Page 34 of Pucker Up
After the call disconnected, I shuffled into the kitchen and drank a glass of water. I didn’t know what to expect in the session, but I knew I didn’t want to show up hungover. I spentthe rest of the evening eating cold chicken breasts and broccoli, courtesy of the team’s nutritionist.
Instead of chugging beer while I watched every game tape from the 2024 Toronto Tigers’ regular season, I hydrated with tap water.
When I finally fell into bed, I tossed and turned, and got up to piss at least three times. I wondered if the chicken breasts were bad, but as I wound myself up in the sheets thinking about how I was going to prove to Goldie that I wasn’t an arrogant player, I realized it wasn’t salmonella in my guts, it was butterflies.
TWELVE
GOLDIE
The city might have been startingto wake up, but inside the giant arena, it was silent. My footsteps echoed and Morton’s collar tag jangled as we rushed through the cavernous hallways to get to my dad’s office. I used a key fob to open his door and made sure Morton’s water dish was full. Dad had a nice fluffy bed for him behind his desk.
“You stay here, pal.” I ruffled his neck fur and kissed the top of his head. “As soon as I’m done with this player, we can go for a nice long…” I let my voice trail out before I said the w word. Morty cocked his head, but then settled on the thick memory foam and rested his head on his paws. “I’ll be back soon.” I checked my watch as I hurried to the gym. I’d come into the rink last night and set everything up, knowing that the morning was going to be rushed.
I hadn’t expected Ace to agree to such an early session, especially on a game day. Part of me hoped that he was going to refuse. If he was flirty, I would have to exclude him from the project. The fluorescent lights flickered and hummed as I stepped into the state-of-the-art facility. I plugged in mycomputer and made sure that the electrode cap was plugged in to my USB port.
In an effort to feel as professional as possible, I’d worn a white dress shirt and trouser-style pants. I’d buttoned the shirt right up to my throat, slicked my hair into a ponytail, and wore my glasses instead of my contact lenses. There was no denying I was attracted to Ace Bailey, and I was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. I hoped that my dowdy getup and face without makeup would dull some of those sparks.
Twisting my ring on my finger, I wondered if Ace was actually going to show up. His brother had been early, but most of the other players had either forgotten about the session completely, or been at least ten minutes late.
At the moment my watched clicked over to five thirty, a sharp rap sounded on the metal door.
As much as I didn’t want to, I glanced at my reflection in the screen of my laptop and smoothed my hair. Satisfied, I took a deep breath, let out a therapeutic exhale, and then shouted, “Come in.”
Ace Bailey’s hair was sticking up on one side, as though styled by his pillow. His eyes sparkled, even though there were dark circles beneath the crystal blue irises. “Good morning, Professor.”
“Mr. Bailey.” I nodded and gestured to the chair across the table from me. “Have a seat. You can put that cap on, just like a winter hat.”
Ace picked up the cap and gave me a crooked smile as he stretched it over his mop of hair. “How’s it look?” He brushed at the spikes of blond hair sticking out the front of the cap.
It was hard for me to hold in the smile. “It looks like it fits just fine.” I avoided eye contact. “I’m going to ask you a series of questions. The computer is going to record your brain activity. Do you understand?”
“Don’t you need someone to look at a paper with squiggly lines?” He leaned back in the chair, slinging his arm over the side.
“This isn’t a polygraph.” I shuffled my papers and woke up my computer.
Ace leaned forward and interlaced his fingers together. “Then how do you know if I’m telling the truth?”
I let out a slight laugh. “These aren’t the kind of questions that someone would lie about. If you did lie for some reason, all it would do is totally ruin my study.” I looked up at him, meeting his gaze. “Ready?” I pushed the red button on the digital recording device.
Transcript from Session One. Ace Bailey 27 years old. Male. Diagnosed Concussions: Two.
Interviewer: When was the last time you were knocked down on the ice?
Subject A. Bailey: Yesterday
Interviewer: Did your head have an impact?
Subject A. Bailey: No
Interviewer: When was the last time you were struck to the ice or into the boards and your head made contact with the surface?
Subject A. Bailey: Last year. I was cross-checked and fell backwards. My head hit the ice, but I was wearing my helmet.
Interviewer: Tell me about the hit and what happened directly afterwards.
Subject A. Bailey: I stood up and punched the shit out of the guy who did it to me. He dropped his gloves and punched me in the face. I slammed him against the boards and his helmet flew off and he hit his head. He was out for at least twenty seconds.
Interview Paused.
