Chapter 26
If the meeting with Woolley was unpredictable, I'm almost afraid to see how the meeting with Jagr will go. Scratch that--I'm terrified of how it will go. Considering the fact that we've exchanged nothing more than insults, slashes, and cross-checks since he left Pittsburgh, I wonder if he'll even help, or if he'll just cover up for Mario.
Either way, I'm glad to be having lunch not only with Steve, but also Kirk and Curtis. Its late February, and the team is starting to slip into playoff mode. I'm trying to do the same, but in the back of my mind, Johan's voice is still plaguing me.
I don't end up eating much more than a few bites; I just nurse an iced tea and hold onto Curtis' hand as if he can save me from whatever is going to happen later in the day. When we leave, Curtis whispers that he loves me; Kirk reminds me that Johan is an asshole, and when Steve and I drive away, I'm almost calm.
Almost.
That peacefulness is shattered when I see Jagr walking into the conference room. His eyes meet mine, and he nods almost imperceptibly, "Andrew," he says by way of acknowledgement.
I swallow hard and steel myself for whatever he has to say. In a few minutes, the room is filled and as the meeting starts, Steve slides a hand to my knee, the way he's done every single time we met with the officials. It's a reassuring pressure, and I send him a silent expression of appreciation, which he returns with a slight smile.
I miss the first question they ask Jaromir, but it's not important, since his reply is self-explanatory. "Barrasso was swearing, and it sounded as if someone was asking him to stop, so I followed the noises," he recites in his thick, Czech accent. "I wasn't sure what was going on, so I stopped him in mid-punch. He left, Woolley left, and I went back into the arena to talk to Mario."
"What was Lemieux's reaction?" one of the officials asks.
"He was mad. He said something about Barrasso being 'sloppy.' I asked if he would suspend him or give him a fine. He said he wouldn't do that," Jagr's words are slow, partially because he's trying to remember, also because he seems to be having trouble translating some of his thoughts.
"Why not?"
He shrugs, "He said Barrasso was just 'following orders.' I asked who was giving these orders, and that's when he got angrier."
"What did he say?" I ask, not particularly caring whether or not I'm supposed to.
"That it was not my business, and that I was not to tell anyone what I'd seen."
"You must have known that was wrong," one of the officials, the one in wire-rimmed glasses, says.
Jaromir nods sheepishly, "I did. But...I owed money. He promised to pay off my debts if I stayed silent." He pauses, speaking softer, "It was over one million dollars, and I couldn't have afforded it. But he paid, and so I kept quiet. When Barrasso was gone, I thought it was over. It was, for a while."
"What changed?"
"Lalime and Aubin and Snow weren't willing to go along with it, I suppose, if he even approached them. I don't think they'd have agreed to it. Mario seemed to have loosened his grip on the team. I was Captain, he had retired, and I didn't want it happening again. Then he came out of retirement.
"When he returned, my authority was gone. He might as well have removed the 'C' from my jersey. When Johan came...I thought things would be okay."
Hearing him talk about that, I remember meeting Johan for the first time. He was warm and friendly and soft-spoken. No one would've expected him to be violent.
"Mario caught wind of Johan's temper. He knew that, if the right buttons were pushed, Hedberg would get angry, possibly enough to get violent. I could see it happening, but there was no way of stopping it. By then, he'd paid off so many debts for me that I was stuck. When everyone the playoffs came, and everyone took notice of you," he pauses, meeting my eyes, "he got frustrated. You were taking the attention from other people--who felt they deserved it more. Mario fed that to Johan, and eventually it clicked. Johan started feeling you were stealing the credit that should've been going to him. I knew it when we started losing to New Jersey. I could see the anger growing. But I couldn't do anything."
My next question isn't exactly related, but I've wondered all along. "Why did you hate me?"
"It is not hate, Andrew. It is guilt," he replies softly. "That's why I needed to leave. I hated what was happening, I hated the guilt, but there was nothing I could do to stop it."
They ask him some more questions about the years when Barrasso was there, and I start tuning everything out. I knew that this was going to be a long and confusing process. I know it's going to take many different people to help me beat Johan and Mario...
I just never expected Jaromir Jagr to be an ally.
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