Part One Hundred and Seven

I was sitting in my car in front of the youth center waiting for Jaleel to arrive. It was still early, barely past seven am but I’d done a lot of thinking over the past two weeks and I wanted to do something. I saw him walking up the sidewalk and climbed out of my car.

That report on the news had chilled my soul. I had been a child like that once, and even though they’d get justice, the damage had already been done. Their souls had already been marred and only time would tell if they’d survive it.

“Hey Kage, long time no see,” Jaleel said when he reached me.

“Yeah we need to talk,” I said.

“Uh oh sounds serious,” he said.

He switched his kettle on after unlocking his office door and I was pacing up and down. I was too excited to sit down and I had to share my plan with him because I also had no idea how to pull it off or where to even begin.

“What’s got you all jittery?” he asked me.

“We need to do better,” I said to him.

“Better than?” he asked me.

“The system’s all fucked up, Jaleel. Kids get lost and fall through the cracks and we need to stop it,” I said to him.

“You’re not the first person to think it, we all feel that way, but there’s only so much we can do,” he said.

“You always say that but what have you done about it?” I asked him.

“Hey now wait a minute. I work my ass off for this place, we get budget cuts all year round and as you know, Mr. Famous Hockey Player, money’s needed to buy shit,” he said, sounding somewhat irritated.

“Okay so we need money,” I said to him.

“Yeah and a lot of it,” he said.

“Let’s do something about it,” I said to him.

“Like what? A fundraiser?” he asked.

“Yes, but bigger,” I said.

“Kage, your heart’s in the right place but that takes a lot of work and networking to get sponsors to hold a fundraiser,” he said.

“Not if we pay for it ourselves,” I said.

“Where do you think we’re going to get that kind of money?” he asked me.

“The Hawthorne family trust,” I said.

“You mean your family,” he said.

“Yes, talk to whoever you have to so we can start planning this fundraiser,” I said to him and opened his door.

“What are you going to do?” he asked me.

“Compile a guest list,” I said.

I drove home, a feeling of confidence filling me. I had big plans but I’d need help to pull it off and my first phone call was to Alexander. He knew a lot of people, people that could introduce me to other people. Alexander was happy to help and I left him to start networking while I did some networking of my own.

I had first spoken to our coach, then to our team manager and our PR people and lastly to my teammates. I called people I knew that moved in the A-list circles and they in turn called other people they knew. With things like this it was all about who you knew.

Our team manager came through about four hours later and he sent me a list of telephone numbers of other team managers and coaches in New York and I set about calling them all. Some of them loved the idea of becoming involved and most of them pledged money to fund the program.

We needed money, yes, but we also needed time. People’s time more specifically. I wanted to establish a bigger group of big brothers and sisters in our area, so that kids could have that one on one with someone, have a friend or just someone to listen.

Jared had greatly benefited from the one on one experience and I knew a lot of other children would too. My life might have turned out differently if I’d had someone to talk to, someone that might have noticed what was going on.

“Hawthorne,” I answered my phone in the car.

“Hey, are you coming home at all today?” Katiya asked me.

“I might be a bit late,” I said.

“Could you grab a pizza on your way home?” she asked.

“Sure, text me what you want,” I said.

“Kalen called me mommy today,” she said.

“And how do you feel about that?” I asked her.

“I don’t know, Kage, I don’t even know what we are,” she said.

“You know exactly what I think about that,” I said.

“I know.” She sighed audibly. “Drive safe, Hawthorne.” I had to smile. The woman was jumpy but it only told me she was the one for me.

I drove to the address I got on the internet and parked my car about a block away. The building had a multitude of bikes in front of them. I felt a little nervous as I walked down that block in their territory and up to their front door.

These guys weren’t exactly known for their hospitality or at least that’s what the media tried to portray. I knew better, most people were misunderstood and tonight I’d know if they were too. Nobody was just good or just bad, we all had a little of each inside of us.

I didn’t really know what to expect or how this worked as I knocked on the front door. It was dark outside and the thought suddenly occurred to me that this might not have been the wisest move, coming here in the dark and alone.

“What do you want?” the man that opened the door asked me. He was of average height but mean looking even though I towered over him.

“To talk to the man in charge,” I said to him as he looked me up and down.

“Who are you affiliated with?” he asked me.

“New York Rangers,” I said and he started to laugh.

“I’m messing with you, I know exactly who you are, come on in,” he said and opened the door as I let out a breath of relief.