Those words hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. I knew it went against all logic, but a little part of me had been hoping she’d stay with me. Then again, I didn’t have the right to feel upset, not when I was the one who cut her free.
Callahan let out a little cry, pulling me out of my thoughts. I promptly started bouncing my knees to lull him back to sleep.
As soon as the priest finished his blessing, a group of older men started playing a beautiful song on the bagpipes while people came up one by one to lay a rose on Hans’ grave.
Our little crew were the last ones left standing around the grave.
I continued holding Callahan while Colt and Mer went up together holding Lucy’s hands.
“Thank you for bringing us back together, Hans,” Colt said.
“I’m going to miss you, Hans,” Lucy said, her little shouldersshaking from crying. Colt immediately scooped her up and hugged her tightly, whispering soothing words in her ear.
“Thank you, friend,” Mer whispered before placing her rose on his casket. She walked back to me with tears in her eyes, and as soon as I handed her Callahan, she squeezed him tightly.
Piper and Kappy held hands as they walked closer to the casket. Piper started to whisper words, but choked up and turned into Kappy’s chest to cry. Holding his wife against him, Kappy pressed his lips together to hold his resolve. His eyes went to the sky. “I-I hope you’re up there keepin’ the hockey boys in line.” He rubbed his eyes. “Thank you for always keeping us, old man.”
Ali walked up next, wobbling slightly in her heels and clutching her black coat together.
She whispered a few words before placing her rose on the casket. She used her sleeve to wipe at her face before turning away.
“Ali,” I started.
Looking up at me, her shoulders shook violently as her face broke into more tears.
I went to hug her, but she shook her head and power-walked past me to catch up with our friends.
I stood there for a second feeling the sting of rejection.
Walking up to Hans’ grave alone, it felt fitting that I was last. The tears I held back all day finally came forward and I suddenly felt like a lost little kid.
My mind drifted back to Centre Ice. Back to Hans chasing us after we pranked him for the hundredth time, back to him disciplining me after a game misconduct, back to him always reaching out when we were lost.
“I promised you,” I finally whispered, staring at Ali’s figure as she walked to the parking lot. “And I’m going to try my hardest to keep this last promise, but I don’t know if that’s what she wants.” I rubbed my forehead. “I just wish you were still here, old man. I wasn’t ready.”
___________
The celebration of life for Hans was held in the Coliseum’s lobby—a decision made by Kappy that seemed oddly fitting.Someone brought a ton of mini-sticks and the little toddlers and young kids were running around swinging them.
A group of tween boys who all discarded their suit jackets and ties were now all sweaty and red-faced from playing suey with a soccer ball. Two younger guys on our team, Zukes and Nilsson, immediately jumped into the game.
Zukes, dressed in a green and blue plaid suit, stretched out to get the ball and a ripping sound filled the air, making him freeze.
“Oh shit!” he called out, craning his neck to look at his backside. “It ripped! I thought this material wasn’t supposed to rip!”
The kids all clapped and threw their heads back cackling.
“What a fatty!” one kid teased.
Zuke’s eyebrows slammed down. “Hey, I’m a professional athlete. I’m not fat. Tell them, Nil,” he said to his best bud.
Clearly struggling to keep a straight face, Nilsson weighed his head to the side. “Coach tell you no more hot dogs, no more Colas,” he said in broken English.
The kids laughed harder.
Zuke’s eyebrows slammed down. “I can’t give those up. That’s my good luck meal.”
As soon as the tweens went back to playing, the ball sailed all the way across the room, smacking into an older woman’s head.
