Page 110 of Bad Teammate
The three of us were out of breath by the time we made it to Mr. Bowfield’s office. I banged on the door with one hand. The other hand still held Katerina’s.
“Mr. Bowfield!” I shouted, knocking again and again.
He finally opened the door. Before he could say a word, I began speaking as fast as humanly possible.
“We’ve talked it over, Mr. Bowfield,” I said. “Niko wants to stay in Dallas, he knows he needs help with his drinking, he doesn’t have a problem with me and Katerina dating, and—”
“Wait, wait.” Mr. Bowfield waved his hands to get me to stop talking. “Let’s not do this out here in the hall. Come in.”
Niko went in first.
“This is Niko’s sister, Katerina Nikolaeva, by the way,” I said. “Katerina, this is the general manager of the Dallas Devils, Mr. Bowfield.”
“How do you do?” she asked him.
“Very well, thank you,” he said. His eyes flashed down, taking notice of the fact that Katerina and I were holding hands—then his gaze quickly darted back to me. “So Niko doesn’t have a problem with this?”
“No, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. He needs to stay—I really think we can make it work.”
His eyes narrowed skeptically. “You and Niko patched up all your issues in just a few minutes, eh?”
“I owe it all to her,” I said, pulling Katerina closer.
“And the alcohol problem?” Mr. Bowfield asked.
“My brother is serious about quitting,” Katerina said. “Talk to him and you’ll see.”
“You can translate for us?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Fair warning,” Mr. Bowfield said. “I might say some off-color remarks. I’m sorry in advance. Don’t take it personally—just trust that I have a plan.”
“O-kay,” Katerina stammered.
He waved us in. “Come on in.”
Katerina and I walked in and took a seat, joining Niko.
Mr. Bowfield slowly lowered himself into his chair with a sigh. “You’re late, by the way.”
“Sorry, sir,” I said. “We rushed over here as fast as we could. It’s not too late, is it? Have you already traded him?”
Mr. Bowfield didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to address Niko. “So, Niko, you’re here because you want to stay in Dallas?”
Katerina quietly translated every word to her brother. “Yes, sir,” Niko answered.
“Why?”
“We have a great team,” Niko said. “I love the city, the fans, but especially my teammates. I believe in this team. I want to be here when we raise the Cup.”
“Hm. Okay.” Mr. Bowfield stroked his chin. He didn’t seem completely convinced. “I want you to remember something—the day we first met.”
“At the scouting combine,” Niko said.
“We shook hands and I thought I smelled alcohol on your breath. You said it was hand sanitizer.”
Niko frowned. “I lied. I went out drinking the night before with the other draft prospects from Russia. We were up all night in our hotel. That’s why my combine numbers weren’t as good as they should’ve been.”
