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Reality TV will make my crepes famous!!!!!!!!!!!
I rolled my eyes, but I smiled all the same. It was good to see Leon’s star rising, even as mine sputtered and dimmed. He’d worked hard on his business, started from nothing. Built up his client list from whoever would hire him. Now he was catering celebrity weddings. Meanwhile, I’d gone from the Flames to the Bruins, and when they’d dropped me, I’d wound up back home, on Albuquerque’s scrappy new team. Three short years later, we were the joke of the league.
I fired a text back to Leon — See you in thirty. I couldn’t ditch him tonight and kill his good mood. But I’d need a buffer if I wanted to stay sober. Someone to distract me. To keep my mind off of my downfall. I scrolled through my contacts and found my other roommate, and thumbed on her contact. I only meant to text her, but I called by mistake. She picked up on the first ring, before I could cancel.
“Hey, Spencer,” she said.
I sighed. “Hey, Izzy.”
“Long day at practice?”
“The longest. Eternal.” I stretched out on the bench, flat on my back. My legs hung off the side, and I heaved them up. One of my socks had a quarter-sized hole in it. I wiggled my toe through it. Somehow, even that hurt. “Listen, I promised Leon I’d take him out drinking. He got that big contract, the one on TV. You’ve got to come with us, or I’ll end up drowning my sorrows.”
Izzy made a pained sound, sucking air through her teeth. “If you’d called me five minutes ago, I’d have been like ‘hell, yeah.’ But I just promised Lola I’d go out with her.”
“Lola from work?” I tried to hide my disappointment.
“Yeah. We’re going dancing.”
“Well, have a good time.” I didn’t hang up. Talking to Izzy always made me feel calmer, like her easy good humor was somehow contagious. I’d never seen her in a bad mood, that I could remember. Life’s daily annoyances slid off her back. She called getting sick a “snot vacation,” and when her boss was a dick to her, she never seemed bothered. She did this impression of him on a rampage, her eyes bugging out, her arms flailing.
“You still there?” said Izzy.
“Yeah.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “How do you always, how do you…”
“What?”
“I kind of blew up just now. Yelled at my teammates. Had a bad day at practice, and I went off like a jackass.”
Izzy just laughed. “They probably deserved it. From what I’ve seen of your teammates, you’re a whole herd of asses.”
I snorted. “Thanks a lot.”
“You’re welcome. Jackass.”
I blew her a raspberry, feeling weirdly better. Down the line, I heard rustling, Izzy shifting around.
“I need to get going,” she said. “But listen. Chin up, yeah? This bad streak you’re having, it’s only a streak. You’re a great player. Trust me. I know. Your next game, or maybe the one after that, you’ll have this moment when everything clicks — your training, your teammates, your natural talent. You’ll shoot through their defense into a whole new streak.”
She sounded so confident, I almost believed her. But my back was still twinging, my toes hot with chilblains.
“Don’t get in your head,” she said. “I can feel you overthinking.”
“How can you feel that?”
“Don’t know. I just can.”
Someone called Izzy’s name, and she gave a quiet hiss.
“That’s my boss, sorry. You going to be okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just need to relax.”
“See you at home, then.” Izzy hung up.
I lay for a moment, eyes closed, half-smiling, but I knew if I lay there too long I’d fall asleep. I’d wake up all stiff and rank with old sweat, and I’d be sore for tomorrow’s game. I forced myself up and made for the showers. My jackass teammates had drained the hot water, or it had never got hot at all. I took a lukewarm shower and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, and headed out to meet Leon at the bar.
Traffic was slow heading back into town, and coming up on downtown, I could see why — lights up ahead, flashing blue, red, and orange. An accident bad enough they’d all showed up, police, fire and ambulance blocking the road. Someone honked up ahead of me and I thought of Izzy. What would she do, stuck on Mountain and First?
