Chapter Text
NHL Network Breaking News: Atlanta Coach’s son caught drinking and driving, to be criminally charged.
Drew Chambers had been caught and it went viral. The headline was plastered across all hockey media and several main stream media sources.
He had gotten blackout drunk and drove through the campus then stopped by the Atlanta police on a side street. Luckily for him, no one was injured or property damaged. The University did want to press charges, though.
Like anyone cared about a Division III college hockey player who only played 25 games a season. Most didn’t make it pro but he wasn’t just some random player. He was the son of a former NHL player and current NHL coach for the Atlanta Infernos.
There would be hell to pay even if he was 25 and out of his parent’s house. He wanted to sit and wallow but his father had other plans for him.
Shit.
His father, Russell Chambers, was going to be livid when he inevitably bailed him out. Drew knew he would. He needed to lord it over him and have the power of his fate in his hands. It wasn’t going to go well. It never did.
The jailer came to get him from overnight lockup. It was a disgusting place with people in a pathetic situation, he deserved to be there. Drew looked haggard and felt like shit. His short bro flow was matted to his head as he hung it in shame.
His father was at the desk with an intense look which was reserved for the worst of his wrath. Drew’s body was tense. His father’s baseball cap did little to hide who he was but he was a vain man. Drew slumped his shoulders putting his hands in his pockets as walked towards his father.
“Get in the car. Now.” Russell gritted out while aggressively signing several forms.
They walked out in silence. In the car, the only sound was his father’s hands gripping the leather of the steering wheel. It was tense but Drew was used to handling these situations. Over the years he had gotten good at reading his father’s moods and reacting the way he wanted.
“What about my dorm?” Drew asked as he realized they had pulled up to a hotel.
“Get out,” his father barked.
“Where are we?” Drew asked turning to his father with a confused look on his face.
Russell let out a breath from his nose, “You’re going up to room 504 and we’re having a little chat.”
Drew knew the hammer was going to drop, it always did. It wasn’t easy growing up with a former professional hockey player and coach, one that aspired to higher levels even now. He had fucked his father’s plans and reputation with one stupid act.
Drew admitted to himself he knew this would be the outcome and in some sick way he wanted to take his father down with him. He never lived up to his expectations. He was never good enough.
“Get out of the fucking car, Andrew.”
Drew gripped the door opening it. As he went to shut it, Russell threw the key card out of the passenger side window. Drew slowly bent over to pick it up looking at his father with narrowed eyes.
Russell brushed him off with his cell phone in hand, “I need to take this call. Go up and I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t you fucking dare leave.” Russell answered the call with an overly pleasant voice. It was the voice Drew heard when his father was putting on an act.
Russell never had time for him and it hadn’t changed when Drew got older. He walked into the sterile hotel lobby and slowly made his way to the elevator for the fifth floor. He walked down the disgusting colored carpet to stand in front of the door.
The room looked like every other hotel room Drew had seen during his college career. He sat on the bed waiting. He was the scapegoat for Russell’s anger and personal failures.
Russell was a large and intimidating man with a cruel streak of violence. He had a hair pin trigger and would fly into a rage when he felt slighted, especially by those he claimed to love. He wanted control and Drew appeased him more often than not.
The time ticked by and Drew started to feel anxious and nauseous. He took out his phone to distract himself or he would surely vomit. He didn’t want to see what was being said about him or read the messages from his teammates but he needed to occupy his mind. The scrutiny was unbearable.
Suddenly, the door flung open and his father threw several duffel bags on the floor in front of him. Russell crossed his arms.
“Here’s your shit.” His father said glowering at him.
“Dad, I’m—” he said turning his torso away. Drew hated when he sounded like a child pleading with his father. He knew he had to say something, to finally defend himself. The pain usually arrived but this time he wanted to make him pay for it.
Russell clenched his fists and took deep controlled breaths. He stared at him with a look Drew was familiar with over the years.
Russell finally spoke, “You had to go fuck it up? Do you know how long it took me to get this fucking job?”
Fucking narcissistic bastard, Drew thought.
Russell seethed, “I’m lookimg at being GM and you do this? I pay for fucking everything for you, including your tuition and fuck around money. You ungrateful loser.”
His father tried to control his anger but Drew knew it wouldn’t hold. Talking never helped but staying silent made Drew feel too weak.
“I’m not fucking good enough. I like D3 and all my friends are there. Why can’t you fucking understand that? It was just a few drinks and a joyride, I didn’t —” he tried to speak for himself but was cut off.
“Pansy ass excuses, Andrew! You didn’t fucking think, you never do.” His father raged, clenching his fists harder.
Drew tried to think of what he could say. Like usual, he ran through the scenarios in an instant. What worked before and what failed, what got him hit and what didn’t. What to say and what would make it go away.
He settled on, “No one got hurt and they won’t fire you because of me.” The second it left his mouth he knew it was the wrong thing to say. His father’s mouth curved into a snarl.
“You didn’t kill anyone, huh bud? You don’t think I’ll get fired? The fuck do you know.” Russell spit out. “You proud of yourself or something? Well thank Christ I don’t have to clean that fucking mess up too.”
“No, I just…” Drew couldn’t form the words he wanted to say.
Russell gave a snide laugh, “You’re such a defective little fuck up. Everyone can see it. You must know that right? All you had to do is make D1 then get drafted. That’s all I asked.”
Drew could finish the sentence, so you don’t embarrass me or our family.
There it was. His father had enough money and power to make people not see the obvious but he couldn’t face the truth about his own son. Drew was not making the NHL no matter how hard he tried. He didn’t even want to play in the NHL, his father wanted it like his father before him.
Drew stood up defiantly. He was more than half a foot shorter than his father who towered over him. Russell was a perfectly built defenseman. He cursed his father for choosing a short petite woman for a wife. The older Drew got the more he realized it made it easier for him to overpower her.
“You don’t even fucking care why I drink do you, dad?” He said bitterly, emphasizing dad with a mocking tone. He knew where it would inevitably lead and he wanted to get it over with. “Maybe if you were a better father I wouldn’t be this way.”
Without warning, Russell pulled back his arm and his fist connected with Drew’s face. Drew staggered back onto the bed. The pain was sharp but familiar. The distinct taste of copper flooded his mouth.
“Don’t ever talk to me like that, you hear me you little bitch. You’re fucking nothing. You can fucking skate, I’ll give you that but you’re a weak and pitiful D-man.” He rolled up his sleeves, “Not even half of what I was.” Russell stared at him with a cruel sneer. “If I didn’t bail you out, you’d still be in that fucking drunk tank. I only did it for your mother.”
Drew could feel his lip swelling and reached out to feel it. He prodded his tongue on the cut on the inside of his mouth. He wiped the blood off of his mouth with the back of his hand. He had taken enough hits, both at home and on the ice, what was a few more. It would hurt his father’s hand more than Drew’s face.
“You mean your reputation?” He spit blood at his father, “Fuck you, old man.”
Drew was proud of his small act of courage which would mean nothing. Drew stood up again and gave his father a condescending bloody smile.
The rage in his father boiled. He punched Drew in the eye and he staggered back. His father charged at him and grabbed him by his shirt collar and thew him up against the wall and kneed him in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of Drew and he keeled over onto the floor with a grunt.
His father lorded over him, “If you compromised my job then you’ll have more hell to pay. Mark my words, Andrew. You’ll go to the University and act sorry for what you did. Better make it convincing.” He straightened his shirt and unrolled his sleeves. “And stop being a messy drunk, it’s pathetic and makes you look like a bitch. Real men hold their liquor.”
Drew laughed, “Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”
Russell spit on Drew then turned around and walked out of the room slamming the door.
Drew continued laughing at the absurdity of the situation, he always did. He winced as the adrenaline was wearing off and the pain invaded his body. Curling into the fetal position, he laid on the floor for what seemed like hours.
He awoke suddenly and couldn’t remember where he was. The pain was ever present. He had a routine to stop the swelling so it lessened the visible marks.
He searched for his phone and found it on the floor. Squinting through a swollen eye, he looked to see what was being said about him. Several social media posts equated him to the likes of the guys who assaulted women. It made him angry. He wasn’t like his father. He was nothing like him. Other posts were defending him as if he were a child.
He heard a rapid succession of chimes and the drop-down notification of text messages cascaded down. The team chat was blowing up asking him what happened. He ignored them all.
He focused on the accusations of nepotism. He could never get away from it. Never live up to the hype or expectations and dreams his father had for him.
Drew was alone to deal with the mess he created of his life.
~
Drew typically started his day with breakfast then went to class. He wore the same outfit almost every day and his wardrobe had most of the same bland colored items. He never had pre-game skate so he always caught lunch right after.
There was always time to kill so he would exercise or play video games then take pre-game nap before he got dressed and ready for the game, sometimes they would have team skates and skills session. Today his routine was radically different.
He started the day with a meeting with the Dean of Students, a bald man who looked like he should have been a cop instead of an academic. He never asked why Drew had a swollen black eye and split lip.
“Essentially you have created too much vitriol on campus. We’re skipping probation and suspending you after the further investigation was concluded.”
Drew shook his head, “I didn’t even want to be in D1, why did they even listen to him and force me to try for it?”
“You would have to ask your father, Andrew. He is a very adamant man, along with your coach, but we will not budge from our official stance.”
“Is there anything I can do? I can just take classes like a regular student, right?” He pleaded.
“That will not be possible, Andrew. We are suspending you from collegiate hockey and academics as well.”
“What the fuck!” Drew snapped.
The Dean gave him a disapproving look and Drew hung his head.
“Sorry…but I just made a mistake and can fix it.”
“I think it is a little too late for that.” The Dean paused and leaned onto his desk. “If Russell wasn’t your father, we could have worked something out but the media exposure is not a good look for either party. You know what happens next.” He pulled a sheet of paper from under his arms, “The University is pressing charges to send a message this type of behavior is never acceptable. It is not becoming of our student athletes or programs.”
drew left the Dean’s office devastated. He had a week to get his shit and get off campus.
When he got back to the dorm his roommate and defensive partner was freaking out.
“Bro, where the fuck have you been? The other guys are losing their shit. Coach told them you’re out.”
“Yeah, I’m clearing out now. You’ll have more space once I’m gone.”
“The fuck?! What am I going to do?” his roommate said. Drew sighed. It was all about him, once again.
“You’ll figure something out. You’re resourceful as fuck.” Drew said slapping his arm.