Page 18 of Hockey Heart

“Hey. Um, didn’t we?” Hayden started to say, uncomfortably.

Ignoring the half-grinning ogre that seemed to be blocking out every inch of sunlight, I kneeled down and smiled at the little boy who was trying to hide behind him, putting myself at his level.

“Well, hi there.”

“SayhiChamp,” the big ape said from above us, looking down at the nervous boy clinging onto his trouser leg. He managed a shy wave before burying his face back into his dad’s pants.

“It’s Maiden, right?”

A little nod.

“I’m Sarah, and I’m so excited to meet you! Do you like dinosaurs, Maiden?” I said, noticing the stegosaurus pattern on his shirt.

“He LOVES ‘em! Don’t you champ?”

I glared up at Hayden and he looked back at me, quickly understanding his interruptions were not welcome.

“Well, we’ve got LOTS of dinosaurs here. You want to come see them?”

Maiden looked hesitant, but the idea of dinosaurs was too big a pull and he let go of his dad’s leg and turned to me, nodding.

“Oh, I can’t wait to show you! My favorite one is Marvin. He’s a stegosaurus. Let’s go see, okay?” I stood and offered my hand and he took it.

I noticed Hayden’s expression as we turned. A worried and concerned look. I’d seen a glimpse of it at our dinner. Now, it was painted across his big, stupid face as he watched his child walk away.

I wasn’t sure it could get any worse. As it turned out, it only took half a day before there was trouble.

11

SCREAMING

Sarah

The screaming was the first thing I heard. When you teach kids, you get a good ear for the different types of screams. Like bird-songs to the trained ear, you can pick them out. This one was a serious cry, with pain involved.

Rushing outside, while the kids ran to press their faces against the window, I saw Hicks pulling Maiden up by his shirt, his face red and wild as he thrashed around trying to get free. Then I saw Kensy go to the floor where Matthew Lockley was bawling. His face a shocked mess of snot, tears, and blood.

Maiden was still flailing as he was dragged away by Hicks, while the other kids looked on as if they were watching a grown-up television show they didn’t fully understand, but couldn’t look away from.

As I got to the scene, Kensy was asking Matthew what happened. Between sobs, he was trying to tell her.

“He… He hit me… In my F… Fff…. Face,” he wailed.

I crouched down next to Kensy, and we shared a concerned look.

“Why Matthew?” I asked him.

“I just said he… He… He… Couldn’t read,” then he looked at me in earnest, “Because he can’t!”

“He can read just fine, Matthew. Why would you say that?” Kensy asked as she mopped up his snotty face with a tissue.

“He didn’t know the… The… The number on the hopscotch… Then he HIT me!”

Back inside, Hicks had Maiden sitting on a chair in the hallway and was telling him, “You can’t just hit people, Maiden. Why did you do it?”

Maiden just stared at the floor, his eyes thick with angry tears.

“We’ll have to tell your dad, you know? What will he think?”

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