Chapter 9: Life is Full of Uncertainties

The flight home from Calgary was a long tiring trip. The team had been loaded onto a bus at six o'clock in the morning and, after changing planes in Toronto, they arrived back in Queen Anne Island at four-thirty.

The team exited the plane in QAI tired but happy to be home. Dave had hoped his family would be there to pick him up but he and the whole team were shocked when they entered the airport. It seemed half the city had turned out to congratulate them for their national title. The small two-gate airport was overflowing with a throng of well-wishers and signs welcoming the National Champions home. Dave scanned the crowd, found his parents, and quickly walked to them. They hugged and Dave had to ask, "Who arranged this?"

Roger elaborated as both Beth and Julie hugged Dave, "The mayor and the premier have planned a big party. There's going to be a parade to the Civic Centre where even more fans and supporters are waiting to welcome the team home."

Dave was happily pleased with the news. He also spotted Katherine standing near the back of the crowd with a few of her friends so he excused himself and walked over to see her. As he neared, she blushed. He took her hands and kissed her on the cheek, "I'm glad you came out to welcome us home."

She smiled and bashfully whispered, "Thank you for saying hello to me on National television. I was very surprised and pleased."

Dave nodded and asked, "Are you coming to the party at the Civic Centre?"

She nodded indicating her friends, "Yes, we were planning on it."

Dave kissed her on the cheek again and replied, "Good! I'll see you there. Excuse me but I have to find my luggage." Dave then nodded a polite hello and goodbye to the two girls standing with Katherine. He only knew they were her friends from school.

Dave found his luggage and waddled over to his parents with the hockey bag and his suitcase. His father and Julie each took a bag and Roger informed him, "We'll take your stuff. Your chariot awaits you outside."

Dave looked at him with a puzzled look but, after a gentle push from his mother, he followed his teammates out the front door. Lined up just outside the airport were five bright red fire engines covered with more signs. The fire engine in the front had a huge sign that read "Edwardton Islanders - 2003 National Midget Champions." The Air Canada Cup was sitting on the roof of the engine's cab and Ken Jackson was standing proudly behind it. There were several other players already on top of the fire engine along with some girls Dave recognized to be their girlfriends.

Dave laughed to himself and moved to the back of the first fire engine and started to climb on. Craig pushed him back to the ground and looked angry as he stood over him. Dave looked up bewildered and asked, "What gives?"

Craig could not keep his grim look; he smiled and laughed, "That's your ride, dude - over there."

Dave turned around and looked where Craig was pointing. The second fire engine had his MVP trophy on top of the cab and a large sign which read, "Dave MacDonald - 2003 National Midget Championship Most Valuable Player"

Dave did a double take as he looked at the sign. A tear formed in his eye. He was staring at the sign when John walked in front of him laughing. Dave said, "Come on that fire truck with me. I couldn't have done it without you."

John nodded and, with his on-again off-again girlfriend, Heather, under his arm, he followed Dave towards the second truck. On their way, they spotted Rudy walking with his girlfriend, so they grabbed his arm and pulled both of them behind the second truck as well. Dave put out his hand and said to John and Rudy, "To the best damn offensive line at the National Championships." The three teammates shook hands and climbed aboard the fire truck.

All five teens were standing high up on the truck as the remaining trucks filled with players, coaches, and girlfriends. The lead truck had begun to slowly move when Dave spotted Katherine standing with her friends, he called to her, "Come up here with me. I feel lonely."

She smiled and ran to the back of his truck. A fireman helped her onto the truck so she could make her way up to Dave. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her softly on the lips, and helped her get seated right beside him with the trophy sitting between them.

The ride to the Civic Centre was very slow. Hundreds of cars honked their horns while thousands of people came out of their houses and waved to the players. The normal two-mile trip took forty minutes because the parade had detoured right through the middle of town.

When they finally arrived at the Civic Centre, Dave thought his arm was going to fall off from all the waving and his jaw was sore from smiling.

The team and entourage made their way into the rink and the whole team was again surprised to see thousands of people inside the arena. The ice had been removed several weeks earlier and a large stage was setup at the former center-ice. The team and the coaches walked onto the stage to a huge ovation from the crowd. The master of ceremonies was the local CBC weatherman; his main mission was to introduce every player. He left Dave until the last and made sure everyone knew Dave had won the MVP award. Dave bashfully waved to the crowd who seemed to give him an extra special applause.

The mayor and the premier each spoke and congratulated the team. Dave was happy that no more notice was given to him alone, as he was beginning to feel guilty for getting more attention than his team-mates. After the speeches, pictures were taken of the team and then of the team with the politicians. Finally, the master of ceremonies announced that there were hot dogs and drinks for everyone. He invited the crowd to come meet the hometown heroes up-close.

Dave and the team walked down off the stage and all were surrounded by well-wishers who either wanted to get autographs or just shake hands. The whole team was soon lined up across the front of the make-shift stage with long lines of supporters in front of each player.

Dave saw a lot of faces he knew; when his uncle Alan and his family came through the line he received a big bear hug, "Great job, Dave. You played incredible."

Dave was a little overwhelmed by all the show of emotion and was fighting back tears when Alan finally released him. Katherine and Dave's family had made their way behind him and he was happy to have them close by.

He eventually turned to Katherine and mouthed, "Will you wait for me?" She nodded, so he returned to his fans and friends.

Most of the other players on the team's lines slowly shrunk but Dave's only seemed to get longer. There were a lot of small kids and Dave made sure he signed every autograph. It was an hour before Dave's line was finally down to a handful of people. The arena had pretty well cleared out and mostly just the team and family members remained.

The last two people in Dave's line were a man and his son; Dave didn't recognize them. Dave shook the man's hand, then kneeled down to talk to the small boy who looked to be about six. The little boy lit up when Dave asked his name. He replied, "My name is Brad, just like Brad Prichards. I want to be as good as you and Brad someday. I watched you yesterday and you were awesome."

Dave chuckled as he heard the comparison to another QAI native who is currently a star with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the NHL. Dave answered, "Do you like to play hockey?" The little boy nodded - so Dave continued, "That's good. Make sure you have fun and eat real good and maybe someday you will grow up to be as good as Brad Prichards."

The boy smiled from ear to ear and asked, "As good as you too?"

Dave again laughed, "Yes, as good as me too."

After Dave signed the boy's book, the little boy put out his hand mimicking his Dad and shook Dave's hand. Dave stood and said goodbye. The father thanked Dave and left the arena with his son bouncing around him like a firefly, showing off his autograph.

Dave had to laugh and he shook his head thinking, "What a cute kid."

He turned to face his father who handed him a hotdog dressed just the way he liked it. He looked at Katherine and his family and politely asked, "Do you mind?" before he dug into his supper without actually waiting for their blessing.

Two hotdogs and two drinks later; Dave was happily finished eating and drinking. He smiled at everyone and said, "Thanks."

Roger explained, "We're really proud of you, son - and we can get all the details from you when you get home. Here are my car keys. You can drive Katherine home while your mother and I go home with Julie and Beth."

Dave nodded and thanked him; then he and Katherine walked over to the team to say their goodbyes to the team-mates. Dave left the Civic Centre happily exhausted. The plane trip had been long and tiring but he had gotten a second wind when the huge crowds showed up at the airport and the arena. Now he was quickly showing fatigue. He and Katherine talked while he drove her home. She thanked him for including her and he reaffirmed that he cared deeply for her. He gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek then said he would see her the following day at school.

When Dave arrived home his parents and sisters were waiting for all the details of the trip and the tournament. He spent an hour telling them everything he could remember.

Julie and Beth eventually went to do their homework, so Dave had a chance to confess some of the left-out details. He began, "Mom and Dad, I have a bit of a confession. You remember the three Asian girls that came to visit me in the hospital in BC?" Dave paused and watched as his father quizzed his mother. Carol whispered something to Roger who nodded an understanding.

Dave continued after the pause, "Well, John called them before we went out west and invited them to come visit us. He initially asked for them to wait to see how the tournament was going but, after we lost the third game, he called them and they arrived on Thursday. As you know, we lost the first three games and were also badly losing game four when they arrived. John and I were so happy to see them and I guess we wanted to show off a little for them. Anyway we came back and tied Central and then went on our winning streak right to the Championship. Some of the players saw the girls at the rink the first day and one player had been a friend with a guy who was in BC with me.

"Rumors started to spread and the coaches followed up on it. The truth is the girls were staying with us in our room and the coaches found out. The head coach pulled John and me into his room and I told him it was all my idea. I thought because I was new on the team, I would not be punished as severely. I told the coach the truth about everything except that it had been my idea. He talked it over with the other coaches and manager and decided that he would not remove us from the final two games - but we had to tell our parents and he wanted to have a meeting with you as well." Although Dave had started out speaking slowly, his speed had built up and his whole speech just tumbled out. When he stopped, there was silence. Dave looked at his feet a little embarrassed that he had put his parents in this uncomfortable situation.

After a surprisingly short reflection time, Roger looked at Carol and then spoke for both of them. "Dave, when you are representing your team and our province at any event, you have to make sure you do it honorably. Imagine what kind of fall-out would take place now if the media got wind that you and John, two sixteen year old boys, had three girls essentially living with you in the hotel. How would that look for the team, the province, and for yourselves? You have matured into a smart young man and your mother and I often forget that you are only sixteen. You have to take responsibility for your actions. You have to think about consequences."

Dave was sorry he had disappointed his parents. It felt especially depressing to go from the high of being an acclaimed national champion to the low of having his parents upset with him as a teen-age son. His mother finally added, "Your father and I will have to discuss this further and decide on your punishment. Please go upstairs to your room and write a letter of apology to your coach. We will come up and see you soon."

Dave dejectedly carried his suitcase upstairs. He wrote the letter by hand and planned to type it onto the computer later. He then unpacked and tossed his many dirty clothes into the hamper. He put the very few clean clothes away before he lay on his bed waiting for his parents. Eventually they walked into his room and closed the door.

His father began in a very stern voice that Dave instantly knew was trouble, "Dave, we are very proud of what you accomplished but we are also very disappointed in your lapse of common sense and good judgment. You understand our concern, so we won't lecture you anymore; but, so you clearly understand that we do not find this acceptable, we are taking away your car privileges for a month."

Dave's jaw dropped open in surprise. How could they take away his freedom? He couldn't live without the car! He was about to complain but re-considered his father's tone and immediately knew any debate would be futile - and would likely lead to a longer suspension. Dave finally answered simply, "Yes, sir. I'm sorry I disappointed you, Mom and Dad."

His father finished with a little softer tone, "We will give you a week off for good behavior but we don't want to hear one complaint over the next three weeks - that's part of good behavior. Understood?"

Dave again replied, "Yes, sir. Thank you."

His parents left the room. Dave turned off the light and tried to go to sleep. Despite his fatigue, he tossed and turned for an hour - first mainly thinking how unfair life was. He finally realized he indeed had screwed up and he had to do the time for his crime. Finally repentant, he fell asleep and slept soundly.

The remainder of the week was very hectic at school. He and John received a lot of attention but their schoolwork had piled up so they spent every evening trying to catch up.

At home, Dave and his parents had received over a dozen calls from sports agents wanting to represent Dave. The first one was a big surprise but, by the tenth, Dave thought of them more as sharks circling their prey. Roger called Alan and the three of them sat down to discuss what to do. Alan had had some experience with agents during his hockey career - he had played two years of major junior hockey before returning to QAI to finish with the Eagles. In the end, Alan suggested they just tell the agents they weren't interested. If Dave needed an agent in the future, they could search for a reputable one, someone Dave would be comfortable with, at that time.

By the end of the week things had pretty much returned to normal and Dave was happy to have caught up on most of his classes. Katherine had also enjoyed the additional attention she received and Dave was happy they were again on very friendly terms. They had talked often but Dave hadn't asked her out for fear of leading her on. She may have been disappointed but didn't push the matter.

John had been shocked by Dave's punishment. He wasn't boasting when he explained that his father had been so proud of the Championship, that he had received more praise than criticism despite telling about the Asian cuties. John further said his father actually confessed himself to several indiscretions when he was a teen. His father had concluded with, "Boys will be boys."

Dave thought a lot about the difference between the reactions of the two fathers and, after much internal debate, he realized that his own father had handled the situation correctly even though his punishment had been harsher than he had expected. He further thought about how his father was always there for him - the price of constant significant love was high expectations for appropriate behavior. Dave knew he wouldn't trade fathers for all the money in the world.

The meetings with the head coach went well and Dave presented his typed apology. The coach read it, was satisfied with Dave's understanding, and wished Dave well in the future; he promised him a spot on the team if Dave wanted to return the next year.

Friday after school John and Dave went to a local driving range which had opened after the long snowy winter. There had been a large number of late snowstorms and most golf courses had still not opened even though May was only a few days away. Dave was very happy to be finally hitting balls again. They spent several hours at the range and, except for Dave's continuing trouble with his driver, they were both very happy when they left.

Dave's home course of Hornsby had suffered from a very damaging winter and wasn't scheduled to open for two to three more weeks. Only a few, very poor quality, courses were open so Dave and John continued to just hit balls for several weeks.

During the second week after his return form Calgary, the first week of May, Dave talked to Jennifer several times. Ann had called her and they were working out their friendship. Dave had exchanged several e-mails with Lynn and Tina. They were preparing to start their summer session. Time seemed to creep along as Dave anxiously waited for the golf courses to open and his driving privileges to return. John was happy to return to chauffeur status but Dave hated to impose almost as much as he hated the loss of his independence.