Page 86 of Payback On The Ice

"It's mine to tell," he says quietly. "Okay? When it's time. If it's ever time. It's mine."

I want to argue. I want to stand up and go downstairs and get in my car and drive to Ashby and put my fist through a desk on a regional sports show.

"Okay," I say.

Nico calls me Thursday.

"I'm going to post something."

"Nico—"

"I'm going to post something, Dane. I've got twelve thousand followers from the injury. People listen. I'm going to say what he said in that room⁠—"

"He doesn't want you to."

"I know he doesn't want me to! He already called me!" Nico's breathing hard. "He called me crying, D. He made me promise. Again. I'm so tired of promising him things."

"I know."

"Are you going to let him do this?"

I look out my window at Birch Street. Snow's melting off the roofs. It's March.

"It's his," I say.

The line goes quiet.

"Huh," he says finally. "You really have changed."

Friday, Game 1.

Kettle's so full they've got people standing in the aisles. The student section has a banner that says WE BELIEVE THEO in letters four feet high. Somebody made it Wednesday night. Petey won't say who, which means it was Petey.

On the other side of the building, the Harrow fans have brought the chicken.

It's a guy in a full chicken suit with LINDQVIST on the back. He dances in the aisle behind the Harrow bench during warmups, and their whole section clucks every time Theo touches the puck.

Theo skates his lines. He doesn't look up.

Marrack's behind the Harrow bench. Arms crossed. Quarter-zip.

When I skate past the Harrow end in warmups, I stop. I look up at him. He looks back. He smiles.

I don't smile back.

We win 2–1.

It's ugly. Theo's quiet, no points, but he blocks two shots in the third period, and one of them he blocks with his ankle and gets up limping and doesn't come off. Okoye scores the winner off a scramble. I stop thirty-four.

In the handshake line, I'm in front of Theo. When I get to Marrack, he holds out his hand.

I don't take it.

I skate past it. I hear the crowd notice. I hear somebody on the Harrow bench say what the fuck. I keep going.

Behind me, Theo shakes Marrack's hand fast, and lets go, and comes up beside me. His shoulder bumps mine, once, through our pads.

In the room, Okoye stops at Theo's stall on his way to the showers.