Due to budget cuts, LAUSD shaved a week off of Meazi's school year. Meazi's amazing teachers agreed to proceed with a scheduled field trip to the aquarium at the Santa Monica Pier. It was not a work day for them. They did not get paid. (I told you they were amazing). Melese came too, and it was really fun. The kids touched sea cucumbers and had starfish races.
Afterwards, I looked for a shaded area to have lunch. We decided on one of the chess tables. If you have ever been on the Boardwalk here on the westside you have probably noticed a lot of interesting characters. After a slight wave of anxiety passed we settled down next to a group of guys who seemed to be living there at the beach. It is amazing how much faster your hackles go up when you are alone with your kids. We sat down and had a bite to eat. Meazi started placing blueberries and Bonbel cheese wrappers on the chess board as pieces. We pretended to play. A man came over and said, "Well, if you are going to do that." He took out a small black bag containing all of his chess pieces (chessmen?). Meazi and Melese started to play. Then I took over and Meazi said, "Mom, why would you move your pawn out only one space? You can move two spaces when you begin." I don't know how to play chess. The man who was sharing his set with us decided to take over for me.
Melese started to get cranky, so I walked him around a bit. The man playing with Meazi kept turning his head and saying to me, "How old did you say she was?" A few minutes later the man did a Stan Laurel move, he took off his cap, scratched his head in amazement, and put the cap back on. Meazi beat him. Here they are shaking on the game,
He told me to bring her back on Saturdays so he could play her again. All of the other men started teasing him. We asked him his name and he said, "People call me Download." We thanked him again for the game, and told him that we would come back.
