God Bless The Broken Road (Jonathan Toews)

Familiar Faces

Jonathan

We did end up losing eventually. But not before going 21-0-3 for the best start to a season in NHL history. Man did that feel good. But all good things come to a end and we ended up losing to Colorado. It was honestly good that it was over so we can just go back to playing hockey. Don't have to keep answering the repetitive questions about how much longer we can keep that up. It was a relief really.

We had no game today so after practice the family goes grocery shopping. We drive out of town a little for some peace and just mess around as a family. It's hectic with three kids in three different age groups demanding three different things, but I wouldn't change a thing about us. We get a cart and put Mason in a carrier and Everly in the sitting part. Jackson holds my hand as we walk up and down the isles grabbing whatever we needed. Or whatever he wanted as it seems.

"How many bananas do you think we'll need" Maisie asks looking over the selection.

"Just get a bunch, you can never have too many bananas" I say and she shrugs. She grabs a bunch then goes back to pushing the cart. We look at the different cereals and Jackson copies our motions precisely. I was in deep thought deciding my cereal until I hear someone call my name.

"Jonathan" a voice sounds and I immediately regret turning around.

"Haley" I ask and she lights up. This should be good. She was the last girl I... dated, if that's what you want to call it, before i met Maisie. Not the highlight of my life, but we all make mistakes right?

"Oh man I haven't seen you in a long time" she squeals and I can feel Maisie getting nervous. She slides behind me and I get this feeling there was more to this than I know.

"Yeah. It's been a while. How are you" I ask not wanting to have this conversation but not wanting to seem like a ass hole.

"I'm good. We should catch up soon" she says but I shake my head.

"I don't think that's the best idea. I have my family and team to think about first" I tell her.

"Come on, we used to have a lot of fun" she says touching my arm. It made me feel... dirty.

"That was over five years ago. I'm not that foolish nineteen/twenty year old. I have a wife and kids now" I explain. She starts to pout and try to figure out why that ever worked on me.

"Wait, you married" she says pointing to Maisie. She slowly comes out from behind me and Haley's eyes grow big.

"Maisie Smith" she asks and now it was my turn to be shocked.

"Maisie Toews now, actually" she corrects.

"Damn, I didn't think I would ever see you again" she says with venom in her voice. The way she said it, that meant something else.

"I'm sorry, how do you know each other" I ask.

"We went to high school together" Maisie mumbles as she crosses her arms over her chest. She normally didn't stand down like this. She usually stands up for everyone, everyone but herself.

"Barley. I hardly knew she was there. She was so thin I honestly thought she would evaporate" Haley jokes.

"That's not very funny" I warn.

"What, its true. She was small people nearly sat on her because they didn't know she was there. That is until they could smell her" she snickers. I watch as this girl spits fire at Maisie and she just takes it. It made me more angry than I've been in a long while. Why isn't she saying anything?

"I think you've gone too far" I spit.

"Just saying facts. She's not even denying it. It's not my fault she was a ugly duckling" she shrugs.

"And it wasn't hers either. You have no clue as to what path your walking down right now" I defend.

"Good to see she still can't fight her own battles too" she mumbles. I look at Jackson who goes over and wraps his arms around Maisie. That was my cue to end this.

"Okay, I'm not sure what your problem is, whether you're jealous or just that stupid. But whatever you wanted to happen from this little exchange, it's not going to happen. I'm going to continue shopping with my beautiful wife and amazing kids while you continue to do whatever it is you do. I wish you the best but please never talk to me or my family again" I say. I grab the cart and wrap my arm around Maisie before taking off. We get to the next isle and Maisie lets out a long breath.

"What was that? You were going to let her talk to you like that" I whisper.

"What was I supposed to say? She wasn't lying" she says.

"But you know it's nothing like that. She made it seem like you didn't want to exist to anyone else but yourself" I reply.

"I didn't. If I was half as invisible as I felt it was a good day. I didn't want to be seen or to be talked to. Because if people did see me or talk to me that's how the conversation would usually go. The teachers understood, they defended me and it just made things worse. So you let them talk, say whatever makes them feel good" she explains.

"But you can't let people like that win" I sigh.

"You think she's winning? I got you, my dream job, a perfect family, and I am able to say that that girl she remembers is a hundred times better. Life's not a game Jonathan, it's not about winning or losing, it's about failing or prospering. And as long as I'm in a better place today than I was yesterday I'm pretty sure I'm prospering" she says cupping my face. I look down into her eyes and pull her by her hips.

"You're the best" I mumble.

"Actually it's you. And we should probably finish shopping before Jackson puts the whole candy isle in our cart" she giggles. I turn around and about twenty bags of candy was sitting next to Everly while she sucked on a fun dip stick. Just great. We finish shopping and pack the car full of food. It takes a lot to feed four mouths, and one of those mouths feeds another one. I look out the window and see how much Chicago was separated. We all say we live in Chicago but only a fraction of us actually live. When Maisie said she didn't feel like existing in high school, it broke my heart. No one should feel like that, but not everyone can get the help she did.