A pair of dice are thrown. Pawns are moved. Each player has four pawns on the board and the object of the game is to get the four pawns around the board from start to home.
I think I have been playing Parcheesi for several days now. I’m not exactly sure how long I have been playing. I play with two other people around a card table that is set in the middle of a small, windowless room with white walls and a wood floor. There is a white door that leads out of the room but it always remains shut. A fluorescent light from above is so bright that it puts a harsh sheen on the game board. I have no idea if it is night or day. I do not know why I am in this room playing Parcheesi or how long I must stay here. I’m not allowed to leave.
The two players playing the game with me are a man and a woman. From what I can gather, the man’s name is Coach. He is a middle-aged man with dark heavy hair and a grey mustache. He is solid in build and chews gum continuously as we play. When he is losing, he rapidly chews and cracks his gum. Coach is a good Parcheesi player, he has won the majority of the games and has won the last ten games in a row.
I’m sure the woman’s name is Helen because that is how she addresses herself when she thinks aloud. She is an old woman with lipstick applied heavily to her thin lips. Even her makeup is heavy around her cheeks and eyes.
Helen will take a lot of time as she tries to decide which pawn she should move and will also talk to herself. “Well Helen, let’s see now,” she will say, “you just threw a seven, you can either move this pawn seven spaces or you can move this pawn four spaces and this other pawn three spaces. Hmm…hmm…hmmm.”
Coach always cracks his gum whenever she would think aloud. Coach likes the game to move fast in order to keep the momentum going. He often cracks his gum to intimidate Helen so she will hurry her move. Helen is cautious whereas Coach moves quickly. He has studied the board so thoroughly that he doesn’t have to count out each space. He knows how many spaces to move by just eyeing the board. Coach is a good Parcheesi player though he is a sore loser. Coach does not like to lose.