Marriage
Daze
Chapter
26: My So-Called Life
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Notes: From Connie’s point of view.
“Get ready for line-change,” Charlie shouted right into Connie’s ear. “We’re playing hockey, not musical chairs!”
“Shesh, calm down a nodge,” Cecilia laughed from her place on the bench.
Connie was almost about to agree with her, Charlie was making lots of fuss for a pointless game. They were totally demanding the game, leading with 4-1 in the final period, so why did Charlie act like they’d just score goal on themselves?
Maybe he was frustrated because of the fights among the players. Or among the people in the First Line at least, the rest of the team had left their marriage problems back at school. Julie and Scott were fighting about some stupid spot on the team, Adam couldn’t stop whining and Fred had already made his first death threat towards Sarah.
All that, and Guy still wouldn’t talk to her. Connie couldn’t figure out what she’d done to deserve the silent treatment, but every time she tried to talk to him, he found an excuse to run off somewhere else.
“Look, little Ms. Annoying, stop telling me how to run my team!” Charlie went on, almost screaming. He’d obviously forgotten about the fact that he wasn’t actually in charge of the team himself. Connie rolled her eyes. She remembered those days at kindergarten when Charlie got like that. He always wanted control of the crayons, and he was always wrestled down by his friends, coming home with paint all over his face. Connie had a feeling this would end like just like that, but with less colors.
Coach Bombay walked up behind them and put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Is there a problem, Charlie?”
“No, Coach. I’m just telling them where to go, how to play,” Charlie answered. “I thought that was my job.”
“It’s your job to keep them from not killing each other as well. Don’t make me throw all of you out of the game, got it?” The last comment was meant for all ten of the bickering players. They all muttered something as answer.
Jesse’s line came climbing over the boards, and Connie watched as Sarah and her line-up disappeared onto the ice. She knew Bombay was deliberately keeping them out of play, because he was mad. Mad at them for causing trouble. Probably mad at them for being born as well.
Something bad had happened to them all during the last couple of weeks. Connie leaned forward and rested her head on her knees. They had been perfectly fine, getting along and everything up until the point they were thrown into the project. Connie feared that it would tear them all apart, everyone was already fighting and it was almost summer. If they didn’t solve their problems before they left for home; who knew what would happen when they got back next year.
Connie heard her name being called. “What?”
“We’re up next,” Adam announced without looking at her. “Stop day-dreaming, Con.”
No, not just this last couple of weeks had been the cause for this. Spring break, Valentine’s Day, Junior Goodwill Games. Every single fight the last six months; every single incident. Connie couldn’t believe that she’d almost lost her oldest friends, her boyfriend and her spot on the team, just during the last months. No wonder they couldn’t stop fighting. Maybe they just weren’t as close as before. She couldn’t remember the last time she spent any time with her old teammates: Goldberg, Averman, Jesse, and Fulton amongst others. What had happened?
“I’m not,” she answered, trying to catch Adam’s eyes. He didn’t even turn his head. Was he even listening to her?
Connie buttoned her helmet and got ready for hockey. Even if she had her problems, she couldn’t let it get in the way of the game. She’d be thrown out of the game if she didn’t do her job.
“Look, Connie, don’t pay any attention to him,” Fred said to her. “He’s probably deaf anyway, he’s currently married to my girlfriend.”
Connie just smiled back. After a while she threw a glimpse at Fred, wondering if it was very friendly to ignore all of your old friends, just to make new friends. Weird friends. Friends who hadn’t been around back in elementary school, friends who didn’t know how to play pond hockey. Friends who only got her into trouble anyway. She couldn’t keep hanging out with them, just because it was convenient, she had to spend time with all of her old friends too.
She felt Charlie’s hand on her shoulder, and suddenly she was in the middle of the game, almost crashing into Portman during the line-change.
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Notes: From Charlie’s point of view.
It was three minutes left to go, and Charlie tried to calm down. He knew that his line wouldn’t get to play anymore this game, and he was tired of bossing people around. They never did as told anyway, why bother?
He heard Sarah’s calm voice, trying to talk some sense into Fred. Charlie was sure it had something to do with the grades they were bound to get after all the switching. He hadn’t thought it through, really, when he traded partner with Adam. Yesterday he was a rich stockbroker with way too many kids, and now he was a gay lawyer, struggling to GET one of those little egg buddies. No, he had definitely not thought it through.
Julie stomped by, heading over to the other side of the bench, waiting to get off the rink. Maybe she was running from Scott. Charlie sighed, knowing his decision to put Goldberg in the net had been right. Coach Bombay had supported him in that decision, and after all, it was he who controlled the roster along with Muck. Charlie knew that his influence wasn’t as huge as he tried to pretend that is was.
“Aren’t they supposed to play defense?”
Charlie snapped out of his thoughts. “Who?”
“The other freakin’ team,” pointed Cecilia. “They are attacking us, you know, like hockey-players.”
“What?”
Travis cut in. “They’re playing weird. Up until know we crushed them, and now they’re...”
“They’re crushing us,” Cecilia explained. “It’s one minute to go, and NOW they’re getting into the game? Nice tactic. Shouldn’t we change lines?”
Charlie shrugged, realizing that he didn’t have any influence at all when it came to stuff like that. He watched as Guy got checked into the boards, and held his breath until Guy was back on his feet again.
“We should get a penalty for that!” Cecilia shouted.
“We? You mean that they should get a penalty, right?”
“A penalty should be given to someone,” she said and grabbed Travis’s sleeve. “Right?!”
Charlie smiled and was about to make a sniffy comeback when he heard a whistle blow. Penalty. He saw how the opposite team’s line-up gathered around the referee, objecting loudly. The defensemen were still down on the opposite side of the ice, and they quickly skated back towards the blue-line. Adam, Guy and Connie skated away towards the bench, followed by Erik and Russ. They bumped into the two defensemen half way, trying to avoid being checked again they all increased their speed.
“They’re asking for trouble,” Portman pointed out. “We should...”
“We shouldn’t do anything,” Charlie said. “There’s thirty seconds to go, Jesse’s line is going out.”
Adam climbed over the board and Charlie was just about to move out of the way when he saw how fast one of the defensemen were approaching towards Connie. It only took a second for him to understand that she would be crushed if she got checked. The next second he saw her being thrown over the shoulder of the defensemen, and he could literally hear the crushing sound when she hit the ice.
“This is not good,” Cecilia whispered to him. “Charlie, do something.”
So now suddenly it was all up to him? The last couple of weeks he’d been incompetent to do anything, and now he had to save the day.
“She’s not moving,” Travis said, holding back Guy from jumping back over the board. “We shouldn’t interfere.”
“What? She’s hurt and you want us to not care?” Guy yelled.
“Leave it to those who knows what they’re doing,” Sarah suggested. “What’s the point in getting in the way?”
Charlie closed his eyes, trying to turn back time using his will power.
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