Note: I'm glad to hear that people like the concept of this story. Thank- you Beaner, crazy4nc128, Spazzway99, Rachel, canadian-hockey-girl, and anne918 for reviewing. Hope you all like this chapter as much as you liked the first chapter.
Note 8-9-12 second chapter has been edited and reposted.
Adam's POV:
"This is great," my father said as we headed out of the school and to his car. I coul hear the smug pleasure in his voice and why not? Once again he had gotten his way. "You'll be on the right team this year and things will go back to the way they should be."
I didn't say anything. I had a different opinion as to which was the right team than my Dad did. I didn't belong on the Hawks anymore. I was a Duck. There was no way I could go back to being a Hawk just like nothing had changed. McGill was going to make sure of that. I could tell by the looks he was giving me during the meeting. Not to mention the fact that Reilly didn't look at all happy to have me back on the team, if I even made the team. There was still a chance I would get cut during try outs on Friday. There were too many kids in our district who wanted to play on the team that not all of us would make it. For the first time ever, I had my doubts as to whether or not I was going to make the cut. Actually, this was the first time I ever found myself wondering if I wanted to make the cut.
"We'll show Bombay and those little misfits this year," my Dad was saying as he continued on his happy tirade as we drove home. I hadn't seen my Dad this happy in a long time. I probably should be happy that he was happy but I wasn't.
I didn't want to be a Hawk nor did the Hawks want me on the team anymore. That much had been clear at the hearing. Of course from the looks of it, the Ducks didn't much care about me either. None of them had even bothered to show up at the hearing.
As the drive home continued my Dad kept going on about how awful the Ducks were. That they were beneath us. How that last year was a fluke and that they needed to learn their place. He was insistent that the Hawks would show them that this year.
I didn't believe what he said about them. Wasn't going to believe it. Yeah maybe they didn't have money but they had proven to be better friends than the Hawks had been. And the Ducks had been the team to become Team USA for the Junior Goodwill Games last spring, not the Hawks. My Dad had seemed to forgotten that it was Coach Bombay's meddling and my friendship with the Ducks that had given me that opportunity. Not the Hawks and certainly not him.
My Dad pulled the car into the driveway. My mom was standing on the front steps waiting for us.
"How did the meeting go?" Mom asked as we got out of the car. I didn't answer. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now. All I wanted was to escape to my room.
"Great," I heard my Dad say enthusiastically. You'd think he was the one who was going to play hockey. "The district is going to redraw the lines and put Adam back with the Hawks."
"That's good news," Mom said to Dad knowing it was what he wanted to hear. She gave me a sympathetic look though. She knew it wasn't what I had wanted.
"Can I call Charlie?" I asked looking only at her not my dad. She was about to answer when my dad cut in.
"No. There is no need for you to have any contact with that group of trash. You're a Hawk now."
"But they're my friends," I said pleadingly.
"They're not worth it," my dad told me. "I absolutely refuse to let you talk to them or have any interaction with them."
"Charlie is so lucky he doesn't have a father," I muttered and headed for the front door.
"What did you say?" my father called after me as I headed inside.
I didn't answer him. He either heard me or he hadn't. I wasn't about to repeat it. I probably should have never had said it to begin with.
I was just about to head up the stairs when my dad grabbed my arm and pushed me up against the wall. I knew without looking at him that my Dad was angry. In fact I didn't even look at him. I kept my eyes focused on the wall behind him.
"I won't take that kind of lip from you young man," he yelled at me. "You know better than to talk to your elders that way. It's just proof that those so called friends of yours have been a bad influence."
I guess he had heard what I had said. I did what I should've done outside and kept my mouth shut and hoped he was done with his yelling and I could disappear upstairs. I couldn't be so lucky.
"I've gone out of my way to give you everything you could possibly want. To give you every chance possible. I even went out of my way to get you back on the best team in the league and this is how you repay me. With this ingratitude."
"I wish you hadn't," I muttered. It just slipped out. As soon as I said it though I knew I was going to regret saying it.
I felt the sting as my Dad slapped me across the face. I bit my lip to keep quiet. It wasn't the first time my Dad had hit me and it probably wouldn't be the last.
"I knew letting you hang out with those Ducks was a bad idea. It will come to a stop and you better relearn some decorum real quick. I won't tolerate this kind of behavior. Do you understand me?"
"Yes sir," I said quietly looking down at the floor.
"Now go upstairs and get ready for dinner and leave the attitude up there," he told me.
I hurried up the stairs and away from him. My dad scared me. My mother kept telling me that he only wanted what was best for me but I found that hard to believe. I always felt that I was a disappointment to my dad. That no matter how hard I tried and how well I did it was never good enough for him. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered to try to make him proud of me.
I went right to my room and shut and locked the door behind me. I so much wanted to call Charlie or Jesse and talk to them. Tell them about what had happened but I knew that would just be asking for trouble. My face still stung from that slap.
So instead of picking up the phone and calling one of the Ducks, I turned on my computer and connected to the internet. I opened my email account and started to compose an email to Dwayne Robertson. Even though I had all the email addresses for the Ducks who weren't from Minneapolis, Dwayne was the only one I had really corresponded with since the Junior Goodwill Games.
I had planned on just sending a quick message. I just wanted to feel like I had someone to reach out to. I wanted to feel like I wasn't alone. However, it didn't turn out to be a quick message. I soon as I started writing the email I found myself writing down all my anger and frustration with my Dad's actions which had taken me away from the Ducks. Away from my teammates who had become my friends. It felt good just to let everything out.
Charlie's POV:
After our game of roller hockey I headed home. My mom had the night off and was cooking dinner. It wasn't often that we had a chance to eat together as most nights I ended up either making something for myself or heating up something that she had left for me.
I was also hoping to hear from Adam. The meeting should've been just about over. I was curious as to what had happened. I was positive that no matter which way it had gone, Adam would call me or Jesse and if he called Jesse, Jesse would call me as soon as he was done talking with Adam.
As expected, my mom was preparing dinner when I got home. After saying a quick hello I went into the living room and turned on the tv. I waited for the telephone to ring but it never did.
"Charlie, dinner is ready," my mom called from the kitchen.
"Okay," I called back. I turned off the tv and headed for the kitchen. My mom handed me a plate and I got my dinner and then sat down at the table across from her.
Normally meal times in our house were not quiet. We always found something to talk about. Tonight however the conversation was one sided. I didn't feel much like talking. It didn't take long for my Mom to pick up on it.
"What's wrong Charlie?" she asked me.
"The Pee Wee Hockey League had there meeting today and I guess I'm worried about how it went. What if Adam is back with the Hawks this year?"
"The two of you can still be friends," my mom said sensibly.
"But it won't be the same."
"Charlie, do you even know for sure if the league is redoing district lines or not?"
"No," I admitted. She had told me that if I had wanted to go she would go with me but then we had all decided not to go when Coach Bombay had told us he wouldn't be going.
"Then I think you are borrowing trouble."
"But Adam hasn't called which probably means it's bad news."
"And by bad news you mean what?"
I shrugged my shoulders. I could think of a couple of ways that the decision made today would be bad. The most obvious is that the district lines would be redrawn and Adam would be a Hawk. But what if the district lines weren't redrawn and Adam remained a Duck but he didn't want to be. I guess that was what was really bothering me. Part of me was worried that Adam wanted to go back to being a Hawk. That he didn't care about me or the other Ducks. Maybe that was why he hadn't called.
"Well, if Adam hasn't called then why don't you call him," she suggested. "He may need a friend to talk to."
Now why hadn't I thought of that.
"Would you mind he I called him now?" I asked her.
"Go ahead," she said with a small smile. She probably figured I wouldn't be much for conversation if she didn't let me call anyways.
I got up from the table quickly and headed back out to the living room. I picked up the phone and quickly dialed Adam's number. It rang three times before someone picked up.
"Hello," I heard Mr. Banks say as he answered the phone. He didn't sound like he was in all that good of a mood.
"Is Adam there?" I asked.
"Who is this?" Mr Banks demanded.
"Charlie," I replied hesitantly.
"You're one of the Ducks aren't you?" he said. I could tell he didn't really need any answer so I kept quiet. "Well listen here, Charlie," he said, his voice not sounding at all friendly. "And tell all your little friends too. I don't want any of you kids calling this house again. You've been a bad enough influence on my son already and I won't have it anymore," he told me and then hung up.
I sat there looking at the phone for a few minutes before I actually hung it up. I wasn't sure what had just happened. I always had the feeling that Mr. Banks never really liked me, or any of the Ducks for that matter, but this was the first time any of us had been told not to call Adam. Feeling worse than I did before trying the phone call, I went back into the kitchen to finish my dinner.
"That was quick," my mom commented as I sat down.
"There was no answer," I told her, not wanting to go into what had just happened. When I didn't volunteer any more information my Mom let the matter dropped and went back to telling me about her day. I only half listened. I was trying to think of a way I could circumvent Mr. Banks and talk to Adam. I wanted to know what was going on.