A/N: After the tiring process of writing the last game I wanted to take a break from football and do a couple chapters about hockey to see what you all thought about it. Now that were are at the half way point I've begun contemplating a sequel but I want to know should it be another football season or should it be a different sport, like hockey or soccer. I'm not opposed to more than one sequel if the readers want it. Tell me what you guys think?
A/N II: Once again I want to give thanks to DaveTheWordsmith, KODfreak, and DaBlackGoku for reviewing and giving great feedback. Everyone you should check out and review their works because there is some great stuff there if you haven't already, especially "Choices" and "More than Friends" great fics by DaveTheWordsmith and KODfreak's "The Other Guy". Also check out and review "Life Goes On" by DaBlackGoku one of my favourite fics on the site. Please review this chapter and the one I put up late last night and tell me what you think about both of them as individual chapters and as part of the larger story.
A/N: With Johnny's future up in the air after this game I'm going to let you guys decide, should he stay or go?
Disclaimer: I do not own the Boondocks, Aaron McGruder and Sony Pictures does.
Chapter 25 – Day Off?
He took a deep breath as he entered his living room. Most of his friends were seated around the room watching a dvd of their last game. Huey had called a team meeting to review the tapes suddenly that morning. Within the following hours Jazmine, Hiro, and Cindy had shown up. Caesar and Jason for some reason could not be reached so they never got the message and Johnny had gone up to the University of Maryland for the next couple of weeks for some university football stuff. He had not cared enough to remember the details.
Huey and Jazmine said on the couch together while Cindy was sitting in the recliner, their Granddad had left on one of the frequent trips he had been taking down south over the last few years in the winter. Hiro sat on the floor leaning back against the coffee table. Riley looked briefly at the screen to see him dropping the ball as Jason ripped him away from it, it was not one of his greatest moments in the game and it got a laugh from Cindy.
Silently, he circled the room and tapped Cindy on the shoulder and whispered, "We need to talk."
Expecting it Cindy simply nodded and quietly followed him out of the room and upstairs to his and Huey's room. She sat down on the edge of Huey's bed while he took a seat on his own. "Well what ya want to say Reezy?" Cindy asked.
"I want to apologize for da stuff I said durin' half time. I was being a real buffoon and was misplacing mah anger," Riley said looking at his feet, unable to look at Cindy in case she would reject his apology.
"Ah its aight Reezy we ride or die homies a few words ain't gonna change anythin' between us," Cindy said punching him in shoulder.
"I have a question I want to ask now," Riley said looking up at Cindy still nervous.
"Ask away."
"I know ya don't feel dat way about me, and I get it I realise maybe I was exaggerating my own feelings about it too, but I have to know how do ya feel about JJ?" Riley said fidgeting with his RY chain. "Do ya love him?"
Cindy sat still for a moment thinking. "I wouldn't call it dat yet Reezy but I like him and I want to get to know him better. We friends we agree on dat. After all ya don't want me calling ya at all times of da night and day to talk about silly inane things do ya?"
"Definitely not," Riley said fear on his face.
"See dat answer proves everythin', a boyfriend wouldn't mind doin' dat, and he might even like it, but a simple guy friend wouldn't. I think ya've confused friendship wit' love," Cindy said getting up. "When ya feel it ya'll know the difference."
"And ya feel it wit' JJ?"
"I think I'm startin' too," Cindy admitted.
There was a knock on the door then stopping Riley from having to saying anymore when he had nothing left to say. Jazmine slowly opened the door and peeked her head in. "We've finished the tape and Huey said we can have the rest of the day off. He said he has something planned for us and it is not a weird training exercise."
"What about JJ and Ceez?" Cindy asked.
"They called a few minutes ago. It seems Huey got the idea from them. We're going to meet them," Jazmine said with a big smile.
"I hope Huey isn't lying. It can't be that good of dose three are da only ones in on it. Remember da beach," Cindy said before they exited the room to meet Hiro and Huey by the door.
Hearing the rapid hits of a car horn, Jason grabbed his large hockey bag and his two stick that were standing against the wall wrapped in two piece of Velcro with a rope handle. Exiting his house the sun was hidden behind white clouds. When he breathed he could see his breath but he still wore long shorts and a black and grey Under Armour short sleeve shirt. He crossed his frost covered lawn to Caesar's red Dodge Ram. Shoving his bag and sticks under the truck bed cover where a second bag and a set of goalie pads were already waiting.
With his stuff in the back of the truck he got into the passenger seat giving Caesar a simple fist bump as the Brooklyn native put his truck in drive and pulled out of Jason's drive way.
They both sat in the truck silently listening to the radio until Caesar pulled up next to the Wuncler Recreational Centre. Getting out of the truck they grabbed their gear from the back of the truck and headed into the arena. While Caesar headed to the snack bar to get them some drinks, Jason went to pay for their booked ice time.
Once they had paid for everything they headed for the dressing rooms through blue double doors. Inside the doors the tile floor was replaced with a rubber one to protect the edges of skaters' skates. They entered the room labelled 2 and placed their sticks in the stick rack just inside the door and dropped their bags down in front of the long bench that ran right around the room with coat hooks every few feet.
Jason stripped down to his Under Armour boxers and opened his bag. First he pulled on his black jock shorts then his shin pads wrapping clear hockey tape around each of his legs just under the knee cap and neat the bottom to help hold them in place. After that he pulled red, white, and navy blue socks over his shin pads connecting them to the Velcro patches on his jock shorts before pulling on a pair of black Nike hockey pants leaving them undone as he pulled on and tied up his Nike Bauer Vapour XXXX skates. Once they were done up he tucked the back of his skate into his sock and wrapped more tape around them.
"You better get ready for the barrage," he said to Caesar who was kneeling on top of his goalie pads reaching behind him to do up his straps.
"Since I moved out here I haven't spent much time on the ice and even less in this stuff," Caesar replied. "But I think I can take you."
"We'll see," Jason said with his smirk as he put on his shoulder pads connecting all the Velcro straps before strapping on his elbow pads.
"We will," Caesar returned the smirk feeding the last strap through the bottom of his skate.
Jason pulled his red Windsor Spitfires jersey, his last name printed on the back above the number 11. He tucked the left side of his jersey into his pants and tied his black pants up and tightened the belt.
"Is that your actual jersey," Caesar asked a little worry showing on his face as he pulled on his own shoulders pads and after strapping it on grabbed his New York Rangers and began pulling it off his head to hide his worry. He had heard of the Windsor Spitfires when he lived in Brooklyn, they were a good team in Canada's OHL where only the best players on their way to a professional career as hockey players.
"Yeah," Jason said helping Caesar pull his stuck jersey down his back before pulling on his black helmet with transparent orange visor. On the back of his helmet was his number and with the plane symbol of the Spitfires on each side. "I haven't played a game yet though. Wuncler paid off the team to allow me to come down here for the tournament."
"So once you're done you're going back to Canada," Caesar said a frown on his face as he pulled on his own helmet. It was a red helmet with the skyline of Brooklyn on each side and on the top a Roman eagle standard. Along the chin piece was his name in stylised white and black letters.
"I have to," Jason said pulling his gloves and going to retrieve his stick as Caesar did the same.
"What about Cindy?" Caesar asked as they exited the locker room and took the tunnel up to the ice surface near the home bench.
"Things aren't that serious," Jason said grabbing the pail of pucks from just inside the bench door and throwing the pucks toward the center ice.
"And if they get serious?" Caesar asked stepping onto the ice and gliding toward centre.
"Then I can always leave for the NCAA," Jason said joining him on the ice, taking to powerful strides to begin his circles around one half of the ice.
"I thought you were a football player," Caesar commented following behind him.
"I do both. I haven't decided which I want to do for the rest of my life though," Jason said crossing over his feet as he turned behind the net. Coming out of his turn he couched down sticking one leg out and dragging it behind him as he gladded. He did the same on the other side before turning to skate backward to the pucks while Caesar moved to his crease and began his own exercises. He knelt on the ice, his pads flat on the cold blue surface and bent the entire top half of his body back so his shoulders touched his skates.
"You ready," Jason asked lining up some of the pucks just inside the blue line.
"Bring it," Caesar said and Jason raised his stick for his first shot.
Jason's crimson and white right handed Nike Bauer Vapour XXXX stick bent at a ridicules angle before snapping back to drive the puck at the net. Caesar snapped his glove out to catch the puck and as he dropped it he pushed off with his left leg to get the next shot with is shoulder. The shots kept coming and Caesar managed to stop all of them standing on his head to make some saves as if he was Dominic Hasek.
"Your momma so stupid she sits on the TV and watches the couch" Caesar started the trash talk with one of his favourite forms of insults, your momma jokes. He cleared the pucks from around his net to the corner as Jason lined up more pucks at the centre face off dot.
"We've only just started," Jason assured him scooping up one puck and taking off out wide at full speed. As he passed the blue line he slowed his pace suddenly and then sped up again. Caesar watched his body as Jason came in and did a spin-o-rama right in front of him. Caesar reacted to the move predicting where Jason would come out of his spin by dropping down in a butterfly to cover the bottom of his net, but when Jason came out his stick was not on the ground but over Caesar's shoulder and the puck in the back of his net. In the middle of his spin Jason had scooped the puck up on his blade and deposited it in the net over Caesar's shoulder.
"Oh you got moves," Caesar whistled clearing out the puck as Jason went back to get another one.
"I have lots of moves," Jason called back as he passed the blue line.
He came back in at full speed this time and spinning again at the top of the circle he scooped the puck up and with his stick up high moved it around like a lacrosse stick while charging the net. This time Caesar was ready and when Jason flung the puck at him he went down to cover the bottom of his net and when he realised Jason was going high again he brought his legs swiping up across the top half of his net from his back hitting the puck with his left pad.
Jason just laughed and went back to pick up another puck. Once again he came straight in but as he hit the hash marks he dropped the puck back to his left skate and kicked it around his right foot back to his stick before bringing the puck to the right and at the last moment going to his back hand to lift the puck over Caesar's outstretched pad.
"Got you that time Ceez," Jason said going back for another puck.
"Two of what thirteen shots," Caesar replied readying himself for Jason next attempt a large smile on his face.
Huey pulled his Mustang up beside the red Dodge Ram by the door of the Wuncler Recreational Centre.
"What are we doing here?" Jazmine asked getting out of the passenger seat.
"It's basically winter so we're going to have some fun," Huey said leading them into the arena.
"Doing what?" Riley asked as Huey led them through the audience entrance to the rink and down to bottom of the stands where people could stand of the end of the rink to watch the game from behind the goalie. On the ice Jason was in the middle of another spin-o-rama in which he came out of showering Caesar with snow before tucking the puck through his open five-hole.
"We're going to play some hockey," Huey said as Jason came by and jumped into the glass scaring Jazmine and making Cindy, Riley, and Hiro take a step back.
"Is that Jay and Caesar?" Jazmine asked.
"It is. It was their idea to play hockey. It seems both used to play before coming here," Huey said.
"But we don't have equipment," Cindy said. They had all played some hockey with Caesar before and all knew how to skate thanks to school trips.
"Jay took care of it," Huey said. ". It's all in the dressing room waiting for us."
"Den let's get this started," Riley said his eyes glowing with excitement at the chance to compete with his rival outside of football.
"Dis ain't gonna be easy," Cindy said as they went back into the lobby and through the same double doors Jason and Caesar had gone through earlier.
"Why?" Jazmine asked.
"Ya see dat Jersey JJ wuz wearin'."
"What about it C-Murph?" Riley asked.
"I've seen dat team before while over at JJ's. Dere a really good team and if he's on it den he is really good," Cindy said. When she had seen the Windsor Spitfires wallpaper on his computer he had never told he was on that team. He had told her he played hockey but never for the team that won the national championship twice of the last two years.
"Could be a replica," Riley said
"I don't think so," Huey said before he, Riley, and Hiro entered room 2 and Jazmine and Cindy entered room 3.