Phil bit his tongue so hard he tasted copper.It wasn’t political to be yourself.He didn’t know what Ben was doing, but he knew it had nothing to do with infiltrating the Sea Lions to promote the gay agenda.And Charlie’s sudden presence in his life hadn’t been a ploy to convince Phil of some political talking point.Charlie was a kid who needed a home, just like countless other children, including the ones in the shelter.Phil debated opening the conversation with Vanderbilt.His teammate didn’t strike him as a bad guy, per se, only as clueless as the environment he’d grown up in: hockey camps full of rich white kids.
But then Phil imagined him snorting and waving it off, or worse, laughing.Mocking.He’d lost a friendship with one teammate to prejudice already this season.He wasn’t ready to lose another, not when he wasn’t—when he’d never—
Instead, Phil said, “Try not to say stupid shit about it when you’re on camera, and you’ll be fine.”
“I’m not an idiot.”Vanderbilt pulled out his wallet, liberated his wedding ring from the coin pouch, and slid it onto his finger as the Uber pulled up in front of his house.Even in the dark, Phil caught the telltale crinkle of the little plastic bags Vanderbilt used to store cocaine emanating from the same coin pouch.
“Debatable,” Phil muttered.
Vanderbilt was too occupied getting out of the car to hear him.
Chapter Eight
Easton [reading off a notecard]: Describe my ideal vacation.Oh, I’m going to get so much [bleeping noise] for this.Honestly, I’d just stick around here for the summer.Maybe take a week to go camping in one of the national parks, couple hikes in Muir Woods.Fishing on the pier, barbecue in the evenings.I love it here.Why go somewhere else?
Vanderbilt: Oh man, perfect vacation?I took my wife to Cabo two years back.We ran into Vladi—that’s Dmitriyev, our tendy—there.It was pretty sweet.We rented a boat, did a bunch of snorkeling, a lot of partying.
Breezy: I always go home to see my family.Someday, I want to take them all to Italy to see where my grandparents and great-grandparents lived.
Luca: [rolls his eyes] Of course Breezy said Italy.My ideal vacation will be to take my siblings to Montreal so they can both mock him for what passes as Italian culture in Canada.
Breezy [off-screen]: I heard that!I would love to meet your sibs!
Tom: Oh, I don’t know.I guess I haven’t been on many big vacations.Phil always makes me go fishing with him in the summer, which is the most boring thing I’ve ever done.But it’s nice to get together off the ice.Maybe I can talk him into an island in the Caribbean somewhere.I bet they have fishing too.
Top comments:
phileastfanclub: East bringing peak team-dad energy to the room.
seelionssaylions: Would love to hear how Dmitriyev felt about playing third wheel in Cabo lol.
firecrackers_spark: God, this team is so wholesome it makes me want to puke.Put Calabrese and Mazetti in a ring and let them fight!
stickstickpuck: @firecrackers_spark—Your team eats deep-dish pizza.I bet they’d both annihilate you.
(From an “Ask A Sea Lion” reel posted to Instagram, 12/04/2024)
The last time Ben entered a public high school was for his graduation.Schools had a lot in common with prisons, in his opinion, with large halls surrounding walled-in courtyards where someone else regimented the inmates’ time.Thankfully, Phil lived in a good neighborhood, so the school had decent ratings and probably wasn’t a complete hellhole.
Walking through the linoleum-lined hallways, no one could guess.It looked like every other hellhole.
Ben wondered why no one had invested in a different design for lockers before now.They were the same in every school he’d ever been in, only spray-painted in different colors.
Dropping Charlie off for his first day was supposed to be a quick errand, but ten o’clock found both Ben and Charlie still in the principal’s office, going over records.Charlie’s mother might have been a piece of shit, but she’d had the foresight to pack his birth certificate and transcripts when she’d kicked him out.Unfortunately, all of those contained incorrect gender markers and listed a Utah address.On the phone, the principal had assured Ben they would sort something out.In practice, this meant signing a stack of paperwork that simply wouldn’t end.
At least no one had misgendered Charlie so far.
“You’re sure you’ll be okay?”Ben asked when they finally finished dealing with every form the school could think of.
Charlie shrugged.
“You could stay home another day,” Ben offered.It would be inconvenient.There was a practice scheduled for this afternoon, and he didn’t want to take Charlie to the rink too much if he could avoid it.The longer the press didn’t spot Charlie the better.Mostly, no one cared about the coach’s family, butSan Francisco Heraldbeat reporter, Olivia Starling, loved human interest stories that veered into gossip, and the coach’s trans nephew would be a good one.If she caught wind of Charlie, it would inevitably lead to questions about Ben’s family, his background, and finally, his job.He did not need to blow his cover yet.
Not to mention the pressure on Charlie if he were put online.
But Charlie shook his head wordlessly and slung his backpack over one shoulder.
“You have my phone number, right?You can call if anything happens, I’ll be there.”He’d bought Charlie a phone on Monday as his first act as prospective guardian.Pedagogically unsound, maybe.Practical, definitely.He wondered if Charlie was too old for a serious talk about social media.Would Ben have to put effort into understanding TikTok?God, he hoped not.
