I'll Win For You

We lived in Tennessee. Despite its obvious beauty, it definitely has its downsides. Tornado warnings, extreme temperatures, some storms. Even so, nothing swayed my parents into changing their minds about this place, especially my dad. They both grew up here, and after my mom died, he didn’t see any reason to leave. To be fair, I didn’t want to leave either. I was only 4 when she passed away, but our house seemed to hold beautiful lost memories of her, and especially remind my dad that everything was going to be okay. 

May 18, 1998. A truly beautiful morning as I recall (seen as though I was 10 at this time, I could be misremembering). But I drank some OJ, ate breakfast, and pondered about what I’d do for the day.

“Dad, could I go to the park with Roger and Steve??  I’ll be back for dinner.”

“Honestly bud, I would say yes but could you give me a minute to check the weather? I've been hearing some, not-so-good stuff.”

I sighed, nodded yes to my dad, and reluctantly sat back in my wooden chair and chugged down the rest of my juice. 

TORNADO WARNINGS FOR LAKE COUNTY, EFFECTIVE TODAY, MAY 18TH INTO TOMORROW, MAY 19TH. PLEASE STAND BY FOR MORE DETAILS.

“You hear that, bud? I’m sorry about today but we’ll make it fun anyways. I have some old video games I could show you-”

“Yeah, okay dad. I’m just gonna go in my room for a little while.”

“...Okay buddy.”

Looking back I know it wasn’t his fault. But at this moment, I really didn’t care about some video game. I was too concerned about how the park was a no-go. And a tornado? Of course, my luck. But after about 30 minutes, I gave up my self-pity and ventured to find my dad. 

“Dad??? I’m ready to see that game-” The sounds I then heard genuinely shot through my soul. Little bit squeaky and insanely loud.

“DAMN IT. THIS GAME IS GONNA KILL ME. I JUST DON’T UNDERSTA- Stephen! I didn't hear you come in, I’m sorry you had to see that”, my dad says, still yelling over the game volume blasted while simultaneously hysterically laughing. “This game is fun but jesus my heart rate is through the roof.” When he began to check his pulse, the look on my face was a mix of confusion but more importantly, I was inquisitive. 

“Judging by that look it seems like I should explain this game a bit more. It’s called Space Invaders…you know it’s a funny story actually…”, as I stood there I couldn’t tell if my dad was about to laugh or cry but either way I was in for this story, so I took the seat beside him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you how your mom and I met. It was a cold day in October 1978. I was 16, and the arcade was honestly my favorite place to be. Games, food, my friends and I at the time would go when we had the chance, but when we could….oh man it was fun. You know your generation has the gameboys and everything now…”, I began thinking I should  stop him and make him get to the point, but I enjoyed seeing my dad reminisce and I wasn’t going to disturb that process.  

“So anyways. We were all waiting for the arcade to open. My friends and I were the first ones by the door. The day was so special because, of course, the new Space Invaders game was being released. Our arcade was getting it in that day, so obviously we were pumped. We go in, and somehow this girl gets in front of us and is the first to try it out. So we played some other games and eventually got our turn. To say we were shocked seeing the leaderboard is an understatement. I won’t bore you with the details, but that girl? INSANELY high score. For never playing it? It was insane Stephen.” I rolled my eyes and smirked as I took a sip of my ice cold water and anticipated the rest of the story.

“We’d go back a couple times a week to try and beat the score. I’ll admit, I would go whenever I could. For some reason, I was addicted to beating this girl's score, even though I had no idea who she was. So…a couple weeks after that first day at the arcade, I decided to go back,  just me. And who walks into the arcade after I had somehow managed to beat the score?? You’ll never guess…”

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that girl…”

“Right on bud. So she walked up to me, taken aback I had beaten the score, obviously. So  that whole entire day we took turns playing together. It started off as a sort of feud but quickly turned into us finding a place to get some food after the arcade kicked us out. From then on, we made it a routine. Every Sunday, arcade right at opening, after, chocolate milkshakes and burgers at the diner, repeat. You get it. After a month we stopped caring about who was winning and more about seeing eachother again-”

“Alright, alright dad. So what next? You asked her out?”

“Don’t rush this beautiful story, Stephen. I’m getting there. I’d say...”, he looked up to  the ceiling with his hand on his chin. “…a couple of months after we began hanging out? Yes, I did indeed ask her out. From then on we of course got married, bought this amazing home, had you, and then…um anyways this was your mothers gift to me for our first anniversary.” He motioned to the Space Invaders arcade machine, the deep blue and bright yellow side facing me.

No tornado came that day; however, my obsession with this game did indeed begin. I felt at home when I played, knowing what the game meant to my dad, and had meant to my mom, so I felt encouraged to keep at it. So that’s what I did. My dad and I started playing every Sunday together…until eventually, I could easily top his high score and further. It wasn’t until 2006, I turned 18, and I learned the concept of speed-running. The goal is to have the fastest gameplay time, and there were a bunch of games you could compete with. I gathered it wasn’t an easy competition, but I also knew that not many people even knew about speed-running, so I felt I had a good shot. Especially considering I’ve been playing Space Invaders for 8 years now. My dad was insanely supportive about my new endeavor, but I could tell he wasn’t in great spirits. Paying off the mortgage was giving him trouble and he was fighting off the desire to sell the house.

Then came the day. The day that I decided to enter the speed-running competition. Thankfully, I had been working for a couple years. Just random jobs here and there paid off the steep plane ticket to New York. My mind was racing with worries, but I kept my composure because I knew what it would mean if I won. Not only the speed-running title, but $50,000. My dad was a nervous wreck, as I’d never left Tennessee in my life. He couldn’t come with me, which devastated him, but the excitement I saw in his bright blue eyes gave me hope. After we drove to our small airport, my dad helped me with my bags and gave me an insanely tight hug and wished me luck. 

After a night in the hotel room, it was time to go. I rushed getting my things ready and called a taxi to bring me to the competition. Walking into the ginormous and leaf green building, describing it as loud would be an understatement, which definitely didn’t help my nerves. I knew this game like the back of my hand, but even so, surrounded by all these professionals, everything I had learned seemed to go out the window. 

Everyone participating in the Space Invaders speed-run, please enter room 2. 

The blaring overhead speaker brought me back to earth as I made my way towards the room.

“The competition has 3 rounds. Each contestant will be assigned to a judge and they will give you all other instructions. Good luck everyone.”, the coordinator excitedly called out. The only way I could explain what happened next is by saying that my mother helped me out that day. I had never played that well in my life, and to this day I still haven’t. Even if I lost, man I felt good. As my thoughts raced awaiting the results the coordinator made another announcement.

“With a time of three minutes and five seconds…..STEPHEN MORRIS WINS! CONGRATULATIONS! Please stay back here while we sort-”, my mind went blank. I couldn’t quite process what else she was saying but I did the best I could at that moment, as my eyes began to well up with happy tears as I heard my name. I don’t think anyone understood how much it meant to me. I now had the speed-running title for fastest Space Invaders gameplay. I think my mom would’ve been proud, maybe a bit jealous, but proud nonetheless. The perk I was most thrilled about though? I could now call my dad and tell him I’m paying off his mortgage. I knew he’d be reluctant, and more than likely tell me to save the money, but in my mind? It wouldn’t scratch the surface of the admiration and gratitude I have, and always will have, for my dad.