Touchmove by Peter Mayshle
The title of this story makes me conclude that the story itself has something to do chess. That this might be like the "Queen's Gambit" story, but it’s not. Peter Mayshle's "Touchmove" starts with two young men, Peter and Roman playing chess. While playing chess, Peter began telling a story to Roman about the chic he encountered one night in August. That night, the storm was beating all over their city, then this chic came soaked in the rain. She was wearing a red blouse and skirt while clutching her shoes to her chest. At this part, you'll already know that there's something off with this girl.
No one will run in the middle of the stormy night, plus why would she run to a massage parlor? What may be her reasons? And this was a gay massage parlor. In the line "We never get any woman customers in the place, you know, so we straightened ourselves up as we had been taught and puffed our chests out and smiled broadly than necessary." it shocked them, and they are all boys that are necessary to a gays massage parlor. As I continue reading the story, this woman chooses Peter to assist her and give her the service she wanted. I actually thought that there would be a sexual part for the way that the story was told was very bold and the characters seems to be sensual people, what a dirty mind, but no. The chic seems to be really mysterious, and I was right, there’s something wrong with her.
Peter continued his story, "Her stomach had cuts all over; some of them were fresh and clotting. The skin above her bush was marked with what looked like a dozen cigarette burns. One of her breasts had a dark bruise, the color of purple. It was a terrible sight; I wanted to get out of there." This made me build conclusions and also made me answer the questions I have on the first part of the story. This chic was maybe beaten in her home or anywhere, and because of too much pain, she runs to the nearest massage parlor in the middle of the night to ease her pain. But it's just my conclusion. Anyway, Peter was so uneasy after seeing the situation of the chic. Still, he continues massaging the chic's thighs, kneaded her stomach, and pressed areas around her breast, carefully avoiding to hurt her. She held Peter's hands and, gazing at them as if they were made of precious stone, and she said, “Your hands, they were beautiful.” but Peter never thought it that way. I remember someone told me that "The way you see yourself is different from what I see in you". This is because we all have different views and experiences in life. This chic sees this man as a good person maybe because he never met one or his husband perhaps is not treating her right. But Peter views himself to be someone that wasn’t that good and that his hands belonged to a monster. He has his reasons to why have said that. He works in a gay parlor, and we all know that sometimes there's an "extra service”.
I firmly believe that people will never look at themselves and see the exact same thing that other people sees in them. There might be similarities, but the perspectives were different. I have known myself to be good yet I know there are a lot of things that are unlikeable in me specially in my personality, I am really straight-forward and I don’t filter my words. Well, other people told me the same thing about me and that made them think of me as a not so nice person, that’s fine for me though because that’s right. For them, it’s because I am not that nice, for me, it’s just being me. I kept on thinking that it’s the reality everyone will think the same way towards me, I don’t like that personality of mine but I will never change it just to be likeable. Until I met someone with different mindset and thinking a few months ago. I have shown my personality and told maybe most of my darkest secrets, and I got surprised for that person doesn’t even think that it’s bad. In fact, just like me, that person also thinks that my personality was just me being me. That those “unlikeable” things about me are still “likeable” for those are still part of me. In short, that person’s perceptions about me is far way different from mine. That person sees and identifies my flaws yet considers all of it to be likeable. Thus, proves that no one will have the exact same perception about things.
In the last part of the story, this chic took Peter's hands and placed one on her pussy and one on her breast with the purple bruise. Nothing happened, and that irritates Roman. The chic leaves after that. After a moment, Roman says, Check! Threatening Peter's king and trying to capture his queen. The last line of the story from Peter was, "And I see that Roman doesn’t understand. As I rescue my queen from his dogged pursuit, I see that he is just a kid, untaught in the ploys of the heart."
In this story, Peter was a role model for a man, though he was not perfect, but he treats a woman with respect and treasures them that not all man nowadays would do. People must respect everyone, but men’s higher respect towards women is necessary. This is a very huge argument nowadays for it seems that men today are seeking for attention, respect and equality too. For me, respect is a must and everyone should have and give it. But as I’ve said, women should get higher respects. As if men would lose their name, image, family, friends, dignity, respect from others and towards themselves if they got disrespected and harassed by women. Well, men could actually lose those things, but not as much as women does. We must support men too, but we should protect women for men has the capability to get or restore their image and dignity much easier and faster than women.