Thin Ice

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

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CHAPTER TWO

            Tapping the steering wheel to the beat of the music blaring from my stereo, I drove to the building where my father would be coaching his team. Finally, I’d managed to travel through traffic to downtown Denwich, and I’d been able to snag a parking space where my car wouldn’t get keyed or robbed. The crime rate was pretty rough in that part of the city.

 I crossed the busy street at a quick pace, which caused the wind to whip around and snarl my hair.  Quickly, I burst through the front doors of the building and walked up to the ticket desk of the building, smiling at Regina behind the glass. “Geri? Is that you?” she asked, grinning up at me.

            Her wild blonde hair was pinned back with a barrette, and I could see the light speckling of grays on her head. It’d been years since I’d seen her last, but her face still looked just as young and joyful. The dimness of the large echoing room made it hard to see everything else clearly, but her face was as bright as ever.

            “Hi Regina,” I waved with my fingers, “Yeah, it’s me. Gerianna.”

            “Ahh, you’ve gotten so big,” she exclaimed, her eyes crinkling happily. “And pretty.”

            “Thanks,” I replied, beaming. “You haven’t aged a day,” I added, twirling a piece of hair around my finger due to force of habit.

            “Right,” she rolled her eyes, but still looked satisfied with the compliment. She shook her head and changed the subject.  “So, what brings you here today?”

            “I’m here to bring this to my dad.” I walked up closer to the glass window separating us and wiggled his expensive cell phone in my left hand.

            She sighed and let her shoulders sag, “Of course. Your poor father would forget his head if it weren’t screwed on his shoulders. Go up those stairs,” she pointed to the left staircase, “and turn into the arena. They’re practicing in that rink. If your father isn’t there, I’ll call Larry and he’ll lead you through the locker rooms.”

            “Fantastic. I guess I’ll see you later, then,” I waved, allowing a cheery smile to grace my lips. “Talk to you soon!”

            “Soon better mean soon, missy!” Regina shouted after my ascending figure. “None of this disappearing off of the planet business!”

            “I’ll try!” I hollered in return, shaking my head in amusement. My feet bounded up the steep stairs and made clomping noises as my hands slid against the railing.  I clutched onto the phone, careful not to drop it. I didn’t want dad to have a hernia, especially when he had such an important team to lead.

            I hooked a left and moved aside the deep red curtain covering the entryway so that I could enter the arena. The cold already began touching at my fingers, but I ignored it and began walking down the stairs and towards the glass that separated the ice from the stands.

            Once I’d managed to jump over enough seats to get to the glass, I silently thanked my father for getting me to play sports. There’d be no other way that I could survive all of this running around without being in shape. With my father in my mind again, I began my search for him. When I didn’t spot him, I sighed. With my knuckles, I rapped against the glass to gain the attention of the boys sitting there. They were in uniform, sweating like they were running in the Sahara desert with no water.