Chapter 16
HAWK
Game day.
Those words made the blood roar in my ears every time.
I couldn't sleep in if I wanted to, but I had to force myself to calm down and focus. An adrenaline spike in the morning wouldn't be as useful as one during the game. I didn't like them then either, if I was honest. Adrenaline made me excited and that had the potential to make me careless.
I needed to be cool and calm.
A quick workout in my basement gym worked off the early nerves, followed by a cold shower to rinse off the sweat and the remains of the night's sleep.
By nine am, I was ready to battle pregame traffic to get to the stadium for preparations.
The guys and I went over our strategy for the game until we knew it better than we knew our own names. We'd studied the opposition's plays as well, until I could visualise the way the game would go down, step by step, throw by throw.
All right, how it would look if it went according to plan. The reality might be slightly different. Okay, maybe a lot, but I prided myself on my ability to understand the game so well I wasn't taken by surprise too often.
"Conny, you're looking chipper today," Mary said with a warm smile.
I grinned back. "It's a beautiful day." The sun was shining, the team was fit, and Vera and Brody agreed to bring Becca to the game. For the first time in a long time, it felt like all the pieces of my life were falling into place.
"It certainly is," Mary agreed. "I haven't throttled Bob in his sleep yet."
I chuckled. "The toilet seat wars continue?"
She responded with a gusty sigh. "It's a never-ending conflict, but I haven't surrendered yet."
"Have you ever thought about separate toilets?" I asked.
"Truthfully," she said slowly, "I've thought about separate states, just to keep the peace. Too extreme?"
I held my fingers apart slightly. "Just a little. Have the Boars arrived yet?" Or as Bam liked to call them, Bacon.
"Not yet," Mary said. "Most of the mighty Humpbacks are here though." She drew herself up taller, pride in us evident on her face.
I affected my most commanding presence in response, which may or may not have included the flexing of muscles.
Mary laughed. "Get on with you, boy, before your head can't fit through the door with your oversized ego."
"Too late." I pretended to duck under the already oversized door frame while she laughed.
"Bro," Bam greeted me as I stepped into the locker room. He lay on the floor, off to one side, eyes half-closed. He looked like he was ready for a nap.
"Bro." I stepped around him and grabbed the game-day program off the bench before I sat in front of my locker.
All the guys had their own way of getting ready for a game.
Mine started by taking a few minutes to breathe, take in the moment and look at the jersey which hung in my locker, my name on the back.
I let my mind wander back to the first time I saw it; I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever.
It still was. It reminded me why I worked so hard to get here and why I kept on working to stay here.
The sensation when I looked at it was indescribable, although many journalists have asked me to try.
It went beyond pride. Whatever it was, it swelled my chest and choked me up a little until I focused on my breathing and calming my mind.
"Hey." Chase flopped down beside me, only a towel around his waist. Some of the guys liked to shower before a game, to wake up their muscles and wash away any lingering nerves.
"Hey." The locker room would be a roar of excitement after the game, but it never was before. Everyone was caught up in their own mental and physical preparation.
"Kyle is free," Chase said before he stood and started to dress.
"Cool." I stood and quickly changed before I hunted down Kyle, the team's favourite administer of therapeutic massage. It's a total cliche, but the man had magic hands and understood just where the muscles needed to be worked to loosen them, especially any spots with old or ongoing injuries.
As I approached, Kyle didn't say a word, just waved me onto the table. He, too, understood the need for focus before the game, not idle chitchat.
I settled into place and shifted to get comfortable. Bam walked past on his way for an acupuncture treatment. What can I say? Whatever we needed here, we got.
Twenty minutes later, feeling nice and loose, I hunted up Danny, whose magic hands worked best on taping us up.
Once again, we worked in silence. The sound of the crowd outside began to grow. The latest pop song blasted over speakers. Every now and again, the crowd would chant something I couldn't make out. Something about how awesome the Humpbacks were, no doubt.
I pictured Becca up in the box and had to suppress the flutter in my stomach at the thought of her.
Calm. Calm. Calm, I reminded myself. She'd be there after the game and we could hang out. At the moment, I needed to concentrate on the game.
Danny finished taping my arms against turf burn. I gave him a nod of thanks. He patted my shoulder hard and waved the next player over.
"Ready to test the field?" Bam asked. He rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms and fingers.
"Sure am." We headed out to the field and started around at a loose trot.
The crowd cheered. The cheers turned to good natured booing as the Boars trotted out of their locker room.
"Get back in the pan!" someone from the crowd shouted.
"We need eggs too," called another.
I chuckled, but the Boars all look unruffled. No doubt they'd been jeered with the same insults a hundred times before.
That was confirmed when their running back cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back, "Your material is old; what else ya got?"
The crowd laughed and responded by grunting and oinking like pigs.
"Lucky they aren't bulls," I said to Bam, who trotted beside me.
"Yeah, that would give them big heads." He nodded in the direction of the other team.
I laughed and trotted a little faster, as though I didn't want to be seen with Bam. He caught up when I slowed down a couple of moments later.
"Fun fact," Bam said, "their offensive guard's name is Hamilton."
"Was that his name before or after he was a Boar?" Chase asked from a couple of feet behind us.
"Before," Bam replied. "Now they call him Hammy."
"Better than Piggy," I said. We passed under the private box. I looked up. The reflection of the sky glared off the glass in front, obscuring anyone who might be inside. Just in case, I gave a wave. I thought I caught sight of movement in response, but I couldn't be sure.
"Better than Miss Piggy," Bam said.
"Or Kermit," Chase said.
Ollie Tucker caught up to us. "I'd rather be called any of those. Except Miss Piggy."
"You're pretty enough to be Miss Piggy," Bam told him.
Tucker looked about ready to punch Bam.
"Save the animosity for the opposition," I said, sucking back a laugh.
"It's too late in the day for big words like that," Bam said, but he fell silent anyway, mercifully. The banter was fun, but it was messing with my focus.
"Field feels good," Chase said. He too seemed to have regained his zen, pregame readiness.
"Yeah," I agreed. The turf would be nice and fast, which would play to his strengths in particular.
Back in the direction of the locker room, a whistle sounded. We turned back and trotted that way. The game would start in a matter of minutes.
The stadium was almost full. Fans still poured in and hurried to their seats. Food vendors wandered amongst the stands, as did people selling those huge hands with a pointing finger.
"Hawk! Hawk!" a young voice shouted. I slowed and looked up to see a boy of about ten, wearing a Humpbacks jersey.
His eyes were huge, like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Beside him stood a girl a couple of years younger, also in a team jersey.
She seemed a little less awed, but she waved just as hard as her brother.
I broke off from the guys and trotted over to give the pair a fist bump each. Their father beamed and took photos.
"Are we gonna win?" the boy asked eagerly.
I grinned. "Absolutely we are. We're gonna try really hard. If you cheer us on, we'll try even harder. Okay?"
The boy nodded vigorously. "Okay."
"We'll cheer loud!" the girl said.
"Really loud," their dad agreed with a tired edge in his voice, as if he'd be plugging his ears soon.
"Great." I grinned. "I gotta go. Enjoy the game."
"We will!" they all said.
That, right there, was a huge reason why I did this. The cheers, the smiles, the kids, their parents. Everyone had a good time and cheered us on, then went home happy to have watched and absorbed the atmosphere.
That made every injury, every long day, every tired muscle, worthwhile.
Another total cliche here, but this game was bigger than all of us, bigger than the players, the coaches, the team's owners, the people who threw money at us all. It was all about the fans, we were just along to make sure they had the best experience they could have.
Okay, and to kick some Boars' asses.
A smile on my lips, I jogged back to the locker room and made a beeline for my water bottle.
The stadium thrummed with music and cheering, the smell of sweat, hotdogs and anticipation.
Coach Quinn and his team sorted the started lineup and the rest of us dropped back to let them through. I would start after half time, unless I was needed sooner.
I itched to get out here. No, not jock itch, just regular old eagerness to play the game I loved and listen to the fans cheering my name. If there's a bigger rush on the face of the planet, I didn't know what it was.
Okay, maybe I did. The idea of seeing her, touching her, being near her. Her laugh, her smile, the way she tilted her head when she listened to other people talk.
That rush would have to wait until after the game. I need to concentrate on this rush first.
The guys headed out to the field. They were greeted by the deafening roar of the crowds.
"Humpbacks! Humpbacks! Humpbacks!" The chant was loud and infectious. It echoed through the whole stadium, maybe the whole city and sang in my blood.
A voice spoke over the loudspeaker.
"Welcome the Lowball Bay Humpbacks to the field."
If I thought the crowd was loud before, it was nothing compared to the sound which greeted that announcement.
"Welcome the Bilbi Cove Boars." The cheering wasn't quite so loud, but it was still one hell of a sound.
I paced around the locker room, one eye on the screen on the wall that would show us the game's play. Both teams got into position. I spotted Chase, Bam, Tucker and the rest and wanted to cheer as well.
The whistle sounded.