For a Boy

Chapter 11

The team was all standing on stage with Bombay the following day while I stood closely with Miss Mackay away from the reporters and flashing cameras.

"Ladies and gentlemen, team U.S.A hockey." Mr. Tibbles said into the mic. "And the man chosen to lead them to the gold, Gordon Bombay."

"Miss Mackay, how long do ya think this is gon' take?" I asked. "I would like to get back to the dorms as soon as possible." A polar bear in Hendrix gear and dark shades joined them in stages, waving at the cameras.

"It shouldn't take too long, Evelyn. But you've also got school after this." The woman looked at me. "I can take you back to the dorms for a little bit now if you want."

"No, that's ok. I need to wait for Dwayne and Darla anyhow." I shook my head at her as I yawned.

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your relationship like with Dwayne?" She asked. "I know you two are together, but I haven't seen you two act like a couple in public much. Aside from that kiss before yesterday's game." The bear left the stage and the team started getting asked questions. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, we don't kiss like that in front of people. We like to keep that stuff private but yesterday was a special occasion." I cleared my throat. "For starters, we're very protective of each other. For different reasons, of course."

"Really?" The woman looked at me briefly.

"Yes, ma'am." I nodded my head again. "I'm protective of him because people think that he's... puttin' it nicely, people think he's stupid and it pisses me off." I sighed. "He's protective of me in the typical boyfriend way, but he's been like that since we met when we were about 7." I thought back to elementary school. "Back in 5th grade, I think it was, this boy in our class wouldn't leave me alone and he was makin' me uncomfortable, so Dwayne walked over, tapped the guy on the shoulder, and when he turned 'round, Dwayne clocked 'im right in the jaw."

"Oh!" Miss Mackay's eyes widened in shock. "He doesn't seem like the violent type."

"He ain't." I shook my head. "That was the first time he's done that and the only time. After that, no one in class wanted to get hit so they would listen the first time when I asked them to leave me alone. He's never hit someone since."

"Well, that's good." Miss Mackay smiled at me.

"Mhm." I nodded. "And he will never put his hands on a woman. Both of his parents said that a man that lays his hands on a woman isn't a man, he's a bitch." I looked around. Off to the right, there was a group of kids dressed in black with a short blonde woman and a taller man in a suit. "D'you know who they are?"

"No." Said Miss Mackay.

"We're team USA and we're goin' all the way." Came Gordon's voice and everybody started clapping, myself included.

"Team USA's going down." Said the tall man in the suit. "That's where you're going." Everybody began murmuring and the reporters all turned to him. "See you in the ice, Bombay!" I stepped away from Miss Mackay and walked over to the team, the coach, and Mr. Tibbles.

"That's, uh, Stansson. Coach of the Iceland team. He's wound a little tight." Mr. Tibbles said to the coach. I stepped onto the platform and stood next to Dwayne.

"Hey, sweetheart." I said and leaned on him.

"Hey, honeybee. How are you?" The boy asked. I leaned up and took his hat from him, placing it backward on my head.

"Tired as hell. I slept like crap last night and I wanna go back to the dorms and take a damn nap." I whined. We all made our way off the platform and started heading toward the bus to head back to the temporary school where we had our lessons.

"Well, we can do that after we're done with school for the day." The boy grabbed my hand after we sat in our seats on the long vehicle, me sitting on the outside. "Close your eyes for now, though. Get some rest." I nodded and leaned my head on his shoulder, my leg bouncing as my eyes closed. A hand was placed on my knee, making my eyes shoot open. The hand came from the right, the skin a dark tan. I followed the arm up to see Luis, sitting in the seat next across from me. I smacked his hand hard and moved my knee.

"Ow!" The Cuban boy rubbed the back of his hand with the other.

"Darlin', can you trade me seats?" I asked Dwayne as I stood up. He nodded and stood up, getting into the aisle to let me in. I sat down by the window and leaned my head against it, crossing my arms. "Thank you, Dwayne." I looked outside the window as he sat down.

"Of course, baby." Dwayne replied softly. He reached his hand over and tapped my knee. I looked at it and it was flipped over, the boy offering to hold my hand, to which I shook my head no. From the corner of my eye, I saw Dwayne look over at Luis.

"What did I do?" the boy asked, confused. Dwayne just shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Luis." Darla said from next to him. I leaned forward and looked at him.

"Luis." He looked at me. "It really bugs me when people touch me without askin'. So, please ask first next time." The raven-haired boy nodded his head.

"Alright. I'm sorry." I smiled at him and leaned against the window, watching as we pulled away from the stadium. I hooked my foot around the back of Dwayne's ankle and he hooked his other foot around mine, essentially holding my foot with his. I looked at him and he had a small smile plastered on his lips. I tapped his knee with my finger to get his attention. He looked at it and I held up my thumb, index finger, and pinky. Sign language for 'I love you'. He did it back and we sat in silence for the remainder of the ride, me managing to get a short nap in.

When we got to the school, Dwayne woke me up and we all climbed off the bus, reading inside. When we all sat down, I sat on Dwayne's lap and there was nothing that could get me off. Dwayne and Darla told everyone to leave me alone, including Miss Mackay. So, they did. Dwayne and I did our work without a problem the whole time. So Miss Mackay said that I could sit there every once in a while if I needed to. The lessons went by quickly, though, and we found ourselves in the dorms after eating dinner before 7:00 pm.