal directly to her.

Lulu grabbed the game off the shelf, never taking her eyes off of Joey. She held it in front of her for a moment, holding her gaze with his. Game night was slowly becoming a chore instead of something fun to do every week. Lulu did not understand why and it was becoming a concern.

“Here. Set it up while I make us some popcorn.” Lulu handed the box over to a determined Joey. She wondered if determination was enough anymore and why it was even there in the first place. This was a board game after all, not football or even a reason to live.

“Okay, mama,” said Joey as he took the game box before sprinting over to the kitchen table. The excitement was waning for him, too, though he couldn’t dare show it. He had to maintain the level of excitement, sincere or not. Momma loved board games. This was her gig, after all.

As Joey separated the houses from the hotels, Lulu waited for the popping to slow down in the microwave and watched her son organize the game pieces and set up the Monopoly board. She remembered when he seemed to have fun doing it. Now there was a heaviness surrounding him on game night, ever since, ever since when exactly? Monopoly? Is that it?

Yes. Lulu was a second away from letting the popcorn burn when she realized that Monopoly changed everything. Tonight she would find out why.

“Okay, monkey, popcorn is ready.” Lulu placed the bowl near the edge of the board and sat down to begin her duties as the banker. Then she had a thought.

“Do you want to be the banker for once?” Lulu could see that Joey was joyless by this point. Last week it took him longer to get here. Now here he was already off to a bad start.

“No, momma,” Joey said while avoiding eye contact.

“Okay, it’s fine. Maybe next time.” Lulu hoped he would want to be the banker. She also hoped it would somehow help him play the game better, or bring him luck, or somehow make even the slightest bit of difference in the outcome of the game in his favor. Beating a 9 year-old at a board game over and over again felt less like victory and more like child abuse.

It was Joey’s turn to roll the dice first. Lulu breathed in while they settled, hoping for a strong start for her son. He rolled a seven. Counting forward seven spaces Lulu could see that he would land on Chance. She hoped for the best as Joey took his little car in hand and counted seven spaces. Lulu searched his face for any sign of where his mind was but he was all business as he made his way to the seventh space.

Joey drew the card on top of the pile. He turned it towards his mother to visually share his fate with her: Go to jail. There it was. They both looked back at the dice before their eyes met in the same moment. It was clear to Lulu that her son was preparing himself for total failure. It was getting out of hand.

 She wiped the long brown hair nearest both eyes back over their respective shoulders, half because she wanted to make sure she was seeing correctly and half to prolong having to look at Joey for the same reason you would not want to look a lamb in the eyes on its way to slaughter.

But there it was. Or maybe not. After all, being sent to Monopoly jail could be either a setback or a godsend, depending on whatever else is going on in the game or whatever is about to be going on. Without hesitation she decided to share this information with Joey.

“Sweetie, honey, look at me.” Joey complied. “This is not necessarily bad news! This might buy you some time.”

“Time for what?” Lulu’s heart sank down to her knees with her son’s knowing. She knew what he knew.

“The game just started, momma. Nobody owns any properties yet or has any houses or hotels, so nobody has to pay rent if they land on them.” With that Joey sunk down, elbows resting on the table and face down in between them.

“Listen to me, son.” Lulu waited for Joey to pick his head up. “I want you to look at me.” After a moment’s pause Joey lifted his face to comply.

“It is just a game. And it is only the first move. It’s the first move of a game that is meant to be fun.”

“It’s no fun losing all the time, momma.” Joey waited for his mother to top that with her parent smarts.

“And what exactly is ‘all the time,’ anyway? What does that even mean? We’ve played this game, how many times already? Is it four maybe? That’s it! Just four times. How many times did you have to try riding your bike after we took off the training wheels?”

Joey searched for the exact number. “More than ten at least, I think.”

“And what about when Brian taught you to hit a baseball? How many times did it take you to hit it?”

“A lot more than ten, momma,” Joey said with a confidence he never felt before and a clarity he never knew.

“Exactly, son. Do you understand? Four is not failure. No, not at all. Four, my little monkey, is just a beginning.”

Joey sat up straight, and with certainty grabbed the dice to change his fate, once and for all.

“Um… it’s my turn.” Lulu stifled a giggle. Joey held his hand containing the dice in midair. Lulu gave him a sideways look. Joey turned his head to the side to match. Then they both laughed, the kind of laugh that starts up again just when you thought it has run its course. The kind of laughter that comes with the final release of tension.

 Now, with the atmosphere totally emptied of the possibility of failure, Joey beat his mother at Monopoly, and on his fifth try ever. And a most gracious winner never played the game before or since. He forgave the rent when she was broke and landed on his properties and came to the rescue when she could not bail herself out of jail.