Chris and I were pretty fired up on the way to the rink. This was a big one, if we could knock off these plugs, we'd move into second place. That, and the scout was coming to watch me. I knew who he was, he recruited one of the captains last year when I was just a rookie. That could be me. My ticket out of here, and away from my dad for good.
I was passing the puck back and forth with Sean while some of the other guys were taking shots at the other goalie. Rolly had started for us the night before, and Sean's dad liked to rotate. "Is your mom here yet?" Sean asked quietly.
"No, and she's not my 'mom,' really," I said. "She's my mother, but not my mom."
"No, I get it," he agreed.
I looked around the stands again. Mel was sitting up at the top. She gave me a subtle nod. I nodded back. I felt better knowing she was there.
When the puck dropped at the start of the first, I was sitting on the bench. I looked around in the stands. I could see the scout. I whispered to Chris. I still hadn't seen my mother and Chan, but I'm sure they'd show. During a stop in play, I saw Mel deke down the stairs. Chan and my mother were here. I swallowed hard. I don't know why the hell I want to impress this woman who literally abandoned me, but I do.
Since we had last change, coach was able to watch the lines and throw us out there to fuck with the opposing team. They were in the middle of changing on the fly when someone left the puck wide open at centre ice.
"Monty!" Chris yelled as I scooped up the loose puck. I checked behind my shoulder to make sure he was right behind me. We had a two-on-one, I passed on my backhand and continued to the net.
"Mello!" I called back. Chris passed it back and I roofed it over the goalie's shoulder. It was one of the nicest goals I had ever scored. After a well-deserved celly, I glanced up at Chan, Mel, and my mother as I made my way to the bench to fist-bump my teammates. So weird. A whole bunch of females here, cheering for me, and they actually liked me. I wanted to laugh. Old Monty always had girls cheering for him, but not the good kind.
We won the game 5-3 with an empty-netter, I picked up another assist and Sean's dad had given me lots of time on the PK, which I thought was a good sign, he wanted to show off my two-way play. My stomach was flip-flopping as we sat in the room after the game.
"Monty, someone wants to see you," Coach called over the noise and excitement.
I stepped out of the dressing room to see the scout from Vernon. He had a leather portfolio and was wearing a fancy Vipers jacket.
"Matthew," he said. "I'm Mike, I'm a scout from the Vernon Vipers."
"Yes, nice to meet you," I said, holding out my hand.
"As I'm sure your coach has told you, we're interested in taking a better look at you if you can keep up how you've been playing."
"I'm very interested in being a part of the Vipers organization," I said. "I'm starting a new workout program tomorrow, is there anything you think I could work on before spring camp? I want to be in the best position to make an impact."
"You've got great fundamentals, I'd like to see you be more explosive, and a little more muscle – guys in the BCHL are a lot bigger than what you're used to playing against here."
"Okay, great, thank you. I'm grateful for the opportunity and I'm going to do my very best to try to make a good impression," I said. I wanted him to know I was smart and not just some duster idiot. The entire point of going to Junior A was to get a scholly. You could be a total dumbass and play in the Dub, but getting a scholly meant you had to be smart, too, and not just good at hockey.
Most of the guys were filtering past me as I was chatting with the scout. He was telling me an overview of the program in Vernon, everything sounded perfect, minus the fact that it was so far away from Chan. Except the entire point was to try to get as far away from here as possible. This had never been a problem before.
"This all sounds great," I said. "I'm really going to work on making it to camp in the spring. Vernon is one of the best teams in the league, it would be an honour to play there."
"Well, let's keep in touch, and I'm sure I'll see you again soon."
I headed back into the room and hit the shower.
"Hey, I'll be in the lobby," Chris said as I towelled off.
"Sure, man, I'll be out in a few minutes."
Not two minutes later, Chris came running back into the room.
"Monty, you have a problem." He looked like he was going to throw up. "Your dad is here."
"What!?" I exclaimed. I didn't even finish buttoning my shirt, I threw on my team jacket and slung my bag over my shoulder. I ran to the lobby, forgetting my sticks in the hallway outside the room.
I looked around for my mother and Chan. And then, it unfolded like a fucking terrible scene in a movie, and there was nothing I could do about it. Chan and my mother walked out of the girls' bathroom, while my dad stood not 10 feet from them. The thought that my dad might show up tonight had never once crossed my mind. Ever. I had no plan, because there had never been any world in which this could possibly happen. All I could do was stand there in horror and hope the scout wasn't still here, I didn't want to be one of those guys who comes from a "troubled" family, that could get you labelled as a problem.
"Christina!?" my father yelled. He was making a scene. Again. The second time in just over a week.
"Don," she said in a curt voice.
"What the hell are you doing here!?"
"I came to watch my son play hockey."
"And with her!?" he gestured toward Chan. "I don't know what kind of stunt you're trying to pull, but you need to stay the hell away from my son."
"Don't speak to her like that," my mother said. "She did nothing wrong."
"Oh no, you don't get to swoop in here and act like you give a shit," my dad had managed to draw somewhat of a crowd, I noticed Chris's dad come back in the main doors.
"Don," Mr. C said, approaching my dad. "I think maybe it's time for you to go."
"I'm not leaving without my son," he said, turning to face Mr. Carmello. I had never seen my dad so angry. Ever. It was actually terrifying, and what do you do? Call the cops on your cop dad?
I hadn't noticed Mel come up behind me. She took my hockey bag off my shoulder. "Go," she whispered. That was what I needed. Just a little push of courage.
"Dad," I said calmly, but firmly, walking toward him. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
"What? I'm your father, and I said you are."
"No," I said in the same even tone. "I'm not going to be staying with you for a while. I'm going back to the Carmellos' house, and you're not going to follow me." That wasn't really true, because I was going back to Chan's, but I sure as shit wasn't going anywhere with my dad. "You lied to me, about my mother, you knew where she was the whole time, you had contact with her, and you kept it from me. I don't have anything to say to you."
"Is that you? Filling his head with this? Christina, you left," my father was still ranting.
"No, Don, you weren't there, I needed you, and instead of being there for me, you hid at work, and left me at home alone for days at a time. You'd rather hide at work than deal with anything."
"Sounds familiar," I added. I knew he felt attacked, the two of us ganging up on him like this, but there wasn't anything we said that wasn't true. "Maybe we can talk about this later, but for now, you should probably get out of here before someone calls the cops and you embarrass yourself in front of your friends."
Chan was clutching my hand.
"Come on, Christina, are you ready to go home?" I said, looking over my shoulder.
"Yes, please," she said, giving my dad one more death stare for good measure. Chris's dad stood between my dad and us so we could safely pass by.
Mel had gone back and grabbed my sticks, and handed me my things and the four of us walked out the front doors.
"Well, that was fun," she said quietly. "You guys going back to Chan's?"
"Yeah, I think that was enough excitement for one night," I replied. The rest of the boys were going to party somewhere, but I definitely wasn't feeling up to it.
"I'm invited to some Junior A party," Mel said, looking at her phone and rolling her eyes. "Not sure I'll be putting in an appearance there."
"You should go," I encouraged. "Just go with an open mind and maybe it won't be that bad?"
"Yeah, it might be alright," she agreed with a shrug.
"And if it blows, you can always call Sean, I'm sure he'd give you a go if you're lonely."
"Ew, Monty, fuck," she said with a laugh. "Besides, Chris is the better-looking one in that outfit, let's get serious here." I laughed, too.
Chan had gone to pull the car up, I got into the cramped back seat and let my mother sit up front with Chan.
"Thanks for driving, Chantelle," my mother said. "I appreciate it."
"I'm really glad you could come, Christina," I said. "My father doesn't make it to very many of my games."
"I'm sorry you had to see that tonight," she said with a sigh.
"And I'm sorry you had to deal with him. I haven't seen him in over a week, I didn't know he was going to be here."
"You don't have to apologise for him, he's the parent, not you," she said. "So you're staying at that other kid's house?"
"Yeah, mostly," I replied. My phone was ringing, it was Chris. "Yeah?"
"Monty, are you coming to Millsy's?"
"Nah buds, I'm staying at Chan's," I said, completely forgetting that we hadn't told my mother about everything.
"Kay, well, maybe see you tomorrow then?"
"Yeah, probably after work. I'm going to train with Carts, and then, whatever. Rolly said he might want to meet up tomorrow, I think we have dryland on Sunday, but who cares, I can run the stairs hungover."
"Sounds good, man," he said.