Home Ice Advantage by Tom Earle

Author:Tom Earle [Earle, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443409063
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The next few days passed uneventfully. My biggest enemies continued to be loneliness, boredom, and fear. I didn’t have a TV, a computer, or music, and even though I was in the largest city in Canada, I really had nowhere to go. I tried to combat the loneliness and boredom by spending as much time as I could with Scooter. He seemed to have forgotten about his threat to kick me out of the Gardens. In fact, I think he enjoyed having my company as much as I was beginning to enjoy his. It was at night that I really struggled. The foam pad and the sleeping bag provided some warmth and comfort, but they couldn’t hide the fact that I was sleeping in an abandoned building, and this was when I would get scared. Physical exhaustion was also an ally because if I was tired enough, I would fall asleep before homesickness and fear took over for the night.

Something else was bothering me too. I was really starting to worry about my mom. I tried to fall asleep quickly each night before I had time to feel guilty about leaving her behind in the house with Dad.

Reverend Pete’s soup kitchen served lunch and dinner, so twice a day we would leave the warmth of the Gardens and head over there. As a special treat, I would stop at Tim Hortons and buy Scooter an old-fashioned glazed. He never asked me why I didn’t buy one for myself and I didn’t want to tell him that I was almost out of money. As thanks for the doughnut, Scooter would jimmy the Toronto Star box to get me a newspaper. Then we would sit in the front row of the arena in what used to be the best seats in the house and I would read it out loud. Scooter’s favourite section was the sports. He was particularly interested in how the Leafs were doing.

The night before, the Leafs had been trounced by the Chicago Black Hawks. The articles on the Leafs’ latest loss spanned three full pages. When I was finished reading, Scooter regaled me with stories about the Black Hawks.

“When I was younger, I used to get sticks that the players had used. Usually they were broken, but sometimes I’d get one that wasn’t.”

“Oh yeah?” I said. “What did you do with them?”

“I sold them to people outside the arena. One night Bobby Hull signed a stick for me. I made a lot of money that night.”

I was intrigued. “I’d love to get a signed stick from Brett Hull.”

“Who’s Brett Hull?”

I laughed. “Are you kidding? He’s one of the best goal scorers in the history of the league. He’s in the Hall of Fame.”

Scooter nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. Pure goal scorer, cannon of a shot, Hall of Fame, but his name’s Bobby, not Brett.”

I smiled at my friend. “Okay, Scooter, take it easy.”

“Did you know that the last game ever played here was between the Leafs and the Black Hawks?” Scooter asked.

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