Chapter 310: Keaner VI—A Little Distraction

Ah, Keane felt it, lactic acid building in the muscles, they screamed as he took each step to the bathroom, his lower back cramped. “Ah Christ!” Not as young as he used to be. He peered at himself in the bathroom mirror, bluish bruising smudged with his tattoos. Things like that he used to be proud of when he was a young pup, they would heal and besides, chicks loved them. He remembered how fascinated Michele had been with each bruise, cooing over them, kissing them. For a young man they were a badge of honor and pride.

Nowadays, they just hurt like shit. More bruises meant more pain which meant he was just that much of a step slower on the ice, just that much closer to longer bench time, and just that much closer to the words “healthy scratch”. Mike sneered at himself, carroty hair clinging desperately to a balding scalp, teeth ragged disarray, not much left for the girls to look at. The young players never assumed that they would ever reach a state like this. Keane grinned, not that one should assume him incapable of enjoying himself. “Hey kiddo!” he barked as he left the bathroom, pulling on a shirt.

Danny’s eyes were dewy and blue as he looked up from the television. Keane found it amusing to see Danny on his belly facing the television, his chin on his palms as if he were a little kid. The new face of agitators lay in this smooth skinned, pearly toothed little bruiser. Somehow they always fell away from sticks and punches trickling just a little blood and general features intact. “Yeah Keaner?”

Keane sighed and rubbed his hands over his belly as he sat down on his bed. An apple shone red and inviting on the nightstand. He grabbed that and delighted in the crisp, juicy crunch. “Was it your plan to incite a near riot in the stands today or do things like that just,” he finished chewing and swallowed, “happen around ya huh?”

Like a girl, Danny blushed and he grinned. “Hey, look that was an accident, if the fans don’t agree with the ref that’s fine.”

Keane nodded. “Good one, you learn well my apprentice.”

Danny rolled his eyes. The kid probably had tired of that joke long ago but Keane couldn’t let it go. Once he found out anyone had a huge devotion to any sort of Star Wars character, in Danny’s case Yoda, he couldn’t let it die. “Keep that up Keaner, you’re starting to look like the Master too.”

Keane laughed and contented himself with the apple. An entire fruit basket had been consumed by the both of them over the span of lunch and dinner. Honestly, they were sure as hell not hungry for anything more than that. The Christmas Malaise is how Keane saw it, happened every year. Thousands of calories were consumed over the course of the holiday in butter, sugar, meat fats, carbs and alcohol and no time was taken to work any of it all in that same span.

As a result, Mike was certain he knew how every man had been thinking on the player’s bench during the day’s game. Okay, if I grind it against the walls on this shift, I could possible shave off a calorie a second if I work hard. Okay if I skate hard on this shift, what would be the equivalent, the bike or the treadmill? No attention at all was paid to little details like… say… oh actually shooting the puck, passing it properly or defense. Aebischer could hardly thank any of them today, even Patrick had been smart enough to opt out of the game when he had perused the schedules at the beginning of the season.

Mike did feel a little better. He felt he had skated hard today; he had even gotten into fisticuffs which accounted for some bruising on his body. Surely he had burned off a significant amount of calories but… well something still nagged at his brain. “Hey Danny.”

“Yup,” Danny chirped.

“Did we win or lose today?”

Danny’s eyes skid up. “You serious Keaner?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit, Keaner, we lost. We were annihilated, six zip.”

Keane shook his head but he couldn’t stop a half grin. “Oh yeah.” He remembered the gloriously florid look on David Aebischer face as he broke various items in the locker room, howled in that Swiss German gibberish of his and pointed fingers, yes he pointed fingers. It was a goalie thing, only a goalie could point fingers and not be much of a burden on a hockey club. In fact most people found them amusing.

Danny sighed loudly, ah yes, a sigh from the soul. Mike smiled. “What’s egging ya, boy? The game? We’re fine, Patty’ll be in net our next game, and he’ll take good care of us.”

“Oh no,” Danny replied. He looked over his shoulder with that boyish face. “No, I wasn’t worried about that at all. It’s cool. I was just thinking of…” He interrupted himself and looked away. “Nothing, nothing.”

Jackpot! “C’mon tell me, I know it ain’t nothing.”

“Really Keaner,” Danny said and Mike could hear the plaintive hopeful hopelessness in his voice. “You’d only laugh at me it’s stupid.”

An end to a boring evening, the prelude to a good one! Mike sat forward and after finishing off the rest of the apple core, sans seeds and stem, he rubbed his hands together. “Sure I’ll laugh at ya, Kid, anyone would but hell, since I’m older and wiser, I could help you more than likely, aye? Not too much of a price, being laughed at a little.”

Danny scowled, but he sat up and turned off the television, a sure sign that he was dying to spill. “I don’t know, I mean, I could get into trouble for telling you, and there would be a ton of unnecessary bullshit, you know?”

Keane rolled his eyes. “I’m your roommate you little ass wipe, we have a code in this room, you can trust me and even if you couldn’t the fact that I know you’re hanging onto something is enough for me to beat it out of ya just cause I’m curious. So tell me what’s bugging ya while I’m in a good mood.”

Widened baby eyes, open mouth, blushing cheeks, signified Danny’s future compliance to him. Shit! Keaner thought, he’s not Michele’s type, not in the slightest. This kid makes Matty Schneider look like a man, and even then she admitted that one was a mistake.

Danny twisted his mouth. “You promise you won’t tell Keaner?”

Mike held out his hands.

He sighed. “Okay then, look you know I’m in love and engaged and everything right? I mean you know everything.”

Mike nodded. Oh here we go! Heh you’re slowing down, Mimi, he’s still in love with his girl. Let’s check on the rest of your progress. “Sure, I know that, you got a hot virgin nanny, all that’s missing is the bonfire and the sacrifice.”

Quick smile before he chided him. Heh the Kid had a sense of humor. “Mike I’m serious about her. She worships the ground I walk on, it’s great. I don’t know what I ever did without her, I mean she’s the world to me….”

“But…” Mike prompted.

Danny rolled his eyes. “But… I thought everything was okay and all that. Especially since we’re finally engaged and she picked me over her mom and all that shit, but now…”

“There’s new shit?” Mike interjected.

Danny nodded. “And I thought I had that worked out too.”

Mike laughed. He liked Danny. This was the crucial fact. He liked Danny’s work ethic and his humor and his loud, huge mouth. He liked watching the development of this kid. He wanted to see him happy… and why should she have everything so easy? “She’s great isn’t she?”

“Cecile is the…”

“I don’t mean Cecile.” Mike said. He watched the blush in Danny’s cheeks; yes the boy was sick with it. He hadn’t acted out yet as Michele would have wanted him to at this stage, but Mike could see already that she had been infecting him from the inside. Had she ever done that before? Did she know she was doing that? Volatile, sitting back and watching this one would be like waiting for the funny mountain in Vesuvius to do something special.

Danny looked away. “I’m not in love with Michele,” he looked at Mike. “Is it that obvious?”

Mike shook his head. “Not really but I know the symptoms.”

Danny frowned. “Symptoms?”

“It’s a malaise my boy,” Keane nodded, “A malaise every young man gets for those women who are experienced, sexy and can cook like a saint. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, unless… unless you’re creating some of your own worry?”

Danny shrugged. “I really don’t know, she told me not to come around her anymore, I mean… Mike don’t tell but God Dammit I kissed her, and Alex saw it and she was completely freaked out about it. I mean I felt shitty enough betraying Cecile like that but what about her? I mean I betrayed Mimi’s trust! And she told me to stay away from her, you know at the party and shit I was just about to suggest the same thing to her but when she told me that I shouldn’t see her anymore, inside I about died!”

Mimi-Belle you fucking genius. Keane thought with awe. Perhaps she hadn’t completely anticipated that Danny would make an effort to sever his temptation for her but she certainly beat him to the punch and in doing so, left Danny felt unfulfilled and rejected. She’s a forbidden flower to this little honey bee now, he might as well begin the countdown. “Heh, I don’t think I can help you kid.”

“Really?” Danny asked.

Unless your fiancée puts out between now and then. “Kid I don’t think even God can help you. You’re gonna haveta do it yourself.”

“How long have you known her?” Danny asked and he sat up, again he looked hopeful. “What was she like?”

Moans in his ear, teeth on his ear lobe, nails on his flesh, and her sweets on his tongue, she was a girl who would fuck him blind and in the next breath sigh over baby pictures, and then leave him agitated and breathless as she went to tend to said babies. “She was kinda boring.”

“No shit, really?”

More interesting when he had her in his lap, a dish of honeyed glaze between them. One thing she knew how to do was make a man fat with sex. She dripped with it. “Yeah, she had babies, little kids running around her legs; she didn’t have much time for anyone except to feed them, some of her early culinary attempts were fucking disasters, like pudding that won’t set.”

Danny laughed. “What did she do with them?”

Licked em off my chest. “Tossed em out, she doesn’t cry over the milk. Look Danny she’s just a wife, like any other, only difference is she dresses in Prada and wears sex kitten scents. Get Cecile a nice perfume and you’ll be drooling over her all over again.”

Danny sighed. “But I’m miserable.”

Keane grinned. It was nice knowing ya. “That I can help you with.”

Danny raised his eyebrows. “How?”

Keane nodded. “You need a little distraction.”

Danny narrowed his eyes. “Keaner…. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”

Keane nodded. “Cause you’re smarter than you look.”