Page 57 of Leave

“So, Riley.” John leaned forward to look at me past Carol. “How is it you grew up in California and never once went to a hockey game? There’s four teams down there!”

I laughed. “Yeah, but there’s no hockey team in San Diego. Anaheim, L.A., and San Francisco—those are a bit of a hike just to go to a game.”

“Okay, but I was in San Diego for a while.” Nolan elbowed me. “L.A. isn’tthatfar. You never went a single game?”

“Nah. Just wasn’t on my radar, I guess. I went to football and baseball games, but…” I shrugged.

“Ugh.” Nolan wrinkled his nose. “Those are both so boring after hockey.”

“Well, damn. And here I was going to try to take you a baseball game when we got back to Oki.” I popped an M&M into my mouth. “Guess we’ll just have to go to a bullfight instead.”

“Bullfighting?” Carol scoffed. “Oh, that’s barbaric!”

“Nah,” Nolan said. “It’s nothing like they do in Europe. It’s more like… I guess like Sumo wrestling for bulls? They just kind of push and shove each other until one knocks the other out of the ring.”

Carol eyed him dubiously. “They don’t get hurt?”

“They get scratched up sometimes,” I said. “But they have handlers to keep things from getting out of control. It’s really nothing like Spanish bullfights.”

She pursed her lips but relaxed a little. “Well, all right. As long as it’s not…that.”

Nolan made a face. “I’d never go to something like that.”

“I didn’t think you would.”

“Have you been to an Okinawan bullfight?” I asked.

“Once, when I first got to the island. You?”

“Couple of times. There was a ring near where I lived before I—” I hesitated, suddenly realizing his parents might not know we were shacking up. Sort of. “By my old place.”

He nodded. “Well. We’ll have to go to one when we get back.”

I grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

Shortly after that, the hockey game kicked off. Or at least, all the pregame stuff did. The players came out to warm up for like fifteen minutes. Then the Zambonis came out, and afterthat, there was an opening montage showing some of the players scoring goals and shoving other players into the glass.

“Is it true they fight a lot?” I asked Nolan.

“They fight,” he said. “But not very often.”

I made a disgusted sound. “He tells me thatnow.”

Nolan laughed. “It’ll still be entertaining. Don’t worry.”

We’d see about that.

The starting lineups were announced. The crowd booed for the other team’s players, but cheered for their own.

“Is there a big rivalry?” I asked Nolan.

“No.” He flashed me a grin. “Hockey fans are just enthusiastic.”

“You don’t say.”

The starting players stood in rows on the ice. For the national anthem, I assumed.

Then, on the Jumbotron, the words“Hometown Hero Salute”appeared.

---