Chapter 2
Olivia
I first met Jack six years ago, after I graduated college and decided I wanted to officiate hockey games for a living. I signed up for a referee camp and he happened to be my instructor. He’s one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met and has always made me feel part of his family. His daughters are a few years younger than me, but we’ve always gotten along. We haven’t spoken in the last year because I have been too busy with the EHL gig and my other side jobs. I tend to fall off the face of the earth sometimes.
If it were anyone else, they would probably be offended if I didn’t answer their calls or talk to them in so long. But Jack knows me, and he’s in contact with my grandma, the only person I talk to regularly. So he knows I’m not dead.
I answer the call and it connects to my car speakers. “Hi Jack.”
“Olivia, why don’t you answer your phone? I called you five times. I have news,” he says in a soft, chiding tone.
“Sorry Jack, I was at a beer league and my phone was in the locker room. What’s up? Is everyone okay?” I say with some concern. He wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t important. My mind is already thinking of the worst possible scenario. Did something happen with his wife, Bonnie? Is he sick? Is he dying?
Before panic can overtake me, Jack says, “Everyone is fine, I am calling with good news, honey.”
“Oh. Okay…” I say and wait for him to continue.
After a moment, he says, “There is an open position for a young AHL referee in the Midwest region,” he pauses for another moment and I feel my heart racing so fast, “and I recommended you.”
He says this matter of fact. As if he didn’t just hand me a huge opportunity like it was nothing. I am so excited that I need to pull over and process this conversation.
“Wait, wait... what?” I all but screech. “What kind of position? What’s the pay? Would they really take me without much EHL experience?”
“Slow down, honey. Here’s what I know so far. One of the young referees that was supposed to officiate this season had some kind of accident over the summer. He’ll recover, but he’s in no condition to skate for a while. That means there’s an opening. I heard this from some of my old contacts at the AHL, so I immediately recommended you. They want to have a meeting with you at the end of this week. What do you say?”
I am so shocked, I don’t even know what to say for a full minute. “Of course I will meet with them!” I blink back tears, because holy shit this is exactly what I needed.
“Now, as a young referee, you’d still get paid per game, so it’s not a salary position, but the pay is better. You’d get to travel around the Midwest, so you’ll at least get out of Minnesota for a bit.”
“That sounds great, Jack. Truly, I don’t even know how to thank you.”
“You can thank me by buying me a drink when you’re in Wisconsin for a game,” he says, laughing softly. “I’ll forward you an email with all the details for the meeting. And call me every now and then, yeah? I don’t want to call your grandma every time I need an update about you, that woman talks my ears off for hours.”
I can’t help but laugh, and okay, maybe some tears do escape this time. This man has been a father figure to me these last six years. “I will call more, I promise. Thank you!”
“Alright kiddo, have a good night.”
“Goodnight.” I hang up the phone and grip the steering wheel as hard as I can. I drop my head on it with a huge sigh of relief and anticipation.
Suck it, Mark, it will be super fun to hang out by myself in all the cities I’ll get to travel to.
A week later, I wait for Jack to pick up the call. After four rings, he finally does. I can’t contain my excitement when I yell “JACK, I got it, I got the job!!”
“Honey, I will have to bill you for my hearing aids now,” he says and I laugh uncontrollably.
“I am really proud of you, Olivia. I’m sure your dad would be too.” My laugh softens into a sigh and I nod along even though Jack can’t see me. My dad would be proud.
“Thanks, Jack.”
“How are you celebrating?” he asks.
“I got some donuts and I’m on my way over to see grandma and tell her the good news in person.” I enter my car and place the donuts in the front seat.
“That sounds wonderful. I have to go, Bonnie needs me to help with something, but send me your schedule, please. Especially for when you’ll be in Wisconsin.”
“Will do, Jack.” We end the call and I make the drive from downtown to my grandma’s townhouse in the suburbs.
When she sees me walking towards the house, she starts smiling and waving her hand around. I love my grandma, but she can be so dramatic sometimes.
“Oh my God, look who it is. You must be my long lost granddaughter, because I don’t even recognize you. How much weight have you lost?”
I cut in before she can go down the rabbit hole with all the questions. “Hi, Grandma, it’s me. No, I haven’t been abducted by aliens. No, I haven’t been kidnapped and held hostage,” I joke and she narrows her green eyes at me, the same dark shade as mine. “I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL recently, I’ve just been working a lot.”
“Tsk, all that work, but no fun?” she taunts.
“Well, the reason I am here, with donuts no less,” I say and show her the big box I picked up at the bakery, “is that all of that hard work finally paid off.” I stand tall and take a deep breath, then tell her, “I got a job in the American Hockey League.” I have to spell things out for her, she’s always been terrible with abbreviations.
“Eeeeek!” She yells out right before she crushes me in a hug, donut box between us. “Honey, that’s amazing, I am so proud of you!”
“Thanks, Grams.” I hand her the smushed box and we walk into her kitchen. My grandma, Elizabeth, lives with her two best friends—Ethel and Marianne. They are all in their late sixties and early seventies and having the time of their lives in a three-bedroom townhouse. Grandma and Ethel are both widowers who never felt the need to remarry, and Marianne has always been something of a lone wolf. They’ve been living together for more than a decade now.
When my dad died ten years ago, I was eighteen and ready to go to college. Grandma suggested I push it back for a year and that she’d come live with me, but I couldn’t do that. I needed to keep going, keep playing, keep living, otherwise the grief would swallow me whole. So I went off to college and grandma took care of the house while I was gone. Growing up, I was always a bit ashamed of our house. We didn’t live in the best neighborhood and the house was a bit run down, but it has been in our family for a few generations, so at least we didn’t have to pay a mortgage.
Every summer I would come home and take care of anything that needed improvement. I didn’t accomplish much since every penny I made from working at restaurants and cafes needed to go to food and hockey equipment. I also had my dad’s life insurance check, but his will specifically requested I used it for my college tuition. He wanted me to succeed, so that’s what I strive to do.
After college, once I realized I wasn’t going to make it further in women’s hockey, I came back. I’ve been living here since, but lately it’s felt less and less like home.
Once I tell my grandma everything about the new job, I head home and make a plan for the future. My path to the NHL won’t be an easy one, but I am determined. As a young referee, my contract is with the AHL, but after some experience, I can extend that to the five year NHL contract. Basically, I would be paid by the National Hockey League, but work for the American Hockey League. At the end of the five year contract, I would either be promoted to the NHL, or I would become a veteran referee.
Veteran referees don’t officiate at the NHL level, so my only course of action is to be the best I can be and get that five year contract. I check my schedule for the coming season, and I am booked solid officiating lots of games in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont, Ohio, and Michigan.
I open up the information about my first game. It looks like in a few weeks I will be officiating the home opener game for the Grand Marquee Manticores in Michigan.