Page 4 of Puck Fest
He leaves. Coach Enver finally moves from his position by the door, sits down in the chair Noah vacated.
“I know what you were trying to do,” he says.
“At least somebody does.”
“You were protecting Tate. I get it. But you can’t fight every battle with your fists, Masterson. Sometimes you have to be smarter than that.”
“The guy was harassing him for being gay. What was I supposed to do, let him keep going?”
“You were supposed to get security. You were supposed to de-escalate.” Coach’s voice is tired. “You were supposed to think about the consequences before you acted.”
“Would you have? If someone was going after your kid?”
Coach is quiet for a moment. “No. Probably not. But I’m not the one who has to answer to the league tomorrow.”
He stands, heads for the door.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad Tate has teammates who have his back. I just wish you’d found a way to do it that didn’t end up on every sports network in the country.”
Then he’s gone too, and I’m left alone in the conference room.
I leave the arena through a back exit, avoid the media camped out front, and drive home in silence.
My phone’s still blowing up. Twitter’s a mess. Half the comments calling me a hero for protecting Tate, half calling me a violent asshole who should be banned from the league.
Nobody’s asking what actually happened. Nobody cares about context.
Just the video. Just the narrative.
And now I’m stuck with the uptight PR guy who thinks I’m a liability.
This season just got a lot more complicated.
CHAPTER 2
NOAH
The video has been viewedthree million times in six hours.
I’m sitting in my office at the Raptors arena, watching it play on loop across multiple screens. ESPN, TSN, every sports blog in North America. The same ten seconds, over and over.
Danny Masterson grabbing a fan by the shirt. Throwing him into a barricade. The fan going down. The crowd gasping. Security rushing in.
Perfect optics for a PR disaster.
My phone buzzes with a text from Bob Marshall.
League wants a call tomorrow at 10. Be ready.
I shoot off a response.
I’ll have a statement prepared.
He texts back almost immediately.
Make it good. Sponsors are already nervous.
I put my phone down, lean back in my chair, and try not to think about the fact that I’ve been in this job for exactly two weeks and I’m already dealing with the kind of crisis that can end careers.
