Page 36 of Reaper and Ruin

I squinted at him. “Do you skate?”

He scoffed at my skepticism. “I’ll have you know I won several figure skating competitions. You’re breathing the same air as the Under Nine’s state champion.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that true?”

“No, of course not. I did one month of lessons when I was about twelve and then got bored and took up karate.”

“How long did that last?”

“Six weeks, I think.”

“You get bored easily.”

“I’m already bored with this conversation. The stick, old man. Or did you already forget that’s why I’m here?”

I led the way out to the little shed in my badly tended backyard and twisted the dial on the padlock until it sprang open.

My rarely used lawnmower sat inside, along with a variety of other gardening tools I didn’t use as often as I should. Cobwebs clung to the corners of the tin structure, and the one window was grimy but let in enough light that I couldn’t ignore the twokid-size bicycles and the sealed plastic containers that held all the belongings from a life I couldn’t bear to throw away. I knew exactly what was in each of them without even opening one. Their clothes. Their stuffed toys. Photos. Memories.

A lump rose in my throat. “Get the stick and let’s go.”

X’s eyes lit up. “You’re coming with me?”

I grabbed the stick and thrust it at him. “Coming with you where?”

“To the tryouts.” He shook the stick at me like it was a pom-pom. “I need someone to be my cheer squad. You got one of those little skirts you can wear?”

I shoved him out the shed door and locked it behind me again, along with the memories it stirred up. “Your tryout is today? Seriously? You haven’t even trained!”

He shrugged. “Gotta seize the day, Whip. I nearly died. What if that ocean had taken my life? I would have never found out if I was destined for the pros. I can’t let that opportunity go!”

I squinted at him. “Aren’t you scared of the ice melting and drowning in it?”

He stopped abruptly and spun back to face me. His mouth dropped open. “Do you think that’s actually a possibility? I have a thing about drowning, Whip!”

“I heard it happened to a guy in Australia. It’s hot there, you know. So the ice just melted and down he went.”

“No!”

I eyed him. “You’re too gullible for your own good, you know that?”

He pointed a finger at me. “When you buy a jersey with my name on the back, I’m not going to sign it for you. I hope you know that.”

I snorted on a laugh. “Come on, Wayne Gretzky. Let’s go see what you’re made of.”

In the grandstand of the Saint View Ice Rink, I rubbed my arms briskly, warding off the chill that floated off the ice. The bleachers around me were mostly empty, save for a dozen or so small groups of family and friends, waiting to watch their loved ones take to the ice.

I raised my hand when Levi and Violet pushed through the glass doors, and they both waved back, making their way along the rubber-matted floors and then climbing the stairs to where I sat. Violet settled next to me, immediately putting her hand on my leg and sliding in close, Levi on the other side of her, rubbing his hands together.

“Wasn’t sure I read your message right. You did say X is trying out for the team, right? Is that even possible? Don’t they just scout talent from people who are already, you know, playing?”

I shrugged. “Probably. But have you ever tried to tell X no? I’m fully convinced he could talk his way into becoming president if that’s what he really wanted. I have no doubt in my mind he smiled at them, bamboozled them with some sort of word vomit story, and they said yes just to shut him up.”

Down on the ice, players were starting to warm up. They glided out, their movements sleek despite their bulky protective padding. Little black pucks whizzed across the ice at speeds my eyes could barely keep up with.

Violet’s leg bounced nervously. “I don’t want him to get hurt. I’m really thinking that maybe we should have forced him to go to the hospital after the other night. He’s been acting even crazier than normal. What if all of this is because he has a brain bleed?”

I shook my head. “He’s just had a brush with death and is in the afterglow period where you’re just glad to be alive.”