Page 65 of A Scoring Chance
“The Timberwolves are trying to maintain their 1-0 lead, but the Winterhawks aren’t giving up without a fight. Miguel has the puck for the Winterhawks and brings it back to center ice. Miguel passes it off to Gordon. Gordon turns on theafterburners and speeds toward the Timberwolves’ goal. He crosses the blue line and catches Thompson out of position. Gordon goes around the net and scores. The score is now tied, 1 all.”
The buzzer sounds, signaling the end of the second period. The team slowly makes their way toward me on the bench, their shoulders sagging. “Keep your heads up. Be proud. Don’t be scared to continue to take shots on the net. It’s a tie game, and we still have twelve minutes to put more points on the board.” The boys seem to have perked up at my words, slapping each other on the back and shouting words of encouragement to their teammates.
The ref blows the whistle, signaling the start of the final period.
“Wolves on three. 1-2-3.”
“Wolves!” the boys shout in unison as the first line skates out onto the ice. My eyes remain locked on Warner as he moves in to take the face-off at center ice.
He’s a little out of position, needing to lean in closer to the ice to ensure he wins, but we can go over that more in practice this week. The Winterhawks win the face-off and pass it back to Strickland. Stickland takes it to the blue line but immediately turns it over.
Darius takes off like a bat out of hell, on a breakaway, heading directly toward center ice. One of the opposing players is coming up on him fast, arms raised and stick at the ready. I know that stance anywhere. “Look out, Darius. Defender coming in hard!” I shout, holding my breath as he releases the puck, and it sails through the goalie’s legs and into the back of the net, but not before the other player slams him in the back.
Darius goes down hard, sliding along the ice, barely missing the goal, before slamming into the boards. I wait in the box for any signs that he might be hurt, my heart caught in my throat.Darius and I have gotten a lot closer since the beginning of the season. In part because of all the time I’ve been spending with his mother, but also because he’s a sponge.
Darius is early to practice and the last to leave, asking questions about different plays and areas for him to improve. You’d never know this was his first year playing hockey. If he sticks with it, I could see him playing in college and maybe even making it to the league, but don’t tell Beauty that.
“Cooper!” Speaking of Ramona, the sheer terror in her voice breaks my heart.
She hates seeing Darius in pain of any kind. I’ve been on the receiving end of one too many of her tirades about fighting someone’s momma for hurting him.
Darius slowly gets to his feet and skates toward me.
“Sanchez, you’re in for King. Brown, you’ll now change with line 2.”
“Yes, Coach,” both boys say in unison as Sanchez climbs over the wall and skates over to his teammates.
With that taken care of, I can focus all my attention on Darius. “How are you holding up, buddy?”
“I’ve been better, Coach.” He chuckles, wincing at the movements. “She’s gonna be so pissed at the new bruise I’m sure I have.”
“Darius!” Her fist slams into the glass behind the box, desperately trying to get his attention.
“He’s okay, Beauty.” I open the door for Darius and help him take a seat on the end of the bench. “He’ll have a new bruise, but I don’t think anything is broken.”
“Are you sure?”
I nod my head. “But Darius will let us know if the pain gets too bad or he has a hard time breathing. Won’t he?”
“Yes, Coach,” he responds immediately as I turn my attention to the referee.
“He doing okay, Coach?” I nod at the ref as he skates off to grab the other player, leading him toward the penalty box. “Number 7, Miguel. Cross-checking, Two minutes.”
“What did he say that boy’s name was? Miguel?”
“Easy there, Rambo. He’s fine. Didn’t we already say you don’t need to be fighting someone’s momma every time he gets hurt?”
“Seriously, it’s embarrassing. Please go back and sit down,” Darius pleads with her, and her sails deflate immediately.
“Okay, little man. Anything you say, but if you change your mind, I’ll be right here.” Beauty doesn’t even bother to pretend like she is going back to her place higher in the stands, taking a seat directly behind the bench.
The game continues pretty evenly, with neither team dominating over the other. We come close to scoring a third time but don’t have any luck. It seems the goalie has gotten our number.
“Line change,” I call out, and the second line hops off the bench, trading places with the current players on the ice. This is way better than it has been in the past. It took the boys a little while to get used to how I run things.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay?” Ramona says to Darius, my eyes not leaving the ice.
If it were any other parent, I’d have ripped them a new asshole for talking to players during the game, but I really can’t seem to tell her no. That’s why I’ve been spending a lot more time alone in my childhood bedroom than I’d like recently. She wants to take things slow, but it’s been hard for us to get any time alone together. Sure, we see each other during the week and even FaceTime when I stay in the city, but it’s never alone.
