Thursday, November 25, 2004
4.
4.
Doug picked up his guitar and strummed a couple of chords. The band had assembled in the great room except for Bill. Colin was going to go and look for him, but Gary stopped him, and Gary went off instead. Doug shrugged, and turned to look at his amplifier. Most of the partygoers had gathered to watch the show, and he was ready to play. Next to him, Kevin stood waiting.
A couple of minutes passed, and Gary returned, Bill loping along behind him. His eyes were red, but he seemed okay.
“About time, bro. We were wondering if you were going to join us.”
Bill picked up his bass, and as he walked by Doug, the stench of marijuana was heavy. “Don’t worry about me, man. Everything’s cool.” He plugged in and turned around. “What are we doing first?”
Doug rolled his eyes. “What do we always do first?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. I thought we were playing the pussy set first.”
Kevin stepped between them. “Now is not the time for this. People are watching.” He turned to Mike the drummer. “All right, Mike, let’s go. Count us off.”
“One two three four!” The band launched into its first number of the show, Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me”. Doug gradually forgot about being mad at Bill as the first set progressed. The partygoers danced and yelled and sang along, and the first set went really well. It was all covers, a standard Cerebus live set. They played for forty-five minutes, finishing with a ripsnorting version of “Roadrunner” with Kevin singing lead.
“Okay, everyone, we’re gonna take a little break to get some beer, and, uh, use the facilities. Next set will begin around seven.” It was quarter after six now, and Doug wanted to see Holy Mother on the six o’clock news. Kim came up as he was putting down his guitar.
“Hey.” She put her arms around him and kissed him.
“Hey yourself. How’d we sound?”
“Loud. But good. A little ragged at the start. I think Bill’s baked. The bass was a little off.”
“Yeah, but I don’t care. Everybody liked it.” He smiled at her. “The real test comes in the second set.”
“Are you going to play the songs that you wrote with Kevin?”
“Yeah. I think they’ll go over pretty well.” They walked across the hall to the living room, where a crowd had gathered around the television set. On it, the announcers were talking about the storm, which still hadn’t moved much at all. New Haven already had a foot on the ground, and some areas of northern Connecticut were already around eighteen inches. Then they cut to a commercial, and Doug and Kim sat down on the couch next to Kat. Jack and his new friend were sitting on the floor by the couch, engrossed in a game of chess. Gary, Audra and Colette were sitting on the opposite couch, and Gary and Colette were having an animated conversation in French. Kim caught snatches of what they were saying, but they were talking too fast for her. She nudged Doug and whispered something in his ear though as they waited for the sports report. Doug looked around the room, and didn’t see Charlie anywhere. He wondered about that right up until the report started.
The announcer came back from commerical, and after running down the cancellations of sports events (including all the other divisional finals after theirs and the Whaler game scheduled for that evening), they’d started the report.
Announcer: “Well, you might ask, what did happen in Connecticut sports today? Well, before the snows came, there was a showdown of Division One superpowers in high school hockey at the Civic Center. Here’s Dave Gilmore with the report.”
The TV showed the outside of the Civic Center, snow blowing behind the reporter. “Well, The Golden Boys braved the weather outside, and the Jesuit defense inside, to post a come from behind victory.” The announcer continued talking as a few highlights of the game spooled by. The partygoers applauded as Jack made a save, then cheered as Charlie scored the winning goal. “I had a chance to speak with the victorious Charlie Ferris.”
“Yeah, I felt pretty good out there, you know. I couldn’t gave done it without my boys, though. You know, we’ve had a pretty good run, three titles in three years.”
“Where do you go from here?”
“Well, that’s a good question, Dave. I’ve had some, uh, some interest from the NHL, but I’m also weighing my options with colleges.”
“We’d heard some talk that you were considering going out for the draft.”
“Well, that’s true. I’ve decided to test the waters and throw my name into the hat. The worst thing that happens is that I don’t get drafted, and then I go off to school. Boston University has been after me, as has Minnesota. But I’m definitely interested in the idea of going straight to the pros.”
Kat broke into a scowl while Charlie was talking about the draft. She balled her hands into fists, but held her temper. As the report ended, the partygoers broke into a “Golden Boys” chant again, and started applauding. Kat got up and stormed out of the room. Doug looked at Gary, but he just shrugged.
Charlie sat out on the back porch. He’d cleared off two chairs, and now he sat with his feet up on the railing. An unopened bottle of Guinness sat on the deck next to him, and he rolled a cigar around in his fingers. He was waiting on Kat. Sure enough, she came through the door as he was lighting up the cigar, a nice Cuban that he’d liberated from Burke’s ‘secret’ stash.
“So, how’d I look on the tube?”
Kat was pissed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were still considering the draft?” She ignored the chair, and stood right in front of him. “I thought we’d decided that you were going to go to Boston University and wait on the draft.”
He took a long drag on the cigar, then blew a smoke ring. Without looking up at her, he replied, “WE didn’t decide anything. As I told Dave, I’m still considering my options. Look at it this way. I want to play in the NHL. If I go to college, play, and get hurt, then potentially, I lose my opportunity.”
“But...”
“Look at it this way. If I go pro, I spend a year or two in Rochester, or Oshawa, or even playing down at the Coliseum for the Nighthawks. Then I go up. Worst case scenario, I get injured in the pros, have to retire, and then I go back to school. At least then I’ll have gotten my shot.” He looked up at her in the gloom of the dim light from the kitchen windows. “Why the sudden interest in my choice, anyway? I thought you didn’t care as long as I was a good boy and didn’t get you into any trouble.”
“You unbelievable bastard.”
He opened the bottle of Guinness. “Count on it. Your reputation is not as important as my future. Or hadn’t you considered that?”
She turned to leave, then stopped. “Is this you talking, or the booze?”
“I’m sober. This is only the second beer I’ve had all night, unlike you. I’ve been thinking a lot about my old man recently. This is what he wanted for me, you know. My life is moving at a pretty fast pace right now. It’s time for me to grab a hold and see where the ride takes me.” He sipped the bottle. “Besides, what do you care if I get blitzed? You’ve got a nice head start on me, and it’s not like we’re going anywhere anyway.”
“Look, I just want you to be careful with your choice... and your partying.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom, I can handle both.”
She leaned in towards him. “You know something, Charlie? Until today, I thought you were a nice, handsome guy with God-given talents. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen the real Charlie Ferris.”
He took another puff on the cigar, not looking at her. “Nice guy with talent? You and I both know that my having talent has nothing to do with why you’ve stayed with me. I figure you like being belle of the ball, you know, the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school.”
“You bastard!” Kat hauled off and slapped him across the face, hard. He didn’t even flinch. He turned to look at her, red marks spreading across his cheek, and she looked away from his cold stare. Neither of them noticed Colette, who had come out onto the back porch when she heard Charlie talking. She backed into the shadows so neither of them would see her.
“I probably deserved that, but you’ve been stringing me along for two years. I was a primo catch, wasn’t I?” He sipped the Guinness again. “Remember this, Kat. It’s my balls, my knees, my life we’re talking about here. All you have to do in life is show up and look pretty, and you’ll get stuff handed to you on a silver platter.”
“Really fucking rough, Charlie. I guess I was wrong about you all along.”
“Well, then that makes two of us. I was obviously wrong when I thought you loved me, not the idea of me. Apparently I’ve been kidding myself all this time.”
“I guess so.” She burst into tears and stormed off, headed back towards the party. Charlie just sat in the chair, puffing on the cigar and staring out at the snow. Colette just stared at him. She felt horrible for him, and for eavesdropping on the conversation. She was going to quietly sidle back into the house, when he took the cigar out of his mouth.
“You can come out now, Colette. I know you’re there.”
She stepped from the shadows. She had stolen Gary’s Holy Mother varsity jacket and she walked over towards him. He was overcome by an aching desire to stand up and take her in his arms, right then and there, but he remained in his seat. If anything was going to happen, it would be in its own right time. She plopped down in the chair next to him, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the silent white back yard. He suddenly laughed, and turned towards her.
“It’s funny. All this time, I thought I knew how things were between us. Turns out I was just one big naive idiot.”
“Naive? Perhaps it was not you that was naive, but her.”
He raised his eyebrows. “How do you mean?”
“Well, you are Mr. Popular Hockey Star, yes?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“Well, maybe she’s expecting bigger things out of you then you yourself are expecting.”
Charlie stubbed out the cigar, then blew another smoke ring. “I guess. We’ve always had what you might call an open relationship. Maybe I just took her for granted for too long.”
“Open?”
“Meaning that if I wanted to go out with another girl, I could. Just as long as I knew who I was ultimately coming back to. But after we won the state title again last year, she started becoming more interested in keeping me to herself.”
He stood up and walked towards the end of the porch. Colette picked up the bottle of Guinness and took a swig. “Ugh. How can you drink this stuff?” She spat the remainder out. “Maybe what the two of you need is some time completely off from each other. It might do you both some good.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The last two, maybe three months, I’ve been so wrapped up in the season and the whole college application thing that we haven’t spent much time together.”
“And how has that been?”
“Actually, it hasn’t been all that bad. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t even really thought about it that way until just now. After all, I start my day with practice at four, then six hours of school, then back to the rink, then home for schoolwork. That kind of schedule, you tend to miss things. I haven’t seen much of anyone outside the team other then you and Gary, and that’s only because we all live here. Pretty sad, huh?”
“Well, which do you prefer? The rigors of high school social life, or the celibate life of hockey?”
“Lately, I prefer the celibacy.” He turned back and looked out at the snow. He could just about make out the pool house across the back yard. “I know that sounds bad, but it just seems so much easier than dealing with all of this nonsense. She drives me crazy sometimes. She makes me feel like I have to do everything right just to keep her from walking away.”
Colette was surprised. This was hardly the Charlie she thought she knew. All the time she’d been living in the Ablett house, she’d been attracted to his easygoing charm, and enthralled by his quiet nature. She’d had no idea that all this was building up inside him. “I didn’t realize that you felt this way.”
“No one does. Sometimes I don’t either. But more often than not, I do. Sometimes I wish I were like Gary. He doesn’t have a thing to worry about. Burke and Joanna aren’t around all that much, but when they are, they’re the perfect parents. And he and Audra are perfect together. It’s like a picture of perfect geek love, those two.”
“I can’t believe that! You want to be more like Gary? But he wants to be you! He thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. He worships the ice you skate on.”
Charlie laughed loud and long. “He does, huh? Well, he’s wrong. He’s got everything going for him. He’s gonna be a multi-millionaire before he’s 25, and without any help from Burke, either. He’s a smart, smart kid. All I am is a glorified hockey goon orphan.”
“I think that there’s more to you then meets the eye.”
“Well, maybe you’re right, and maybe I’m freezing my ass off out here. Let’s go back inside.” He offered her his hand, and she took it. Together, they walked back to join the party.
Doug picked up his guitar and strummed a couple of chords. The band had assembled in the great room except for Bill. Colin was going to go and look for him, but Gary stopped him, and Gary went off instead. Doug shrugged, and turned to look at his amplifier. Most of the partygoers had gathered to watch the show, and he was ready to play. Next to him, Kevin stood waiting.
A couple of minutes passed, and Gary returned, Bill loping along behind him. His eyes were red, but he seemed okay.
“About time, bro. We were wondering if you were going to join us.”
Bill picked up his bass, and as he walked by Doug, the stench of marijuana was heavy. “Don’t worry about me, man. Everything’s cool.” He plugged in and turned around. “What are we doing first?”
Doug rolled his eyes. “What do we always do first?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. I thought we were playing the pussy set first.”
Kevin stepped between them. “Now is not the time for this. People are watching.” He turned to Mike the drummer. “All right, Mike, let’s go. Count us off.”
“One two three four!” The band launched into its first number of the show, Poison’s “Talk Dirty To Me”. Doug gradually forgot about being mad at Bill as the first set progressed. The partygoers danced and yelled and sang along, and the first set went really well. It was all covers, a standard Cerebus live set. They played for forty-five minutes, finishing with a ripsnorting version of “Roadrunner” with Kevin singing lead.
“Okay, everyone, we’re gonna take a little break to get some beer, and, uh, use the facilities. Next set will begin around seven.” It was quarter after six now, and Doug wanted to see Holy Mother on the six o’clock news. Kim came up as he was putting down his guitar.
“Hey.” She put her arms around him and kissed him.
“Hey yourself. How’d we sound?”
“Loud. But good. A little ragged at the start. I think Bill’s baked. The bass was a little off.”
“Yeah, but I don’t care. Everybody liked it.” He smiled at her. “The real test comes in the second set.”
“Are you going to play the songs that you wrote with Kevin?”
“Yeah. I think they’ll go over pretty well.” They walked across the hall to the living room, where a crowd had gathered around the television set. On it, the announcers were talking about the storm, which still hadn’t moved much at all. New Haven already had a foot on the ground, and some areas of northern Connecticut were already around eighteen inches. Then they cut to a commercial, and Doug and Kim sat down on the couch next to Kat. Jack and his new friend were sitting on the floor by the couch, engrossed in a game of chess. Gary, Audra and Colette were sitting on the opposite couch, and Gary and Colette were having an animated conversation in French. Kim caught snatches of what they were saying, but they were talking too fast for her. She nudged Doug and whispered something in his ear though as they waited for the sports report. Doug looked around the room, and didn’t see Charlie anywhere. He wondered about that right up until the report started.
The announcer came back from commerical, and after running down the cancellations of sports events (including all the other divisional finals after theirs and the Whaler game scheduled for that evening), they’d started the report.
Announcer: “Well, you might ask, what did happen in Connecticut sports today? Well, before the snows came, there was a showdown of Division One superpowers in high school hockey at the Civic Center. Here’s Dave Gilmore with the report.”
The TV showed the outside of the Civic Center, snow blowing behind the reporter. “Well, The Golden Boys braved the weather outside, and the Jesuit defense inside, to post a come from behind victory.” The announcer continued talking as a few highlights of the game spooled by. The partygoers applauded as Jack made a save, then cheered as Charlie scored the winning goal. “I had a chance to speak with the victorious Charlie Ferris.”
“Yeah, I felt pretty good out there, you know. I couldn’t gave done it without my boys, though. You know, we’ve had a pretty good run, three titles in three years.”
“Where do you go from here?”
“Well, that’s a good question, Dave. I’ve had some, uh, some interest from the NHL, but I’m also weighing my options with colleges.”
“We’d heard some talk that you were considering going out for the draft.”
“Well, that’s true. I’ve decided to test the waters and throw my name into the hat. The worst thing that happens is that I don’t get drafted, and then I go off to school. Boston University has been after me, as has Minnesota. But I’m definitely interested in the idea of going straight to the pros.”
Kat broke into a scowl while Charlie was talking about the draft. She balled her hands into fists, but held her temper. As the report ended, the partygoers broke into a “Golden Boys” chant again, and started applauding. Kat got up and stormed out of the room. Doug looked at Gary, but he just shrugged.
Charlie sat out on the back porch. He’d cleared off two chairs, and now he sat with his feet up on the railing. An unopened bottle of Guinness sat on the deck next to him, and he rolled a cigar around in his fingers. He was waiting on Kat. Sure enough, she came through the door as he was lighting up the cigar, a nice Cuban that he’d liberated from Burke’s ‘secret’ stash.
“So, how’d I look on the tube?”
Kat was pissed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were still considering the draft?” She ignored the chair, and stood right in front of him. “I thought we’d decided that you were going to go to Boston University and wait on the draft.”
He took a long drag on the cigar, then blew a smoke ring. Without looking up at her, he replied, “WE didn’t decide anything. As I told Dave, I’m still considering my options. Look at it this way. I want to play in the NHL. If I go to college, play, and get hurt, then potentially, I lose my opportunity.”
“But...”
“Look at it this way. If I go pro, I spend a year or two in Rochester, or Oshawa, or even playing down at the Coliseum for the Nighthawks. Then I go up. Worst case scenario, I get injured in the pros, have to retire, and then I go back to school. At least then I’ll have gotten my shot.” He looked up at her in the gloom of the dim light from the kitchen windows. “Why the sudden interest in my choice, anyway? I thought you didn’t care as long as I was a good boy and didn’t get you into any trouble.”
“You unbelievable bastard.”
He opened the bottle of Guinness. “Count on it. Your reputation is not as important as my future. Or hadn’t you considered that?”
She turned to leave, then stopped. “Is this you talking, or the booze?”
“I’m sober. This is only the second beer I’ve had all night, unlike you. I’ve been thinking a lot about my old man recently. This is what he wanted for me, you know. My life is moving at a pretty fast pace right now. It’s time for me to grab a hold and see where the ride takes me.” He sipped the bottle. “Besides, what do you care if I get blitzed? You’ve got a nice head start on me, and it’s not like we’re going anywhere anyway.”
“Look, I just want you to be careful with your choice... and your partying.”
He laughed. “Don’t worry, Mom, I can handle both.”
She leaned in towards him. “You know something, Charlie? Until today, I thought you were a nice, handsome guy with God-given talents. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen the real Charlie Ferris.”
He took another puff on the cigar, not looking at her. “Nice guy with talent? You and I both know that my having talent has nothing to do with why you’ve stayed with me. I figure you like being belle of the ball, you know, the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school.”
“You bastard!” Kat hauled off and slapped him across the face, hard. He didn’t even flinch. He turned to look at her, red marks spreading across his cheek, and she looked away from his cold stare. Neither of them noticed Colette, who had come out onto the back porch when she heard Charlie talking. She backed into the shadows so neither of them would see her.
“I probably deserved that, but you’ve been stringing me along for two years. I was a primo catch, wasn’t I?” He sipped the Guinness again. “Remember this, Kat. It’s my balls, my knees, my life we’re talking about here. All you have to do in life is show up and look pretty, and you’ll get stuff handed to you on a silver platter.”
“Really fucking rough, Charlie. I guess I was wrong about you all along.”
“Well, then that makes two of us. I was obviously wrong when I thought you loved me, not the idea of me. Apparently I’ve been kidding myself all this time.”
“I guess so.” She burst into tears and stormed off, headed back towards the party. Charlie just sat in the chair, puffing on the cigar and staring out at the snow. Colette just stared at him. She felt horrible for him, and for eavesdropping on the conversation. She was going to quietly sidle back into the house, when he took the cigar out of his mouth.
“You can come out now, Colette. I know you’re there.”
She stepped from the shadows. She had stolen Gary’s Holy Mother varsity jacket and she walked over towards him. He was overcome by an aching desire to stand up and take her in his arms, right then and there, but he remained in his seat. If anything was going to happen, it would be in its own right time. She plopped down in the chair next to him, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating the silent white back yard. He suddenly laughed, and turned towards her.
“It’s funny. All this time, I thought I knew how things were between us. Turns out I was just one big naive idiot.”
“Naive? Perhaps it was not you that was naive, but her.”
He raised his eyebrows. “How do you mean?”
“Well, you are Mr. Popular Hockey Star, yes?”
“Yeah, I suppose you could say that.”
“Well, maybe she’s expecting bigger things out of you then you yourself are expecting.”
Charlie stubbed out the cigar, then blew another smoke ring. “I guess. We’ve always had what you might call an open relationship. Maybe I just took her for granted for too long.”
“Open?”
“Meaning that if I wanted to go out with another girl, I could. Just as long as I knew who I was ultimately coming back to. But after we won the state title again last year, she started becoming more interested in keeping me to herself.”
He stood up and walked towards the end of the porch. Colette picked up the bottle of Guinness and took a swig. “Ugh. How can you drink this stuff?” She spat the remainder out. “Maybe what the two of you need is some time completely off from each other. It might do you both some good.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. The last two, maybe three months, I’ve been so wrapped up in the season and the whole college application thing that we haven’t spent much time together.”
“And how has that been?”
“Actually, it hasn’t been all that bad. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t even really thought about it that way until just now. After all, I start my day with practice at four, then six hours of school, then back to the rink, then home for schoolwork. That kind of schedule, you tend to miss things. I haven’t seen much of anyone outside the team other then you and Gary, and that’s only because we all live here. Pretty sad, huh?”
“Well, which do you prefer? The rigors of high school social life, or the celibate life of hockey?”
“Lately, I prefer the celibacy.” He turned back and looked out at the snow. He could just about make out the pool house across the back yard. “I know that sounds bad, but it just seems so much easier than dealing with all of this nonsense. She drives me crazy sometimes. She makes me feel like I have to do everything right just to keep her from walking away.”
Colette was surprised. This was hardly the Charlie she thought she knew. All the time she’d been living in the Ablett house, she’d been attracted to his easygoing charm, and enthralled by his quiet nature. She’d had no idea that all this was building up inside him. “I didn’t realize that you felt this way.”
“No one does. Sometimes I don’t either. But more often than not, I do. Sometimes I wish I were like Gary. He doesn’t have a thing to worry about. Burke and Joanna aren’t around all that much, but when they are, they’re the perfect parents. And he and Audra are perfect together. It’s like a picture of perfect geek love, those two.”
“I can’t believe that! You want to be more like Gary? But he wants to be you! He thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. He worships the ice you skate on.”
Charlie laughed loud and long. “He does, huh? Well, he’s wrong. He’s got everything going for him. He’s gonna be a multi-millionaire before he’s 25, and without any help from Burke, either. He’s a smart, smart kid. All I am is a glorified hockey goon orphan.”
“I think that there’s more to you then meets the eye.”
“Well, maybe you’re right, and maybe I’m freezing my ass off out here. Let’s go back inside.” He offered her his hand, and she took it. Together, they walked back to join the party.
