Chapter 37 - Gold Medal
If Marie thought the Russian game was nerve wrecking, it wasn't easy when the gold game started on Sunday. The day before, the news casts couldn't stop talking about the 'miracle'. Wherever they went, people would come up and congratulate them for the win. Some would tell them they were inspiring, that they gave hope to the country. That morning when Marie was watching the news, the news reporters did a report and wished them good luck.
During the first period, the team was doing well, not great. They let the Finland team score first. In the second period, Christoff scored, but two minutes later, the Finns scored again. Marie was feeling that anxiousness again. She sat there thinking about the country and how they might be all anxious, too. What if they didn't win? Entered her mind but she scolded herself and reminded herself that the team will come out on top.
When the guys came back out and started to play, they looked more pumped up. It definitely showed. When two and a half minutes went, Christian slid a pass to Verchota, who broke away from the defense and scored on the Finnish goalie. The crowd went wild. Marie smiled and thanked the Lord.
When the players were in the USA Zone when the play would go in that end, Marie would hold her breath whenever that puck was near Jimmy, but when he would save the puck, everybody would cheer. When it was 6:05, Johnson picked up the puck and sent it to Rob who slipped it between his legs. Everybody, who wasn't already on their feet, were standing and cheering their asses off. Connie was smiling like she heard her favorite actor was going to be in town. When Rob looked up at her, she blew him a kiss.
After that the drama was only built more when three penalties were called on the US team three times in a row. The anxiety of not knowing what was going to happen was high. However when it was 3:30 left to play, Johnson scored a short-handed goal making the game 4 to 2. The girls were jumping up and down. They had made a new sign "Johnson, Johnson he's our man, if he can't do it, no one can" and Marie lifted it up. After the game resumed, it was pretty much clear sailing.
"5…4…3…2…1…" the crowd cheered again.
Marie like the game two days before stood there in shock. They did it. They actually won the game. They actually won the gold medal. The seven months of training actually paid off. "Holy Shit!"
Connie started to tug on her hand and before she knew it, the girls were out on the ice with some of the families. Marie came upon Baker first and gave him a big bear hug. When she came upon Jack, he lifted her off of the ice and spun her around. Silk came up and when Marie turned to him, he took her in his arms and swayed back and forth before looking down at her. They smiled, and they shared a couple of kisses.
When the celebration ended on the ice, the team went to the locker room. Coke's were shaken up and sprayed around. Herb was actually celebrating, but not as wildly. After about half an hour, the families, girlfriends, wives, and a few friends exited the locker room so the guys could get dressed. After that, whoever wanted to stayed to watch the Russian and Sweden game. Marie actually wanted to watch the game.
When they were in the stands, there were a few guards around, but it wasn't obvious. They cheered for both teams, they didn't care who they cheered for. Marie wasn't nervous or anxious. She sat next to Silk, so she was at peace in a way. She had her guy, had a great hockey game playing in front of her.
A few minutes before the game ended, the guys that were watching left to go get ready for the medal ceremony. Connie, Jill, and Regan came back from wherever they had gone off to before. So as they sat there, they talked and watched the staff of the ice arena set up the stage. When the US team was announced when they walked out onto the ice, the crowd stood and they yelled so loud that nobody was able to hear their own thoughts. The crowd cheered for the Sweden team when they got their medals, they cheered for the Russians. However, when it was time for the US, the crowd showed their appreciation.
Marie had made sure that Connie brought her a ton of film. She had been taking a few pictures here and there, but when the guys started getting their gold medals, she took pictures one after another. The smiles that were on the guys' faces were wide. It would have to take a bomb to get those off of their faces. She was taking a picture of Silk, when he looked up where they were standing, and made a sign of 'I love you' with his hands. She smiled and blew him a kiss. When everybody had their medals, the anthem was played.
Rizzo stood there with his right hand over his heart. Regan brought some tissues along because she knew she was going to cry. They had conversations where Rizzo was scared that he was going to get cut. When he wasn't, they were thrilled. When he got named captain, they were ecstatic. When they won against the Russians, they were beyond ecstatic. When they won the game earlier, there were no words to describe how they felt.
Marie laughed when the guys ran up to the podium when Rizzo turned around and pointed at it for them to join him up there. She took a quick picture of them all up there before clapping and cheering. She then thought back to the last seven months again. Obstacles had been pushed aside to get here. They made it, they got that dream. Now what? The thought that the team wasn't going to be together anymore, saddened her.
"This can't be the end?" she thought out loud.
Connie turned to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I know, but there are always reunions of some sort."
Marie shrugged. "Yeah, but still."
Connie gave her a squeeze before watching what was happening out on the ice. "I know."
An hour later, the girls finally met up with the guys. They decided to have a small celebration in one of the ballrooms that the Holiday Inn had. When Marie saw the gold medal, she looked at it like it was the lost treasure of Black Beard. She wiped a tear away and gave it back to Silk. She gave him a huge hug that lasted a while. Marie had decided to go to every guy in the room and give them hugs as well. She talked to Jannie for awhile, before talking to Cox, before heading back over to her boyfriend.
Herb had entered the room a while later and everybody started to chant speech. Herb smiled and told them that he was proud of them, that the last seven months paid off. Bah actually spoke up after that saying he had the best way to describe it.
"Boys, we went to the well again, the water was colder, and the water was deeper." 1
With that said the group raised their beer bottles and cheered. Herb also had more news. The team had been invited to the White House. They were invited to go the next day and they were going to be flying personally in Air Force One. The cheers were everlasting. The guys were geeked about that.
Another half an hour went by. Marie was sitting with Jimmy, his dad, Jannie, Gayle, and Buzz. They were talking about the Sweden and Russian game. Silk came over, whispered that he wanted to go get something in his room, and asked if she wanted to head up there with him. Of course, she went.
When they got to the floor, they walked down the hallway to the room hand in hand. It was pretty quiet on the floor. After opening the door, Silk let Marie in first, but pulled her back to him so he could kiss her.
"You look really beautiful tonight," he told her after they parted.
"Hey, it's a celebration. I wanted to dress up," Marie replied before going over to his bed and sitting down.
Silk smiled, took the gold medal off and placed it on the night stand between the beds. "That thing is a little heavy."
"Right," Marie sarcastically replied.
Silk looked over at her and rolled his eyes before he started to tickle her. Marie shrieked in laughter before stopping and looking at him. She was going to miss this, but it wasn't like they weren't going to ever see each other again. "What did you come up here for?"
"I got you something," he said while going over to his bag. He took out a box and then went back over to her. "Remember when we went by that antique store and you pointed out that broach in the window."
"The one that I said looked like the one my Grandma Giles has," Marie replied.
Silk nodded. "I went back and got it for you." He handed the box to her and watched as she opened it.
"Thank you. It's really beautiful," Marie said to him. "You didn't have to, you know."
"I know, but I wanted to. I love you," he told her before leaning in to kiss her.
They stayed in the room and talked. Marie was disappointed, a little bit jealous that she couldn't go with them to meet President Carter. He assured her that he'd get info for her and totally describe the White House and Air Force One for her. Marie leaned back on the bed on her elbows and stared up at the ceiling. Silk looked over at her and leaned over and gave her a kiss. He told her he'd be right back.
When Silk went into the bathroom, Marie went over to the window. She looked outside to see if she could see anything that was happening. The only thing going outside for that view was snow. Snow was falling again. It was like deja-vu all over again. When Silk came out of the bathroom, he put his arms around her.
"I feel deja-vuish," she said.
Silk chuckled. He planted a hand on her stomach, while the other hand was still wrapped around her shoulder. "What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know. Last time we were in here, we got caught," Marie said when he kissed her neck. "There's always the cabin."
"I can guarantee that Pav won't be staying in here tonight," Silk muttered.
Marie smiled. "I see how it is. Already talked to the roommate and made sure he doesn't have a decent night sleep before you guys pack tomorrow morning."
"Well… it was more like this room hasn't heard a decent moan or a scream since it's last horny occupants," Silk said into her ear.
Marie leaned back to look at him. She started to chuckle after a second. She turned around in his arms, and she was the one who led them to the bed. He sat down, and she climbed into his lap. "Wait… did we lock the door?"
"Already did it," he murmured against her lips.
Pieces of clothes were thrown to the ground. Right before anything started to happen, Marie decided to see what he wanted her to do. He whispered something in her ear and she bit her lip when a moan escaped. "You need to talk dirty more often."
"Oh also…" he reached over to the night stand and grabbed the medal. He placed it around her neck. "Looks good," he said looking down at her chest before looking up at her.
"Isn't this bad luck or something?" Marie asked when looking at the medal and then looked at him.
Silk rested his hands on her back. "I don't think so."
Marie leaned in and passionately kissed him. "This is really hot." They smiled and then started kissing again.
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In the morning, they went down to the buffet in the dining room to have breakfast. They sat with some of the guys and in between bites talked. After, they just sat there, his arm around her shoulder, her head against his. When Coach Craig came in and told them it was time to leave, the team slowly got up and headed upstairs to get their bags. Outside, Marie, Connie, Regan, and the families waited to say bye. When all the guys came out, they all clapped for them.
Marie waited patiently for Silk to come over. They had all night together, so it was only fair for him to spend as much time with his family at that moment. "I love you. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Silk laughed. "I won't. Love you, too. I'll call you tomorrow night."
"I'll be waiting," Marie said before giving him a kiss.
Silk let go of her hand and stepped onto the bus. Marie sighed, but she didn't cry. She knew they would talk, try to see each other in the next few months. Actually, when he gets home, he was going to call and tell her if New York wanted him right away, if not, he was going to fly out. She was looking forward to the next few months. It was going to be a challenge, but a good one.
"Do I have something to tell you guys," Marie said to her two best friends.
"What?" Regan asked.
Marie waited until they got back to the cabin. When the girls heard about how he wanted to do it with the gold medal around their necks, the girls laughed, and then asked questions. When it was time for them to leave to take that five hour trip back to Manhattan, they looked around the cabin and silently said their goodbyes, even to Lake Placid. They had a blast, now it was time to go back to their real worlds again. Reality could be such a bitch sometimes, but they didn't cry. The memories will always be there.
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1 – Bah's Brookism from Sports Illustrated
