ArcticAvenue
Randomly Pawing At Keys
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2013
- Posts
- 1,650
((closed for YourDreamGirl))
The phone buzzed on the sink, and Jake had to quickly shake off the rest of the shaving cream just to hit the speaker button. “Go for Jake,” he called to it.
“You got me on speaker?” came a grizzled voice thick with an east coast accent. “Take me off the fuckin speaker Jake, I ain’t ya parents here wantin to say night night to your bubby.”
“What the hell’s a bubby, Shaner.” He was picking up a razor to start the final clean-up of his face. In front of the mirror it was like watching someone go from a grizzled old veteran to an apple-cheeked rookie in seconds. Getting a haircut the night before helped too, because those unkept strings of brownish hair now became jetblack and perfect for styling. It didn’t hurt that standing shirtless, showed off what nine straight months of professional hockey can do to one’s abs, chest, and arms. Now he looked more like the 24 year old stud you would expect from a hockey boy.
“Just take me off the damn speaker, Jake. This ain't one of those calls where you’re little friends can hear.”
“I’m shaving,” he said as he manipulated his face for the razor. He threw a pile of cream off the blade and into the sink. “Beside, they already moved out. I got the place to myself until when the lease is up in July.”
“Are you sure you are the only one there? Didn’t you have a girlfriend shacked up with yous?”
“Broke up. Caught her fucking the pilates instructor.” It was the lie he told half the team, and it wasn’t completely wrong, but he wasn’t about to give his life story to his agent. “Why all the secrets anyway.”
“Cause I don’t want any of thems to get jealous and ask why yous my best client.”
“Cut the bullshit, Shaner, just get to telling me what the Icers are offering and so I can get pissed off and drink all day.” When you are his age, Jake just had to grind his way into the professional hockey growth curve. You could sum up the majority of the player’s careers through a simple path of little knowns and has beens. He struggled his way through college hockey, signed with a barely-called-a-minor team, and now waits for that opportunity to be in just a normal minor team. Of course he would be there long enough either to get cut when he is past his prime, or he get a real life & spend the rest of his days in beer leagues. His contract was up with his current team, the Alaska Icers, and as much as he liked it up here he really wanted to make enough money that he could afford to not share an apartment. Jake was the top scorer in the play-offs for the whole league this year, surely not having to share his bathroom with a superstitious goalie isn’t asking too much.
“I ain’t even given the Icers a call. Not yet.”
“Jessssus, what the hell,” Jake spat. “You got one job.”
“And that is to take care of yous, Jake my man. That’s what I did.”
Jake shook his head and gave a long sigh. He didn’t like Shane Blackwood much, but you don’t get to improve on your agent when your at his level. “What did you do now?”
“Gotcha a tryout.”
That got his attention. He tilted his head and swiped at another patch of whiskers. “Where, someplace in Canada? AHL?”
“Betta.”
Jake stopped, thought for a minute. Shaner wasn’t the most keen hockey guy, but surely he knew there wasn’t much out there better than AHL for him. “I hope you are talking about someplace in Western Europe, because I ain’t gonna be able to learn Russian in time for the KHL.”
“You got the H and the L right, my boy.”
Jake could almost hear the smile through the phone. If he is saying what he thought he was saying, the man could be outright crazy. “What are ya telling me, Shaner. What the fuck are you trying to say.” Jake was actually pissed. If this was a game, he didn’t want to play it.
“I gotcha a try-out with the New York Rangas.”
There was a pause on the line. It was mostly coming from Jake who stood looking in the mirror not moving a muscle.
Shaner couldn’t keep it in, and just shouted over the phone. “The New York Fucking Rangas!”
Jake still had nothing. “When.” It was all he could say.
“Next week. Simple tryout, no commmitment on yas or thems. Ya skate around for a bit and whateva, and then if they like ya they ask ya back for camp in August. If not, they throw some bills at ya for ya troubles. Even if ya don’t get called in, it will piss off your current owners, am I right? Getcha a good paycheck, am I right?”
“How … how did you ...”
“Did I not tell ya playin’ against an east coast team for a cup woulda pay dividends? They saw ya, they fuckin’ saw ya.”
“But I sucked.”
“You scored a goal on that fuckin’ Norwegian everyones jerkin’ off about. That ain’t even anything to sneeze at. …. ” Blackwood started to ramble on about this or that, but it went on deaf ears.
Needless to say, Jake’s head was spinning. It’s an understatement to say this is a dream come true. He wasn’t a fan of the Rangers growing up, he prefered to watch teams that won; plus being from Minnesota he followed the western teams more. But as kids every hockey player dreams to play in the NHL, no matter with who. Sure, there was a chance he could follow a path to the NHL, but this was like finding the biggest shortcut in the history of anything.
“... AND that’s not even half of it,” the voice on the phone said to bring him back to reality. “It’s not New York you are flying to. They said they didn’t want to break up their vacation, so theys trying out in fuckin Hawaii. They gonna put you up in one of them beach places, and pay for everything for a week. All ya got ta do is skate around for a few hours and put the puck at the back of the net. How’s that shit?”
“What? How …”
“Be good for ya, if ya ask me. A little sun, a little sand, a little drink. Now you aint got a girlfriend, you can fuck one of those cuties down there with the coconuts on her tits.”
“This makes no … no sense. Why the hell … Hawaii?” Jake asked confused.
“Yeah, I bet it doesn’t ... but here’s the deal. They said you can say you tried out with the Rangas but ya can’t say where. You can’t say your going eithers until after, and then its just that you got a tryout. See, my cousin, see, he has this time share down there, and … well, let’s just say they owed me a favor. Okay? “
In a way it didn’t matter. In a way none of it mattered. Standing there, half naked, half shaved, and half lost in his own mind, all he could think of was one thing. “The Rangers.”
The phone buzzed on the sink, and Jake had to quickly shake off the rest of the shaving cream just to hit the speaker button. “Go for Jake,” he called to it.
“You got me on speaker?” came a grizzled voice thick with an east coast accent. “Take me off the fuckin speaker Jake, I ain’t ya parents here wantin to say night night to your bubby.”
“What the hell’s a bubby, Shaner.” He was picking up a razor to start the final clean-up of his face. In front of the mirror it was like watching someone go from a grizzled old veteran to an apple-cheeked rookie in seconds. Getting a haircut the night before helped too, because those unkept strings of brownish hair now became jetblack and perfect for styling. It didn’t hurt that standing shirtless, showed off what nine straight months of professional hockey can do to one’s abs, chest, and arms. Now he looked more like the 24 year old stud you would expect from a hockey boy.
“Just take me off the damn speaker, Jake. This ain't one of those calls where you’re little friends can hear.”
“I’m shaving,” he said as he manipulated his face for the razor. He threw a pile of cream off the blade and into the sink. “Beside, they already moved out. I got the place to myself until when the lease is up in July.”
“Are you sure you are the only one there? Didn’t you have a girlfriend shacked up with yous?”
“Broke up. Caught her fucking the pilates instructor.” It was the lie he told half the team, and it wasn’t completely wrong, but he wasn’t about to give his life story to his agent. “Why all the secrets anyway.”
“Cause I don’t want any of thems to get jealous and ask why yous my best client.”
“Cut the bullshit, Shaner, just get to telling me what the Icers are offering and so I can get pissed off and drink all day.” When you are his age, Jake just had to grind his way into the professional hockey growth curve. You could sum up the majority of the player’s careers through a simple path of little knowns and has beens. He struggled his way through college hockey, signed with a barely-called-a-minor team, and now waits for that opportunity to be in just a normal minor team. Of course he would be there long enough either to get cut when he is past his prime, or he get a real life & spend the rest of his days in beer leagues. His contract was up with his current team, the Alaska Icers, and as much as he liked it up here he really wanted to make enough money that he could afford to not share an apartment. Jake was the top scorer in the play-offs for the whole league this year, surely not having to share his bathroom with a superstitious goalie isn’t asking too much.
“I ain’t even given the Icers a call. Not yet.”
“Jessssus, what the hell,” Jake spat. “You got one job.”
“And that is to take care of yous, Jake my man. That’s what I did.”
Jake shook his head and gave a long sigh. He didn’t like Shane Blackwood much, but you don’t get to improve on your agent when your at his level. “What did you do now?”
“Gotcha a tryout.”
That got his attention. He tilted his head and swiped at another patch of whiskers. “Where, someplace in Canada? AHL?”
“Betta.”
Jake stopped, thought for a minute. Shaner wasn’t the most keen hockey guy, but surely he knew there wasn’t much out there better than AHL for him. “I hope you are talking about someplace in Western Europe, because I ain’t gonna be able to learn Russian in time for the KHL.”
“You got the H and the L right, my boy.”
Jake could almost hear the smile through the phone. If he is saying what he thought he was saying, the man could be outright crazy. “What are ya telling me, Shaner. What the fuck are you trying to say.” Jake was actually pissed. If this was a game, he didn’t want to play it.
“I gotcha a try-out with the New York Rangas.”
There was a pause on the line. It was mostly coming from Jake who stood looking in the mirror not moving a muscle.
Shaner couldn’t keep it in, and just shouted over the phone. “The New York Fucking Rangas!”
Jake still had nothing. “When.” It was all he could say.
“Next week. Simple tryout, no commmitment on yas or thems. Ya skate around for a bit and whateva, and then if they like ya they ask ya back for camp in August. If not, they throw some bills at ya for ya troubles. Even if ya don’t get called in, it will piss off your current owners, am I right? Getcha a good paycheck, am I right?”
“How … how did you ...”
“Did I not tell ya playin’ against an east coast team for a cup woulda pay dividends? They saw ya, they fuckin’ saw ya.”
“But I sucked.”
“You scored a goal on that fuckin’ Norwegian everyones jerkin’ off about. That ain’t even anything to sneeze at. …. ” Blackwood started to ramble on about this or that, but it went on deaf ears.
Needless to say, Jake’s head was spinning. It’s an understatement to say this is a dream come true. He wasn’t a fan of the Rangers growing up, he prefered to watch teams that won; plus being from Minnesota he followed the western teams more. But as kids every hockey player dreams to play in the NHL, no matter with who. Sure, there was a chance he could follow a path to the NHL, but this was like finding the biggest shortcut in the history of anything.
“... AND that’s not even half of it,” the voice on the phone said to bring him back to reality. “It’s not New York you are flying to. They said they didn’t want to break up their vacation, so theys trying out in fuckin Hawaii. They gonna put you up in one of them beach places, and pay for everything for a week. All ya got ta do is skate around for a few hours and put the puck at the back of the net. How’s that shit?”
“What? How …”
“Be good for ya, if ya ask me. A little sun, a little sand, a little drink. Now you aint got a girlfriend, you can fuck one of those cuties down there with the coconuts on her tits.”
“This makes no … no sense. Why the hell … Hawaii?” Jake asked confused.
“Yeah, I bet it doesn’t ... but here’s the deal. They said you can say you tried out with the Rangas but ya can’t say where. You can’t say your going eithers until after, and then its just that you got a tryout. See, my cousin, see, he has this time share down there, and … well, let’s just say they owed me a favor. Okay? “
In a way it didn’t matter. In a way none of it mattered. Standing there, half naked, half shaved, and half lost in his own mind, all he could think of was one thing. “The Rangers.”