Rocket Blues

by David Skuy

  “I can’t let you do that,” the coach said. “I’ll give you a lift. No problem. Just wait for Michel to come out.”

  Rocket hadn’t realized Michel was her son. No one had mentioned it. On the Huskies, Money and Jerrett acted like they ran the team because of their dads.

  “That’s very kind,” his mom said, “but we live quite far — in the north end. It’s too inconvenient.”

  “Not at all, and don’t worry about the season. We’ll arrange lifts. A few kids live out there. We’ll figure it out.”

  “I spoke to some parents …”

  “It won’t be a problem. I promise,” Coach Sonia cut in.

  “Okay, but today it’s too late, I think. We can take the bus.”

  “Don’t be silly. I insist. It’ll take two hours by bus.”

  “We’re fine.”

  “It’s okay, really.”

  “Let her drive us, Mom,” Rocket said. “I don’t think she minds.”

  The two women burst out laughing.

  “Okay, I’m dying to find out — what did you say to the ref?” Maddy said.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Rocket said. “I know: I’m an idiot, and I cost the team the game.”

  “You didn’t,” Coach Sonia said. “We wouldn’t have been in the game without your play. Anyway, I’d rather this happen now than in the playoffs or something. Think of it as a lesson learned.”

  “Bryan can’t learn,” Maddy said. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”

  “I’ve changed,” Rocket said.

  Maddy smirked.

  “I see Michel,” the coach said. “We can get going.”

  As they passed through the lobby, Rocket saw Barker speaking to a few Huskies parents. Had he made the right decision? He’d probably never know for sure. He might have blown it, like Barker said; he might never get back to AAA. His hockey dreams could be over.

  Still, in his heart he felt he’d done the right thing, even though he’d made the decision without thinking about his mom. He’d been loyal to his teammates, to his coach and to himself. Isn’t that what it meant to be a real hockey player?

  Maddy had taken his comment about changing as a joke. But he hadn’t meant to be funny. He’d not only changed teams, he felt like he’d actually changed as a person. He’d never be the same type of player. He’d never take his spot on a team for granted, or put down players who weren’t as good. And he was going to be a better friend: he wouldn’t take Maddy for granted again, either.

  The Rocket was back. Hopefully, a new and improved model.

  CHAPTER 33

  Rocket closed his locker and slung his backpack over his shoulder.

  Today had been good. He’d hung with Ty and Adam at lunch, and neither of them had any time for Kinger. Things were, basically, back to normal — they even understood his decision not to come back to the Huskies.

  Ty had invited him to dinner that night, but he’d said no. Maddy was still sad about what had happened with Griffen, even though she pretended that everything was fine. She needed him.

  A hand grabbed his backpack.

  “Not so fast, mister. Didn’t you hear the announcements?” Megan pushed her hair back.

  “Yeah, so?”

  Her face clouded over. “The trivia team? We have our first match — against Woburn …”

  Rocket fingered the strap of his backpack. “I think the Organians will survive without me.”

  “It’s not a survival thing. Everyone feels bad about the floor hockey thing.”

  “You don’t have to apologize,” he said. “I should apologize to you. I can’t blame the guys because … I was sort of using you, too.”

  Megan waited for him to explain himself.

  “Well, I always used to eat lunch with the guys I played hockey with, and when I stopped playing hockey with them, we stopped hanging out for a while. So, I know this sounds lame, but I didn’t have anything to do at lunch. Then you guys asked me to join the team, and I only came because at least it gave me something to do.”

  “Okay, so we’re even.” Megan grinned. “The point is, we have our first match against Woburn today and we’d like you to be there. We could still use you for sports, Bryan. Besides, you have to come.”

  “Why?” He waited for her answer. The truth was, he actually missed the team. Trivia was in his blood now — he was still studying at night and practising with online games, when Maddy wasn’t making him do his homework.

  Bird, Des, Daniel and Nigel came down the hall toward them.

  “Bryan just asked me why he has to come with us to Woburn,” Megan said.

  The boys smiled and lined up in a row.

  “What do you think of our awesome uniforms?” she asked Rocket.

  Awesome was an interesting description. They were dark blue and bright purple — not his first choice. Each had something different printed on the front. Des had a date: April 5, 2063.

  Rocket pointed. “What’s with that?” he said.

  “The date of first contact between Earth and alien life, at least according to Star Trek history,” Des answered, as if it were obvious.

  Rocket nodded at Daniel’s shirt.

  “Ben Grimm?” Daniel said. “That’s the Thing’s real name. You know, from the Fantastic Four?”

  “Right. Gotcha,” Rocket said. “And you?” he said to Bird.

  “You’re going to kick yourself. You know this one,” Bird said.

  Rocket stared hard at his shirt. “Kilby and Noyce … Oh, they invented the silicon chip, right?” he exclaimed loudly.

  They gave him a cheer.

  Nigel’s shirt had a bunch of symbols: ΑΤΛΑΝΤΙΣ ΝΗΣΟΣ.

  “I’m not even going to try,” Rocket said.

  “It’s Ancient Greek for the Island of Atlantis,” Nigel said.

  Rocket stared at him.

  “The lost City of Atlantis?” Nigel said.

  Rocket let it go and looked at Megan’s shirt. “I don’t think a clue would even help,” he said.

  “Movies are a specialty of mine,” she said. “‘I should have known you would be here’ — the first line from the first Harry Potter movie.”

  Bird held up a T-shirt for Rocket. It had the number 1016 on it.

  As if the team’s sports expert wasn’t going to put on that shirt: Wayne Gretzky’s goal total — regular season and playoffs. You don’t disrespect The Great One.

  They began to walk to the staircase.

  “We’d better hurry if we’re going to catch the 3:48 bus,” Des said.

  “So put on your uniform,” Megan said to Rocket.

  He slipped it over his head.

  “You sure you want to wear that in school?” Nigel said.

  “You have to wear the colours with pride,” Rocket said.

  Nigel laughed. “I noticed you were hanging out with your friends again. You playing hockey with them?”

  “No, but we’ve worked things out,” Rocket said.

  The boys all nodded their heads. Megan looked at them.

  “Boys are so weird, it’s weird,” she said.

  “If boys are so weird, then what do you call a girl who hangs out with weird boys?” Bird said.

  “I call her one fortunate lady,” Megan laughed. She gave Rocket a nudge. “If you’re such a good hockey player, you should give us a pep talk, like a real hockey coach would do.”

  “I don’t think we need one,” Rocket said. “We have everything we need: teamwork, passion, skill — and totally sick uniforms. The only thing missing is an equally sick team slogan.”

  “How about, ‘Answer the questions before the other team’?” Bird said.

  “Not bad,” Rocket said.

  “‘We know more useless information than you’?” Nigel offered.

  “Better,” Rocket said.

  “‘Don’t even pretend you know more about Star Trek than me,’” Des said.

  “Best one yet, but not quite there,” Rocket said.

  They pushed open the front
doors.

  A little more than a month ago, he’d been the Huskies starting centre. He’d been the kid who wore his hockey jacket every day, thinking he was the coolest kid in school. A lot had changed since then, but he’d never been happier. It didn’t mean things were perfect in his life. Maddy’s future was uncertain, and money was tight. Griffen had left nasty phone messages on their answering machine. His neighbourhood was still dirty, and Connor and Raja were still lurking around. The carpool situation for the Blues was still not settled. There was no guarantee he’d ever get back to AAA.

  And he was still short.

  It was just that, for the first time he knew there was more to his life than hockey, and he liked it.

  But it didn’t mean he wasn’t making the NHL!

  “The best slogans are short and sweet,” Rocket said. “So I’m going to boil it down to two words … Bring it!”

  OTHER BOOKS BY DAVID SKUY

  Undergrounders

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-2464-5

  After his mom dies, and the landlord kicks him out, 12-year-old Jonathan faces the loneliness and danger of life on the streets — until he meets Lewis. Lewis takes him under his wing and leads him to his new home among a group of kids living in an abandoned underground shopping mall who call themselves the “Undergrounders.” Now renamed “Mouse,” Jonathan runs errands, delivers packages and panhandles for food money.

  An escape from this life underground comes to him in the form of hockey gear. Stolen hockey gear, but hockey gear nonetheless. He suits up and heads to the community rink, where he befriends regular kids who welcome him into their game and onto their team. He agrees, knowing he can never tell them about being homeless.

  Playing hockey makes him feel like a kid again, but keeping his double life a secret proves to be more difficult and dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

  Off the Crossbar

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1980-1

  Things are not going well for 14-year-old Charlie Joyce. Tragic circumstances have forced his family to move to a new town, and now, as the new kid at Terrence Falls High School, he has a lot to prove. This school and town take their hockey seriously and Charlie wants to be on the team, but the best players in the school have taken a disliking to him and warn him not to bother trying out. Charlie knows he can’t back down, and decides to let his game do the talking — no matter how unpopular it will make him.

  Rebel Power Play

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1981-8

  Charlie is unhappy that he has missed tryouts for the local league. Just when he thinks he won’t be able to play AAA hockey he meets Tom Dunn, a sponsor, who encourages Charlie to try out for his new team, The Hawks. Things are looking up until practices start and the team realizes that Dunn is not coach material. As they lose game after game and lose half the team to fighting, it is left up to Charlie and some others to take matters into their own hands. But can they rebuild the team on their own?

  Making the Cut

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1982-5

  In this third book in the Game Time series featuring teenage hockey player Charlie Joyce, a summer hockey program promises to provide the opportunity of a lifetime. There will be visits by NHL coaches, top trainers, and expert analysts, not to mention the chance to play with the best players in his age group, including his friends Scott and Nick … and his arch-rival Jake. Charlie is stoked.

  But things don’t go as planned. While Charlie makes Team 1, things are going wrong between him and the other guys, and even the coaches seem to be down on him. To make things worse, the NHL coach’s Stanley Cup ring goes missing. That is, until it shows up in Jake’s gear. Charlie is pretty sure Jake didn’t do it … and he’s pretty sure he knows who did.

  Overtime

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1983-2

  The year has barely begun when Charlie finds out his school is in jeopardy because of some damage to the building. Under threat of being separated and bussed to different high schools, Charlie and friends leap into action to raise some money and keep their high school (and hockey team!) intact.

  Using all of their skills, they cook up as many fundraising events as they can — until one day a gift comes to them in the form of a hockey tournament with a $5000 prize. Charlie is ecstatic to get his team on the ice — until he realizes that their line-up must be co-ed to compete.

  It’s a whole new lesson in good sportsmanship at Terrence Falls High School. Can they pull it off and save their school?

  Double Shift

  eBook ISBN 978-1-4431-1975-7

  One night, Charlie’s mom entrusts him with closing up the café while she runs an errand. Distracted by the rivals who come in to taunt him, Charlie completely forgets to turn off the stove when he leaves.

  When Charlie and Pudge come back after their hockey game, they’re devastated to find there has been a fire at the café. And the insurance company won’t pay for the damage because Charlie is underage and shouldn’t have been using the stove.

  Charlie is overwhelmed by guilt. His hockey game and friendships suffer. And with bank payments looming, his mom decides she must take a job in another city.

  When he finally tells his teammates what happened, they all suggest ways to help.

  With support from the community, and relying on green principles, like using building materials that have been thrown out or are no longer needed (freecycling!), they pull together and pull it off at the last second!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  David Skuy spent most of his childhood playing one sport or another — hockey, soccer, football, rugby. When he wasn’t playing sports, he was reading books about them. Now he is a writer and lawyer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, with his wife and two kids. He still plays hockey once a week and remains a diehard Maple Leafs fan.

  He began writing books for young readers to try to capture the competition, the challenges, the friendships and the rivalries that make sports so much fun.

  Scholastic Canada Ltd.

  604 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1E1, Canada

  Scholastic Inc.

  557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012, USA

  Scholastic Australia Pty Limited

  PO Box 579, Gosford, NSW 2250, Australia

  Scholastic New Zealand Limited

  Private Bag 94407, Botany, Manukau 2163, New Zealand

  Scholastic Children’s Books

  Euston House, 24 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1DB, UK

  www.scholastic.ca

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Skuy, David, 1963-, author

  Rocket blues / David Skuy.

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-4431-3375-3 (pbk.)--ISBN 978-1-4431-3376-0 (html)

  I. Title.

  PS8637.K72R62 2014 jC813’.6 C2014-901822-3

  C2014-901823-1

  Copyright © 2014 by David Skuy.

  Cover photo © Gvictoria/Dreamstime.com

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read this e-book on-screen. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Scholastic Canada Ltd., 604 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 1E1, Canada.

  First eBook edition: October 2014

 

 

 
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