He throws himself back on the bed with his hands over his face.
“Won't believe what? Don't leave me in suspense here.” I try to hide my amusement for the playground drama from him because the poor boy is truly distraught.
“Stupid Daniel. He asked her to hug him first.” The gasp I let out is, I'm embarrassed to say, not theatrical. I was expecting he got turned down and we would have a talk about consent, not this plot twist.
“That little shit!” I'm invested now. Do I need to beat up this kid's dad? I mean Travis has always been cool but apparently not if he raised the backstabbing prick that Daniel has become.
Wait. I need to chill out; I'm supposed to be the adult in this situation. I have to navigate this without resorting to violence. Which has never been my strong suit, hence the hockey career.
“That'swhat I said!”He throws his hands up. Hmph.
“Then what happened?”
“Skylar told him no because her dad doesn't let her hug boys at all. Not even if they ask nicely and if they do then she has to push them away.”
“Ok. What happened after that? I didn't get a call from the school.”
“Daniel's no snitch, dad. Besides then he would have to tell his dad what a dirty- “
“-Ok.” I hold up my hand. “So, is this really about Skylar or is it the fact that Daniel betrayed you?”
“Exactly! See dad you get it. You can't try to poach someone else's girl like that.”
“Oh, she's your girl now, is she?” My chuckle escapes this time. Matty just sighs woefully. “After Daniel went to play on the swings, she said she would be if i asked her to and said she would even hold my hand. Even though her dad says she is not allowed to.” He shakes his head with a heavy sigh. “I told her no cause Daniel wanted to hug her too and I can't betray my friend like that.”
“That's heavy stuff, thank you for sharing that with me.” I hugged him again. The whole thing is kind of ridiculous, but I admire my son's loyalty.
“I actually had some news of my own to share.” He sits back immediately. He knew that I could be traded at any time and it was something I made a point to tell him no matter how secure my spot felt. “I got traded to New York.”
He’s silent for a moment as he processes the bomb I just dropped.
“So, we have to move there?” His voice cracks, distraught.
“Yeah. That means we are gonna have to move there.” I nod solemnly.
He tries to keep a brave face on for me, even as his chin wobbles.
I just hold my arms open. His face crumples and he holds onto me crying. He doesn't have to say anything, I already know he doesn't want to leave this place. How can I ask him to leave our home, our family? How can I go when this will be our first Christmas without Dad?
“I’m sorry, Matty.”
Chapter 2- Tate
After a blur of moving boxes, paperwork and phone calls, Matty has his first day in his new school today. It's a fancy private school that my mom found. She also helped me find this house in a nice neighbourhood, not far from the arena. She even hired a nanny for me, all the way from Texas. That woman can do anything if she has a solid Wi-Fi connection.
Matty stands by the door looking grumpy with his handheld gaming system that he got for his birthday, his hands and his backpack on. I don't ask what's wrong, I already know. It's hard being the new kid. Well, I don'tknowbut I can imagine.
I insisted on taking Matty to school today and let the nanny have the time to get settled into her own provided housing. I don’t know much about moving kids to a new place, but I figure this is a good way to show up for him. He follows me out the door and slumps against the wall while I grab the recycling.
I hear the neighbor's kid yell out next door, “I got it, mom!” followed by a slam of the door.
I turn my head to see the kid around the same age wearing a similar uniform to Matty and smacking on gum. He has a backwards cap onhis head and is pulling the trash and recycling cans to the road. I use my keys to lock the door slowly and watch this interaction.
Matty hasn't even looked up.
The kid runs over anyway like he owns the place. “Oh, is that the Nintendo Switch Lite? So cool. I should've asked for one of those instead of the PlayStation because you can take it with you.”
That gets Matty's attention and he finally looks up with a smile. “You have a PlayStation? Maybe we can work out a trade, I'll let you play on this if you let me play on your PlayStation sometimes too.”
