There's a Shark in My Hockey Pool (30 page)

At the Serpents bench, Erskine's shoulders
sagged. This couldn't be happening. This hadn't happened. He was
sure he would promptly wake up and find his freshly squeezed papaya
juice and Daily Inside Trader in front of him. He had to wake
himself up. His silver spoon upbringing suddenly had all the
prestige of a stir stick.

He grabbed the goalie stick from a dazed Pa
DeChance beside him. With a short, sharp smack of the heavy stick,
Erskine hit himself in the head. There was a ringing in his ears. A
few seconds passed before the stars overhead gave way to the
arena's lighting grid. He groaned.

Ray Marcotte punched the fan in front of him
in the shoulder, spilling the fan's beer all over him. Dino
Tortellini grabbed the beer out of Donnie's hands and doused him
with it. Muldowney smiled broadly, taking it all in.

... 6 ...

Brilliant sunshine splashed off a Yonge
Street skyscraper, home of the new May-Ja-Look headquarters.

Inside, Derek, Artie and Sylvie unpacked
boxes in their plush new offices. Derek pulled the Leroy
Niemann-like print of the Maple Leafs out of a box.

"Where should we hang this one, Artie?"

"Now that you've got the contract," Sylvie
interrupted, "I thought you'd want to go with a new look. Something
that expresses the new you. You know, a clean break from the
past."

Derek eyed Sylvie squarely. His hard look
softened.

"You know, you're right," said Derek. "We've
got a corporate image to maintain. We have the passion. What's a
few Maple Leafs in Toronto? We're national now. Artie, call
Schubert's Gallery and see how much they want for that Team Canada
print."

"Right-o," said Artie.

Sylvie smiled an slowly shook her head as
Artie left the room. She turned her attention to another box. Derek
watched her, unsure of the effect of his remark. She opened a small
box in front of her.

"And where do you want this?" asked
Sylvie.

She handed Derek the box. He peered inside
and saw the plastic-encased, grinning mug of his Terry Sawchuk
rookie card. Surprise smacked him a near-knockout blow between the
eyes.

"I was too late to buy it at Swanson's," said
Sylvie. "So I made my own deal with Erskine ... before he stole
LaBonneglace."

It all came together for Derek.

"We win," he said, " ... and Terry comes
home."

Sylvie nodded with a smile.

"And if we'd lost?"

"Y'know," said Sylvie. "People who treasure
Toronto hockey cards shouldn't question a Montrealer's
motives."

Sylvie leaned over and pulled Derek into the
nearby boxes, stacked two and three-high. The boxes tipped over,
spilling styrofoam packing popcorn everywhere. The two lovers
wrestled and came up laughing, the popcorn bubbling over.