Rocket zipped up his hockey bag. He was tired, but in a good way. In the end, the scrimmage had gone great. Despite Cash hogging a lot of ice time, Rocket and his linemates had connected for two more goals: Fryer from in close, Bossy off a one-timer from the top of the circle. Rocket had assisted on both.
After lunch they’d gone back on the ice for drills, and he’d done well — he was up among the leaders in the skating. The two-on-ones were a bit difficult with his hand. He passed as much as he could. On the breakaway drills, he always deked. He’d scored his share today, so he was happy. But he also knew he couldn’t keep that up all camp. Eventually, he was going to have to shoot.
He was going to ice his hand all night. It had to get better.
The other great thing was that Kyle and Nathan had finally got a chance to show their stuff this afternoon. Kyle was a good, all-around player, and Nathan had one of the wickedest shots Rocket had ever seen.
The chirping was getting irritating, though. The vets were giving everyone a hard time, so Rocket knew not to take it personally. The bad news was that the Little Guy handle was beginning to stick, and for that reason Rocket had no desire to hang out after practice.
He rolled his bag to the stick rack and reached for the door.
“See ya later, Little Guy,” Cash called out.
A few guys snickered.
Rocket froze, the door half open. If he didn’t answer, he’d be Little Guy and a wuss.
“Better Little Guy than Big Mouth,” Rocket said.
“Oooooooohhhh,” the boys sang.
Cash’s eyes narrowed. “Like, you’re joking, right? The midget is talking trash? You’d better hurry, Little Guy. The daycare kids are going down for their naps.”
“Whatever,” Rocket said.
He left. As soon as the door closed, a cold sweat came over his body. Had he done the right thing? Talking trash was part of hockey, and he was a rookie. So was Cash, though. Why did he have the right to chirp at guys?
Rocket headed slowly toward the lobby.
But Cash wasn’t just a rookie. He was The Rookie, and Gold’s favourite. Plus, Strohler seemed to expect Rocket to be Cash’s buddy.
“Dumb, Bryan,” he muttered to himself.
Strohler was talking to Cash’s parents near the snack bar. He was out of luck if he thought Rocket was going to be Cash’s new BFF.
Devin spotted him from the corner. He took off his headphones. “How was practice?” he said.
“Not bad, thanks. You been here long?”
Devin smiled weakly. “Dad wanted to check out his prospects. He has his eye on a couple of them, like that Cashman. I was keeping stats on them, like their number of shots, how many times they scored.”
“You watched the scrimmage?”
“And the drills. Dad really wants Cashman. He’s over there with Cashman’s parents, telling them how well he did. Like, his percentage on two-on-ones and stuff. His parents were watching, too, so I don’t really get why I had to keep the stats.”
“You must really love hockey to watch an entire day of training camp,” Rocket said.
Devin shrugged, then looked over at Strohler. “Dad wants me to find out how you did with Cashman.”
“You guys don’t fool around,” Rocket said. He stifled a laugh.
Devin was dead serious.
“My dad just wants to know what you talked about, how you’re getting along and what Cashman is thinking, about agents and stuff. It’s kind of important. It’s sort of why you’re living with us.”
Rocket was a bit taken aback. The reason he was living with them? “Um … it was a busy first day — not a lot of time to talk, really.”
Devin leaned forward. “You can’t tell him that. He’ll freak. Dad says you’re our Trojan Horse. You’re supposed to be our secret agent on the inside. Think of something. Make it up, even. But make it good.”
He sounded worried.
Strohler was shaking hands with Cash’s parents.
“Okay, Dawn, I’ll speak with you tomorrow,” he said to Cash’s mom. “Chris, your boy looked real comfortable out there. Impressive.”
“I thought the line changes were garbage,” Chris said, his chin jutting out. He and Dawn left to speak to Gold.
Strohler beckoned Rocket and Devin over.
“Did you buddy up with Cash?” Strohler demanded.
Devin looked at Rocket.
“For sure. Yeah.” Rocket paused. “He’s a nice guy.”
“Let’s hurry,” Strohler said. “I got a call in ten minutes. You can fill me in while we drive home. Devin, can you hustle for once in your life?”
Devin tapped his right hand on his thigh and jabbed the other in the air, head bobbing. Rocket was standing next to him. He didn’t hear any music from the headphones. Strohler was already out the door.
“We should maybe hurry,” Rocket said. “’Cause your dad …”
Devin tapped away to the music.
The trunk was open when Rocket got to the SUV. He tossed his bag and sticks in and sat in the back row.
“Could you be slower?” Strohler said to Devin as he got in.
“Bryan, what did you and Cash talk about?” Strohler asked, reversing out of the parking spot.
“Not much … Hockey stuff.”
“Like?”
“I wasn’t on his line, so I didn’t really have—”
“You were on Red together,” Strohler cut in. “Did he mention anything about an agent?”
“He said he didn’t have one yet, but lots of them tried to get him to sign during the summer,” Rocket offered. That much was true.
“Interesting. Did he give names?”
Devin was right. He wanted real information. Problem was, Rocket didn’t have much.
“I said, did he give names?”
“He didn’t mention anyone specifically, more like agents in general,” Rocket said.
“Job one is to get me the names of any agents he’s speaking to. That’s critical. Can you do that?”
“I can try.”
“Make it happen. I need to know the competition. What else?”
“He worked out a lot in the summer.”
Strohler grimaced. “No kidding. I mean, what else about who he might sign with?”
“He has a stick deal with Reebok.”
Strohler slapped the steering wheel. “I knew Chris was a liar. He’s a skinny little weasel. Total snakes, the lot of them. ‘Oh, we haven’t signed any deals yet. We want to keep our options open,’” he mimicked in a high-pitched voice. “They’re playing me.”
The SUV burned through a stop sign.
“You got to try and hang with him more, buddy up to him, invite him over to our house. You can play video games. Find out his favourite game.” Strohler was getting more and more excited as he spoke. “That’s perfect. All boys love gaming. Tell him we’ve got a huge TV and a sweet game console and he can play whatever he wants. Invite the other guys on his line, too, Hoffer and Gruny. Get them all over. Then I’ll come in, do my thing, get the connections, and I’m off to the races.” He gave the steering wheel another whack and laughed.
The SUV raced around a corner. They went right, left and then whipped into the driveway. Rocket felt relieved they’d made it in one piece. The guy drove like maniac.
“Okay, my call’s here. Get your stuff out of the back and toss it in the garage,” Strohler said.
The garage door began to open.
Strohler touched his earpiece. “Gentlemen,” he said. “How are we today?”
Rocket pulled his bag and sticks out as quietly as he could and put them in the garage.
“Didn’t Carl pick you up?” Kimberly said as he walked into the house.
“He’s in the car,” Rocket said. “On a call.”
Kimberly’s eyes narrowed, but then she smiled at him. “How was your practice?”
“Good. Intense. Tomorrow will be tough. We have dry-land training and then a scrimmage.”
“I imagine you’re hungry. Dinner will be in an hour. Is that okay or would you like a snack?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Rocket said.
“Feel free to go for a swim. I turned the heat up a bit. I figured after such a hard day, you’d enjoy a little dip.”
“That’s really nice. Thanks. Maybe I will.”
“Ask Devin if he wants to join you. He’s been in the arena all day. He should get some fresh air.”
Rocket headed down to his room. Kimberly seemed really nice. How’d she end up with someone like Strohler?
Passing the movie room, Rocket heard gunshots, so he opened the door. Devin was already playing World of Warcraft.
“Yo, Devin. I’m probably going to hit the pool. You want to come?”
It felt weird asking Devin to come for a swim. It was his pool.
Devin put the game on pause. “What really went on with Cashman?”
Rocket stepped into the room and closed the door. Something told him Devin could be trusted. He didn’t seem very close to his dad. “I’m not sure I can actually do what your dad wants.”
“You mean Cashman’s not coming over to hang with me?” Devin said. The corners of his mouth moved up slightly. Rocket knew he’d been right. Devin got it.
“He’s a huge jerk,” Rocket said. “Acts like he’s in the NHL already. He spent the day chirping at everyone. Especially me.”
“Why you?”
Rocket leaned his arms on the top of a couch. “No idea. Maybe because I don’t have a stick deal with Reebok.”
“Really?”
“Well, maybe it’s more that I’m five foot six, weigh a hundred forty-eight pounds and got drafted in the last round. I’m a good target or, more like, a good joke — a good, little joke.”
Devin turned around in the chair to face him directly. “You got a goal and three assists in the scrimmage, and you had a seventy-four percent success rate at getting a shot on the two-on-ones.” He shrugged. “I figured I may as well keep the stats on you since I was there. You’re a good player — always around the puck and a good passer. Maybe you could shoot more. Your line had good puck possession — way higher percentage than Cashman’s line. You have a good chance of getting on as the third centre, behind Cashman and Bourque, although it’s still early.”
“Wow, I’m impressed.”
“My dad taught me. I do the stats at games, so he can watch the play.”
“You go to many games?”
Devin lowered his brow and looked up at Rocket.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Rocket said.
“I’ll be honest with you. Your size is an issue. Gold likes his players big. My dad, too.”
“Guess what my nickname is on the team?”
“What?”
“Little Guy — not exactly a hockey classic.”
“I looked you up. Aren’t you called the Rocket? That’s kind of a hockey classic, isn’t it?”
“Not sure Rocket is going to catch on. Little Guy seems to be driving ahead at the moment. Anyway, let’s forget about hockey and hit the pool. Your mom said you could show me how the hot tub works.”
Devin put the controller down. “A hot tub would be good for your muscles. They worked you hard today.”
Rocket was beginning to like this guy. He was kind of a geek, but he was honest and had a sense of humour. And he knew his hockey — Rocket always liked that.
“Give me a sec and I’ll throw on my suit,” Rocket said. “And is there any chance you could find an icepack?”
“Are you hurt?”
Again, Rocket decided to trust him. “I banged my hand up a few days ago. It’s bugging me.”
“I assume that explains the lack of shots,” Devin said.
“You got it. I’m going to have to fight through it. If guys figure out I can’t shoot, then they’ll play off me,” Rocket said.
“The latest research suggests that after the first twenty-four hours, you are better off applying direct heat to the injured area,” Devin said. “It’s been found to be very beneficial. We have these beanbag heating bags. I could warm one up.”
Rocket had never heard that before. Devin didn’t sound like the type who was wrong too often, though. The ice certainly hadn’t helped much.
“I’ll try it. But Devin, can we keep this between us?”
“Sure.”
Devin went off to get changed and get the heating bag. Rocket went to his bedroom and closed the door.
For a moment he felt exhausted. That was a lot of hockey today. But it wasn’t his body that was tired. The mental stress was way harder than the physical stuff. He felt like a bug under a microscope: every move noticed, written down and analyzed. Even Devin had stats on him.
His laptop beeped. Maddy was Skyping. He looked at the time.
“Whoops,” he said as he answered.
“Thanks for only being twenty minutes late. I’ve got to get going soon,” she said.
“Sorry, practice went later than I thought.”
“Whatever. I didn’t want to talk to you anyway.”
“Actually, I don’t have a lot of time either. I have to take a hot tub — after I swim in the Strohlers’ heated pool.”
Maddy’s head drooped. “You’re joking, right?”
“I am a little. First I’m going to hit the sauna, or maybe the steam room, then go for the hot tub.”
“Are you staying at a five-star hotel?”
“Almost. This place is insane. Nicest house I’ve ever seen. These guys are so loaded, it’s crazy.”
“Well, we have a new air-conditioning system here — someone smashed the window in the lobby door.” She laughed.
Rocket slumped forward. “Are you serious? Who did it?” He didn’t find it funny.
“Who knows? But anyone can walk in and the superintendent doesn’t care. Your mom is freaked out, though. Maybe I am, too. Anyway, I’m not sure it beats a pool.”
“Sorry, Maddy.”
“It’s nothing. Not like this is the first time someone broke a window here.”
“I know, but I feel bad for you.” He paused. “I’m still taking the hot tub, though.”
“I figured.”
“You got to come up and stay for a night or two. They have tons of extra rooms. I even have my own bathroom, and it’s two times — no, make that three times — bigger than ours. There’s a tub and a shower and two sinks. Not sure why anyone would need two sinks. I use them both, though.”
“Good to hear you’re keeping yourself clean.”
“Ha, ha. Maddy’s being funny. Any trouble with Connor and his crew?”
“Nope. I haven’t even seen them. I’m sure they’re spreading their usual joy. Anyway, I have to go. There’s someone at the door.”
“Who is it?”
“Um, just a friend. We’re going to a movie.”
“Who is it?”
“Rocket!”
“Tell me,” he said.
Maddy had gone red in the face. “Fine. It’s André. He asked me to go to a movie tonight. I figured, why not? No big deal.”
“I didn’t say it was. Say hi for me.” He grinned at her and wiggled his eyebrows a few times.
“Goodbye, Rockwood.”
“See ya, sis.”
Her face softened. “See ya, bro.”
The screen went blank.
Maddy and André were going to a movie. That was cool. Why shouldn’t they be friends?
Rocket went out to the pool and put his towel down on a lounge chair. On the other side of the deck there was a gazebo and, next to it, a big barbeque and a fridge. The deep end of the pool had an awesome diving board. It was built into a mountain of rocks and stones. This place really was insane.
He flexed the fingers of his right hand. He hoped Devin was right about the heat.
Devin came out and pressed a button. The hot tub began bubbling away. For the first time since Rocket had met him, Devin was actually smiling.
“You thinking swim or tub?” Devin said.
“No brainer,” Rocket said. “Hot tub all the way.”