Page 64 of For Crosby

I scoffed. “You think I’m here for money?”

“Aren’t you?”

“You’ve got nothing left. You know that, right?”

He lifted his chin and looked away, as if he still possessed the tiniest shred of dignity in a place like that.

It took everything in me not to say, ‘Come on, dude. You shower and piss in front of other guys.’

His eyes cut back to mine. “So, why are you here?”

“Just thought it was the right thing to do.” My attention drifted to a couple a few tables over. The woman was pregnant. I wondered if their unborn kid was better off being born with a father in prison instead of having him at home teaching him the wrong way to grow up. My eyes ventured back to my father. “Thanks for hiding the business side of things from me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s better that I didn’t know what you were doing. I’ll be okay not having money. I wouldn’t have been okay if I watched you steal from innocent people. Knowing I had no knowledge of it helps deal with the anger toward our family.” I watched him closely. Watched to see if he even cared my life had been affected by his decisions. But his blank stare continued.

“So, you’re thanking me?”

“In a screwed-up kind of way, I guess I am.” I stared down at the handcuffs wrapped around his wrists. I didn’t need to look away from them like I did my mom’s. For some reason, it wasn’t odd to see them there.

“Still playing hockey?”

“At Alabama now.”

His head flinched back. “What? Why?”

If he didn’t understand the trail of disaster he’d left in his wake, I didn’t have the energy to explain it to him. “Just thought it was for the best.”

“Your mother arrange that?”

I nodded.

“Of course she did,” he muttered. “Well, keep focused on your goal and stay healthy. That way you can go early in the draft.”

“I intend to.”

“I’ve seen those contracts. You’re gonna be a very wealthy man. Just be careful. Women will be crawling out of the woodwork for you, wanting to get their claws on your money. Be safe.” He nodded toward the pregnant woman at the other table. “They’ll do anything to hold onto you.”

“You think money’s the only reason someone would want to be with me?”

“Absolutely. Money’s all anyone sees.”

“You should know, huh?”

He looked away, the accuracy of my words pissing him off. Too bad I didn’t care.

The pregnant woman’s chair scraped on the floor, and she pushed herself slowly to her feet. She wiped a tear from her eye as she turned and walked away from the inmate still seated at the table.

I pulled my attention away from the sad scene and looked back at my father. “It’s not about the money for me.”

A derisive laugh shot from his lips. “You say that now.”

I shook my head. “Nope. I’m not you. All I need is a stick and skates and I’ll be okay.”

“Call me in a few years if hockey doesn’t work out. I’d love to hear if your ideals have changed.”

“Deal.”

---