Bridge over troubled waters

24| Old Times Sake

Corey

Back in the day when we were just two kids living out in Canada, Bailey was a hockey player. She was a center because at the time she was taller than everyone else, and she was pretty damn good too. She's got a good set of hands and a pretty good hockey IQ built up from her dad. If she would have stuck with it I honestly believe she would have gone pretty far in the hockey scene. But with her dad being a coach it got old pretty quickly and she moved on from hockey. I believe with everything in me that she would be a good player if she played in college, but art seems to be the only thing that lasted in her life. She usually lost interest in hobbies like she did with softball and theatre and gymnastics. She tried them all and she was usually pretty good at whatever it is she put her mind to, but she's one of the girls who knows there's more out there than what she knows and nothing is going to stop her from going out there and finding out herself. It is both a blessing and a curse for her but I try my best to keep her head on straight enough to see where she wants to go.

That's why she's here, because she saw in her art books what Chicago is like and she knew I was here so she followed her heart. She knew that this place held the inspiration she craved and the challenges she wanted to over come. And even though her heart led her away from hockey she still knows how to skate. It's in her blood. So I make her join me after a practice one day and skate with me. I like to have my fun too and sometimes I think I'm a forward and not a goalie. So I change out of my practice jersey and pads and into a pair of athletic pants and jacket. I meet her at center ice and see that Jonny and Brent stayed out too. They were still in their practice wear as they leaned on their sticks and talked to Bailey.

"Don't you guys have somewhere to be" I ask them trying to give them the hint to beat it. No offense but I take my Bailey and me time seriously and I didn't take visitors kindly.

"Oh I'm not missing this" Jonathan claims pointing his head to Bailey.

"Right. She's been talking herself up over here. I gotta see what we're working with" Brent insists.

"You've been talking yourself up" I ask her. She hated playing hockey.

"I'm competitive. What can I say" she shrugs. Now that makes more sense.

"Alright then, lets get this thing started" I smile.

We warm up a little and she finds a stick that worked for her. She stick handles and I laugh as the guys watched clearly impressed that she still got it. I don't think the puck ever left her blade as she played around with it. She moved like a female Patrick Kane and I don't even think she was trying.

"Jesus Dude, where have you been hiding her" Brent asks.

"Canada" I laugh.

"Ohhh right" he nods.

I skate over to her and give her a hip bump. "Wanna play some 2v2" I ask.

"Hell yeah" she agrees.

So I team up with her and we play keep away with Jonny and Brent. You would think that a goalie and a artist would be no match to the best captain in professional sports and one of the best defenders but we hold our own. In fact Bailey embarrasses them a few times with some old school tricks.

"Holy shit girl, what kind of a artist are you" Brent asks causing us to laugh.

"Unlike any artist you will ever know" she smirks.

"I'd say" he laughs.

They entertain us for a while before they decide to go out to lunch. I stay back with Bailey and mess around on the ice. We take some shots at the net and it almost felt like we were kids again. Her family had a huge backyard rink during the winter time. That's half the reason I met her, because I was out there with her brothers playing around almost every night. She would be there too and she held her own. Never let anyone push her around the ice. She threw her body well for a 8 year old but she had a older and younger brother so she was pretty strong. And she did everything in her power to protect her sister the best she could.

It's been a long time since those long cold nights, but it's nice to come back to the ice and remember how good we had it. "Do you miss it" I ask her.

"Hockey" she asks. "Not really. I have plenty of hockey nights to last me a life time. But I miss being a kid and playing hockey. I miss shooting a goal and looking for my parents to give me a thumbs up. I miss waking up early on game day's and knowing I get to see my friends at the rink. I miss being a kid in general" she claims.

"I know what you mean" I agree. "What I would do to be back at your place playing video games with your brother and sneaking into the kitchen at night and stealing the good cookies" I laugh.

"We had it good, didn't we" she asks.

"Yeah, we did. But I still think we have it pretty good now too. I mean we're living out our dreams. We would always say we would be here and now look at us" I say.

"Not a day goes by that I don't thank god for where I am today. I'm so thankful for everything that has led up to me being here. And I know it's not always going to be this good. I'll miss home, my family and miss you when you leave me in this strange city. But I'm so happy that this is where I ended up" she explains.

"I really don't want you to leave" I insist.

Her head falls as she scrapes the ice with her blade. "I don't want to think about that. The end is scary and it's far away. I don't want to think about that right now. I would rather be here with you now than to think about not being here with you eventually" she says softly.

"Then let's not think about it. How about we go get some food" I say and she smiles.