Rivals

Mitchell

I came home because I had to and, after four missed Thanksgivings, I was thrilled to. Throughout college I never got home for the holiday because of the hockey tournament schedule. Michigan always got invited to a tourney over the holiday weekend and that meant travel, Thanksgiving dinner in a hotel, several games and general exhaustion by the time I got back to school Sunday night. I had a blast with the travel. My parents and younger brother understood. Our extended family didn’t. So it was a big deal when I came through the door Wednesday night.

“Mitchell you’re here,” Trevor said as he tackled me with a hug at the front door. “Excellent!” Trevor was tall, thin and every bit the track star. Only eighteen months younger, he stood in stark contrast to my muscular, stocky frame. You knew we were brothers because we shared facial features, with an almost identical nose and a chiseled jaw line. “The aunts are already here and eager to see you.”

“Really? I didn’t think the siege would happen until tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” he took my suitcase as he looked down the hall to see if anyone was coming or listening. “They brought presents,” he whispered. He read the look of horror on my face and nodded. “Yup, sweaters. They’re breaking tradition and going on a cruise for Christmas so they decided to deliver early.”

It was funny that for all the grief I’d taken during school about missing Thanksgiving, our aunts were committing the bigger no-no of missing Christmas. Maybe they decided I’d set a good example after all.

“How bad?”

“Mine’s yellow and aqua.”

“Ouch.”

Trevor rolled his eyes and nodded.

“Mitchell, is that you?” Mom called out from the kitchen at the back of the house.

“Yeah. I managed to catch an earlier flight.”

“Fantastic. I’ve got leftovers from dinner, I’ll heat you up a plate.”

“Sounds good. I’ll get my stuff upstairs and be there in a few minutes.” I gestured to Trevor. “Take that on up, will you? I gotta get my gear out of the car.”

“Got a game while you’re here?”

“Maybe. Mikey talked about setting one up, don’t know if he did or not but I came prepared. You can come along if you want. It’ll get you outta here for a while.”

“Yes, please,” he said, starting up the stairs.

I went back into the crisp November air. Even if Mikey couldn’t get a game together, I wanted to get some ice time at the old rink so it was worth hauling the bag of hockey gear and sticks on the plane.

When I got to my room, Trevor was waiting.

“Want to shoot pucks in the morning?” I asked. “I was gonna call the rink, get the alarm code and make sure six o’clock was okay.”

There were still benefits to working at Wonderland Rink through high school. They let me keep a key, even though it’d been years now.

“Sure,” Trevor said.

“Excellent. Am I gonna have to drag you out of bed or are you going to get up on your own like a normal person?”

“Normal isn’t getting up at 5:30, but I can handle it.”

“Mitchell, your dinner’s ready, and there are people eager to see you.” I pictured mom at the foot of the stairs calling up. Some things never change.

“Time for the sweater isn’t it?”

“‘Fraid so, bro. Maybe you can wear it to the rink tomorrow. You know they’d be thrilled if they saw you wearing it in the morning.”

“Maybe I’ll wear it on the way home from the rink.”