Part 6 - Nobody's Perfect

Monday afternoon, Dion and I were once again huddled around my computer screen. Rimouski was up on Halifax two games to none, but that didn’t mean that D and I weren’t anxiously awaiting the start of the third game of the President’s Trophy QMJHL final series.

Dion has always said that Game 3 is the turning point in a series. Either team can grab the momentum and swing the series in their favour in the third game. D, Fraz and I were hoping that it would be Rimouski.

The last thing any of us wanted was for the Nics to lose. D and Fraz had played with Sidney in Grand Forks and they genuinely liked him. They had also played with Marc-Antoine Pouliot and Patrick Coulombe, part of Rimouski’s “Big 5” at the summer evaluation camp in Banff.

Plus, I would have killed them both if they were cheering for Halifax. I mean, that was my boy wearing number 87 for the Nics. There was no way that I could have my Rebels for Life brothers cheering against him.

“Fuck….” I muttered, watching as Fraz and D both cracked open a bottle of beer. “How the hell can you guys drink after Saturday?” I muttered. “I still feel like crap.”

D shrugged and grinned mockingly. “Drew, it’s really quite simple. You are old.” He teased me. “And we aren’t.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “I am so not that old Phaneuf. I can still skate circles around you.”

“Not with a stick in your hand.” Fraz pointed out with a grin.

“I can stick handle just fine.” I told him with a self-satisfied wicked grin. “We just aren’t talking about the same kind of stick right now Coly.”

D and Fraz both burst out laughing. “Well the way Aaron tells it, you’re a cold hearted bitch who left him with a serious case of blue balls on Sunday morning…. just so that you could answer your cell phone.”

I shrugged. “Sidney called.” I told them, not that it was really any of their business. Though as always, Aaron had decided to make what was only our business, everyone’s business. “I answered the phone. Aaron decided to be an ass, so I booted him out of my place.”

D burst out laughing and kept on laughing until he was laughing so hard that he was crying and Fraz wasn’t much better. “You really answered your phone during sex?” D asked incredulously, gasping for breath as he tried (unsuccessfully) to stop laughing. “You really stopped what you were doing for the phone?”

“It wasn’t sex yet.” I said petulantly, feeling somewhat attacked. “We were just making out when the phone rang, and I saw a Rimouski number. I figured it was probably Sidney…. I mean who else in Rimouski do I know? So I answered it. I figured that he wouldn’t call me at like, five thirty in the morning unless it was something important.”

D laughed even harder if that was possible, wiping tears off his cheeks. “Drew you are something else honey.” He said, giving me a one armed hug around the shoulders. “Aaron is a fucking asshole.” He said. “Everyone, you included, know that… or they should.”

I shrugged. “The sex is decent and the head is great.” I paused, remembering just how good it was, and grinned. “Actually, the head is like, phenomenal.”

Fraz laughed. “You need to get more then Drew.”

D chuckled too. “And I don’t think Sidney would like you using his nickname to describe the head you get from someone else.”

I stuck my tongue out at Fraz and ignored D entirely. “I get plenty Fraz. Just because I don’t get as much as your man-whore self does Coly, doesn’t mean that I don’t get plenty.”

Coly snorted. “Yeah right….” He said. “This from the woman who will give up sex to answer the phone.”

I shrugged. “Like I’ve said, the sex was okay and I’d already gotten the head.”

D and Coly burst out laughing. “Well when you put it that way Drew….” Fraz said. “I guess it makes sense.”

“Damn straight it makes sense.” I replied firmly with a grin of my own.

“Well whatever you do Drew….” Dion said in that big brotherly tone of his. “Don’t fuck Aaron again. You’re better than that.”

I shrugged. “I know, but he’s easy.” I said plaintively.

Coly chuckled. “Neufy it’s not like either of us have never used that particular line when we’re talking sex.”

I shrugged again. “The best sex is sometimes easy sex.” I reminded them both, just in case either of them had forgotten. “Easy sex is especially nice since I’m feeling particularly lazy right now.”

Dion rolled his eyes. “Umm Drew, I hate to be the one to drag your attention back to the game and all, but your boy toy just scored on the power play.”

I flipped my hair over my shoulder, and didn’t bother looking at the screen. “I’m not a complete idiot D.” I said. “Give the helpers to MAP and Dany R.”

MAP, just in case you care, is what I typically call Marc-Antoine Pouliot. D glowered at me. “You’re right.” He muttered, somewhat petulantly, since he really didn’t think I was paying any attention to the game at all.

I shrugged. “I’m always right. You should have figured that out already.”

D shrugged. “I try to ignore it most of the time.” He said.

I stuck my tongue out at him as Sidney scored his second of the game and thirteenth of the playoffs. “Way to go Sid!” I cried at the screen.

The guys and I continued to banter back and forth throughout the rest of the first period. Mark Tobin and Junior (Mario Scalzo Jr.) added goals, and by the end of the first period, the Nics were leading the game 4-0. Troy called me quickly between the periods to make sure that I knew the score and was watching the game, and I told him to tell Sidney to call me when the game was done.

He promised he would and Coly and D continued to drink and they continued to make fun of me for the whole Aaron thing and the fact that I wasn’t drinking. It was all fun and games until three minutes into the second period when Halifax scored their first goal of the game on the power play.

I swore, loudly. Rimouski didn’t have their usual huge cushion. The last thing that they needed was Halifax mounting a comeback. Especially since the goal seemed to reenergize the Mooseheads fans. “Calm down Drew.” D said. “It’s only one goal.”

D’s words seemed to be prophetic. They seemed that way particularly when after the two teams went nearly nine minutes without a goal, Junior scored his second goal of the night for Rimouski. The Nics now had a 5-1 lead and the crowd really seemed to be out of it now.

In fact, a lot of the fans seemed to be cheering for Sidney at that point. He was a Cole Harbour boy, and I knew that he had a lot of family and friends in the stands. I wished that I was there with him more than anything as I watched him glide effortlessly across the ice.

I loved watching him skate. It wasn’t easy watching on the computer, because the picture wasn’t that great, but that didn’t really matter. I was watching him play again, and that was something I had missed since I’d come home from Grand Forks.

Less than a minute after Junior scored, one of the Mooseheads scored, to make the score 5-2. D and Coly continued to tease me about staying calm, and I tried. Believe me I tried. But with less than two minutes to go in the period the Mooseheads got there third of the period, and the score was now 5-3.

“Are they going to blow this fucking lead?” I muttered angrily.

D shrugged. “They were pretty badly outshot in that period Drew. If they don’t pick it up in the third, they might blow the lead. Unless they start blocking shots or Cèdrick stands on his head.”

“Mother fucker better stand on his head.” I grumbled. “They give him a five goal lead, his job is to keep the fucking puck out of the goddamned net.”

Coly laughed at me. “Drew, you do realize that his defense is not helping him at all right?”

I just kept grumbling. I continued grumbling in the third period when the Mooseheads came out strong, clearly determined not to lose this game. At the beginning of the period they outshot the Nics and I was yelling (rather loudly) at the screen. My boys were NOT going to lose this game. I was absolutely determined on that count.

Not that I could really do much to help with that. I mean, I wasn’t there, I couldn’t get on the ice and help them. But that didn’t mean that I wasn’t still yelling at them, because I totally was. Usually D and Coly would just be teasing me about it, but when the Mooseheads Jan Steber scored at the eight minute mark, they started yelling just as loudly as I was.

When the buzzer rang to end the game I muttered in relief. “Thank fricking god… one to go.”
D and Coly laughed at me and Coly pounded back his beer. “So what are we doing tonight?” He asked.

I raised my eyebrows. D had pretty much taken up permanent residence in my guest bedroom since the season ended, so doing something tonight either involved me being a DD, a party at my place, or them coming back to my place at an odd hour loud and drunk. “I don’t know about you two, but I have to work in the morning, so I’m going to watch some TV and go to bed.”

“And talk to your boy toy.” D teased me.

“We’ll crash at my billets Drew.” Coly said. “So no worries there honey.”

I hugged them both. “Well you two go have fun and don’t break too many hearts.” I told them.

D rolled his eyes. “See you tomorrow night Drew. One more and you and I are off to London.”