Chapter 31 – The Next Week
Jed and Charlotte spend the next week just sort of relaxing. They both went to work and ate at home every day. They went out now and then to pick up groceries together. The week went by pretty quickly. Jed thought about flying up to Traverse City again for the weekend, but they decided not to and arranged to have Saul and Gail over for dinner Sunday. Saturday, they decided to drive down to Detroit and go to the Red Wings’ game. Charlotte suggested making a day out of it and go to the casino after the game and dinner. Jed thought that was a good idea and agreed to do it. At eleven in the morning, they headed to Detroit. The game started at three in the afternoon and Jed wanted to allow plenty of time to get there and eat lunch before the game.
When they arrived in Detroit, they found a nice restaurant to go to and ate lunch. It was a nice little cozy cafe located near the hockey arena. The place was decorated with hockey memorabilia. The wait staff was friendly and courteous. The food was good and the atmosphere was cozy. They both enjoyed their lunch. Then they headed to the arena.
When they got there, they were amazed at the size of the arena. The only arena either of them had seen was Perani’s Arena back in Flint. There were easily at least five times the seats. Everything appeared like it was well kept and neat. The ushers were very polite and escorted them to their seats. Flint usually drew two or three thousand to a game. There were well over ten thousand people in the stands. Sometimes the noise was deafening. It almost looked like a sea of red and white inside. The ice surface was glistening from the lights above. Everyone stood up for the National Anthems. The Red Wings were hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs so the Canadian National Anthem was played first. Apparently, there were a lot of Canadians there because when it was over there was a loud cheer. This cheer paled in comparison though to what they heard when The United States National Anthem was finished.
The players were introduced and the game began. The electricity in the air was unbelievable. The crowd went wild every time the Red Wings had the puck. A loud, deafening cheer would go out whenever the Red Wings scored or when they made a great defensive play. Jed told Charlotte that this is way better than watching on tv. She agreed, then hugged and kissed him before she realized that the Red Wings did not score. They blew it off and continued watching. By the end of the first period, the Red Wings were up two goals to one. Jed and Charlotte watched as the Zamboni as it resurfaced the ice.
The second period started. The Maple Leafs scored quickly. It was now tied again. A few minutes later the Red Wings scored to take the lead. Jed got his expected kiss. Toward the end of the period, the Red Wings scored again. Charlotte leaned over and kissed him again. Jed just smiled. The Red Wings were now up by two goals. The score was four goals to two at the end of the second period. Again, Jed and Charlotte watched the Zamboni resurface the ice. They talked about the game and how much fun they were having together.
Toward the start of the third period the Red Wings got in to penalty trouble and the Maple Leafs scored two goals to tie the score before the period was half over. The Red Wings took a time out. If they wanted to win, they were going to have to regroup and stay out of the penalty box. The teams scrambled back and forth down the ice. First to one end and then the other. Back and forth. Back and Forth. With less than a minute to play, one of the Maple Leaf players elbowed on of the Red Wing players in th mouth and received a two minute penalty. Everyone’s hopes were high. The score was tied with under a minute to go and the Red Wings were on the power play. The action was furious around the Maple Leafs net, but the Red Wings just could not get it in to the net. The buzzer went off and the third period was over. This game was going to overtime.
The Red Wings started the period with about forty nine seconds left on the power play. Again the action was furious at the Maple Leafs net. This time, however, the wings scored with two seconds left in their power play to win the game. Jed and Charlotte were ecstatic. In between hugging and kissing, they were jumping up and down screaming with the rest of the crowd. Everyone slowly filed out of the arena.
Jed and Charlotte finally made it back to the Tahoe and climbed inside. Jed started it up and headed to the casino. They decided to get something to eat there, because the traffic was awful around Detroit when the hockey game got over. They walked into the casino and searched for the restaurant inside. Finally, a casino employee noticed them looking for something and directed them to the casino’s restaurant. They sat down and ordered dinner and talked while they waited. Charlotte thanked him for taking her to the game, and the casino. She also told him that she was having a great time. Jed told her that he was glad they went and that he was having a great time too. When they were finished eating, they headed out to the casino floor.
Charlotte went straight for the slot machines and Jed followed. They found a couple of machines next to each other and started playing. They played for a couple of hours. They both would win a little and then lose it, and then win a little and then lose it. This cycle repeated all night. Around ten pm, they decided to head for home. This time, Jed was up about ten dollars and Charlotte was out about twenty dollars. She told Jed that she still had fun and that is what counts. Jed agreed. They climbed in to the Tahoe and Jed drove home.
