Page 20 of Hockey Heart

“Is he contained?” Jill asked.

“Contained? It wasn’t a prison break, Jill. He’s fine. Just in a bit of a mess.”

“I’ve called his father already. He’s on the way,” she told me. “I should have known it was a bad idea.”

“What are you going to do about it?” I asked back.

“We can’t have our children threatened by violence, even if their father is a donor to the school. We have to set an example. He’s been here, what? Four hours?”

“Jill. Look, I don’t think he’s a bad kid. Matthew was teasing him about not being able to read the numbers on the playground. I don’t think anyone’s ever understood or tried to help him. He’s confused and embarrassed.”

“Well, that’s not how he should have reacted,” she said bluntly, and now it was my turn to sigh.

She was right, of course, but how many times had this kid been moved on because no one had helped him learn how to control himself?

“Jill, don’t get me wrong, what he did was really bad, but I think we could actually help this kid, not just throw him to the next school. Isn’t that a better example to set? We’re meant to be helping these kids learn, but also learn how to deal with life and human interactions.”

“Sarah, I love the idea, but…”

“What about we give him a week? If I can get him and Matthew to make up and be friends, and he stays out of trouble, then we can move on.”

“Sorry, but Matthew’s parents will be all over me on this. They’ll ask for him to be removed.”

I thought of the Locklears for a moment and then realized we had a winning hand. It wasn’t one I really wanted to consider, but at that moment, I was only thinking about the poor boy who needed some help from all these grown-ups who were ready to just brush him under the carpet.

“The Locklears will be okay with it,” I told her.

Jill stared at me like I was mad. “Tom Locklear is not the kind of man to have a reasonable conversation, in case you don’t remember his outbursts at the last teacher-parent evening?”

“I know, I know! But do you remember what he was wearing that evening, Jill?”

She thought for a moment before she recalled, “Oh, a football shirt, wasn’t it?”

“No. Jill, it was a hockey shirt. An Ice-Hawks one at that. If Maiden’s dad wants him to stay, then all he’s gotta do is go apologize to Tom, maybe throw him some game tickets, and he’ll lap it up.”

Hicks had been quiet up until this point but spoke up. “Actually, that’s not the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

Jill considered the scenario for a moment before deciding.

“If, and I mean,if, Tom accepts an apology, then he can stay. But the first sign of trouble after that, then he has no place at Parkford. Sarah, seeing as it’s your idea, you talk to the father when he gets here.”

An image of Hayden throwing another ravaged chicken bone on the table and then belching flashed across my mind.

“Oh! I really think it would come best from the principal, don’t you?”

“I don’t know any of this sports stuff. You seem to know about it. Just tell him what needs to happen.”

12

SOLVING

Hayden

I couldn’t believe it. How could Maiden, the sweetest, coolest kid in the world, have ended up in this situation? The obvious answer came to me, and I shuddered in sickening annoyance. His Dad beat people up all the time.Was he just trying to be like me? His good old dad, who smashes people in the face all the time. It was true. It was me. I did this.

I honked my horn and yelled some expletives at an SUV that came powering down the freeway in front of me.Yeah, what a great role model you turned out to be Hayden. Another Raynor that talks with his fists.At least I’d found somewhere I could do it where it was actually appreciated. But all I’d really done was repeat the mistakes of the past, and now Maiden was following that well-beaten path.

Could we handle another school? How many were even left that would take a kid whose biggest strength was a mean right hook? I took a sip from my travel mug and looked at the writing on it.Best Dad In The World. At that moment, I felt like the worst dad in history.

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