Page 66 of Dirty Puck

“This can’t be cheap to run.”

“No, the program is quite specialized. Some of our machines are hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we work with a large number of insurers to help with the cost.”

“But if the kid has the wrong insurance or the parents can’t pay the difference?”

“We unfortunately can’t help everybody. Our professionals have bills to pay like everyone else.”

“Yeah, of course—I wasn’t suggesting they work for free. I was just curious.” When Bree tugged on my arm, I knew she was ready to go. “Thanks for the tour.”

The whole time we spent gathering Benny’s things, and even still on the drive home, Dr. Sharp’s words kept looping through my mind. Something about it all gnawed at me. It wasn’t that the school was doing anything wrong. They were doing great work.

But the idea of these young, innocent kids being left behind simply because their parents couldn’t afford that sky-high tuition sat like a stone in my stomach. Something had to be done, I just didn’t know what yet.

Mom and Claudia were in the den playing a card game when we walked inside the house.

Neither Bree nor I felt like cooking tonight, so I placed an order with my favorite pizza joint. Mushroom and pepperoni because Bree and Benny loved it. I ordered a large everything for me and Claudia and a small to-go bowl of an Italian wedding soup for my mom. Garlic knots. Cheese sticks. Fried mushrooms. Then we put on a movie to go with dinner and settled down for a quiet night in.

No matter how I tried to focus on the movie, I still couldn’t shake that gnawing in my mind. I rolled over the facts: Benny needed those therapies. Bree had worked her ass off to try to afford them. But given the cost of it all, she couldn’t make it happen.

If I’d never made this deal, where would he be now?

Money shouldn’t ever be a factor. It got me thinking more. I needed to talk to my teammates.

“Hey—” Bree whispered, tugging on my shirtsleeve, and I turned to catch her eye. “You okay?” she asked.

I took in her face, and then the room. And then I nodded. “Yeah… I think I am.”

She dropped her head to my shoulder so I adjusted to pull her against me, draping my arm across the back of the sofa and went back to watching the movie.

As I walked into practice the next day, I was approached by Bishop and Jones before I had the chance to talk to them.

“So we’ve got something to discuss with you,” Bishop said.

“What you need?”

“We’re starting this program, Cookies with the Copperheads?—”

“I’ll do it, but I need something from you, too.”

“Don’t you want to know what it is?” Jones asked.

“Already know. Jaycee told Bree that day at dinner.”

“What do you need from us? Something with your mom?”

“No.” I paused thinking about how I wanted to explain it. “Benny’s school has all these therapies for special needs kids, but a lot of kids can’t afford to go.”

“You want us to pay for them?” Bishop asked. “I’ll help.” Just that easy with him.

I shook my head. “It’s a nice gesture, but that won’t work long-term. I want a benefit. Like a yearly thing. We raise as much money as possible each year to help those kids get the therapies they need.”

“What are you thinking?” Jones asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe for a small donation, you get to skate with us. But, like, the big spenders get to play with us—not a real game, a benefit game.”

“That’s fucking amazing. Let’s talk to Antonov, Winstead, and Bonner.” Jones nodded several times.

“Whether they’re in or not, I’m in,” Bishop responded. “I’ll be calling my lawyer after practice.”

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