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“That’s anarchy,” Davis chimes in.
“It is football.”
“Same thing.”
Fifty feet from the main gate, the first one happens. A woman in a Firebirds shirt steps into our path, her face already lit up.
“Oh my god. Tobías?” She’s smiling so wide I can see the gap between her front teeth. “From the Beltline? My friend and I follow you. Can I get a picture?”
“Of course,” I say. “Yes, I would be happy to.”
She tucks in beside me and holds the phone up and I do the face. She hugs me afterward, briefly, the way strangers hug in Atlanta because the city has decided strangers can say hi and hug.
“Thank you so much. My friend Keisha is going to freak out.”
“Tell Keisha I say hello.”
“I WILL. Oh my god. Okay. Enjoy the match!”
She disappears into the crowd. I start walking. The silence behind me has weight. Three pairs of eyes are doing math on the back of my head.
“What,” Marchetti says, “was that?”
“A photograph.”
“She knew your NAME.”
“Many people know my name, Marchetti. I play professional hockey. My name is on my jersey.”
“She didn’t call you Hájek. She called you TOBÍAS. Nobody calls you Tobías. Your own teammates don’t call you Tobías. Who IS she?”
“A woman from the Beltline. I guess she sees me on my walk.”
“Your WALK?”
“I walk the Beltline. In the mornings. This is not a secret.”
Thompson is watching me like a man recalculating everything he knows about me. Davis has lowered his phone. Marchetti is opening and closing his mouth in a way that suggests his brain is processing information faster than his face can respond.
Thirty more yards. A man in a food truck apron jogs over from a pop-up stand.
“Hey, it’s the Beltline guy! Selfie king! I showed my wife the photo you posted of our shrimp taco. She cried.”
“Your shrimp taco deserved recognition. It was very emotional.”
“You’re the best, man. Go Czechia, right?”
“Go Czechia.”
He claps my shoulder and jogs back. Thompson takes off his sunglasses.
“Hájek.”
“Yes.”
“How many people in this city know you?”
“I do not have an exact number. That seems like a difficult thing to count.”
