5. Nothing Happens When I Squeeze It
”Dude, are you kidding?”I watch as Milo enters the combination into the wall safe. The same combination he”s already tried twice. It hasn”t worked either time.
He runs a hand through his dark blonde hair as he turns toward me. ”Lady Gaga was born in July. This has to be it.”
”Let me do it.” Kayden brushes him aside and enters a code. The keypad beeps and the safe door swings open. ”She was born on June 28th, you idiot. Everyone knows that.”
I nod my head and take the slip of paper from Kayden before he can even read it.
”But with the difference in time zones, we celebrate her birthday in July in Sweden.”
Kayden and I look at Milo. ”That is absolutely not how time zones work,” I say. ”Even the Princeling knows better than that, and he”s a rookie who doesn”t know anything.” I point at Sammy in the corner of the room. He”s still feeling the underside of the desk, certain there”s a hidden drawer.
Princeling is a defender straight out of the University of Duluth. At the very first team meeting when all the new players introduced themselves, he stood and said, ”I”m Sammy Roy, but you can call me King. Everyone does. It”s kinda my name.” I don”t care how good a player is or how nice they are under their false first day bravado. I”ll be damned if I ever let a rookie go by his real name when it means ”king.” Especially not when it”s the same last name as one of the greatest goalies of all time, the one I practically worshipped when I was growing up.
”Isn”t that right, rookie?” I ask.
”What? Yeah, right.” He barely looks up before he drops to his knees to see better under the desk.
”Hey, listen up.” I make sure I have everyone”s attention. ”This one says, ”do you have the steel to bind it all together?” What would that be? Paper clips?” I scan the office. There are two desks. One large and old, the other smaller and more modern. ”Princeling, check those drawers for paperclips. I”ll check this one.”
”No, I”ll bet it”s those binder clip things,” Kayden announces. ”When I was a rookie, they made me clip those to my nipples while I taped everyone”s sticks before each game. Kids these days have it easy.”
”Dude, it”s not like you”re that old. And no one wants to hear about your nipples.” There”s only one set of nipples I want to think about, but I try to wipe that person”s image from my mind every time it pops up.
”Sorry, gramps. Forgot you”re the team elder.” Kayden flips me off, but wisely hides on the other side of the desk.
”That”s right, and that means you all have to do what I say.” At thirty-two years old, I”m nowhere near the oldest player in the league. But the Salt Lake City Sting is a young team, and I”m the oldest member. ”And I say that was actually a good idea. Look for binder clips. First one to find them gets to stick them on Kayden”s nipples while the rest of us hold him down.”
”Oh, fuck no.” Kayden dashes over to the desk where the Princeling is finally giving up his search for the hidden drawer that doesn”t exist. He throws open the drawers one after the other, but the look on his face when he opens the last one tells me he didn”t find what he was looking for.
I wait for him to look up at me before I slowly pull open the center drawer of the older desk. His gaze is calling me every name in the book, but I just wink as I look down. And see that the drawer is empty. ”Oh.” I pull open the others, and except for a stapler, a pair of safety scissors, and some empty file folders, there”s nothing in this desk either.
”Haha, asshole.” Kayden sticks his tongue out at me, and we both laugh. It feels good. With the stress of my injury and the rehab, and then what Serenity did to me, it”s been too long since I was able to laugh with my best friend. I”ll have to thank him later for suggesting we do this escape room. Once we actually escape. As a team, because that”s the point of this.
”Um, guys?” The Princeling”s voice is so quiet, I almost don”t hear it above my laughter. ”Do you think it could be the stapler?”
Do you have the steel to bind it all together? Staplers do bind things, I guess. I take it out of the drawer and flip it around in my hand. No sign of a clue, so I try to use it. ”Nothing happens when I squeeze it.”
”Sounds like a you problem. Up top, kid.” Kayden holds his hand up for the Princeling to give him a high-five.
I glare at them, trying to look as mean as I can. ”You”re not helping your cause, rookie.” I turn back to the stapler and look it over one more time. ”Maybe we have to find staples to use in it?” I pop it open. Inside, there aren”t staples, but there is a red button. I press it. Something buzzes behind the door, and then it clicks as the door unlocks. ”Hell yeah! Great job, rookie.”
He beams as he and Kayden walk to the door and twist the knob. The door swings open, and the Princeling starts to walk through it, but Kayden yanks him back by the collar. ”Age before beauty, rookie. Gramps? You want to limp your way through?” He motions me toward the door.
”Very funny. I haven”t had a limp for months. And you know I”m not a grandfather. I only have six illegitimate children, and they”re all still too young to have kids of their own.”
”Six that we know of.” Kayden and I always joke about this. When he”s on the road, he likes to enjoy the locals. I usually shut myself in my hotel room and either watch game film or old TV shows. At least, that”s what I did when I last traveled with the team.
When I walk by him, I twist his nipple and run into the next room as he shouts obscenities behind me. The woman working the escape room has a worried look on her face, like she”s not sure if we”re on the verge of fighting. I”m sure the last thing she wants is four enormous hockey players deciding to battle in this tiny space. A minimum wage job isn”t worth the hassle of dealing with that mess. I make sure to smile as I hand her the walkie-talkie she gave us at the beginning of the hour.
”Hey, how is your knee? For real.” Kayden sneaks up behind me and rests his hands on my shoulder. He”s close, so Milo and Sammy can”t hear his whispers. ”No bullshit, and no changing the subject like you always do when I ask.”
”It”s...” What is it? It hasn”t hurt in months. Every time I add more weight to my squats or try a different lateral exercise, it does fine. ”I don”t know, man. It seems good, but there”s something.”
He turns me so I”m looking at him. ”This is the hardest part of any recovery.” He taps on the center of my forehead. ”You gotta trust that it”s not going to break down again. It”s hard. When I dislocated my shoulder, it was a long time before I was willing to take another hit. You have to learn to trust yourself all over again. And you have to trust the trainers and physical therapists. They know what they”re doing.”
I nod. He”s right. And that trust is the part I”m really struggling with right now. ”When did you get smart?”
”When they sewed that C on my jersey. It made my IQ shoot up like 30 points.”
I smile at the perfect setup. ”So that makes it, what? 31 now?” I slap the back of my hand against his chest and walk outside.