Checkmate

Mads, my Norwegian companion, and I were walking through the park when we decided to grab some food. We saw a McDonald's, but decided we didn't really want to pay for it. I looked at the guys playing chess near by, and saw one surreptitiously counting a wad of cash. A college kid was walking away quickly from him, wearing a sly little grin. I understood exactly what had just happened.

I joined the man on the other side of the chess table while Mads hovered near by. He went to protest, but I pulled out my iPod and showed him the video of the kid struggling through a sports segment of the news.

"Boom goes the dynamite? What the fuck's that?" He said.

"I don't know, but I gotta run." I moved my queen down to his end. "Checkmate."

I met Mads at the McDonald's, where he showed me the score. $200; not bad. It's good to have a Norwegian companion that grew up as a pickpocket on the grim streets of Oslo.