Love For A Game

Chapter 15

Today is the day. The big game against the Crusaders is finally here. I wake this morning with my blood pumping and my heart racing.

My dad drives me to the arena at twelve. The game isn't until two o'clock, but Nic and I want to practice early. It's a huge game, and I don't want to take any chances.

Nicole is already in the locker room, getting changed. We finish getting changed, and head out to the ice. Nobody else is there, and it is just the way we like it.

Nicole and I skate laps around the ice. We then grab a few pucks and practice shooting. We keep shooting until the zamboni arrives at the far doors. We collect our pucks, and head back to the dressing room.

The rest of the team is already in there. "Jeez, bro, how long have you been here?" Connor asks when he sees us in full equipment.

"Since about noon," I say.

"Goddamn," Luke says. "Always a character."

We sit down with the rest of the team. We sit at our stalls in silence for a moment, when Coach Bennington enters from his office.

"Big game today," he says. "We're facing a tough team. We've beaten them in the past, so we know we can beat them again. We just have to play hard, and work our butts off out there."

"As you all know," I say. "Our newest member here is playing in her first game. Let's make it memorable. We all experienced this when we first started. Now let's work hard and win this hockey game."

We all stand up, and put our helmets on. We head out to the ice, Nicole leading. It is always our custom that a new teammate leads us out for their first game. With Nicole, it is no different.

The Crusaders are out on the ice already. I spot Darren Reynolds near centre. He spots me and our eyes lock. He gives me a mischievous smile, one that chills me to the core.

The referee blows his whistle, and everyone except the starters head to the benches. The goaltenders, Nick Jenkins and Noel Johansson, head to the nets. The ten skaters line up in their positions.

I line up at the centre ice circle, across from Darren. The referee asks each of us if we are ready. Darren grunts in response. I just nod. The ref raises his arm, and drops the puck.

The action begins quickly. I grab the puck, and shift it over to Luke. He speeds up the ice, into the Colbert zone. He passes back to Josh, who shifts it to Nathan . Nate sees me on the left side, ready for a shot. He slides a pass to me, but the Colbert defender reads the play, and the puck slides into the corner.

The play shifts into our zone. Darren brings it in, and passes to the right winger. He shoots the puck, but Nathan blocks the shot with his knee. It goes back to their defenceman, who shoots it on net. Noel makes a save with his pad, and he covers the puck with his glove. The whistle blows, and play stops.

I skate to the bench, and pass Nicole as she jumps onto the ice. Coach has paired her with Ryan Ingram, a smooth defenceman who is good at moving the puck. I pat her on the back, and she winks at me.

Play starts up again in our zone. Sam wins it back to Ryan, who throws it up the ice. Connor grabs it and takes it into the offensive zone. He passes it to Ryan. Ryan passes to Sam, who shoots it wide.

Eric Fletcher grabs it in the corner. He skates out in front with it, but he receives a check from Darren. The Colbert defender tries to clear it, but Ryan keeps it in at the line. He passes to Nicole. She lines up a shot, and takes it.

The puck sails through the cluster of players in front of the net. I hear a massive clang, as the puck hits the post and goes into the net. She has scored.

She raises her arms above her head, and is mobbed by teammates. I see the look on Darren's face, and it doesn't look pretty. If looks could kill, then Nicole would be six feet under right about now.

She skates back to our bench and high-fives all of us. As she skates back toward centre, she is suddenly hit from behind by Darren Reynolds. She goes down in a heap, barely moving.

At this moment, I snap. I completely and utterly snap. I hop over the boards without my stick. I drop my gloves, and race over to where Darren is. I just have time to see his look of surprise before I tackle him.

I rip his helmet off his head, and begin to punch him in the face. I punch him over and over again. Blood from his nose and mouth pool around him. I don't feel any remorse as I am doing it, just rage.

Finally, I am ripped off of Darren by Luke and Charlie. I am ushered off the ice, and to the dressing room. I am told that I have been kicked out of the game, and possibly more.

I sit in my stall, and look at my hands. Blood, Darren's blood, has stained them. A dull throb goes through my hands, and I know that my knuckles will most likely be bruised.

I take off my uniform, and go the showers to wash myself off. As the water runs over my body, I feel myself calming down, and the rage that burned inside me leaving, going down the drain with the water.

I sit in my stall once again. I place my head in my hands.

***

We lose badly, 8-1. Darren returned to the game and scored three goals. We couldn't get anything going.

The rest of the team files in, and they sit down at their stalls. Not one of them even glance at me. They are scared of what they saw from me, terrified even. I can't say I blame them, either.

The worst part of it all is that Nicole won't even look at me. She has a sour look on her face as she changes back into street clothes. She gets up and exits the room without a word, and I follow her.

I spot her again out in the arena parking lot. "Nic!" I call to her. She doesn't answer. She doesn't even look up.

"Nic!" I call again. She still doesn't respond.

"NIC!" I yell.

She finally turns around. She has tears in her eyes.

"What is it, Jordan? I have nothing to say to you."

"I honestly don't know what happened back there, okay? It was involuntary. I couldn't control myself."

"I know exactly what happened. You saw me get hurt. You couldn't handle me getting hit, so you let loose on Darren. That scared me, Jordan. I think it scared everyone else too."

"I honestly cannot believe I did that, Nic."

" I can fight my own battles, you know. I've told you that. I just can't believe you did that. I thought you knew me better."

"I-"

"Don't say anything. Just accept the fact that you can't control yourself. I don't think I can be with someone who's like that."

She walks away. I stand in the arena parking lot, thinking to myself, What have I done?

____

The song on the side is "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", by Bob Dylan.