Ice in My Veins (12 page)

I noticed Alex motioning me from near the back of the bus. I got up and walked to him. It looked like something was wrong. I was right.

“I just got some news. I’m leaving tomorrow afternoon,” he told me. I gasped.

“What? Why?” I asked upset.

“There’s an injury on the Providence Bruins. I was called up to play.” He explained. Providence was the Boston Bruins AHL affiliate team. Alex had just turned 20. He was able to be called up to the AHL team. I was happy for him.

He didn’t know how long he would be gone. Maybe a few weeks. I was sad that he was going, but I was happy for him. I knew Moose was heading to Lena’s place when the bus arrived. I asked Alex if he would drive me home when we got back. Of course he had no problem with that. I didn’t want to be obvious so I told him I was going back to sit with Moose and we could talk later. He agreed.

After seven hours on the bus we finally made it back to the rink in Toronto. I told Moose he didn’t have to drive me home, that Alex would. I wanted to say goodbye to him before he left.

When Alex and I arrived at my place, there were no cars in the driveway and the lights were all off. I asked him if he wanted to come in. Of course he wasn’t going to say no to that.

When I flipped on the lights in the basement. I noticed a note taped to the television. It read:

Moose and Christine,

Harry and I had to fly out to Kamloops, British Columbia for a funeral. We will be back next week. There is money in the cookie jar in the kitchen for groceries and anything else you guys need this week. Moose you take care of Christine for me.

Love ,Your Billet Mommy

Cathy xxx ooo

I looked at Alex. “Do you want to keep me company tonight, since I hate staying alone in the house? Moose is staying at Lena’s.”

“What bad timing. I’m leaving and your billets will be gone for a week.” He was upset. Yet he was happy we at least had tonight.

I placed my arms around his neck and kissed him. He picked me up, I wrapped my legs around him as he carried me to my bedroom. We kissed for a while. I told him I still wasn’t ready for anything else. He said that he understood.

He watched me in the dim light as I got undressed. I put on an old pair of shorts and a tank top. He reached out his arm and pulled me onto the bed on top of him. His hands were exploring my body as we kissed. I rolled over onto my left side. He snuggled up behind me and whispered in my ear “You are so beautiful”. I squeezed his hand that I was holding close to my chest.

We cuddled all night. I was going to miss him when he was gone. I knew that I couldn’t let it get to me though, because I had to stay focused. He had done a lot to prove to me that he would be faithful. I trusted him.

In the morning, I said goodbye to him and he left. He promised to chat with me as much as he could on MSN and we could go on web cam. I hadn’t used my new web cam, so it would be fun.

We had a day off today. No practice and I didn’t have to go to school. I decided I would stay around the house and try out the sauna in the bathroom. It was relaxing. I spent the rest of the day moping around the house trying to find something to do. It was lonely in this big house when no one was home. I thought I would like the alone time, but knowing no one would be walking through the door seemed to bother me today.

I decided to call Lauren and see if she felt like doing anything. She was home and agreed to go to the mall with me. I still had some of the money dad left for me, about $70.00; and I had a few weeks worth of my hockey money. I figured maybe I should buy a few things to build my wardrobe up. Maybe I would buy some of the clothes like the girls at school were wearing. I was so used to wearing jeans all the time. A change would be nice.

Stalker

Alex had been gone two weeks. I only got to speak with him late at night. I was really starting to miss him. School and hockey had been going great. I was getting a lot of ice time for a rookie. My stats were improving. I was still climbing in penalty minutes, but many were not really my fault. Coach noticed the Refs were giving me a hard time. Many people did not like the fact that a girl was playing in the OHL.

I got into two more fights and won both. I looked online and I now had a fight card. It made me laugh. It bothered Alex when he saw my black eye and split lip, the last time we were on web cam. I told him it was nothing, I was fine.

The Peat’s house was a regular hang out for the team. I started to wonder what their grocery bills were really like. They always had the cupboards and fridge stalked, knowing the team was always hanging out there. They were two of the most generous people I had ever met.

I had been running after our night practices, and it was dark early now and getting much colder. I usually ran alone, unless I could convince one of my teammates to join me.

The last two nights I got a strange feeling while I was jogging. I kept turning around, but I didn’t see anyone. I was starting to wonder if I was just being paranoid. I would suddenly feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I would turn again, and nothing! Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me. I had been stressed lately. School, hockey, missing Alex and my family. I shook it off.

Then I considered that Toronto was a big city; although it didn’t have near the crime rate of the big U.S. cities. There was still a great deal of crime happening in the city. We lived in a nice area, but you never know. I was always told to follow my instincts about things like this. I don’t know why I was shrugging it off. I chopped it up to stress and me just being fatuous.

I left the house around 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday night. I started my usual running route. I got that feeling I was being followed again. When I was about twenty minutes into my run, I turned and there was a guy jogging, not that far behind me. Panic shot through my body. Then I took a second look. He looked harmless enough. I continued my run. He kept pace with me around seventy yards back. There was nothing unusual about another jogger on this route. I tried not the think about him.

Thursday, was a repeat of Wednesday. The same guy was jogging on the same route. This time he was about fifty yards back from me. He was closing the distance between us. I told myself it was just a coincidence. He really did look harmless. He was about twenty years old. He was average looking. No alarm bells went up. Maybe they should have. Maybe it was because for so long we were all taught about Stranger Danger. Creepy old men who wanted to give us candy. This guy was just an ordinary guy. I shrugged it off once again.

We had games both Friday and Saturday. We won both. I got 3 points for the weekend. No goals. I had completely forgotten about the guy on my running route.

Monday, during school lunch; I noticed that the same guy from my running route was hanging around the school. He could know someone from the school I thought to myself. Then I noticed he wasn’t talking to anyone. He just kept wandering around. I saw him again after school. Now the alarm bells went up. I was starting to get nervous. Maybe my first instincts were correct, and something was wrong with this guy. He looked so normal. My better judgment took over. I should be concerned.

I asked Joe if he would walk me home. I explained about the creepy guy who seemed to be following me. He agreed that it was a good idea that he walked me. We didn’t notice him on the walk to the Peat’s. Yet I still got the feeling I was being followed.

I wasn’t the only one who felt it. Joe kept glancing around as we walked. The hair on my arm and the back of my neck was standing up. I knew I wasn’t being paranoid anymore. This guy was actually stalking me. When Joe and I arrived at my place, I offered him to come in. He declined. He was going to meet some girl he had met at a party, and take her to dinner. I wished him luck and thanked him for walking me home.

I decided that I needed to tell Moose and the Peat’s about what was happening. All three of them were very upset. Mr. Peat went out and bought me some personal protection spray. I guess they didn’t have mace here, but it was something similar to mace. Moose insisted on running with me that night. I kept to the same time to see if my stalker would be there following me. We didn’t see him.

I thought maybe I was starting to imagine it. Moose told me, I most likely wasn’t. That he had dealt with a few female stalkers in the past. He was worried for me, because I was a girl; and guy stalkers were a lot more brutal to deal with.

I didn’t want to tell Alex about my stalker, because he didn’t need to be worrying about me. I kept it to myself. It was a joke in the locker room, but every one felt it could become a problem for me. They were all concerned, coach especially. He was such a wonderful man. You could see how much he cared about all his players.

It had been almost a week. There was no sign of my stalker. I hadn’t gotten that nervous feeling on my runs with Moose.

I decided I would run alone tonight. Moose was gone out. Besides he really hated running, and I hated to burden him. Cathy didn’t like the idea of me running alone. She even offered to come with me. She was so adorable. I loved her dearly. She had become family to me. I assured her it was fine.

I started out on my usual route a little later than normal. It was almost 8:30 p.m. I thought maybe that would throw him for a loop, if he really was following me. It didn’t! About ten minutes into my run, I noticed him. I rounded the corner quickly and jumped the fence in the back yard of the house on the side street.

I watched through a crack in the fence as he past and continued on the route. Once I thought he was out of sight I climbed back over the fence and turned the corner to head home. He was standing there, blocking my path.

I could fight. I knew how to defend myself, but I was caught off guard and just stood there frozen.

He just stared at me. Looking right through me with his dark eyes. To me they looked black as coal, probably due to the fact that I was so scared. He stood in front of me for almost a minute. Not moving, not saying a word. My breathing got heavy and I felt like I was going to collapse.

Then he took his finger and slid it across his neck; like you would do to motion killing someone, by slicing their throat. I took a step back, my eyes wide, full of fear. He snarled at me and took a step forward.

I heard my name being called. “Chrissy, Chris.” I recognized the voice, it was Moose. I couldn’t open my mouth to answer him.

My stalker must have heard Moose calling my name. He shot off like a bat out of hell. I collapsed to the ground in tears. Moose rounded the corner and saw me there.

“Chris, what happened?” He grabbed me and pulled me up off the side walk. I couldn’t answer. I couldn’t move. I was frozen.

He leaned me on his shoulder and tried to help me walk, but I couldn’t walk. He picked me up and cradled me in his arms, and started walking towards the house. I was cold now, the wind had picked up. I buried my head into his chest and shook with fear. Tears flowed from my eyes.

Cathy and Harry were out of their minds with worry. I managed to pull myself together by the time the Peats called Coach and the police. I repeated the story so many times I was numb. I couldn’t really give a good description of the stalker. I knew he was in his early 20’s, about 6’0”, 190 lbs. Other than that all I could remember were those eyes. Eyes that were so full of hatred for me.

Coach wanted me to take a break, and stay away from the rink for a while. He was scared for me. I told him no way that some creepy stalker was going to stop me from achieving my goals.

We all came to an agreement that until this stalker was caught, I was not to go any where alone. Someone was to always be with me. I could deal with that.

I couldn’t sleep that night. His face haunted my thoughts. I knocked on Moose’s bedroom door. He invited me in. I sat on his bed and asked. “Have you ever had a stalker this violent before Kyle?”

“Yes, but it’s different for a girl. There are so many more things that could happen to a girl being stalked than a guy.” He started to rub my back to comfort me.

I shuttered at the thought of what could have happened, if Moose had not come looking for me tonight. “Thanks Moose. For coming to look for me.”

“You are like family to me Chris. I would kill someone if they hurt you.” He pulled me into his arms. “Just sleep here tonight. Try not to think about it all. You can’t allow it to consume you like this.”

His cell phone went off and I jumped. He grabbed it fast. It was his girlfriend, Lena. He told her what had happened and she insisted on coming over. Her and I had gotten a lot closer. We had hung out several times and she had introduced me to her friends. They liked to party hard. Too hard for me. They seemed nice enough though.

She showed up at the house in about fifteen minutes. She wasn’t shocked to find me in Moose’s bed. She crawled into bed and held me. I fell asleep between her and Moose.

When I woke up I giggled. This was odd. I crawled over top of them to get out of the bed. I went back to my own room and back to sleep. It was early, maybe 5:00 a.m.

Alex had gotten wind of what was happening with my stalker. The other guys, not knowing about us had mentioned it to him. He called me right away. I told him it was nothing to worry about. That Erik Wilson our teammate, and Alex’s best friend, was making a big deal out of nothing. He didn’t need to worry. I wasn’t going any where alone from now on. He told me that his last game would be this Friday and that he would be back Saturday night. I reminded him that we were away this weekend and wouldn’t be home until Sunday. It made him feel better to know that I would be out of town, where my stalker couldn’t get to me.

On the roadie we took a beating, only winning one game. During the second period I was asked to do my first television interview. I was nervous. Coach told me to just be myself. I skated to the booth after the buzzer sounded. I sat down and the announcer clipped a microphone to my jersey. He told me to relax.

“Joining me now is Christine Matthews, the sixteen year old female, left wing player from the small town of Dryden, Michigan. She just started her OHL career this season, playing with the Toronto Gophers. She already has an assist in tonight’s game. Thanks for joining us Christine.” The announcer said.

“Thanks for having me.” I answered him smiling. Then we started the interview.

Tell us what it’s like to be a female hockey player in the OHL? Any negatives?

I have been very fortunate to be able to play the sport I love dearly. I also owe Ben Killerman a great deal, for being able to over look the politics of having a girl on his team. It has been an honor to learn from someone as talented as Ben. As for the negatives, it’s been a hard road trying to prove that I am good enough to play in the OHL. Many of the guys and fans were not happy in the beginning. My teammates however, were very welcoming. They made me feel like part of the team immediately. My teammates and I have mutual respect for each other. I also have a great team captain, Kyle Schneider, who took the time to make sure my teammates and I always have open communication.

Why Hockey? And why not stay with a woman’s league?

I have always loved hockey since I can remember. It’s the greatest sport in the world. I did play with girls up until this season. This is the first year I have played on a guys hockey team. It’s much faster, harder hitting and I love it. My goal of course, as with all the guys who play the sport, is the NHL. The only way I can prove myself is to play in a guys league. Prove I’m strong, fast, and tough enough. I definitely have size on my side and I am a fast skater. I have been holding my own out there along with my teammates. Stats wise I am sitting in the middle of the board.

Who is the hockey player you most look up to?

Most people roll their eyes when I answer this question. I look up to Toby Chalke. He played with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1970s and is now their GM. I suppose the main reason he became my hero, was when I found out that nobody wanted to draft him. He is a diabetic. After all the NHL teams passed him over at the draft for something as silly as being a diabetic, the Flyers took a big chance on him. He had to prove himself. He was also fast and tough. He was fearless. Some people think of him as a dirty player. I think he did what he had to do to get the job done. He did it well. I like to think of myself as the female Toby Chalke. I don’t have diabetes, my disability to many in hockey, seems to be the fact that I am a girl. I hope I have started to prove myself to all these critics.

How is it being away from home?

It’s great. I’m loving it. I miss my family and friends, that goes without saying. However, the experience has been amazing. My billets, Cathy and Harry are two of the most generous, outgoing people I have ever met in my life. They are family to me.

What advice would you give to girls out there who want to play in a boys league?

I would say never give up on your dreams. Hockey is a tough game. You have to have a thick skin. If you want it bad enough then it’s always there for the taking. You might have to give up a lot to get it. To me so far, it’s been worth it.

Thank you Christine and good luck with the rest of your game.