Playing Hurt - By Holly Schindler Page 0,17
Earl shouts, bursting into the dining room. He grabs a chair and drags it up to our increasingly crowded table. Todd takes this as an opportunity to scoot his own chair closer to Kenzie’s.
Earl gobbles up half the morels before Kenzie can let out a syllable of protest. Takes up my bottle of Coke and gulps the remainder of it, letting out a satisfied “Ahhhhh” and smoothing his gray beard.
“About that boot camp of yours,” Earl starts.
“People would be lining up in droves if they knew about your hockey experience,” Kenzie says innocently.
“No,” I shout. “No hockey.”
Greg and Todd both frown at me while Kenzie flinches, touches her chest. “I just thought—you were great,” she says. “And there are so many old pictures of you on the ice around here. Even hanging up in the back of Pike’s. I could scan one into the computer, paste it into your posters—”
“Were, was, woulda’,” I snap. “Nobody cares about something I used to do. I don’t do team sports, all right? None. Especially not hockey. You know that. Can’t believe you’d even bring it up.”
The silence stretches. My anger throbs. Kenzie’s eyes turn wet and she shrinks a little, but Earl just clears his throat and puts his hand on my shoulder. Smiles as though my outburst never happened.
“I’m not gonna get that free meal,” Earl says. Before I can ask him what he means by that, he explains. “Guy called the lodge this afternoon to confirm the reservation for his family vacation. One of his kid is off to college next year and he and his wife bought her the vacation as a graduation gift. He started talkin’ this kid up, askin’ ’bout activities here at the resort. And I thought, seems like a perfect fit, even though I guess you probably won’t be able to push the kid as hard as you really had in mind for the boot camp, but this guy’s willing to pay well, and—”
“I think you lost me,” I say.
“Special case,” Earl finally explains. “Former basketball player, broke her hip. Lost her chance at an athletic scholarship, big career, the whole enchilada, but she’s healed, and when this guy started askin’ which activities around here would be a good place to start her out, I mentioned the boot camp. He really got interested in you workin’ with her one-on-one.”
“She?” Kenzie asks. “The basketball player’s a she?”
Earl nods. Shrugs. “Sounds like a case a’ once bitten, twice shy. Like this guy’s mostly afraid his kid mighta lost some a’ her confidence. What do you say?” he asks me. “Gets here tomorrow.”
“Jeez, Earl,” I moan. “Way to give me the heads up.”
It’s stupid to get mad at him. I mean, I asked for this. But I was envisioning some out-of-shape vacationers. A former athlete’s a different story. Kind of kicks me in the gut, the idea of working with a ball player.
“Been lookin’ for you all afternoon,” Earl says. “Didn’t know about her situation till today. And I thought—”
“You already told her dad I would?” It sounds like some sort of accusation, the way I’ve put it. Like I’ve found out that Earl has just set me up for the fall of a lifetime—a tumble from a cliff. And I already get the feeling, for some reason, that he really has.
“Don’t bust his balls about it, Clint,” Kenzie says, which makes me cringe. Kenzie doesn’t usually talk so rough. I can tell Todd likes it, though, the way he gives her a half-nod.
“Maybe the ball player will even get you to have a little fun,” Kenzie says.
“I have fun,” I say defensively. “Loads of it.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Kenzie mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. I can feel Greg staring at me, gearing up to weigh what I’m about to say. Like my answer’s going to mean something. I don’t need him trying to decode my every move. So I shrug, act like it’s no big deal.
“Sure, I’ll do it,” I say. “One reconditioned ball player, coming up.”
“Yeah,” Kenzie says, flashing a glare my way. “We all know how easy it is to get broken-down jocks back in the game.”
Which is my cue to leave.
Chelsea
technical foul
Brandon’s our finisher, the last runner in a relay who can sprint like nobody’s business. Without saying so out loud, we’ve planned it this way, letting Brandon be the last driver in our excruciatingly long car ride.
After all, a full day on a highway that snakes through three different states can turn even the most