Page 23 of Drop the Gloves
When he tried to imagine himself acting more like Barczyk in games, he couldn’t picture it.It was so foreign to him to say or do the things Barczyk did, it would be like wearing a costume, disingenuous at best and a complete train wreck at the worst.
“Not all of it,” Coach Jack continued.“Like I said, I don’t need you to fight, and I don’t want unnecessary penalties.We’re looking for a few tweaks here and there, not a total 180 in your game.You’ve got a great shot, and you skate harder than half my guys.I’ve always appreciated that about you.You’ve got spirit, kid.Lots of potential, and I can’t wait to see what you do with it.”
“Thanks,” he said a little too earnestly.Coach Jack was trying to encourage him, trying to point out parts of his game that he could improve, and, honestly, it was fantastic to hear that the only thing lacking was being more physical.That meant everything else—i.e.basically 90% of hockey—was good.
He just needed to figure out if he cared enough about that final 10% to do something about it.
“But I’m serious.If you need anything from me, or Coach Mel, or any of the staff, we’re all ears.I know I ask a lot from you guys during the season, but it’s a two-way street.I’ll get you what you need if I can.”
“I appreciate that,” Evan said, because he really did.There weren’t many coaches who would let you know privately what they thought you could improve on.Throughout his youth hockey career, they’d very loudly and publicly said what they weren’t happy about.The best way to show that appreciation would be to act on what Coach had said.“I’ll do my best.”
When he got back to the locker room, a lot of the team had already cleared out to hit the ice.There were only a few stragglers, and thankfully one of them was exactly who he needed.
“Hey, Abs,” Barczyk said when Evan slid next to him on the bench.“What’s?—?”
“I’m in.”
Barczyk looked at him, head tilted in confusion.“In what?”
“For your fighting lessons.I’m in.”
“For real?”Barczyk’s eyes went wide.He looked like a kid on their birthday.“Fuck yeah, Abs!When do we start?”
Coach Jack walked through the locker room on his way to the ice, sparing an approving nod at Evan and Barczyk.Evan gulped and turned back to Barczyk.“How about today?”
“Today?”Barczyk winced.“I gotta take my cat to the vet, and she gets real pissy after.”But before Evan could get too down about it, he said, “Tomorrow after practice okay?”
Evan had absolutely no clue what his plans were tomorrow, but he’d make it work.“Perfect.”He held out his hand.“Tomorrow after practice.”
Instead of shaking his hand, Barczyk grabbed it and pulled him in for a hug that wasn’t more than their chests bumping together, then clapped him hard on the back.“Fuck.Yeah.Let’s fucking go!”
What had Evan gotten himself into?
12
Twenty-four hours wasthe perfect amount of time for Evan to reconsider whether he was making a huge mistake.It was a pendulum of doubt, swinging back and forth between ‘this is a good idea’ and ‘what the fuck was I thinking,’ and it had just landed back at ‘what the fuck’ when practice ended.He was wondering how to weasel out of it when Barczyk appeared at his side on the ice, blocking the exit.
“Ready, bro?Don’t worry, I’ll take it easy on you today.”
“Uhm.”His stupid brain couldn’t come up with an excuse, and then his stupid mouth said, “Yeah, sure.”
Nobody looked twice as Barczyk dragged him to one of the circles, well away from the boards and benches.By the time they were at the face-off dot, everyone else had disappeared back to the locker room.Thankfully, today was a closed practice, not open to the public; Evan was relieved there’d be no witnesses.As good as Barczyk was at fighting and as bad as Evan was, he didn’t need anyone seeing him getting beaten up by a guy that seemed like half his size.
“Today is just about the basics,” Barczyk said.“We won’t get to any actual punches, I don’t think.”
“Today?How many lessons do you have planned?”Evan hadnotsigned up for that.
“The Barczyk School of Hockey Fights is a work in progress,” he said.“I’ve only got the first three lessons planned out, but we might need to improvise.”
“Three!?”he squeaked.
“Minimum three.Abs, you suck at this.You’re really good at hockey, so maybe you’ll be a quick study, but it took me years to get good at this.I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think you’ll need three lessons to get non-sucky.”
“Years?I thought you were just naturally good at being annoying.”
“Oh, I am,” Barczyk said, shameless as always.“But perfection at anything takes time.So let’s start with the gear.”
“Gear?”
