“Damn Dreamy, you guys were bad ass,” commented Kail in awe of the display case. “Seriously, you guys were arguably the best high school hockey team of the 2010’s. Color Power Girl impressed.”
Juliette Broquard turned to John Moses and asked a particularly insightful question, “John, what made them great? I mean, there was obvious talent there; but talent does not equal greatness.”
John Moses smiled, and thought for a moment. “Well, I’d attribute it to two things: first, each of the four men who are here right now had experienced some sort of hardship in their lives. They were all mentally tough. Whatever hockey threw at them was small potatoes compared to what life had already thrown at them.”
Eden asked the apparent follow-up question, “So if it’s OK with the four of them, what were the hardships?”
John looked at each man, and they all nodded. Sara slid in next to Andy and put her arm lovingly around his waist. In fact, each man’s significant other had moved to be next to him.
“Well, let’s start with Mike O’Leary. Mike is from Southie, and his family owns the largest beer distributorship in New England.”
John saw the confused looks on the faces of the Colton women and Juliette.
“Alcohol distribution has a checkered past. Most legit businesses were once owned by organized crime. The O’Leary’s were not always a legit operation. Mike’s grandfather had mob ties. On top of that, an Irish family from Southie is not exactly welcomed with open arms by Boston’s elite — and make no mistake — Groton is an elitist place. Mike was called everything in the book, and people looked down their noses at him the moment he stepped on campus. That’s one of the things that made Mike and Andrew’s friendship so unique. The Carlson’s are Boston blue bloods. For Mike and Andy to be tight was — well — it raised a few eyebrows.”
Priya turned and kissed her husband’s cheek, and Sara heard Jake mutter, “Damn straight.”
“You all know Andrew’s story. Everybody knew Drew before he set foot on our campus. He’d made a name for himself as a hockey player, and he’d been the captain on every team he’d ever played on. He would have been the captain of the freshman team, but we needed him on varsity. He still wore an ‘A’ on his sweater at that,” he said fondly.
“Andre had an older sister who was developmentally disabled. Suzanne was a very sweet young woman, but she needed round the clock attention. Andre not only watched his parents sacrifice for their daughter in this way, but he helped when he was old enough to do so. Plus, that kind of care is not cheap. There were financial pressures on the family as well.”
Sara smiled when she heard Juliette speak words of love and affection to her husband in French. Andy looked at her questioningly, and she whispered, “I’ll tell you later. She’s amazing, Andy.”
“Brian — well — Jake are you sure you want your story told?”
“Please,” said Jake softly. “Grace needs to hear it, and I’ve been too chickenshit to tell her myself.”
“Well, let’s agree to disagree on that point,” said John Moses. “Brian, you’re a lot of things, but chickenshit is not one of them.”
He paused to look at the man, and Grace kissed him on the cheek. “It’s OK, Brian. I don’t have to hear this,” she said softly.
“No,” he exhaled loudly. “You do. And John’s the best person to tell it. He had a front row seat for all of it.”
“Jake’s dad is an alcoholic. He was a mean drunk who beat his mom, and he beat Jake, as well. One day, his mom just up and left. Jake was 11 when that happened. By this point, he’s a hell of a hockey player. All four of these guys started playing together when they were,” he looked around.
“We were 10,” said Mike softly.
“So, Jake confides in his buddies that his dad is beating the shit out of him. He’s always trying to hide in the locker room. He didn’t want anyone to see the bruises. You boys were 13 then?”
All four nodded.
“Finally, they decided to take matters in their own hands. They hid at Jake’s and waited for his dad to come home. When that drunk bastard lit into Jake, they used Mike’s phone to video the whole thing. Finally, they’ve seen enough and the three of them take him on. They stopped him, but they paid the price. Four 8th grade boys against a drunken, grown man is not a fair fight.”
John paused and took a deep breath. “The cops showed up, The Judge got involved, and Brian’s dad will probably never get out of jail. Ralph and Helen got legal guardianship, and Brian split time between the O’Leary’s, the Broquard’s, and Andy’s house. He’d do a month at a time at each place. All three families already had their hands full, but no one wanted Brian shipped off to a group home, or some other sort of bullshit like that.”
“That’s the kind of character those young men had when they started playing for me. Tough, smart, and loyal to one another unlike anything I’d ever seen.” John paused to wipe his eyes and clear his throat. Jen Land reached over and held his hand. He looked at her and smiled.
“What was the second thing?” asked Grace quietly. She had embraced her man, and kissed him tenderly after she asked her question.
“Leadership,” said John flatly. “They all knew who the captain was. I’ve never seen a young man lead his peers like Andy did. What made it great was that Andy knew just how badly he needed his friends, and he never acted like a prima donna. He led by being a servant; by making everyone around him better. All four of those boys were badly beaten up after confronting Brian’s dad, but Andy was the worst. After that, everybody at school called him ‘Captain.'”
John looked at Andy and nodded appreciatively.
“Sara,” said Priya softly, “now I hope you know why Andre, Jake, Michael, and I are so grateful for you. I know Juliette is, as well; but if you were at Groton when they played together, you’d understand. Having Drew back is — well — it feels like everything is right with the world again.”
All the Groton alums nodded, and even Marty said, “Yes” quietly.
“I failed you,” said Andy softly. “I went off on my own personal crusade and I failed you. I just fucking left you all. Some Captain. What fucking bullshit.”
Sara looked at Andy, and then stepped aside when she saw Mike, Andre, Brian, Priya, and John Moses coming to embrace him. He wept — they all did. Forgiveness was asked for; forgiveness was given. Sara went and stood by her friends, and they all embraced Juliette as she stood next to them. Sara and Juliette gathered Marty, and explained to him, in French, what was going on. He nodded, and went and hugged Andy as well.
Juliette turned to Sara and said, also in French, “Sara, this is the most wonderful thing I could imagine! Andre felt horrible for being angry at Drew. I could not tell him that he had every right to be angry; he would not listen to me. Now I know why.” She had tears in her eyes.
____________________________________________________________
“Baby, I am so proud of you,” said Sara once they were back in his truck. “You never cease to amaze me.”
“Nothing particularly amazing about abandoning your friends and family for six years, Sara,” he said coldly.