A/N: Thanks Jad!
Chapter 126: Tangers XIII—A Sense of Nothing Wrong
How could Modo not be gay? Of course that boggled everyone’s minds, especially mine. I mean it wasn’t as if I wanted him to be gay, or any of us for that matter. It was just that we had all grown so accustomed to thinking of him as being gay that it was hard to just switch gears. I had to admit though, pretending to be gay to get a trade, now that was just pure genius and to pull it off so convincingly! I had to tip my hat to the guy!
It was looking to be a pretty good day too. Not only were we in the locker room, happy that Modo was not gay, we also had Joey back! It couldn’t get any better than that! I mean it seemed like it had been forever since Joey was gone and now he was cleared to play. It would be wonderful to look down the bench and see him there, C on his chest were it belonged! Not that Keaner was a bad captain, he was pretty smart and logical and all that... but I really could do without his daily-make-Blakie-push-penny-across-lockerroom floor-with-his nose-just-to-show-him-who’s-boss routine.
Of course if Joey were to be captain again then the team would have to approve it. It was just a formality seeing as of course we all wanted him back! But Joe sat back in the locker room, insisting that it be put to a vote. Patty was more than happy to oversee that and he looked all serious as he said, "All those who would like Keaner to step down as captain raise hands."
All of us raised our hands, no knock against Keaner who raised his own hand as well, yawning and grinning.
"Does anyone have any nominations for a new captain?" he asked.
We were all silent.
"Raise your hands if you still think Modo is gay..."
There was a loud, surprised cough from Modano and the rest of us gasped in shock until we saw the smile in Patty’s eyes. Just Keaner raised his hand and the rest of us laughed. Modano looked less than amused, I guess it was kind of a mean joke.
"Patty," Joe snapped. "Keep it serious!"
I think Joey was in a bad mood with Patty that day cause I heard that Patty had autographed Mitchell’s face with a sharpie marker.
"Sorry, sorry," Patty said, "All those who would like Joey... Joe to be reinstated as Captain raise your hands!"
Without hesitation the team raised their hands and there was a contented smile from our reinstated captain. He looked at Keaner and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks man, you really took good care of the guys."
Keaner grinned and said. "My pleasure."
"I love ya man!" Rob exclaimed, patting Joey on the leg! "I’m soooo glad you’re back!"
There were similar comments and compliments from around the room and Coach Hartley stood up. "Good now that we got that squared away...."
Yup things seemed just perfect at that moment.
It was at the pre-game skate that I finally saw Mitchell Sakic. He was sitting with Michele and the kids next to the glass behind Patty’s net. Oooo it was pretty bad... and funny! I could see the black, straight initials of Patty’s autograph on Mitchell’s forehead and what was more I could see that little Jana had Joe’s autograph swirling on her face. I couldn’t help but smile at them and Jana waved at me, pointing at her forehead, obviously very proud.
I waved at them noticing Michele looking at Jana and shaking her head.
Jonathan was sitting with that little girlfriend of his, Elena. Aw how cute they looked together! Kids these days! They were sharing a soda and tossing popcorn at each other.
When I turned back to the team, I noticed Mike Modano kinda leaning against the glass, a sad look on his face. At that point it occurred to me that Mike had been with the Stars organization his entire life! He had never had to go through a trade before. I knew that I would probably be scared to death if I were traded, so I skated over to him.
"Hey Mike," I said.
Modano startled and then looked at me, I could just see all the sadness. "Hey," he said quietly and looked away again.
I looked in the same direction he was and I could see the Red Wings practicing, swirling around and taking shots at the net. Brett Hull was stretching on the ice, Boyd Devereaux next to him.
"You miss home?" I asked.
"Sure," Modo said.
I felt really bad. "Hey," I said. "Denver’s a real great place once ya get used to the altitude, and the people here are nice... I mean if ya need a friend or if you’re lonely or anything... I mean you’ll totally be a fan favorite here and..."
Mike looked back at me and smiled. "Sure, thanks," he said. "I’m sure it’ll be great."
I nodded and patted him on the arm. I felt so good about myself at that point. I mean I was helping out a hockey brother in need! How cool was that? "Hey and this is the best time to join the team! I mean like against the Red Wings and all!"
Modano nodded. "I’m sure it’ll be real interesting.
With that Modano skated away to take his shots at the net. I looked back at the Red Wings and I could see that Brett Hull was standing on the ice, looking over in my direction it seemed. There was a funny expression on his face, but I decided that I didn’t want to think about it.
"Hey Tangers," Foote said, skating up to me.
"Yup," I replied.
"What were ya talking with Mikey Mo about?" he said.
I looked at Footer’s face and shrugged. "Just telling him that if he needed a friend, you know all that stuff."
Footer nodded and then he giggled. "Did you get a good look at Chelios and Maltby?"
I shook my head and glanced over at the Wings. "No." I couldn’t see either Chelios or Maltby.
"Well," Footer said. "They both have red marks on their cheeks, it looks like some bunny or someone slapped them real hard.
I raised my eyebrows and really looked for them. "Woah!" I replied. "They do! How funny."
"Yeah," Footer giggled. "We can’t stop laughing about it."
I laughed to myself as I skated to the center of the ice and waited my turn to take some practice shots. Yup things just seemed perfect as ever. There was no sense of anything wrong, and I just couldn’t wait for the game to begin.
Even though the real bloodshed of this rivalry with the Red Wings had ended before I even joined the team, there was still something special about the games. I always felt like that I was part of some fun tradition in games that were never boring.
I looked back at the glass and I could see Mitchell in Michele’s lap, dozing off. Aw, and he was going to see his Dad up close on his first game back! What a treat for the kid.
I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face and then the horn sounded signaling for us to leave the ice. The game was almost ready to begin now.
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