“Yeah, it is,” Mack says. “It’s animated.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s just for kids,” Crusher says. “Animation is just a different way of telling a story. It doesn’t have anything to do with the content of the story.”
“Hmmm.” I nod. “I guess that’s true.”
“I’ve always likedTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Smitty says with a grin.
“Hey, I watchedThe Lion Kingwith my kids,” Turks says. “I got choked up when Mufasa died. That’s a good story.”
“It’s based on Shakespeare,” Crusher replies. “Hamlet.”
“Well, maybe inspired by,” Archie says, “but yeah.”
“Shut up.” Trev stares at Crusher. “I never knew that.”
“No lie. They’re both about a young prince—Hamlet and Simba—and his uncle kills his father and steals the throne.”
“Then the prince gets the throne back,” Turks adds. “Cool.”
“I don’t think I ever readHamlet,” Smitty says. “I probably skipped school that day.”
“Fucking hockey players,” I say dryly. “Skipping school all the time and getting away with it.”
Everyone makes a face that confirms the truth of that and also a little guilt. Most of us know we got a lot of special treatment as hockey players… and still do. Conversation moves on to whether cats are better than dogs (I’m a dog person) and what you put first in your cereal bowl: milk or cereal. Except none of us eats much cereal these days, and we start sharing smoothie recipes. It wouldn’t be our team, though, without a detour into some bizarre topic.
“I’ve been doing pelvic-floor exercises,” Crusher shares.
We all gaze at him.
“What? It’s great for your sex life.”
“I thought only women had to do those,” Benny says, cutting a piece of steak.
“Do we even have a pelvic floor?” Smitty asks.
“Yeah, we do.” Crusher shakes his head. “Same as women. But men also have a set of pelvic floor muscles called the urogenital triangle. Those muscles are important for erections and ejaculation.”
I glance around the restaurant. Luckily, we’re pretty much on our own in this section. I meet our captain, Benny’s eyes and we both shrug.
“When you get older, your pelvic floor muscles can get tight or weak, and you can’t get it up,” Crusher adds.
“That’s bad,” Archie says, and everyone else nods in agreement.
“Man’s best friend,” Dilly says.
“Nobody wants a broken arrow,” Archie adds gravely.
“A limp bizket,” I add, getting a burst of laughter.
“A gummy worm,” Turks says.
“Speak for yourself.” Smitty looks affronted. “Mine would be a sleeping giant.”
That gets an explosion of guffaws.
“There are little blue pills for that,” Turks says, then adds quickly, “I hear.”
“Okay, so how do you exercise your pelvic floor?” Benny asks.
