The Idiot

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Waking up, I was extremely confused about where I was at. My room at Patrick's was darker with red walls with dark blue sheets on my bed. Here, the walls are tan and the bed quilt was mixed with light blues and greens.

Climbing out of bed, I felt completely different than last night. I noticed that it was eight thirty. I slept in way later than normal. Anyways after I got changed, I grabbed my roller skates, my stick, and the ball before I left the guest room.

I found Jonathan and Anna standing in the kitchen cooking. In the week I stayed with Patrick, I never saw him cook, but Jonathan seemed like he knew his way through the kitchen. Frankly, I can imagine Patrick burning down the whole house if he ever tried to cook. That would be funny.

"Morning Winter," Jonathan said drawing me out of my thoughts. "What is all of that for?"

Deciding not to answer that question, I asked, "Do you have anywhere that I can rollerblade?"

He looked at me and laughed. "I guess we can move the furniture around in the living room. Would that work?" I just nodded as I lead the two of us into the next room. I put my things in the corner as I helped Jonathan move the couch, chair, and the rug.

Without all that furniture, the space was perfect. I sat next to my skates and started to strap my feet in. "You're allergic to eggs and wheat, right?"

"Yeah, I can just eat some yogurt if you got any."

He shook his head. "Anna and I can cook you something. I think we have some bacon and sausage."

"That would be perfect, thank you." Honestly, I surprised myself. I wouldn't think in a million years that I would be respectful to Jonathan Toews.

He disappeared back into the kitchen while I started my drills. I could him and Anna talking in the other room, but they kept their voices down enough that I couldn't make out what they were saying. I didn't care anyway. I just need to work as hard as I can before they call me to breakfast.

I did get a lot of good practice in before Anna waddled in to let me know that breakfast was done. Even after that, I continued to work for five more minutes before I decided to call it quits.

Sitting at the table, it was completely different feeling than it was at Patrick's house. Over there, meals are loud and rowdy, but here it is calm and informative. I quite prefer this way over the other any day.

During the meal, I listened to Jonathan telling Anna about what time he is leaving for morning skate and what time he should be home. I learned that Anna doesn't go to every game since when she isn't on maternity leave, she's a school teacher. With that, we are going to be staying here tonight. Also, I guess Jonathan is flying out right after the game since he needs to be in San Jose for a back-to-back.

The nice thing was that they didn't just talk to each other. Both of them asked me questions, but one of them I wasn't too fond of answering.

Anna, who is already done with her breakfast, asked, "So Winter, why don't you like Chicago?"

I knew this answer right away, "Everything." However, it didn't end there. This question made me remember something that happened years ago.

Back in Brooklyn in the spring of 2015, Mom and I were walking down the street hand in hand, trying to find something. I remember being so excited. I was jumping with every step. "Hey Mom, Mrs. Dently was telling us about Chicago today. I want to go."

She stopped right in her tracks. Her light brown hair was pulled back in a bun. She just collected me from school from a double shift at one of her jobs. William and Wyatt had hockey practice, which I couldn't participate in.