On Ice

On Ice By Danielle Poiesz

“Is that a man or a woman?” I asked, nudging Carter with my elbow. I pulled my Rangers cap just low enough so I could stare at it without being seen. “Just watch the fucking game, Sarah.” He didn‟t even look up; he just kept his eyes glued to the little speck of a puck as our boys missed a pathetic pass in the neutral zone. I looked up at the scoreboard. 4-0. And only 20 seconds left. I bounced my knee up and down as I waited. When the buzzer sounded, I wasted no time—not like those pansies on the ice. “Ok, now, look,” I said pointing. “Man or woman? Vote.” Carter rolled his eyes but then narrowed them. He didn‟t tell me to “grow up” like he usually does, like I was expecting him to. “Hmmm…damn, I don‟t know,” he said, a look of horror materializing on his face. He looked again, narrowing his eyes even more for a better look at the thing ten rows in front of us. It had a Redden jersey on, so it at least had good taste, even if it didn‟t have a gender. “Oh!” Carter squealed (it‟s always hilarious when Carter squeals). “It has tits! It‟s a woman!” “But it could have man boobs. And it looks like it has a 5 o‟clock shadow.” I pointed again. “See?” Carter grabbed my arm and pushed it away.

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“I‟m not blind, Sar.” “Maybe not, but you sure as hell aren‟t smart.” He turned toward me and glared. I smacked his leg with the back of my hand and stood up. “Come on,” I said impatiently. “Let‟s go.” “Let the crowd clear out a little first, Speed Racer.” I sighed. “It‟s going to get away then,” I said more forcefully. “We gotta follow it.” Carter let out a chuckle. “You‟ve got to be kidding me,” he said. “You really—” He stopped talking when he saw my face deadpan. “Go,” I said. He stood up and led the way. *** I could see my breath as we walked out the front entrance to the Garden. It was fucking freezing out, but it was moving so quickly we had to push through the ice-cold January air to keep up. “Sar, slow down,” shouted Carter from behind. “I gotta put on my hat and my mittens!” “God, Carter. You still wear those damn mittens?” I said turning toward him. A man behind him rammed straight into Carter‟s back when he stopped short. “What‟s wrong with my mittens?”

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I rolled my eyes. “They have maple leaves on them. I mean, I know Canadians are geniuses on ice, but really?” Shaking my head I stepped toward him and grabbed his arm. “Just come on. We don‟t have time for this shit. It‟s getting away.” Carter shut his mouth (finally), and multi-tasked to pull on his beloved mittens. I picked up the pace, maneuvering through the crowd of dejected New Yorkers that spilled onto 7th Avenue. He kept close behind me. He always kept up, even when he was whining about something; he just liked the drama. “Where‟d it go?” he asked quietly as we got stuck waiting for an opening in the speeding cabs so we could frogger it across the street. My eyes darted around, looking for its distinct flaming-red, spiky hair. I caught a glimpse of it in my peripheral vision, crossing 33rd Street. “Over there!” I shouted. “It‟s heading for the subway station!” Carter narrowed his eyes trying to see. “Where?” I looked at him and shook my head. Leaning closer, I pointed in the direction of Herald Square station. But it was gone. “Fuck. We lost it,” I said, throwing up my arms. Carter shrugged and eyed a nearby street meat cart hungrily. “Oh well,” he said, licking his lips and making a move for the cart. “Blessing in disguise, I guess.” My hand darted out and grabbed tight to the back of his shirt. “Yeah, no,” I said as I yanked him behind me toward the train. “God, Sarah, what is your fucking problem?” he muttered. I ignored him, barreling down the stairs. Carter followed, of course.

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I didn‟t even stop to swipe my MetroCard. I leapt the turnstile in one smooth motion and slunk down the stairs toward the uptown train. I looked down the platform. Nada. Shaking my head in frustration, I looked over at the downtown tracks, where a train was pulling in, and saw an already familiar red head through the passing windows. I ran back up the stairs. Carter was still fumbling with his MetroCard. “Hurry up!” I shouted as I ran to the opposite staircase. He swiped his card angrily and pushed his way through at last. He followed quickly behind me. We took the stairs two at a time and darted down to the platform and into the last car just as the doors were dinging closed. “I‟m guessing now we have to walk between the cars to find it?” Carter whined. I nodded excitedly. The surge of adrenaline coursing through my veins was more intense than the time I nearly flipped my bike coming down a hill in Riverside Park. It didn‟t make sense—even to me—but the urge to follow it wouldn‟t go away. Something inside me told me I had to. The rank subway stench hit me as soon as I yanked open the door. The train car rattled, screeching along the rails, and I nudged Carter ahead of me. He slid the door to the next car open and snuck in, taking gulps of “fresh” air into his lungs. Close behind, I didn‟t care if it smelled or not. I just wanted to find it. “It‟s not here,” Carter said, sitting down with a sigh. Shooting him an incredulous look, I kept moving through the train. “No shit Sherlock. It‟s another car down, I think.” “Seriously, Sarah. Let‟s just go home. This is ridiculous.” I stopped and turned back toward him. His amber hair was mussed and the circles under his eyes were

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darkening by the second. Carter never slept well. Something about having an overactive brain. “I‟ll tell you what,” I began, standing up a little straighter. “YOU go home. Try to rest that pretty little head of yours. I‟M going to keep looking.” I could hear Carter‟s grumbling getting louder and louder as he followed behind me. I knew he wouldn‟t let me go it alone. “Damn, woman. You‟re the most stubborn person I‟ve ever met.” I peered through the window to the next car and pointed. There it was. “I‟m not stubborn,” I said defensively. “I‟m just curious by nature.” “Yeah, that‟s it.” Carter laughed quietly as I knelt on the grimy floor of the subway. I love his laugh. No matter what‟s happening, how angry I am, where we are, or what we‟re doing, his laugh always makes me smile. Usually it‟s girls who have those contagious, compelling giggles, but Carter could give any one of them a run for their money. So much so, that it didn‟t even occur to me that my new jeans were now covered in god knows what. “So, now what?” he asked, crouching down beside me. “We wait…we wait.” I said, nodding sagely. I carefully stole another look at it through the window and quickly ducked back down. “Shit,” I spat, resting my head in my hands. “What?” “Shit.” “Sarah, what‟s wrong?” “Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” I muttered. Carter groaned. “Whaaaaat?” he repeated.

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“It saw me.” “Are you sure?” he whispered. “Yup. You look. Just act natural.” Carter sighed but did as I said. He stood up, leaning casually against the car door. He looked left, and then right, as if he were just taking in the exciting subway scenery. Then he snuck a glance over his shoulder. It was inching toward the door as the train approached the next stop. Looking it up and down, Carter bit his lower lip in what appeared to be some form of concentration. I could see the gears in that whirring brain of his turning, trying to dissect its stance, its body shape, its gait. He was good at that—figuring people out. He could successfully analyze me anytime, anyplace. He‟d been able to from the moment we met. He also always took forever doing it. I reached up and grabbed the hem of his shirt, tugging hard. “Weeeeell?” I asked. My leg was shaking out of control I was so anxious. It felt like an hour was going by with every second that passed. “I think it‟s getting off at the next stop.” “Ok, then so are we.” I took Carter‟s hand and muscled him toward the subway door. As the train screeched to a stop, I shifted my weight back and forth. When the doors opened, I popped my head out and looked for it. I saw nothing. I looked back at Carter, scrunching my face up in confusion. “Stand clear of the closing doors,” the train car announced. I glanced back out of the train and there it was, casually walking through the turnstiles. We couldn‟t waste another second and I threw myself out of the train, Carter in tow.

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“Sarah, this is really getting ridicu—” “Oh, come on. What‟s the big deal? It‟s not like we have anywhere else to be.” I wiggled my shoulders and winked at Carter and his award-winning scowl, as I continued to drag him along after it. “Lighten up a little, my friend.” “I just don‟t want to get in another one of your messes,” he finally admitted. “I‟m still paying back the „rents for the last time.” I shrugged. He was blowing things way out of proportion in typical Carter fashion. “Bail wasn‟t that much.” Carter sighed and rolled his eyes. “I think it went that way,” he mumbled, pointing to the southwest exit of the station. I smiled at his breakdown. He fought my little “adventures” 24-7 but I knew deep down he loved them. Otherwise, he would‟ve stopped talking to me years ago— like everyone else. We climbed the stairs and stepped out into the brisk city air. Looking around, it hit me how far downtown we were. It hadn‟t even registered what stop we got off at, but the forest of concrete around us could be none other than the cold confines of the financial district. I looked up and down Rector Street, searching for it, wondering why it would come down here on a Friday night. Sure, there were some fancy apartment buildings down here, but it didn‟t exactly look like the suit and—tie? skirt?—type. “Do you see—” Carter stopped talking, my arm pointing across his line of sight. “There,” I whispered.

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It fumbled with a set of keys halfway down the block in front of a doorway tucked between a deli and a titty bar. Moneymen sure were classy. It peered over its shoulder every couple of seconds, reeking of determined paranoia. I snuck a little bit closer, careful to stay in the shadows. Carter followed, being shockingly quiet despite his dislike for all things dark and gritty. We watched as it turned the lock and shoved the door open. But it wasn‟t going in. Instead, it turned around and stared straight at me. “Are you coming or what?” Shock overtook me for a moment and I muttered something that resembled, well, nothing. I was speechless. “We, umm, we‟re very sorry,” Carter began. “We, uhh—” It started to disappear into the building, ignoring Carter‟s pointless apology. “No, wait!” I shouted. It emerged again and repeated, “Change your mind?” It paused, but I knew it wouldn‟t be for long. It shifted its weight, its impatience obviously growing. “If you‟re going to follow me, you might as well make yourselves useful.” I took a deep breath and nodded, dragging a disapproving Carter behind me.

A ridiculously dim hallway, lined with plain metal doors, loomed in front of us. I never would have imagined such a long hall could fit inside the narrow building. It was eerily quiet as we followed it. The only thing I could hear was a faint sound of something scratching against metal. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. This must be how Carter feels all the time. I tried to shake it off.

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“I don‟t know about this, Sar,” Carter whispered to me, pulling my body closer to his. “I have a really bad feeling.” “You always have a bad feeling.” I brushed him off and took a large stride forward. “Come on, we‟re falling behind.” “I‟m not kidding, Sarah. We need to turn around and get the hell out of here.” I opened my mouth to answer, but shut my mouth when it whipped around to face us. It stepped closer into the faint light over a doorway on our left. At some point as we walked, it had slipped on a stocking cap and pulled it down over its face, the nude fabric stretched to morph it‟s face. “Everything ok back here?” I felt Carter‟s hand begin to sweat against my wrist. Even I shuddered at that one. “Just dandy,” I answered, a smile plastered to my face. I cleared my throat. “Where are we anyway?” It didn‟t answer, just kept walking. Carter‟s grip tightened and he jerked me back. “We‟re leaving. Now.” “God, Carter, where‟s your sense of adventure? We‟ll be fine.” “Yeah, you‟re right, we will be fine…as long as we get out of here before it chops us into teeny tiny pieces.” Carter was marching me back down the hallway. I yanked my wrist free. Who says those self-defense classes in high school don‟t really teach you anything useful? “No,” I spat. “You can leave if you want to. But I‟m going.” Carter and I stared at each other. His eyes bore into mine with an anger I‟d never seen in him before. And then he dropped my wrist.

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“Fine. This is seriously the stupidest stunt you‟ve ever pulled, Sarah.” And just like that he turned his back on me and disappeared into the darkness.

I stood for a moment in stunned silence. This was a first. Carter never left me, not in the twelve years I‟ve known him. Not once. But now was not the time to reminisce. I could hear a clattering down the hallway and rushed along to catch up. It was down on its knees, struggling with a lock on one of the doors. I couldn‟t tell what it was using to try to pick the lock, but whatever it was, it wasn‟t working. I could see sweat beginning soaking through the thin, stocking face mask it wore. “I can get that,” I heard myself offer, as I pulled a bobby pin from my hair. My bangs feel against my forehead. I guess getting that horrendous haircut helped for something. “Give it a shot.” It stood up, giving me space to work. I put my ear against the cold smoothness of the door. I may be somewhat idiotic at times, but I‟m at least going to try to figure out what‟s in there before I just open „er on up. All I could make out was more muffled scratching and a few high-pitched yelps. “What‟s in there?” I asked. I looked over my shoulder at it. It had already pulled off the stocking and was wiping its face with its sleeve. “Come on now, you trust me to tag along but not to know what I‟m tagging along for?” It didn‟t respond. I sighed and sat down on the hallway floor. It shifted its weight. I leaned forward and tapped on the door. A dog barked. Loudly. Really loudly.

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“Jesus,” I muttered, jumping slightly in surprise. “Dogs? We‟re breaking into a room full of dogs.” “They‟re going to be shipped to Reunion Island,” it said. I looked at it quizzically. “I have no clue what you‟re talking about,” I admitted. “They use dogs as live shark bait. Drag them behind a ship.” “They what? No way.” I shook my head in disbelief. “There are petitions going around trying to stop it,” it continued. “But it‟s a French-controlled island and they won‟t listen to us.” “Then why are we shipping off dogs?” I still wasn‟t sure I believe what it was saying. “And why did you have a key to the front door in the first place if you want to stop it?” “We aren‟t. But this French-owned „animal shelter‟ is. I worked for them for a while, until I found out. I made a copy of the building key.” “Don‟t they have security cameras? Won‟t the recognize you without your, uhh”—I pointed to her stocking cap—“disguise?” “It doesn‟t matter so much, really. As long as I can get the dogs out, they can toss me in jail for all I care.” I nodded slowly and turned back toward the door. “Well, let‟s get to work then,” I said cheerfully. I reached up for the doorknob and inserted the bobby pin. The lock was stubborn but I wore it down, the door clicking open. I stood up and it gently clapped me on the shoulder and gave me a grateful squeeze.

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I pushed the door open and then the noise was deafening. Each of the four small cages was jam-packed with dogs, eight to a cage. They were almost standing on top of one another. The close quarters, however, didn‟t affect their vocal chords it seemed. I opened my mouth to ask how we were going to get them out of here, when I heard It whispering into a cell phone. “We‟re in,” It said, thrusting a handful of leashes toward me. “Pull up to the back entrance in five minutes…Uh huh..Yeah, ok….Out.” The phone beeped as It turned it ended the call. “Ok, so we gotta hurry. Here‟s what we‟re going to—“ It began. But I was already opening the first cage, leashes slung over my shoulder. “If they‟re going to essentially padlock the entrance, you‟d think they‟d put something on these cages. Not the brightest, are they?” I winked and It got to work on the third cage down. We didn‟t even need to verbalize our game plan. Like the boys out there on the ice tonight, we just knew what to do. Somehow I could anticipate Its next move before It even started. The dogs were barking, but didn‟t seem scared. They seemed ecstatic. All eight tails were wagging like mad and I had to laugh to myself a little. This was definitely not what I expected for a post-game adventure. But I snapped the leashes on the dogs‟ collars, wrapped the ends of the leashes through the metal grating, and closed the cage door again until I had the other cage all set to go. I finished with the second cage and grabbed hold of all sixteen leashes. This was going to be interesting. It was latching the two leashes left in with the last cage, and fisted Its share of leashes. Wordlessly, I followed. Even if I hadn‟t done so of my own volition, the dogs

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were going to make me. Their deep barks and strong legs dragged me along without argument toward what I could only assume was the back entrance. It burst out through a door at the end of the hallway, an alarm sounding loud and clear. A windowless white van idled in the tiny alley. A door slid open and out jumped a young girl who grabbed some leashes from It and helped to corral the dogs into the van. She couldn‟t have been more than18, with long, angelic curls falling down her back. Having already loaded Its dogs on, she reached out for mine. “Thanks,” she said. “I guess Jamie made the right decision, letting you follow.” I shrugged. “It‟s just another Friday night.” When unsure of what to say, always play it cavalier, I reminded myself. After all the dogs were inside, the girl closed the door. Jaime gave me a quick hug and darted around the van. The girl threw me a smile and hopped in the drivers seat. They sped off and I just stood there, watching them go. I‟d even blocked out the siren from the Emergency Exit. But it all came screaming back to me when the red and blue flashing lights appeared. The officers pushed a silent me into the back seat of the car. I‟d been through this before. I knew the drill. I sighed deeply and thought of Jaime, the girl, the dogs, and their great escape. But when I looked out the window, it was Carter‟s face I saw, watching from around the corner of the building.

Three hours later I sat on a hard bench in a holding cell on Police Plaza. I‟m not exactly tall so my legs dangled off the side. I stared at them and swung back and forth, back and forth, as I waited. “Jensen!” a voice bellowed. “Bail!”

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My head shot up, and I jumped to my feet. He came. The warden unlocked my cell and I smiled weakly at the white powder stuck in his mustache. He grunted and pushed me from behind. Apparently, he needed to get back to his donut. I stopped beside the desk and waited as he rustled some paperwork and reached down under the desk. He passed a yellow jiffy across the desk. “Your personal effects. Just sign here and you can leave.” I signed in silence (still. This was a lot of quiet for me). I walked out to the main waiting area and there he was. Literally twiddling his thumbs. He was such a dork sometimes. He watched me, a tired expression on his face, as I sat down beside him. “Hey,” I said quietly. “Hey.” He paused. “Are you okay?” “Yeah, yeah. Totally fine.” He nodded. “Good.” Another pause. “So after all that, did you find out?” I scrunched up my face. “Huh?” “Man or woman,” he asked, more like a statement than an actual question. “I‟m not sure.” “All that and you didn‟t even find out? Geez, Sarah, what‟s gotten into you!?” He nudged my shoulder and let out a small chuckle. “Eh, it doesn‟t matter really.” “Hmmm…” he said, lifting a finger to his chin. I raised an eyebrow at him. “What?” “Well, you just…You just…” He paused again.

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“What?” I asked more irritated. “Are full of shit.” I stood up and grumbled. “Come on, let‟s just get out of here,” I said. But Carter wouldn‟t get up. I shifted impatiently. He looked everywhere but directly at me, a smug smile on his face. “Dammit, Carter, fine. It hugged me. It had boobs, ok? You were right. Can we please go now?” Carter laughed, the laugh I love so much, and started toward the door. “Come on, slow poke,” he said over his shoulder, tossing me his mittens. “It‟s cold out there.” I rolled my eyes and pulled his mittens on. Hmm. Warm.

Copyright © 2009 by Danielle Poiesz

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