The World Played Chess

William writes this journal entry from a hospital. William was injured in an ambush, while trying to save saving another member of his platoon. A tin can of chewing tobacco that a former soldier had given William had fended off the bullet that could otherwise have been deadly.

After Chris’s death, Beau starts to rethink who he is and who he wants to be. While he wants to look into schools beyond California, he does want to continue to play football. Vincent also has mixed feelings: He doesn’t want Beau to play football, but he also wants to be supportive. Vincent thus brings Beau to Los Angeles for a recruitment try-out, where Beau is one of the smallest players. As Vincent watches Beau in the try-out, he recalls William telling him about feeling like a cog in the machine of the army. Beau is disappointed with the try-out and feels unseen. He and Vincent cheer themselves up with cheap tickets to a Dodgers baseball game. Beau explains that he thought he owed it to Chris to pursue football now that Chris is dead, but he realizes that he can make his own decision, which is not to play football after all.