“Hey, Artie, I didn’t expect to see you here. What made you crawl out of your hole?”
“I’m scouting today. Heard there are a couple of players to watch out for. Decided I’d see for myself. What about you? I heard you were training.”
“Yup, decided I’d hit up Parker’s training this summer. She is kicking my ass, but it’s the best training I’ve gotten.” He smiles at me. “Artie, meet my girl, Parker. Parker, meet the man who came to scout me.”
“Nice to meet you, Artie.” I reach out to shake his hand.
“Parker, you wouldn’t be Matthew’s mom, would you?”
I know it’s silly, but I’m beaming with pride. “Yes, that would be my son.”
“Heard good things about him. Heard he has one heck of a shot, that he’s fast, too. What do you think, Cooper? Did you get a chance to go one-on-one with him?”
“Yup, she brought him in a couple of weeks ago. He’s got a powerful shot, he’s got speed, but he’s got hockey sense. It’s like he sees the play before it happens. He really is one to watch.”
“Yeah, that is what I heard also. Well, I guess I’ll see you in there. Good luck, Mom.” He nods at me, walking away, writing something in his notepad. What I wouldn’t give to know what it was.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” I say. I always get this way before Matthew’s game. It gets me every time.
“You’re going to be okay, babe.” He pulls me to him, shoving me under his arm, picking up Allison, then making us walk in with more rainbow loom conversations.
We are in the second period of the game. It has been absolutely nuts so far. The other team came out guns blazing, looking to destroy us. It didn’t help that they gunned for Matthew. It also didn’t help that he liked to antagonize the other players.
Every single time they stopped for a face-off or offside you would see his lips moving. I’m not a lip reader, but I can imagine it isn’t a PG conversation or that they are wishing each other good luck. James made it to the game but decided to sit a couple of rows back, which fits me just fine.
He actually brought Tiffany, which is fine, but she’s reading a book. What the actual fuck is she doing? I’m sitting next to Cooper, Meghan, and Tom. The kids have opted to play in the tikes’ room.
I look over and finally see my dad sitting talking to Artie. He never misses Matthew’s games, ever. He is usually in and out, taking notes then calling him with things to change. At first Matthew used to dread the phone calls, now he calls before my dad even has a chance.
It is also the first time that he will see me with Cooper, another thing that I will be getting a phone call about. A bang of the board in the corner brings me back to the game. Even before my eyes find his number I know it’s Matthew. He has a thing with getting in that corner, not caring who he has to battle with for that puck.
I see some shoving going on, with Matthew laughing, not even thinking anything of it, then in the blink of an eye the other kid punches Matthew sideways against the head, making his neck snap hitting the glass. I’m already standing on my feet, getting ready to get on that ice and kick some ass.
“What the hell, ref, control the game!” I yell. In the meantime, Matthew just realized what happened and has his fingers in the guy’s cage, yanking him down onto the ice.
It takes two refs to pry him off the kid, and they are both ushered to the penalty box where he takes off his helmet, looking over at the other kid, throwing out more F bombs than I thought was possible, and coming from me, that is a fuck of a lot. I’m ready to go over there and bang on the window when Cooper yanks me back.
“Babe, sit down,” he orders me, having me glare at him.
“Cooper, you better get your hand off me right now. I have to go and see if he’s okay.”
“Babe, he’s fine, he’s better than fine. Look at him.”
I take a second to look at Matthew. He’s smirking at his grandfather, all the while telling the other guy to suck his dick, making me gasp. What happened to my little boy? You know, the little boy who was polite? “Did he just tell that kid to suck his dick?” I look at Cooper, hearing Meghan and Tom burst out laughing.
“See, he’s just like his mom,” Meghan says, earning herself one of my many ‘I’ll kill you’ glares, and she laughs louder.
“Way to go, Matthew. Kick some ass,” Tom yells, gaining himself a glare as well.