Page 103 of Hot for the Hockey Player
“How was woodworking?”Man asked, taking a seat across from us in a whicker chair with thick cushions.
“It was really great.We’re making bat boxes.The girls did awesome and seem super excited.”
“Bat boxes are good.We have several species of bat here on the island, including the Yuma myotis, big brown bats, little brown myotis, Townsend’s big-eared bat, and silver-haired bats.”
“You into bats too, Man?”I asked, picking up my tea and blowing on it before taking a sip.It was delicious and aromatic, but still too hot.“Not just ducks?”
“I enjoy watching them eat bugs in the summer evenings, yes.They are essential to our ecosystem.Bat boxes are a good idea.Many of their habitats have been destroyed.”Maybe it was just early in the morning, but Man was much more relaxed and lively when I had dinner with him.Right now, he seemed almost nervous, more like when I first met him on our whittling day.Was he unsure of Damon?Or maybe it was just nerves about the podcast.
“So this is really casual,” I started.“We’ll just chat like we did the other day when we had lunch and dinner.I’ll ask questions, you answer however you want.Nothing formal.I just want to know your story, hear your perspective on the growing divide between men and women, and how we as men can help close that gap and better support women.As well as educate young men and encourage them to get in touch with their emotions rather than ignore them.”
Man nodded, and his gaze flicked to Damon.“You’re a good young man.Not following your peers, and sticking up for what is right.”
The kid was doing a lot of blushing today.“Uh … thanks,” he croaked.
Man bobbed his head again.“Okay, I’m ready to start.”
Damon cleared his throat, then leaned forward and handed Man a small microphone.“You can clip this to your shirt.”Man did.Then Damon handed me one as well, while donning a pair of headphones for himself, and holding a small microphone with a gray fuzzy top, about the size of a flash drive in one hand.Like a television producer or something, he counted down from five with his hand.
I gave him a curious look.What was going on?
“All right and welcome to the first ever episode ofMan Advantagewith Maverick Roy, number twelve, center for the Portland Storm.Today we have Dr.Manpreet Patel on with us.Take it away, Mav and Man.”
My jaw dropped and I stared at Damon.Not only did I not recognize that announcer’s voice, but I didn’t even recognize the lively kid beside me.It was a Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde sort of deal, only Damon didn’t go crazy.He went … charismatic.
He lifted his brows at me.“Your turn.”
“Right.Shit.Uh, sorry about that, folks.”
“Cut,” Damon said with an eye roll.“I can edit all the pauses out.Don’t apologize to anybody.Nobody is listening right now.We’re not live.Just say hi, introduce yourself, then Dr.Patel can do the same.”
“Man.Call me Man,” Man said.
Damon nodded.“Okay.”He hit a button.“Let’s try again.Just say hi and start talking.”
He counted down with his hands from five again, then pointed to me.
“Uh … hi, this … this is Maverick Roy from the Portland Storm and you’re listening toMan Advantagewhere we’re going to discuss not only how men should use their privilege and advantages in this world to lift up each other, but also women.No more of this oppression and thinking women need to submit to us.Let’s get out of the past and into the future, where we celebrate, respect, and appreciate the opposite sex.”
I glanced over at Damon, who was nodding, but not looking at me.Okay, I guess that meant I could keep going.
“I have with me here today, Dr.Manpreet Patel, or Man, as he prefers to be called.I only just met Man earlier this week, but he’s already one of my favorite people.He taught me how to whittle a badass spoon—without gouging a giant hole in my hand—and he cooked me the most delicious dal turka I’ve ever had in my life.While I ate nearly my body weight in homemade naan and dal, Man filled me in on his life’s story, how he won the heart of his lady fair, and the difficult decision they made to move from India to the United States and raise their four daughters.”
Damon continued to nod.Then, like he knew I was waiting for his approval, he gave me a thumbs up.
I exhaled in relief.“Man, thank you so much for agreeing to be my first ever guest.I’m kind of courting a lady myself right now—” That got Damon’s attention, and he lifted his eyes to me for a moment, but I stayed the course and kept talking.“Which is how we got on the topic of you and your wife.I asked you how you wooed Padma.It’s honestly a story I could listen to a hundred times and never grow tired of.Do you think you could share it today?”
Man nodded, sipped his tea, then set the mug down onto a coaster on the end table beside him.He sat back in his chair, squared his shoulders, and clasped his hands in his lap before meeting my eyes.“I have five older sisters.There are eight years between me and the one before me.”
“Oh wow.”Even though I’d already heard this story, I knew how to actively listen and break up a monologue with reactionary sounds.
Man nodded.“My fatherinsistedmy mother give him a son.Even though her lastthreepregnancies were difficult and resulted in C-sections.She was advised by her doctors not to have anymore children.My father raped her, and I was conceived.”
Bile rose up in my throat.I cast a look at Damon out of the corner of my eye and there was fresh color in his cheeks as he stared at the laptop screen.
“My mother died giving birth to me.She was over forty, and the pregnancy was the hardest one yet.She bled to death.”
“Man … I amso, sosorry.”
