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Am I being too harsh?
I try not to show that I’m a little unsure of myself as I lean against the rink. But even if I can say it all a little nicer, I’m still right. What I saw out there on the rink was pure chaos. I have a duty to say something, as a guardian and as a nurse.
“Okay, fine,” Jaromir says. “What would make you happy here? What do you need to see?”
“A little more order? Kids not crashing into each other and falling over constantly? I heard it all the way out in the hall.”
He thinks. “There’s gonna be some crashing into each other and falling over. This is hockey.”
Verog jumps in. “Yes, but it’s one thing for it to be happening occasionally and another for it to be happening constantly.”
Jaromir clearly doesn’t like that Verog has a point, but he can’t counter it, either. He just stands there, stewing in it.That’s when I catch Ryan’s eyes. He’s kneeling on the ice looking at me, and I can see everything he’s thinking on his face.
A second ago when I walked in and they were doing the drill, he was laughing and enjoying himself. Admittedly, he was also crashing into a much larger boy at top speed, but he was into it. Now, he looks sad and a little bit irritated.How does that make sense?
Come on, Aunt Melody, I can almost hear him saying.I just want to play some hockey!
I could just make my ultimatum and storm out of here. I’d be perfectly in the right. But at what cost?
I heave a heavy sigh and make my decision. I’ll stick around. I’ll be a little more diplomatic. I’ll try to get this working.
There’s got to be a middle ground we can find between whatever Jaromir was just doing and keeping all the kids safe, especially now that I meet his gaze. The handsome orc looks sorry, as well as slightly sweaty, leaving his chiseled features covered in a sheen of sweat. I fight the urge to think about other ways he could work up a sweat.
And maybe it’s not totally just for Ryan’s sake, anyway. Jaromir is a pretty handsome guy, and he’s got a charm to him that it’s hard to resist. I certainly wouldn’t mind it if he ended this thinking I was a cool team supporter he could count on rather than some angry prude who hates fun.
Only Ryan gets to think that’s what I am.
“Look,” I begin. “What was the goal of the drill? Why don’t we see if we can work out something that makes everybody happy?”
Jaromir smiles slightly. “I just want them to practice being aware of each other. I want them to practice keeping an eye out for other players as well as whoever they’re focused on.”
“But they were also crashing into each other purposefully?”
“Yeah, that’s probably gonna be the bit you want me to change. But when they get sick of getting hit, they’ll start being more careful.”
After a little bit more back and forth, we manage to agree to something. Instead of groups of three trying to body-check each other, it’ll be the same drill but with groups of two just trying to tag each other. They’ll all start from different places on the court, and Jaromir will actually explain to them that the goal is to try and watch out for each other, rather than expecting them to come to that on their own.
“And this one’s fine with you?” Jaromir says. “I’m not gonna start this one and then have you accuse me of running the Hunger Games on ice?”
“This one is totally fine with me.”
“Alright then.” He turns to the kids. “You heard the lady! Get to your starting points!”
And they head off. Obviously, my eyes follow Ryan. I realize it’s been a while since I’ve seen him this excited about something and having this much fun. Seeing him out there on the ice, I feel a little bad about hesitating to let him do this.
Once or twice, he almost skates into someone or slips, but he always manages to correct himself at the last moment. Best of all, whenever he does, he looks thrilled. He’s clearly aware of the danger, I realize, and he enjoys it.
And as long as the danger isn’t too crazy, maybe I can deal with that. If you’re a kid and you want to pick something dangerous and stupid to do, you could do a lot worse than a hockey team overseen by your school’s gym teacher.
“You look like you’re having a pretty fun time watching,” Jaromir comments, and I nod from my spot on the bleachers.
I smile back. “Well, it’s a pretty cool sport. Now that I’m actually seeing it.”
“What did you think of it before?”
“Before, my mental picture was a bunch of big dumb idiots getting into fights but on ice so they’re also slipping while they do it.” I look back at the rink and the kids moving around it. “But there’s a lot of grace to it. I see why you like it.”
“Well, to be fair, I am a big dumb idiot who likes getting into fights,” he replies. “But I agree that there’s more to it than that.”
