On Ice

OI Chapter 31

Almost Midday, Sunday, October 21, 2012

“You’re absolutely fucking kidding me right now, right?”

I asked the question, glaring over my sister’s blonde head and the top of Kale’s Jeep to stare incredulously at the Rookie. He couldn’t possibly be serious, could he? He wanted me to fit my six foot two frame in the itty bitty backseat of his car? Was the man insane!

Kale rolled his head back before snapping, “My parents are expecting us for lunch in a half hour, I want you to be there when we make the announcement, so get in the goddamn car and let’s go!”

Letting out a martyred sigh, I crawled into the Jeep and tried to arrange myself so that I wasn’t agonizingly uncomfortable the blessedly short drive from my place to his parent’s place in Woodland. The tight quarters made me feel like a giant, having to constantly crane my head to the right or the left to avoid smashing it into the roof of the vehicle whenever we encountered a rough patch of road. Calla’s seat was adjusted so far forward, it was comical and likely uncomfortable for her as she was mostly leg too.

I had never been one to keep silent when I was unhappy about something, although I did try during the short trip. After all, Kale had managed to get my sister in a car, even I wasn’t stupid enough to want to mess that up, but I couldn’t resist the annoyed grunts and groans I made along the way. Kale shot me glares in the rear view mirror every time. I was coming to think of it as a game. How many times could I get away with it before he lost his cool while at the same time not bothering Calla?

As we bumped down the gravel driveway of the Scott’s I drew a relieved breath. We piled out of the Jeep and were met at the door by Kale’s parents, Tess and Will. Sometime in high school the couple had basically adopted me into their family, not that I minded, as my mother basically lived in the same house as I did but had a completely separate life. She made sure there was food, clean clothes and that I made it to all my hockey practices and games, but beyond that, there wasn’t a whole lot of anything but resentment between the two of us. Yeah, resentment was probably the largest contention between the two of us, me at her for denying me access to my father for most of my childhood and adolescence and her at me for basically being an “exact replica” of my father.

During my teen years I was a bit of a handful and I had a lot of anger with my whole family situation. I realized how hard it would’ve been for my dad to juggle his career and his family my first year in the pros, but as a dumb ass kid, I didn’t understand. I’d learned to let that go for the most part. The relationship with my mother was complicated. Over the last year or so I’d really made an effort to try and work on it, but just when I thought I’d made some progress with her, she’d throw the bus in reverse and back peddle. When Calla had come to live with me, it’d become even worse. I think her exact words of astonishment were, “You’re inviting the fruit of your father’s sins against our family to live with you?” Needless to say, I’d only gotten one phone call from her since July and I didn’t really know how to feel about that.

The Scott family was sort of alien when I first began to spend time in their household. They actually seemed to like and care for each other, they didn’t slander each other behind the other’s back and they didn’t have need to manipulate or bribe in order to get what they wanted. There was actually interest in what was going on from day to day in my life instead of the cool indifference of home or the phone calls from my dad every few days that never seemed enough and only made me feel more mixed up. They were a real family, the real life version so much better than any imaginary one I could dream up.

Kale and I met when I was a junior in high school. I was new to the area as my mom picked us up and moved whenever the mood struck her, I suppose I should be grateful that she usually waited until hockey season was over. In any case, I met Kale at my first hockey practise and even though he was a couple years younger than me, we became buds almost instantly. It was inevitable that I’d start being invited to his house. Some of my best memories were spent in the Scott house, brimming with rambunctious boys, delicious food smells, sports talk and laughter.