Chapter 51
Chapter Fifty-One
Brody
It was an odd thing, to put on my jersey and get ready for what very well might be the last game of my career.
It was the last game of the season, and unless a miracle came through, we already knew we weren’t making the playoffs.
Clearly, my life had been pretty void of miracles lately.
Honestly, it was a shitty way to go out. Definitely not the way I used to picture retirement when I was first getting started.
No matter how favorably the media was towards me, there would be no way to sugarcoat my piss-poor performance during my last season. Not that anyone really knew that yet.
The news of my retirement hadn’t come out yet, so the fans had no idea that I’d be walking away from the Harbor Wolves at such an all-time career low. They would hope for better next season, not knowing that for me, next season would never come.
My agent was still holding hope that I’d have a last-minute change of heart.
The official decision to not re-sign didn’t have to be made quite yet, so even though I told him I was leaving.
Told him I’d bought a new place. Told him everything was said and done, the guy still wouldn’t budge, infuriatingly saying, “you never know.”
That was true, I guess. You never knew where life might take you.
One year ago today, if someone told me I’d be playing the last game of my career today and moving back to Michigan without the love of my life, I would’ve told them they were crazy.
I would’ve said that’s the very last thing in the world I would ever want for my life.
I had a sense of wrongness about it all. Discontentment.
And no matter how much was riding on my performance tonight, I knew it would be almost impossible to give it my all. Because in moments of weakness, when I looked out at the crowd for strength, or encouragement, or a goddamned shred of hope, I knew the one person I needed wasn’t going to be there.