I Remember

how Ken ruined Battleship for me.

I remember sitting in Ken's basement deciding how to pass the time. He really wanted to just "talk" all the time. And I couldn't stand it. It was too intense. I felt as though I were being mined for thoughts. So I walked to the game shelf and found Battleship. Yes. I had decided, and he was going to play with me. But He was so reluctant. Finally, I shoved the game board into his lap and just told him what he would do. He rarely minded that. He thought it was cute, occasionally, when it wasn't annoying. I couldn't tell what he thought this time, as I readied my board.

"D6," I declared.
"Hit," he responded!
"No way! First guess! Alright, D7."
"Hit. Sunk."
"Your patrol boat? Seriously? Well. G10."
"Hit"... and so on.

One by one, I was halfway through annihilating his fleet when I began to suspect foul play. His giggles should have tipped me off. How silly I must have looked to him, my little red pegs on the top of the board declaring my false triumph. I finally turned his board around to find it empty of pieces, not a ship in sight. He hadn't been playing Battleship, he had been playing me. And what a game it was! I didn't speak to him for the rest of the evening, a preview of years to come.