The Deal of a Lifetime

To make room for the girl’s entire life, another life has to cease to exist. They stamp the slush off their boots with autopilot eyes and answering-machine voices while they wait for their drug of choice—caffeine or nicotine or sugar—to kick in and render their bodies at least tolerably functional until the first break. Which is why places like this always have to pin their hopes for the future on young people. A dad who in return could explain every hockey strategy in great detail, but can’t watch a television show with more than three characters without exclaiming every five minutes: “What’s happening now?