Chapter 7: This Is Going to Get Really Ugly

January 13, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

After I hung up with Katy, I went downstairs to see if Ms. C was still at the house. Mom said she was talking to Suzanne, so I went back upstairs, got The Princess Diaries and went back downstairs to sit in one of the comfy chairs in the great room to read about Mia Thermopolis, who was a regular teenager in New York who discovered she was actually a princess. It was pretty good, and I was almost done. I had found out online that another book would be out in June, and that made me happy. I found it funny that she had a Swedish bodyguard named Lars, but I was confused by his last name - van der Hooten - which was Dutch, not Swedish.

I thought Mia was silly for developing a crush on Michael Moscovitz, but in a way it reminded me of Jesse and Francesca, because Mia and Mike had met when she was in first grade, and she was a Freshman in the book. I laughed out loud at some of her ‘Princess Training’, and the way her best friend Lilly, who was Mike’s younger sister, was telling her what to do. I wondered what it would be like to date the older brother of one of my friends, but none of them had older brothers! I was older than most of the cousins, too. I really liked that Mia and Lilly had a third friend, Tina, because their group reminded me of Rachel, Tiff, and me.

I finished the book about thirty minutes later, and Ms. C hadn’t come out of the study, so I went back upstairs and got Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister which was supposed to be the same story as Cinderella, but told from the point of view of one of her step-sisters. It was a long book, over three-hundred pages, so I hoped it was good!

I opened the book, and turned to the first page. I read what the author called an Epigraph and wasn’t sure I was going to like the book. Even though I understood all the words, it just didn’t feel like a book I wanted to read. By the time Ms. C finally came out of the study, I’d read two chapters and had decided to return the book to the library because it just wasn’t doing anything for me.

“Ms. Czerwinski?” I called out. “Can I talk to you?”

She nodded and walked over to me, looking a bit dazed. I wondered what Suzanne had said to her.

“What can I do for you, Birgit?” Ms. C asked.

“I wanted to apologize for my language and the way I spoke at lunch. I know it wasn’t very ladylike, and that it bothered you. I’m sorry and hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Of course, I forgive you. One important part of growing up is knowing what we should and shouldn’t say in certain circumstances. I think you know that because you’ve never spoken that way in school. And it’s very mature to come apologize to me. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’m not in any trouble, am I?”

Ms. C laughed softly, “No, but if you were to speak to me that way in school, I wouldn’t have any choice but to send you to the office.”

“I won’t! I promise! Thanks for coming to my karate test!”

“You’re welcome. I don’t know much about it, but you seemed to do very well. I didn’t know you could break boards!”

“It’s really easy once you know how. My sisters can do that, too, but they use simpler kicks and punches. I had to do a jump front kick and an outside strike. When I test for my black belt, I have to do a spinning jump kick and an elbow strike!”

“Maybe I won’t be sending you to the office!” she said.

“I would never, ever hit anyone except during sparring, unless they attacked me. And even then, I would try to get away before I decide to fight.”

“Oh?”

“Yes! The rules are very, very clear! Evade; Block; Warn; Hurt; Injure; Kill.”

“Kill?!” she gasped.

“If someone is trying to kill you and won’t stop even after you’ve injured them badly, you don’t have a choice. Well, unless you think it’s OK for them to kill YOU.”

“No, it’s not. I was just surprised. Have you ever gotten into a fight?”

“No. Dad has, once, when some pimp got upset because my dad rescued a girl from him.”

“What happened?”

“Dad was at the train station and saw a girl who was maybe two years older than I am, being enticed by a pimp. He got her away from the guy and to my Aunt Bethany who got her into a shelter. Later, not the same day, but I’m not sure how many days, the pimp saw my dad and pulled a knife. Dad politely asked him to drop the knife, and when he didn’t, Dad grabbed the pimp’s wrist and encouraged him to drop the knife. The pimp struggled and broke his own wrist and dropped the knife. Dad walked away.”

“Don’t you mean your dad broke the man’s wrist?” Ms. C asked.

I shook my head, “All dad did was hold the pimp’s wrist in a wrist lock. When the guy struggled but didn’t drop the knife, he snapped his own wrist trying to get away!”

“That’s the truth?”

“It is,” Mom said from behind me.

“I need to get going,” Ms. C said. “I’ll see you in class on Monday, Birgit.”

“Bye!”

The others all said ‘bye’ to each other, and Ms. C left.

“I heard you apologize,” Mom said. “Is that what Katy said you should do?”

I made a face, “How did you know?!”

“You didn’t come down right away, so I guessed you were getting advice. YOU just told me you talked to Katy!”

“Argh!” I groaned. “I positively HATE it when Dad does that! And you, too!”

“Parents do have a few tricks up their sleeves!” Mom said. “Want to have some tea and chat?”

“I’d like that!”

🎤 Steve

The horn sounded and Jesse and his team took their positions, while Nicole and her team took theirs. I was sitting with Jennifer, Josie, and Libby in the stands.

“This is going to be an epic battle!” I chuckled.

“Why?” Libby asked.

“Didn’t Jesse tell you? He and Nicole are sworn enemies!”

“They’re best friends!” Libby protested. “They were even on the same team!”

“And now they aren’t! Off ice they’re best friends; on ice, they’re mortal enemies! She’ll do everything in her power to score, and he’ll do everything in his power to stop her!”

“Role reversal of a usual male-female relationship?” Josie teased.

“Not in my experience,” I replied smugly.

Libby and Jennifer both laughed hard, but Josie scowled.

“You really should know better by now,” Jennifer said to Josie. “He has comebacks for everything!”

“So does Jesse,” Libby commiserated with Josie.

“Like father, like son,” I grinned.

“Is he, Ms. Block?” Libby asked.

“Depending on how you look at it, each one is worse than the other!” Jennifer said.

“Gee, thanks, Jen,” I chuckled.

The referee dropped the puck, and the game began with their center winning the face off to his defenseman who passed to Nicole who made a beeline for Jesse only to have Mia skate into her way. Nicole tried to deke but couldn’t get by, and lost the puck. Jesse poke checked it to Blake and the rush was on the other way. There were several exchanges like that, with the puck moving up and down the ice, but neither team was able to get off a clean shot. The first real chance came when one of the opposing forwards checked Mia into the boards which got him two minutes for roughing AND a warning that a second offense would be a major penalty, a game misconduct, and a potential suspension.

“He did that because she’s a girl!” Libby protested. “That’s just wrong!”

“It is,” I replied. “And that’s why we have a powerplay, and if anyone else does it, they won’t get a warning, they’ll get a game misconduct and we’ll have a five-minute powerplay!”

We made good on the unsportsmanlike conduct by the opposing forward, getting a goal in the first thirty seconds. The best part about it, though, was the ref was now watching Nicole’s team like a hawk, and they ended up with two more penalties which might normally been let go as they were iffy calls. We scored on both those powerplays to take a 3-0 lead into the locker room after the first period.

“The wheels fell off,” Jennifer said.

“Serves them right!” Libby declared. “You don’t see our players doing that to Nicole!”

“Jesse would NEVER allow it,” I replied. “He’d be the first one to step up. But really, all the guys on the team are very protective of Mia, even if she doesn’t really need it. But you notice they were smart and didn’t do anything that could attract a raised arm.”

“If that forward hangs out near Jesse, Jesse will dump him!”

I shook my head, “No, he won’t. Why risk a retaliation penalty? We scored three goals because of what that forward did because the ref is giving us the marginal calls.”

“But that’s not really fa ... um, that’s unjust, isn’t it?”

I chuckled, “Nice save. Is it unjust? Think it through.”

Libby was quiet for a moment and then she got an ‘Aha!’ look on her face.

“Once you show you’re willing to break important rules, you attract extra scrutiny from the ref. He can’t let you get away with anything because he knows you might take that as license to play dirty.”

“Yes.”

“But he gave a warning!”

“Do you listen when adults tell you not to do something?” Josie asked. “Every time?”

Libby laughed softly, “Well, no. I’m a teenager!”

“And so are they!” Josie replied. “And boys at that!”

“Birgit says they’re dumb!”

“Birgit has a good point!” Jennifer said, bumping her shoulder into mine.

“Maybe so,” I replied. “But YOU wanted to hang out with me, so what does that say about YOU!”

“Zing!” Josie teased.

“I came out as a lesbian,” Jennifer replied. “So, you tell me?!”

“Ouch!” Josie smirked. “Good one, Jen!”

“And yet, you came back to me to get pregnant, so...”

“Oh, shut up!” Jennifer said, laughing.

Libby laughed, “This is just too funny! I can’t imagine my parents talking like this around me!”

“You could join the family,” I grinned.

“I’m Jewish, Mr. A! Jesse will only marry an Orthodox girl, and I don’t mean a Jewish Princess! I mean Russian Orthodox!”

“True,” I agreed. “That’s why you decided to just be friends?”

“Yes. Neither of us have anyone we want to date, and we like each other, so I’m not the girlfriend, but I am, sort of.”

“If you’ll pardon the indiscretion, ‘friends with benefits’?”

Libby laughed, “It’s no secret, at least at your house! Jesse’s moms know we fool around! Mom Two even saw us walk naked across the hall to the shower!”

“That sounds like me when I was your age!” I chuckled.

“You, Mom One?” Libby asked.

“No, that was another girlfriend,” Jennifer laughed. “But my parents let us use my bedroom.”

“But you aren’t bi, right?”

“No, I’m not. I was very confused, and that’s what caused all the problems between me and Jesse’s dad. Once I figured things out, then we decided to have Jesse.”

“The normal way?” Libby asked.

“For Steve!” Jennifer laughed. “He, Mom Two, and I were together to make Jesse.”

“That’s so cool!” Libby exclaimed.

One thing was clear, and that was that under different circumstances, Libby was a perfect recruit - mature, funny, and open-minded. BUT, and it was a big ‘but’, given her relationship with Jesse, that was a bad idea, even for the second or third circle. Jesse chose to stay away from that part of my life, and drawing in his ‘friend with benefits’ would create a potential rift. I contrasted Libby with Mia, and that made me even more reticent to move forward with Mia. And thinking about all of that, made me wonder how the conversation between Suzanne and Alicija Czerwinski had gone.

The teams came back onto the ice for the second period and when the puck dropped, we won the face off. After about five minutes of what amounted to dump and chase and no real attacks, Kenny got free with the puck and skated quickly to the net and flipped the puck over the goalie’s shoulder to make it 4-0. And that’s when everything went straight to hell. The same kid who had checked Mia cross checked Kenny to the ice from behind and used a racial slur. The referee’s arm went up instantly and he made the signal for an ejection, which caused the players on the other team to get in the ref’s face.

Thankfully, our players skated back to where Jesse was, staying out of the fray as players from the other team screamed at the ref. I was happy to see Nicole skate as far away from the melee as she could in her half of the ice, also staying out of the ruckus. When the referee and the opposing coaches finally got control of their players, there had been a total of three ejections, with two major penalties, which meant we’d have a 5-on-3 powerplay for five minutes, with no relief for the other team if we scored.

“Unreal,” Jennifer said. “He’s going to be suspended and might be banned.”

“I think he WILL be banned after checking Mia and then shoving Kenny to the ice when the puck was dead, AND calling him a very offensive name. Kenny was smart to get up and skate away.”

“And Jesse was smart to call his teammates to him,” Libby said. “I also saw Nicole skate away.”

“She’s WAY too smart to get involved in that. And now they have to play down three players, have to put two in the penalty box, AND we get five minutes of ‘score as much as you want’ 5-on-3!”

“This is going to get really ugly,” Josie said. “When our kids score, it’s just going to piss them off even more.”

“True,” I replied. “This is their gut-check time. We’ll see if the coach has control or not. I hope he does.”

The referee got everyone calmed down and after some debate between the referee and the opposing coach, the opposing coach put out three defensemen, electing to consolidate his three lines to two, which made sense, given he couldn’t predict when he could change and when he changed, he’d want to put out fresh defensemen. In the end it didn’t matter. It was a shooting gallery, and Jesse cheated far enough forward that on the two occasions the opposing team tried to clear, he’d intercepted the puck less than ten feet over the blue line, preventing them from changing. Five players on our team scored, including Mia, making the score 9-0 when the penalties finally ended. I felt bad for the opposing goalie, because it wasn’t his fault that his teammate had created the terrible situation. I wondered how Jesse would have responded.

“That pretty much seals second seed for the tournament,” Josie said. “They need nine goals for a draw!”

“What’s really bad is they may be banned from the tournament, and that’ll suck for Nicole,” I replied.

“Why, Mr. Adams?” Libby asked.

“If you call them Mom One and Mom Two, you should either call me ‘Dad One’ or Steve!”

“Jesse only has one dad!”

“So then ‘Dad One’ is correct!” I chuckled. “Anyway, it depends on the reason for the other ejections, but I can’t imagine they weren’t either for swearing or abuse of the officials, both of which which carry suspensions for at least one game. The slur and pushing the ref will have that player banned, possibly for life, and the team isn’t allowed to replace him. If they suspend the other two for the rest of the season, that’s effectively a ban because they’ll be down to seventeen players. They’re toast if that happens. If the league finds the coach responsible, they can suspend him and ban the team from the playoffs. I didn’t see any other players jump the boards, but the players on the bench were screaming at the ref.”

“I don’t get it,” Libby protested. “That other kid should have been ejected for calling Kenny that name!”

“I have a sneaking suspicion there’s a history,” Josie said. “And Kenny might have said something quietly which the ref didn’t hear.”

“Why do you say that, Mom Two?”

“Kenny mentioned to Jesse that he got grief from other players for being black. I wonder if that was one of the kids and Kenny mouthed off to him when he scored?”

I was a bit concerned that Jesse would let down his guard during the third period given the score, but he didn’t, and we got one more to win 10-0.

🎤 Jesse

“Did you say something?” I asked Kenny once he, Mia, Blake, and I were out of the locker room.

Kenny chuckled, “I just said ‘Take that, White Boy!’ and he lost it!”

“That’s the guy who gave you sh ... grief for being black, right?” Mia asked.

“One of,” Kenny replied.

“Guys,” I said, “let’s wait here, I want to talk to Nicole,”

We moved to the side and about a minute later, Nicole came out of the opposing locker room looking really angry.

“Hey,” I said when she came up to us. “Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, or Kenny’s. Rob is just a dick to everyone, and now he’s totally screwed our chances of making the playoffs!”

“What were the other ejections for?” I asked.

“Les for telling the ref that it was ‘bullshit’ that Rob got penalized when Kenny didn’t, and Joe because he used the same slur saying Kenny said something first. Well, he said ‘fucking’ before the slur, too. And then he pushed the ref after the ejection which means he’s in serious trouble.”

“Oh man, they are TOAST,” I replied, shaking my head. “What about your coach?”

“The ref said he’s going to report the coach because the players on our bench were screaming at the ref, which is against the rules. We could have had a bench minor for that, but I guess the ref figured giving you guys five minutes of shooting practice was enough. Maybe I’ll ask your dad to adopt me and I can play for you guys!”

“He would, but the problem is that rosters were frozen on December 31st!”

“Oh, right, he’ll adopt HER!” Mia groused.

“Mistress option!” Nicole laughed. “It’s WAY more powerful! Just like we said!”

“I don’t think he’d go for it.”