The Pursuit of Happiness (Patrick Kane)

|Six|

Patrick

Sunday comes around and I have to admit, I was really excited to see Kayleigh again. We talk just about every day now and we've gotten pretty close. In the month since I nearly ran her over we've both done things we didn't imagine ourselves doing if it weren't for us running into each other. I consider her a good friend and I was hoping that one day soon we can be more than friends. But for now I enjoy figuring out who this girl is and why I can't get her out of my brain.

We decide to meet up at this coffee shop she claims is the best in the city. So we get our drinks and sit down at the back of the room. It was pretty empty here with only a few college students sitting on their laptops doing their homework. I look across the table and see Kayleigh playing with her drink. The steam coming off the top telling us it was still too hot to drink so we had to talk in the mean time.

"So how come you decided hockey was for you" she wonders off the top of her head and I smile.

"I like to think it chose me. When I was a kid basketball was my love, but hockey was my calling. Having a stick in my hand felt like first nature and I could see the game unlike all the other kids. It's almost like I knew where the puck was going to go before it got there. I couldn't control anything in my life but when I was out there with the game on my stick I chose how to score and when to score. How to help others score was my specialty. I was a passer ever since I was a kid and I always will be.

I don't know, I just feel like I belong on the ice" I shrug.

"How long have you played" she questions.

"Since I was four. So over twenty years now" I say.

"Do you ever get tired of it" she laughs.

"Never" I smile. "Theres a lot of people who play hockey, but not a lot of them have this passion for this game to the point it consumes you. I watch so much hockey I can tell you what hand every player shoots with."

"That's impressive. Do you have any plans for when hockey is done" she asks. She had a lot of questions today, maybe she's just as curious about me as I am with her.

"Not really, no. I hope I play until I'm 50" I insist.

"And what about after? What happens when Patrick Kane turns 51" she tries.

"What would you do if you were me" I counter. She gives me a little smile because she loved the kind of questions she had to think about.

"I would start my own youth hockey organization, but it would be non-profit and reach out to the kids who can't afford the best sticks and gloves and those fancy pad things. There's so many kids who want to grow up to play just like you, so I would create a place where they have their chance to chase greatness. I would help the kids who have the talent and the drive and passion you have get the same opportunities as the kids who's parents can just throw new gloves and sticks at them. So many kids don't get to play sports because they can't afford it. Could you imagine your life if you were in a situation where you couldn't afford to play hockey" she asks me.

I feel my chest tighten when I think about my life without hockey. Then it gets even tighter knowing there's kids like me out there like me who will never have the chance to do what I did. "No, I couldn't" I finally reply.

"The way to help this world is to one, find the problem, two, admit there is a problem, three, find a solution and four, put a plan into place.

So I guess if I was you I would start up a organization to go to schools and teach kids hockey, get them interested then give them a place to go. Help teach them the same things you learned as a kid that got you through hard times. Imagine if we got these kids off the streets and onto the ice. If they get to channel their their frustrations into fits of passion then the world becomes a safer place. I would want to take the knowledge I have and share it with the world" she explains.

"That's a grand idea" I admit.

"But I also wouldn't wait until I was retired. People need help now, and if I was you I would use my power as I had it" she insists.

"It's not that easy" I defend.

"It never is" she promises. "But when was something worth having ever easy?"

I look at her because she was something worth having and she was not the easiest to crack. "Never" I admit as she nods her head.

"Precisely" she insists.

We enjoy our coffee before going for a little walk. Neither of us wanted to leave quite yet so we decided to go to the city. Experience things we've seen by ourselves for the first time together.

"Would you be interested in a hockey game"
I ask her. "I can show you around so you're not lost and we can watch some games together beforehand so you know what's going on" I explain.

"Patrick..." she trails off.

"I know you're super busy and I know you are focused on changing the world. I get that and I respect that. But I also know that someone who works too hard on finding happiness are often the least happy. Just one game" I insist.

"Why do you want me at your game? I know nothing about hockey" she reminds me.

"Because you're important to me and so is hockey. You opened up to me and it's about time I open up to you. I have extra tickets and I have a feeling you might enjoy the game" I explain.

"What would I wear" she asks.

"Something warm" I admit.

"I don't even know how this game works" she argues.

"Abby can walk you through it" I assure her.

"I'll look at my schedule but I'm not promising anything. I guess I can do a game" she sighs and I smile. I know it shouldn't mean so much that she watched me play, but it did. It means a lot that this girl who knows nothing about hockey would come to a game to support me and my friends.

"That would make me really happy" I insist.

"Alright, fine. I'm in. But stop asking to hang out with me, soon enough you'll never get rid of me" she teases.

"That doesn't sound too bad to me" I smirk.

She just smiles up as me as her eyes lock on mine. I turn to her as we get closer and closer. "Why do you insist on keeping me around" she asks.

"Why do you insist on keeping me away" I counter.

"I asked first" she smirks. Her long brown hair spilling out of her white hat as she waits for me to answer.

"I can't explain it, like how I can't explain why hockey is who I am. I just know that when I'm with you I'm happy" I admit.

"The feeling is mutual" she promises.