Julie was unnervingly calm the rest of the afternoon. She spent the bus ride to the rink sitting beside Mark, cracking up as he did bad impersonations of everyone on the team.
"All I care about is my ma and hockey and my hair," he said in an overly-exaggerated Boston accent. 'Hockey' came out sounding more like 'hawkey' and there was no 'r' sound at the end of 'hair.' Julie laughed, pointing at Jack across the aisle, who sat beside Silky. Jack just glared at the two of them, shaking his head.
"You forgot that he cares about bugging the everloving shit out of me," Julie pointed out.
"Yeah, and don't you forget it," Jack told them, leaning across the aisle to mess up Julie's hair.
"Jack, stop! You're annoying," Julie whined.
"Jack, stop! You're annoying," Mark mocked in a valley girl tone.
"I do not sound like that!" Julie argued once again.
"Yes, you do," Jack told her flatly.
"Mackey, do I sound like a valley girl?" Julie questioned her best friend who sat behind her with Rizzo.
"You have for about a year and a half now. It started slowly, but I definitely heard it happen. Less Minnesotan, more Californian," Rob explained, making Julie's jaw drop. Kathy had said that Julie lost her Minnesotan accent, but Julie had no idea that she sounded so Californian.
"Did you really not know?" Mark laughed.
"No, but I guess it makes sense. Tommy and Cyndi are from California, so they have such bad California accents. Maybe I picked it up from them," Julie guessed.
"Tommy always was your worst influence," Rob chuckled. He liked all of the members of Stonehead, but it was no secret that Tommy tended to help Julie get in the most trouble.
"What does that mean?" Mark questioned. He was careful about giving Julie her space, but truthfully, Mark was wildly curious about her life before returning to Minnesota.
"Tommy is like my separated-at-birth twin. We clicked the moment we met, but we've gotten into a ton of trouble together. In fact, we're not even allowed to leave the house together without a chaperone anymore," Julie explained.
"Which is totally justified," Rob spoke up, glaring at Julie.
"Oh, my God! You get into a stranger's van to drive up the coast one time and all of a sudden no one trusts you," she rolled her eyes. The boys just laughed.
"Do you hear yourself when you talk?" Rob questioned.
"Tommy was with me the whole time, we were fine. They were really nice," she defended.
"You were missing for three days."
"I wasn't missing. I knew exactly where I was."
"No one else did!"
"I gotta side with Rob on this one," Mark said, shaking his head at Julie.
"You guys are no fun," Julie protested.
"Yeah, that's why you're with us. Someone has to keep you in line," Rizzo told her from beside Rob.
"For the record, the twenty-four of you combined couldn't keep me in line if I was actually wanting to get into trouble," Julie informed them.
"We'll take your word for it," Jack promised, rolling his eyes at his friend.
Herb sat in his usual seat in the front of the bus, trying to focus on the game ahead. He couldn't quite get over the nagging feeling in his stomach. The sound of his niece laughing with his players rang through the bus, but Herb felt uneasy. Herb would have liked to think that Julie's easy-going demeanor was a good sign, but unfortunately, he didn't believe it. Herb had known Julie her entire life. He remembered how she reacted when her mom left, when her dad would get belligerently drunk, when he eventually died. He remembered the fights she had with Rob, the teenage girl spats she had at school, the nights Julie and Patti would argue. Even when she was a little girl, he remembered the anger she would feel when a fish escaped her hook on a trip to the lake, how mad she had been when skating didn't come naturally to her. He even remembered the Sunday morning when she was 15 that one of her guitar strings broke, and she had to wait until Monday after school to go get a new one. In all of these situations, Julia tended to react brashly. She would cry, yell, stomp her feet when she was little. Herb couldn't understand why, after such a stressful day, she was laughing and seemingly relaxed. The only thing he could guess was that she had a private meltdown, which was still not her typical style. Julia Brooks craved human interaction, attention, affection. She wasn't a particularly private person.
Herb couldn't help but worry that Julie was bottling up her feelings. He could only hope that whenever she finally snapped, she could handle it without the drugs she was so accustomed to reaching for. Whatever luck had come their way to make the timing fall so perfectly to bring Julie back to Minnesota while the boys were here, Herb didn't understand. Nevertheless, he was thankful for it.
Julie sat in her seat, waiting for the game to start. She had changed into jeans and Mark's home jersey, letting her wavy hair fall loose around her shoulders. She was used to being one of the first people in the stands, as she always arrived with the team. She had tried her best to wait patiently, but her eyes kept wandering to the concession stands, hoping they would open soon. She had skipped lunch, after all. It felt like an eternity that she waited, until fans slowly started to trickle in. Figuring that the concession stands had to be open at this point, she vacated her seat a few rows behind the boys' bench to find some food. Julie loved the pregame atmosphere at the arena. No matter where you went, it was always the same. It smelled like popcorn, and the chatter of excited fans seemed to grow by the minute. Even as she waited in line at the concession stand, she couldn't help but smile at the two children in front of her, wearing matching Capitals jerseys. They must've been brother and sister, as they had the same blonde hair. She couldn't help but be reminded of Danny and Kelly as she watched the pair bicker, although the kids in front of her appeared younger than her cousins.
"Will you two please behave?" The woman in front of the children turned around, her voice heavy with exasperation.
Every hair on the back of Julie's neck stood up, and a chill went down her spine. She knew that voice. She would always know that voice.
"Mommy, I want a chocolate bar!" The small girl whined. Her mother sighed, still oblivious to Julie's presence. The blonde woman leaned down to her small daughter's level. That was a face Julie hadn't seen in thirteen years.
"Shelly, I told you, no chocolate bars. You had a cookie after dinner."
Julie was frozen, stuck in her spot as she watched the three of them. Had there been anything in her stomach, she would've thrown it up already. Every breath she took was short and shallow.
"Popcorn, please!" The young boy said excitedly as he bounced up to the front counter. The woman turned around and paid for the popcorn. She hadn't even noticed Julie. It was the little girl, Shelly, that turned around and stared up at Julie. Her big blue eyes seemed to bore into Julie's. Julie knew already that the two of them looked alike.
"I know you," the young girl said definitively. "You're on the cover of Mommy's magazines."
Julie gave a tight-lipped smile to the young girl, and didn't respond. It wasn't Shelly's fault, and she shouldn't be mean to her. It must've been the sound of her young daughter talking to a stranger that finally caused the woman to turn around, coming face to face with Julie. The two just stared at each other, a seemingly mirror image. Julie looked more like her than either one would ever admit, the only difference being hair color, seeing as Julie had inherited her father's dark hair. They were nearly the same height, though Julie was skinnier. No one could deny that Julie looked just like her mother in the face. The same eyes, the same high cheekbones and arched eyebrows.
"Julia. I hoped I might run into you here," Sylvia finally spoke.
"Did your parents tell you I was going to be here?" Julie asked after finally finding her voice.
"Yes. But I already knew your uncle was coaching the team," Sylvia admitted. The young boy stood a few feet away from them, eating popcorn and tapping his foot impatiently. Shelly continued to stare up at Julie curiously.
"What are you doing here?" Julie asked. How she was managing to hold it together, she had no idea. Honestly, she felt like she was on auto-pilot. It was as if she wasn't even fully immersed in the situation. It was like she was watching someone else control her body.
"My husband coaches the Capitals," Sylvia informed her.
That was when it went to hell.
"You married a hockey coach?" Julie questioned, her voice raising unintentionally. "You always told me you hated hockey!"
"You hate hockey?" The young boy asked, coming towards his mother. Sylvia was starting to look overwhelmed.
"Do they know?" Julie asked her mother, gesturing towards the kids that were staring with so much confusion on their faces.
"Do we know what?" Shelly asked, her head cocking to the side.
"Everyone just calm down," Sylvia commanded. "Let's go somewhere a little more private and talk about this."
Sylvia took Shelly by the hand, placing her other hand on Julie's shoulder, which Julie quickly shrugged off, following Sylvia despite the voice in her head screaming at her to run. The boy, who was still nameless to Julie, followed along, loudly eating his popcorn. Sylvia lead them through the arena, turning into a tunnel, bright with fluorescent lights. No one spoke as they walked quickly down a long hallway. They approached a door guarded by a security officer, who nodded and greeted Sylvia and the kids, but stared warily at Julia. Sylvia just nodded at him, walking past him to open the door, giving way to the bustling hub of activity behind the door. Locker rooms, equipment rooms, offices. People hustled around in anticipation of the night's game.
"This way," Sylvia said, pulling Julia away from her distractions and into an office, shutting the door behind them. "This is Danny's office, but by this time he's usually in the locker room with the boys."
"I wanna go see Dad," the boy whined, staring out the door they had entered into.
"You can see him after the game, Russell. Everyone sit down."
Sylvia sat in the chair behind the desk, putting Shelly onto her lap. Russell sat in one of the two chairs in front of the desk. Julie hesitated for a long moment before finally taking a seat in the other chair.
"So they don't know? Does your husband know?" Julie took the opportunity to speak first. Sylvia pressed her lips together in a tight line.
"Yes, Julia. He knows. I was going to tell them, but then all of the sudden you were famous. It seemed a little complicated to explain to them," Sylvia admitted.
"Will you tell us what's going on?" Russell spoke up. Sylvia took a deep breath, before looking at her son.
"This is Julia. She's your sister. A long time ago I was married to someone else and we had Julia," Sylvia explained.
"Why haven't we ever met her?" Shelly asked, staring at her supposed sister.
"Julie lives far away. In Minnesota."
"I live in California," Julie corrected.
"She grew up in Minnesota and then she moved to California. She's here to watch the hockey game."
"Why is she on your magazines?" Shelly questioned.
"Because your sister is in a band, a very popular band. You've heard her singing on the radio," Sylvia informed her youngest child.
"Why haven't we heard any of this before?" Russell asked, clearly skeptical of the whole situation.
Julia stared at her mother, her blue eyes blank and emotionless. She wondered how Sylvia would handle this. Would she admit to her own children that she had once abandoned Julie and her husband? Would she tell them how she had packed all of her things, swiping a photo of Julie off her dresser, and been gone in the night? Would she let Julie explain how one morning she woken up late in the morning, because no one had gotten her up for school, and come face-to-face with her father drunk in the kitchen?
"Because we haven't seen each other in a long time. We haven't talked in a long time," Sylvia said quietly.
Before anyone could say anything, the office door opened, giving way to a middle-aged man in a suit. He looked surprised to see the office full of people, and then his eyes landed on Julie. Julie thought his eyeballs would pop right out of the sockets.
"Daddy! I have a big sister!" Shelly blurted before anyone could explain anything.
"Julia," he acknowledged, looking at the young woman in his office.
"Julia, this is Danny Belisle, my husband. Danny, you know who Julia is," Sylvia introduced, getting up to stand beside her husband, holding Shelly on her hip. Russell must've taken after his father, both stocky, with short brown hair. Danny was dressed in a suit and tie, much like what Herb and Craig would be wearing. Julie watched him look her over, his eyes landing on the Team USA jersey she wore.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Julia. I'm looking forward to seeing your boys play tonight. Herb Brooks is your uncle, correct?"
"Yeah, that's Uncle Herb. Although 'uncle' doesn't really cut it. He and his wife basically raised me, ya know?" Julie said pointedly, with a sideways glance to her mother.
"Of course," Danny nodded awkwardly. "Hey, Shelly, Russ, why don't you come with me? I got some stuff I could use your help with."
Russ ran out of the office quickly, but Shelly's face turned into a pout. Julie swore she was looking at a blonde-haired version of herself as a child.
"I wanna stay here with Mommy and my sister," she whined. Julie actually felt kind of bad as she looked at the little girl, but there was still a feeling of resentment. Shelly had the mother that Julie never got, and never would.
"I'm sure you can come see them later, but let's give them a little time for now," Danny said, taking his daughter from Sylvia and exiting the office. Sylvia watched them go before taking the seat beside Julie that Russell had occupied. They stared at each other in awkward silence.
"Why did you ask your parents to call me?" Julie piped up.
"I thought it would be an easier transition than me calling you. I thought you'd be more likely to give them a chance. Although from what I hear, you barely did," Sylvia gave a humorless laugh, glancing at her daughter.
"Yeah, well, Herb threatened me. He thought I owed it to them. Then once they found out I was coming to D.C. they wanted to meet me. And now I'm sitting in a hockey coach's office talking to the woman who abandoned me when I was eight," Julie said casually, watching Sylvia flinch at the last part.
"Julia, I am so sorry," Sylvia whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. Julia couldn't help the sick satisfaction she felt.
"Where did you go when you left us? Did you know we moved?" Julia wasn't sure how long this was going to last, but she was going to get answers to all the questions she had.
"Yes, I knew you moved. My parents kept me pretty up-to-date with what happened. I went to Philadelphia, and then to Hartford, New York City, Boston. I bounced around for a while. Then I went to Vancouver and met Danny while he was playing for the Canucks. I didn't know he was a hockey player at first. I could've cursed the irony when I found out. But I was already falling for him, and eventually we got married."
"When did you get married?"
"January of 1972."
Julia could've spit in her face.
"Right after Dad died. Because you never got a divorce, but then you found out he was dead and everything worked out perfectly, huh?"
"Julia, no. Danny and I had already talked about getting married. I contacted your father in October of 71 to get divorced," Sylvia rationalized.
Suddenly, everything clicked. That fall, her father's drinking had gotten entirely out of control, and no one knew why. Until now.
"So you were contacting my father, but couldn't contact me? In thirteen years?" Julie's voice was starting to shake. Whatever had made Julie so docile just a few moments ago was out the window now.
"I didn't want to confuse you. I didn't want you to think I was coming back."
"Oh, I fucking knew you weren't coming back! I knew the minute I saw your shit was missing from our house. When I saw my dad crying at the kitchen table and his coffee smelled funny, I fucking knew. Don't think for one second that I ever thought you were coming back," Julie told her mother, her words pouring out like venom. Sylvia was crying now, but Julia didn't care. Her heart was thumping in her chest, her hands were shaking more with each passing second. "Why did you do it? Why did you leave?"
"Because I wasn't happy. I wasn't happy with your father. There's a lot you don't know about him," Sylvia said between her tears.
"That may be true, but I do know one thing about my dad, and that's the fact that he stayed. He didn't leave me," Julie said furiously, her own eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"He was an alcoholic, Julia."
"You think I don't know that? And, you knew he was an alcoholic, and still left me with him! He drove us from Hanover to Saint Paul, and I'm sure he was drunk the entire time. But he never stopped loving me."
"Neither did I," Sylvia said, looking through her tears at her daughter.
"Bullshit! Fuck you, Sylvia. I should've never given you or your stupid parents a chance," Julia was nearly yelling as she got up from her chair, stomping towards the door. She stopped with her hand on the doorknob, turning back to glance at her mother.
"Take better care of Shelly and Russell than you did me."