Aftermath

Chapter 7-Part 2-'Big Fake Hero'

Faces painted, decked out head to toe in Montreal Canadiens Habs wear, paired with Bo and his buddy Max's dance moves, the group of four boys became a staple shot on the jumbo-tron. The sold out audience would cheer and clap the boys on and once the boys saw they had made it on the big screen, they would stop their dancing and carrying on and just jump up and down, screaming and pointing at themselves on the screen.

Before too long, to her surprise, Lou found herself sitting with a genuine smile on her face, enjoying watching the boys be happy for a few hours. No one else in the building that witnessed the dancing and carrying-on of Bo would ever have suspected he was the same little boy that cried every morning and every night for his dad.

"Seems like someone is having a good time. You look beautiful tonight, Lou-lou," Will said over her shoulder, directly into her ear just as the siren sounded, announcing the end of the first period. He was leaning into her so close that she could smell the beer and cigarettes on his breath. Gross. Where the heck did he come from?

"Hey, Will. The boys are having a great time. Good game tonight, isn't?" She moved slightly away and Will pulled her up out of her seat into a tight embrace, nearly spilling his plastic cup of beer on Cameron.

She patted Will's back and then pulled away. Will had clearly been drinking too much and she wanted to get the boys away from him before things took a turn for the worse. Will had a temper when he drank from what she remembered.

"Come on boys, let's hit the bathrooms before the next period starts. Nice seeing you, Will." She shooed the pack of kids up the stairs past her and turned away from Will, started to make her way up the stairs when he grabbed her arm and yanked her down a step. She lost her footing, landing down hard, twisting her ankle. She yanked on her arm, easily breaking free of him.

"Why do you have to be such a cold hearted bitch to me, Emmylou? I have never been anything but good to you," Will said directly into her ear, grabbing her arm and this time squeezing tighter.

The last thing she wanted was to make a scene, the kids were just at the top of the stairs and wouldn't be able to hear her, but she didn't want to ruin their fun evening.

"William, let go of my arm. You're hurting me. I can see you have had one too many and I think we best talk another time." She looked him straight in the eye, showing him no fear but her clear contempt. She yanked her arm away and he stumbled back slightly.

Wincing in pain from her twisted ankle, she took a few quick hop steps up the stairs. The boys were now watching her so she needed to plaster a ridiculous smile on her face to reassure them that everything was fine. She limped along the crowded main level in search of the nearest bathrooms.

She hated letting the boys go off to the washrooms alone, but there was no way that Cam and his buddy Jonathan were going in the ladies; they protested.

"Fine, Cameron, but you all stick together and you all wash your hands and you all come out together."

Cameron rolled his eyes at her and dragged his little brother by the jersey towards the bathroom.

"And don't talk to strangers," she called out after them, "and—and stick together!"

Cameron looked over his shoulder and gave her a 'give it a rest woman' look that Carter had perfected and that Cameron had clearly inherited. She waited just outside the bathroom entrance, leaned against the wall and took all the weight off her sore ankle.

"Enjoying the game?" Lou heard a deep voice say from behind her. She jumped near out of her skin. She had had about enough of men speaking into her ear over her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see a black t-shirt and open black fitted biker jacket. She had to continue to raise her head up and up to finally come to the top, where she found a movie star smiling down at her. Why in Sam Hill did he make her feel so nervous and guilty at the same time?