part 1

Brooklyn Lidwell stood shivering at her front door, nearly turning her oversized purse inside out looking for her house keys. It was past midnight and she could hear her parents arguing in the kitchen. No wonder no one had heard her knocks. They had been fighting before she left; she doubts that they had even known she left. Her hockey team had won their championship game. She had been dreaming of this night since she first laced up 12 years ago. She was named captain and her team was amazing. Who knew a bunch of girls could make a whole team of boys cry. She found herself sitting on her duffle bag watching the late march snow fall. She though for sure her fingers would fall off.. Almost an hour later the front door slammed open. Her father stood, his back to her, still screaming at her mother. About what, she didn’t know, nor did she care.



“Going somewhere?” she said half grinding her teeth half shaking from the cold.
“Brooklyn! What are you doing out here? You’re going to catch a cold!
“Yeah, no thanks to you! I’ve been knocking for over an hour.”
“I’m sorry sweetheart, we couldn’t hear...”
“Yeah whatever!” she barked pushing past him. “Oh by the way. We won. Woo-hoo! champions. Thanks for showing up!”
“Oh my God B”
“Don’t! I’m going to bed”

She slammed her bedroom door shut and threw her gear in the corner. She didn’t bother to change, she barely felt like taking her shoes off. She stumbled to bed, flipped to turn the lights out, blowing her framed picture of Wayne Gretzky a kiss. Hey a girl can dream.

She woke the next day, way late into the afternoon. Thank God it was Saturday. Her parents were at work and she could take a shower without hearing them argue. She rolled out of bed not bothering to grab her glasses. So she’d run into a few walls, nothing new. Taking yesterday’s clothes off on the way to the shower, she let her hair down out of the ponytail it had been locked up in since yesterday morning. Her mid-back length hair lay curled from sweat and her helmet. As her shower water heated she turned to look in the mirror. It was burry but she could tell she looked like a bum. Her green eyes bloodshot from the lack of sleep, her nose bruised from a punch she took during the second period.

“Ew Brooklyn!” she said to herself. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend. I’m just glad I still have all your teeth”

Laughing she stepped into her shower letting the hot water rush over her face.

“Great. No conditioner” she said reaching for a bottle. “Thanks mom”

She wrapped her hair into a towel and threw open her closet doors to look for something comfortable to lie around in.

“Sweat pants and a jersey? Sure who needs to look attractive?” she said laughing.

She had just gotten comfortable, all curled on her bed, when her phone started ringing.

“Where in the world? I though that was in my duffle bag!”

She searched her room until she found it under her bed

“Where were you last night when I was getting hypothermia?” she asked as if her phone as if it were going to answer back.

“Hello.”
“Brooklyn?”

It was her mother.

“Yeah mom who else?”
“You’re still mad aren’t you?”
“Wow you’re on a roll.”
“Look I’m on my break, me and your father want you to come to dinner with us tonight.”
“And why should I?”
“We need to talk to you. About something very important.”
“Fine...”
“We’ll meet you at China Garden at 6. I love you sweetheart.”
“Mmhm bye mom”

She hung up and threw her phone on the bed.

“Great. Now I have to get dressed. Eh. At least I’m getting Chinese food.”

She walked back into her closet, digging for something half decent. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a white polo.

“Eh. This’ll do. Now for my hair.”


She pulled down her hair, still wrapped up in a towel. “I’m was to lazy to do this”

She quickly French braided her hair not particularly caring where pieces were sticking up.

“You’re going out to dinner with your rents...not Sidney Crosby.” she said laughing at that thought.

She smeared a little concealer around her still slightly purple nose and walked out the door.

“Let’s see what’s so important” she said smiling at her cat that was rolling in the fresh snow on the sidewalk.


She slid into the drivers’ seat of her midnight black jaguar, a 16th birthday present from her parents. That was back when they didn’t fight, back when they were her best friends; back when they didn’t miss a single minute of her hockey games. She felt a tear run down her cheek, she missed those days. Wiping her eyes and fixing her mascara she pulled into the parking lot of the China Garden. She met her parents and then they sat down. She rolled her eyes at her mother’s obviously fake smile, set her chopsticks down on her plate, and leaned back into her chair.

“So.” she said crossing her arms. “What’s so important that you’re making me miss CSI:”

Her parents looked at each other and both took a deep breath. Her father reached across the table and took her hand.

“B” he started. “Your mother and I...well we think it’s best if we get...a...um divorce.”

He let her hand fall, her mouth open in shock. She should’ve seen this coming.

“A what...what am I going to do?”
“You’re going off to college soon, you’ll be fine.”
“I can’t believe this!” she screamed, getting up from their table. Not caring that the entire packed restaurant was starring at her. “I’m leaving. I’ll be at the rink when you both decide to care.”


She sat on the bench lacing up her skates. Divorce? How? Why? So many thoughts were running through her head. She slowly skated onto the ice bouncing the puck off her freshly taped stick. It felt so weird to be there alone. The night before the stands were packed with parents cheering on their kids. Now it was just her and frank, the guy who ran the zamboni. And even he was leaving.

“Well” she said to herself surprised by the echo. “I guess there is nothing I can do.”

A week later she had everything packed and shipped to Maryland. She hadn’t left her home in Canada since she moved here from Finland almost 8 years ago. She was nervous, but so ready to leave. She wasn’t starting school till next fall. She had a long time to get settled it away from her parents. She grabbed her picture of Gretzky and walked into the living room. She hugged her mom without saying a word. She got in her jag and pulled out without looking back.

“To Maryland we go” she told no one. She blasted the radio trying to think of nothing.

7 hours later she pulled in to her apartment complex. Her mouth dropped as she looked around.

“Who knew D.C. was so beautiful.” She said smiling. “Holy shit I can’t believe I’m right across the street from the Verison center!”

She spent the next hour taking boxes from the U-Haul she sent down 2 days earlier, up to her apartment. The sun was just beginning to set as she hulled her hockey bag out of her car.

“You play hockey?”