Peer Pressure

Chapter 1Aiden Walsh timed his strike perfectly. Gripping his hockey stick tightly with both hands, he lined up his target in his sights and went in for the kill. The kid never knew what hit him. The guy hit the boards with a satisfying whump, then went down onto the ice.The ref's whistle blew before Aiden had taken half a stride.Aiden didn't bother looking at the ref. He knew he'd drawn a five-minute major for cross-checking but he didn't care. He'd taken the Springhill Rangers' lead scorer out. He knew the coach would keep the guy on the bench for a couple of shifts to recover and with so little time left in the game, that's all Aiden's team, the Oakridge Devils, would need. They were in the lead and now, they would keep it. The rest of the Rangers were next to useless at goal scoring and posed no threat.Here in Calgary, Alberta, everyone knew Aiden Walsh was the toughest defenceman in the league and the Devils were winners because of it.Aiden glided over to the penalty box. He wouldn't have much time once he'd sat out his stupid penalty, but he wanted to nuke one more guy before the end of the game. He scanned the ice for the irritating forward. The kid's jersey advertised him as Walberg 33. He was fast and way too accurate with his shots. The annoying winger was the only remaining Ranger who might be a threat to the Devils' lead.Walberg had also checked him hard, sending Aiden into the boards and that was something Aiden couldn't let the guy get away with. He had a reputation to uphold. They'd been dicing all game and Aiden wanted to teach the guy a real lesson about messing with the Devils?and Aiden Walsh.Anxiously, he watched the action on the ice. He was itching to get back out there. He always hated having to waste precious minutes in the penalty box, but that was all part of playing tough hockey. Looking up into the stands behind the Devils' bench, Aiden saw his dad, Charlie, in his usual seat.Aiden had always called his dad Charlie, which suited the big man more than Daddy or Father. Charlie wasn't the kind of guy who liked soft and fuzzy.Charlie waved at Aiden and gave the thumbs-up sign, then pounded his fist into the palm of his hand. This was their signal that it was a great hit and his dad really approved. Aiden grinned back and nodded his head.His dad pointed to a Ranger player on the ice. It was Walberg 33. Charlie had apparently spotted him as a problem as well. Aiden watched the skater for a moment, then nodded his head at his dad, agreeing. All he needed was a couple of minutes to set up his run at his final target of the game."Try to spend more time on the ice than in the penalty box, Aiden!" Jamie Cook, the Devils' captain, called as he skated past."You do your job, Cook, and I'll do mine," Aiden yelled back, keeping his eyes on the Ranger forward. He and Jamie used to be friends, but lately they hadn't been getting along very well. The guy should make up his mind what he wanted. Aiden's tactics had never been questioned before. He was the Devils' muscle and he'd always done a great job at taking out players who got in the way of a win. Sure he took a lot of penalties, but that was part of it."I'm trying, but I need all my players to be on the same side!" Jamie called over his shoulder.Aiden shook his head, irritated. Jamie was referring to earlier in the game when, while trying to crush one of the opposition into the boards, Aiden had miscalculated and bounced Steven Becker, the Devils' forward, instead. Accidents happen. It wasn't his fault Steven hadn't been fast enough in getting out of the way!After what seemed like forever, the penalty box timekeeper released him. He hit the ice with his skates on fire. Walberg 33 was at the other end of the rink in his own zone. Aiden circled the far side of the ice, ignoring the puck action and zeroing in on his target. The forward saw him coming and headed back down to the Devils' end. Aiden started picking up speed, calculating just where he would take him out. He was totally focused.The shrill of the buzzer signalling the end of the game made Aiden's head snap up. He thought he had a couple more minutes and that's all he would have needed. The Devils had won 6–3. That meant the Devils were closing in on first place in the Calgary Minor Hockey League, something the team had never done before. He spotted Walberg skating toward the Rangers' bench and debated on whether he should take him out anyway, but decided he could wait until their next game together.Aiden lined up with the other players to shake hands. He noticed a lot of the Ranger players didn't want to shake his hand, but he didn't care. They weren't important; they were losers?6–3 losers!After changing, Aiden headed out to the parking lot to wait for his dad to pull up in their old Chevy truck. He looked up at the night sky. Large flakes of snow were softly falling out of the darkness. He could feel them land on his eyelashes and cheeks. Soft, cold, powdered ice. He blinked to clear his vision, noticing two Springhill Ranger players coming out of the arena.One was a big defenceman he'd tripped in the first period; the other was Walberg 33. Aiden straightened up, his fists curling into useable weapons. He would like to have flattened that hotshot forward. He was still ticked off at the way the guy had made Aiden look weak when he'd checked him into the boards.As Aiden watched, a city transit bus pulled up and the defenceman climbed aboard, waving goodbye to the Walberg wimp as he heaved his equipment bag ahead of him onto the crowded bus.Grabbing his own hockey bag, Aiden started over to where the forward stood waiting for his bus inside the shelter. He strode in, kicking Walberg's gear out of the way, and dropped his bag."What do you think you're doing, Walsh?" the kid asked.Glancing at the forward, Aiden thought it was cool the guy knew his name. His reputation as an enforcer must be really getting around. Aiden was tall and quite husky for thirteen and this kid was a lot smaller and younger. "That's where I always put my bag." He sat on the bench. "You got a problem with that, Walberg 33?" He was aware of a heat beginning to build in him.The slim boy started to say something, then looked around at the empty blackness of the street and just shrugged instead."You Rangers make good targets for a number-one team like the Devils." Aiden plopped his feet down on Walberg's hockey bag.The Ranger forward gave him a look that seemed to be a direct challenge to Aiden. Aiden kicked the hockey bag with one of his boots. "Yeah, Walberg 33." He said the boy's name like it tasted bad in his mouth. "You guys are real wimps on the ice and off." He gave the Ranger player a sneer.The young boy looked nervous as he reached for his bag. Aiden knocked his hand away with the toe of his boot. "I don't think so, Walberg 33.""Get lost, you creep," the young forward said, but his voice had the telltale quaver in it Aiden had grown to know. The guy was shaking.Aiden got up and stood on Walberg's equipment bag. "You want this, wimp? Come and get it." Aiden could feel the blood rushing to his face and his breath came in short bursts. Anger flooded him in a red rage.The kid reached for the equipment bag and all of a sudden, Aiden felt like he was on fire. He jumped down off the bag and shoved the boy hard. The Ranger player fell back against the side of the bus shelter. Aiden's fist came out and hit the guy square in the face. He felt the boy's nose collapse under his blow.Blood sprayed across the kid's face and covered Aiden's hand. The boy began yelling for help. "Shut up, you rotten loser!" Aiden shouted as he punched the now moaning boy again. The forward fell to the ground holding his bloodied nose.Aiden was just going to start kicking the kid when he felt his coat grabbed from behind and he was nearly jerked off his feet."What the hell do you think you're doing?" It was Mr. Nichol, the Rangers' coach and he was furious. He looked huge as he loomed over Aiden."This wimp asked for it. He lipped off and I shut him up." Aiden tried to wrench his coat collar free, but the big man held onto it firmly."You punk, Walsh! You picked on the wrong kid this time. I've heard about you from other coaches and it's going to be my pleasure to take this game to a whole new level!" The burly man helped the bloodied forward to his feet and together all three of them headed back into the arena.Aiden couldn't believe what happened after that.His dad had come into the building looking for him just as Coach Nichol finished calling the wimp Walberg's parents. Aiden's dad had moved to Canada from Scotland and still spoke with a thick Glasgow accent. He was big and muscular with no hair on his head, which went red when he was angry. It was bright red now. He stormed around, yelling and waving his arms, as the coach called the police.Aiden sat at a table in the corner of the room, feeling very uncomfortable as he watched Charlie build up a head of steam. He knew what that meant; somebody was going to get straightened out, which was how his dad put it just before he hit you.Aiden rubbed his neck in a gesture he always did when he was feeling less than wonderful. He had a birthmark there, which he was very self-conscious about. His dad said it showed Aiden was physically weak, like his mom who also had a birthmark on her neck. But where Aiden's was big and dark-coloured, hers was small and shaped like a little pink heart. Aiden had always liked his mom's special mark.She didn't live with them anymore, from the time his parents had gotten divorced. When she found out about tonight, she was not going to be happy. She never yelled or hit him when she was upset and somehow, that was even worse than if she'd smacked him. He could handle that. It was the disappointment in her face that really chewed him to pieces.Aiden looked up as two burly police constables arrived. He swallowed hard. Although he'd had several run-ins at school for fighting that had ended up at the counsellor's office and he'd been in trouble for excessive force on the ice, he'd never been involved with the police before."Don't worry, boy," Charlie said, giving him a punch on the shoulder as he eyed the two constables. "This is just a lot of garbage. I'll have it all fixed in about two minutes flat." He nodded confidently, which made Aiden feel better.But just then, the wimp's parents arrived. Coach Nichol urged Mr. and Mrs. Walberg, Garth's parents, to have Aiden charged with assault.Aiden looked over at the Ranger forward. Garth, yeah, that suited the wimp. He hated that kid. His parents were going to take him to the hospital and see if his nose was broken, oh and yes, they would like Aiden charged.Just like that! Aiden looked at the two policemen and then at the Ranger coach. If he had stayed out of this, everything would have been okay.Coach Nichol nodded at Aiden. "You've been heading for this for a long time, Aiden. I just hope you can get yourself straightened out."Straightened out! How Aiden hated those words. Furious, he glared back at the coach. "If the wimp could have looked after himself instead of needing a big jerk like you to butt in, none of this would be happening. It's not my fault the guy's such a spineless jellyfish." He was shouting and everyone was staring.The two police officers nodded at one another as though everything had just been made very clear. One of them began writing up what Aiden thought would be something like a traffic ticket. His dad would simply pay it and that would be it."Sounds like you've got an attitude problem, son," the other constable said, frowning as he spoke. "Ordinarily, we'd have sent this directly to Alternative Measures, but in this case?" He shook his head and handed Charlie a piece of paper. "This is an Appearance notice, Mr. Walsh. You can take Aiden home with you, but what this paper means is that he will have to appear before a judge to have this matter heard."Aiden nearly fell over. His legs suddenly felt like all the bones had been sucked out, but he knew Garth was watching him and there was no way he was going to look like a chicken in front of him. "That's garbage! The wimp had it coming!" He hoped he sounded tough.Charlie looked at the document, his face twisted in rage, then stuffed it into his jacket pocket. "We'll see about this. Come on, boy," he growled as he turned to leave. "We'll straighten this out at home."Aiden swallowed the lump in his throat and followed Charlie out of the arena. The temperature had dropped and the wind was now blowing straight out of the north. Slivers of icy sleet stung Aiden's cheeks and made his eyes water as he trudged after his dad.

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to go through with this. But now that we were out of danger, I liked the adrenaline.