"I'm never gonna get this." Meredith declared as Fulton hoisted her off the ice one last time.
"Sure ya will, I'm just not sure you'll be just enough to do it without breaking a hip after you master it." Fulton laughed.
"Thanks Fult." Merry gave him a sarcastic sigh.
"It's okay Meredith, you'll learn." Julie coached "Practice makes perfect."
"That's right, I use to get up every day at 5:00 AM and skate on the pond behind my house, until I got skating down, now I get up at 5:30." Adam added.
"That's because you're anal Banksie boy." Portman teased.
Banks frowned and wrinkled his forehead.
"I am not."
"Oh that's mature Adam." Julie patted him on the back "Come on, I'll race you."
"I'm not anal." He repeated as the female goalie led him away.
"Okay Hun, race now."
"Speaking of anal," Meredith sighed again "I've got to get goin' or I'll be late for work and my boss'll blow a gasket."
"You want me to walk you or somethin'?" Fulton offered helping her off the ice.
"Nah, it's alright. Stay here and hang out with the Ducks, I'll just hop a bus. See you later."
Fulton skated back over to where his friends were standing in the middle of the rink. They all stopped talking and looked up at him when he came to a stop next to them.
"What?"
"Where's Meredith going?" Kenny replied to a question with a question.
"She had to work."
"She works a lot." Connie observed.
"Yeah, so?"
Fulton didn't feel the need to explain to the team why Meredith needed the money. If she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to them about her family life, then he wasn't going to tell them. What business was it of theirs that her father left them and her mother worked at Wal-Mart?
"Nothing, never mind."
When the Ducks were done skating, they all broke off into their own activities one by one, until Fulton was left alone in the rink. He knew he should go home, his parents might be wondering where he'd been, or at least his mother might. He hadn't been home in four days, despite telling his friends that where he was headed whenever they parted ways. The only person that had know where he was spending his nights was Jan, that was only because Fulton had been sleeping in the back room of the skate shop. He hadn't even told the truth to Portman and Merry.
From the time Fulton turned five, until the time he turned fifteen the week before school started that year, his parents had had four other children. And that was on top of him and his two older siblings Kevin and Natalie. Most of the time he just felt in the way at home. His mother was always busy with the younger kids, especially the two year old youngest Erika. Natalie and Kevin treated him like a leper but even that was better then the way his father treated him.
The house was always so loud with the little ones and his dad screaming. His siblings because they're trying to get attention from their mother, that was already stretched to thin and his father because he had ten too many beers at the pub before he came home from work. Mr. Reed was always in a bad mood for some reason or another and unfortunately for Fulton he was 99% of the time, the recipient of his father's rage. Arnold Reed was still sore with his son for giving up football for hockey, since he himself had had NFL dreams as a teenager. When they'd been cut short by car accident in eleventh grade, he turned to a low level, no way out job at a factory the produces Vikings souvenirs and of course drinking. Kevin was expected to go onto college and become a doctor or lawyer, so his dad wasn't upset about the fact he wasn't interested in sports. But even his parents thought Fulton was all brawn no brain. He suppose to live out his father's dream.
In short, he hated being at home.
"Sure ya will, I'm just not sure you'll be just enough to do it without breaking a hip after you master it." Fulton laughed.
"Thanks Fult." Merry gave him a sarcastic sigh.
"It's okay Meredith, you'll learn." Julie coached "Practice makes perfect."
"That's right, I use to get up every day at 5:00 AM and skate on the pond behind my house, until I got skating down, now I get up at 5:30." Adam added.
"That's because you're anal Banksie boy." Portman teased.
Banks frowned and wrinkled his forehead.
"I am not."
"Oh that's mature Adam." Julie patted him on the back "Come on, I'll race you."
"I'm not anal." He repeated as the female goalie led him away.
"Okay Hun, race now."
"Speaking of anal," Meredith sighed again "I've got to get goin' or I'll be late for work and my boss'll blow a gasket."
"You want me to walk you or somethin'?" Fulton offered helping her off the ice.
"Nah, it's alright. Stay here and hang out with the Ducks, I'll just hop a bus. See you later."
Fulton skated back over to where his friends were standing in the middle of the rink. They all stopped talking and looked up at him when he came to a stop next to them.
"What?"
"Where's Meredith going?" Kenny replied to a question with a question.
"She had to work."
"She works a lot." Connie observed.
"Yeah, so?"
Fulton didn't feel the need to explain to the team why Meredith needed the money. If she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to them about her family life, then he wasn't going to tell them. What business was it of theirs that her father left them and her mother worked at Wal-Mart?
"Nothing, never mind."
When the Ducks were done skating, they all broke off into their own activities one by one, until Fulton was left alone in the rink. He knew he should go home, his parents might be wondering where he'd been, or at least his mother might. He hadn't been home in four days, despite telling his friends that where he was headed whenever they parted ways. The only person that had know where he was spending his nights was Jan, that was only because Fulton had been sleeping in the back room of the skate shop. He hadn't even told the truth to Portman and Merry.
From the time Fulton turned five, until the time he turned fifteen the week before school started that year, his parents had had four other children. And that was on top of him and his two older siblings Kevin and Natalie. Most of the time he just felt in the way at home. His mother was always busy with the younger kids, especially the two year old youngest Erika. Natalie and Kevin treated him like a leper but even that was better then the way his father treated him.
The house was always so loud with the little ones and his dad screaming. His siblings because they're trying to get attention from their mother, that was already stretched to thin and his father because he had ten too many beers at the pub before he came home from work. Mr. Reed was always in a bad mood for some reason or another and unfortunately for Fulton he was 99% of the time, the recipient of his father's rage. Arnold Reed was still sore with his son for giving up football for hockey, since he himself had had NFL dreams as a teenager. When they'd been cut short by car accident in eleventh grade, he turned to a low level, no way out job at a factory the produces Vikings souvenirs and of course drinking. Kevin was expected to go onto college and become a doctor or lawyer, so his dad wasn't upset about the fact he wasn't interested in sports. But even his parents thought Fulton was all brawn no brain. He suppose to live out his father's dream.
In short, he hated being at home.