Page 38 of Drop the Gloves
Evan bit his lip so he wouldn’t be tempted to smile.
* * *
During warm-ups, Evan dutifully went to his spot by the player benches.There was no getting out of his new pre-game routine with Barczyk.He’d found it best to get it over with, so he patiently stick-handled while he waited for the inevitable?—
WHACK!
Evan sighed and pushed his puck towards center ice.“How many are we at?”he asked.“Five hits?And isn’t it my turn to whack you?”
“Is it?”Barczyk skated around and stopped in front of him.“Better make it six.Need a little extra luck if I’m gonna stay outta the box.”
“It is your turn,” Evan said.He might not be much into this ritual, but it was hard to forget getting his ass whacked the game before.“If there’s actually any good luck in this, haven’t you ruined it?”
“Nah, it’s thought and positive intentions.How ‘bout we split it?I do two more, then you can smack me three times.Make ‘em count, though.None of those wimpy ones you did last time.”
Evan rolled his eyes.He stood there stoically while Barczyk got back in position and hit him twice in quick succession.When Evan swiveled around for his turn, Barczyk was already facing away with his stick slung across the back of his shoulders, bobbing back and forth with the music blaring in the arena.
What a goof,Evan thought as he swung his stick around for the first blow.Barczyk stood there, barely moving until Evan finished his third swing, then he promptly fell to his knees and doubled over like he’d been beaten instead of lightly tapped.
“You done?”Evan said.At least Barczyk couldn’t see him laughing.
Barczyk jumped to his feet.“Yep.Let’s work that good mojo.”He bumped his shoulder against Evan as he skated off, twirling his mouthguard at the corner of his mouth.
The Scorpions came out strong, just like Coach Jack had warned them.Most of their defense was structured around bodying people off of the puck and physically clearing out the slot.Evan was kind of jealous, if only because he was consciously doing as much as he could to be more physical on the ice, and these guys did it as easily as breathing.
As easily as Barczyk did it.Where Evan and Vassiliev would endure the blows and keep playing, Barczyk would shoulder or push back.Once he knew they were gunning for him, Barczyk braced for every hit and laid his own, which only made them come back harder for him.Since a lot of it was behind the play and away from the puck, the refs were letting it go, so it seemed to get worse and worse as the game went on.
One Scorpion knocked Barczyk’s stick from his hand, so Barczyk body checked him over the boards onto his own bench.
Another defenseman tied Barczyk up on the boards so he couldn’t get to a loose puck, so he grabbed him by the back of his jersey and yanked him backso hard he fell.
When Barczyk was working low in the crease, the goalie knocked him over from behind but managed to lose his stick in the process.Barczyk accidentally-on-purpose stepped on the stick repeatedly with his skate before kicking it into the back of the net.He’d only walked away from that one because Evan and Vassiliev stepped in at the whistle to escort him to the bench.
“You’re toeing that line,” Evan said at the end of the second period.They were tied 1-1, and somehow neither team had gotten a penalty.Yet.“Maybe you should, like, chill?”
“Can’t now,” Barczyk said, gaze fixed on the play.“That’d be putting more of a target on my back.”
“He’s right,” Vassiliev said.“He’s annoyed them too much.They won’t leave him alone even if he stops.”
They were right.Evan watched Barczyk take and dish out more abuse the next shift, and when they went into the locker room, Evan swore he spotted a half a dozen new bruises on Barczyk.It wasn’t any better in the third, because Travis Walker made a beeline for Barczyk as soon as their line took the ice.Walker had been with the Riveters for the past four seasons before moving to Nevada during free agency.Evan had been sad to see him go—he was a solid defenseman and would occasionally join him and Dalton for mini-golf—but Evan hadn’t thought much about playing against him.It was in fact the first time in Evan’s career that he and Walker were on opposite sides of the ice, which was surreal every time he caught sight of Walker.
For better or worse, he’d been ignoring Evan and Vassiliev all game.Walker must’ve been given Barczyk duty, because he’d been the main instigator and recipient of Barczyk’s on-ice attention.It was only a matter of time until their shenanigans were too much for the refs to ignore.
After all the things they let go, it was a weak slashing call that finally got the refs to blow their whistles.Evan was shoved below the goal line and went down.From the ice, he had a great view of Barczyk swatting at Walker from behind.A whistle rang out, and Evan did a double take when he got the puck because there was no waythathad been the first penalty of the game.The ref pointed at Barczyk and, for the first time, Evan agreed he was getting an unfair call.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”Barczyk screamed as he took his mouthguard out, presumably to make his complaining clearer.“That’s fucking embellishment!I barely even touched him!”
“Get in the box, Barczyk,” the ref said.
“It’s not embellishment!You fucking tripped me, dickhead!”Walker shouted back.He’d been on his knees on the ice, and, despite knowing Walker, Evan was inclined to agree that he was milking it.
“Shows how fucking much you know.They’re not even trying to call me for a trip, dumbass,” Barczyk shot back.“Right, ref?”
The ref made a face, looking between the two players.“No,” he admitted.
“Because he fucking embellished it, and since I barely touched him, he doesn’t even know what he’s trying to embellish!Never mind how he was roughing up Abs behind the net?—”
“I used to be on this fucking team!”Walker yelled, his face red in embarrassed anger.“You’ve been on the Riveters for two fucking minutes.Who are you kidding, pretending you’re sticking up for Abs?I played with him for two and a half years?—”
