The Laughter in the Chat

He was not the kind of kid who talked loud just to hear himself. Back home in southern Illinois, in a town with one main street and a gas station that closed too early, he had learned a different rule: let people talk, then answer on the next map. His father sat in the back row with a folded schedule paper in his hands. Money was tight. They had driven eleven hours for this event and stayed at the cheapest motel near the venue. His dad had never really understood esports. When Chase first said he wanted to try going pro, his father had asked one question: “Can you actually make a life out of this?” Chase had no answer back then. He still didn’t.