The Penalty Box

Chapter 52

The boys were all gasping for air by the time we ended our first practice. I understood now why Coach Cartwright loved coaching Lightning more than anything, something about it was just magical.

"Well boys, welcome to the Lightning," I said skating towards the boards," Get some rest, and I'll see all of you back here on Wednesday."

"You're good at this," Conrad said as all the boys left.

"I had some good practice up in Boston," I shrugged," And this is a good group of boys."

"And you're a good coach," he laughed.

I looked at him and back at the ice," I had a good coach who taught me all he knew."

Cartwright had left the Raleigh area two years ago. He and his wife moved back out west, along with their son, Jones. He called me a couple times in the first weeks of preparation for the season, giving me as much advice as he could.

Conrad threw his arm around my shoulder and walked out off the rink with me. The two of us went into my office and started trying to figure out lines.

After a couple hours, I pulled out two bottles of beer from the fridge in the little restaurant we had in the rink, and brought them back to my office.

"How's Coty adjusting to being back here," Conrad asked after a while.

I shrugged and glanced at the picture of the two of us on desk," He's looking for apartment, so he doesn't have live with his mom. And he loves all of the guys."

"That's something, right?"

"No, it's great," I replied," I just see him even less than I did when he was in Pitt."

"How is that possible?" Conrad asked.

"When he was in Pitt, we'd at least FaceTime and stuff all of the time. Now he's not even five minutes away, and I haven't seen him at all in the last week. I'm proud of him, and I get it because we're both busy. But still."

Conrad nodded and looked back down at his sheet of paper," When's Jared supposed to come home? I talked to him earlier, but forgot to ask."

I looked at my phone, checking that time," Uh, my mom should've picked him up by now. I'm sure he'll be causing a ruckus by the time we get back."

"Brandon told me last night that he wished he'd tried out for us," Conrad mentioned," I get why he didn't, since he's playing AAA and all, but he hates it already."

I shrugged and flipped the page to look at the next play breakdown," It is what it is. He has a better shot at scholarships where he is."

"I don't know if he'll play in college though," Conrad admitted," It's a lot different from playing youth. I mean you know how it was, and I quit after my first year."

I laughed and took another swig of my beer," Yeah, I know how it is. I still have the scars to prove it."

It didn't seem to matter that girls hockey didn't allow hitting, or any contact. I ended up being cut by a couple skate blades, and a stick to the face. I had a scar on each arm from a skate. But during my junior year I got a crazy concussion, which made my doctor suggest that I stop playing, and although I finished out the year, I didn't play again after that. I still got on the ice for some pick up and stick and puck here and there. And I was so stranger to scrimmaging with my team.

On my desk, and on the shelves in my office of my various teams. Both the teams I played on throughout all the years, and the teams I'd coached. My entire life was shone in these pictures.

"Alright, I'm calling it a day," I said turning off my little lamp.

"I'm hungry," Conrad said, as his stomach growled rather loudly.

"I can tell," I laughed," My mom said she'd make mac in honor of Jared coming home."

"Ah, all of the Smith kids all back in the same town," He marveled," Hell is about to freeze over."