I wasn’t sure what to do.
Just wave? Jump up and down? Cheer for the team?
Then again, who the hell named this team the Apple Cats? What the hell did that even mean?
I kind of just started taking more pictures as I stood there.
Then my father called out for me to wave.
So, I waved.
A few of the players waved back to me.
Then they all went back to looking at my father.
Well, all except the goalie.
He just stood there, staring at me.
I couldn’t really see much of his face through the mask.
But something about the way he stared…
I swallowed hard and gently lifted the camera.
I began to zoom in. Wanting to see his face.
Why? I had no idea.
I was almost zoomed in as far as I could. Staring at the screen on the camera. Just about to figure out who was behind that mask.
I heard the sound of an echoingtingand the goalie turned.
He threw his arms up.
“Got to be ready for that shot!”
One of the players skated toward the goalie, laughing.
The goalie wasn’t having it though.
He skated right after the player and pinned him up against the boards.
Two other players hurried to keep anything else from happening.
I began to hurry down the massive concrete steps of the arena, taking pictures.
From the corner of my eye, I saw my father grinning ear to ear, his hands in his pockets.
I put my camera up against the glass, but before I could take a picture, I heard my father call out my name again.
He waved toward me, wanting me out on the ice with him.
Before I could attempt to give a response, two security guards were suddenly walking toward me. Both smiling. Both ready to escort me around the rink and onto the ice.
This was far from the first hockey rink I had been around. Or the first hockey arena I had been in.
In fact, I had probably been in almost every arena in the country.