Rushed(58)

“We met when I was just out of college, having accepted a job with the provincial government to teach at a rural school near Fort Frances. It was just a stone's throw away from Minnesota, and is close to part of the First Nations band land Adam belongs to.”

I knew that Dad and I are part First Nations, and that our band lands are spread out through various points in Ontario mostly, but there are some in Manitoba. I've never made a big deal about it, just a little about what Dad has taught me spiritually. Then again, Mom took me to church too, so I guess that's a little mixed up as well. “I didn't know. How was it?”

“Amazing . . . beautiful, and meeting Adam was . . . well, he's a great man. Strong, a bit stoic I'll admit, but not when it comes to me or our daughter. We met when I went shopping downtown in Fort Frances, and it was so quickly evident we were deeply in love. We met in September, and by January we were a couple that had people wondering how long it would be before we got married. It was fast, so fast. But then the provincial government called.”

“What happened?” I ask, caught up. I knew Mom had been a teacher for a while when they first met, but this is all so new.

“The provincial government wanted to reassign me. The Fort Frances high school was losing a teacher, the enrollment was going down. Since I was the only teacher without any roots in the area, they decided to reassign me to London. Adam and I . . . we discussed it a lot. He had roots in Fort Frances, a job, a good life. I could have quit teaching, but I loved teaching at the time, and I was part of a provincial program that paid for my university training by me agreeing to teach for five years afterward. We debated, and in the end, we fought about it. We loved each other, but we didn't see how we'd be able to stay together.”

“Yet you did,” I said, amazed. “How?”

“He came to me one night, and before he said anything, dropped down to his knees and dug into his pocket, pulling out a ring that he'd picked up the day before in Minnesota, asking me to marry him. He said that he didn't care where we went, what happened . . . he loved me, and that he never wanted to leave my side.”

I smiled, wiping away the tears. A happy ending indeed. “So you two moved to London.”

“We did,” Mom agreed. “We got married before we left Fort Frances, and then over the summer we moved to London. The funny part was, the day he came by, I had drafted a letter that I was going to turn into the school the very next day, resigning from the program and from teaching in order to stay with him. So I guess, if I was to give you any advice, it's to let love be your guide. Your parents will understand. If you love him, go with him.”

“And my parents?”

“Will love you no matter what. I hope some day my daughter grows up to be like you. I don't know you very well, but you seem like a very nice young woman, and you've listened to me ramble on for a while now. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I reply, getting up. I go over and give Mom a kiss on the temple, smoothing her hair. There's more gray in it now, and I wonder if her Alzheimer's is making her age faster now too. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too,” Mom says, her eyes clearing enough I think to know who she's talking to. She hugs me, and I hope she knows how much help she's been. “I love you too.”





Chapter 21





Tyler





I’m nervous, for the first time since joining the Fighters, looking around the stadium. The stadium in Vancouver's bigger than any other field in Canada, and the extra twenty thousand people, almost all of whom don't like me. Toronto and Vancouver have a sort of semi-hostile relationship, as between the two of us and Montreal, we're kind of like the New York, Los Angeles and Boston of Canada. Vancouver always loves showing up Toronto, and vice-versa.

When I'm introduced to the crowd, the boos are even worse, and I lose myself in the moment. Boo me all you want, I can take it. Hell, I've played in front of hostile crowds before. You should see what those crowds in Oregon or Arizona can sound like, when there's another twenty thousand on top of what you're raining down on me.

“These guys f*cking hate you!” DeAndre says as we wait on the sidelines for the starters from Vancouver to be introduced. “What the hell did you do to them?”

“I don't know,” I say, the answer becoming clear as the hometown hero, a Vancouver native named Chris Liu who plays running back, is introduced. He must have been injured the last game, I didn't notice him before. “Oh, that's why.”

“What did you do?”

“If that's the same Chris Liu who played for Washington Poly way back, let’s just say we have a rivalry. He may have stirred something up.”

“Well, don't worry about it . . . the only fan you need is here,” DeAndre says, pointing. I turn, and see that Francine the head cheerleader is waving and pointing, and in the stands I can see April, her Kelly green jersey standing out against the surrounding fans, with another woman who I assume is Gail next to her, also wearing Kelly green. “Feel better?”

“Damn right,” I say, waving to April, who waves back. I try to call to her, but no dice. Instead, I call out again. “Hey, Francine! FRANCINE!”

She hears me and crosses the track between the stands and the sidelines, Vancouver's stadium is one of those type. “Whatcha need, Tyler?”