waved dismissively at Patrick. ‘I don’t think they’ll choose someone who’s only been at the school five minutes.’
Patrick stood his ground. ‘He’s the best player though. Might be good to have some new blood in charge, take a fresh look at the team. If they’ve all been playing the same positions since the first year, might be time to have a shake-up.’
Lee cleared his throat. ‘Come on, mate. I know the boy’s had a tough time, but you can’t just hand him everything on a plate.’
‘Nothing to do with handing him anything on a plate. Look at him. He’s head and shoulders above the others,’ he said, turning away from Lee and focusing on the game.
I shuffled about, admiring Patrick for standing his ground but still fighting my own temptation to pat Lee’s arm and whisper, ‘Sorry, he’s getting a bit carried away. He’s never had a boy to cheer for before.’
Instead I stuttered, ‘I hope Jordan’s all right. Keep us posted.’
Lee didn’t acknowledge I’d spoken and hurried off.
I shivered next to Patrick, a sick feeling in my stomach that even something that was supposedly joyful had become a battleground. In between cheering the line-outs, Patrick was muttering about how Victor ‘read the ball’ so much better than anyone else. I was relieved when the whistle blew.
Despite Lee, I couldn’t help smiling at the boys lifting Victor up into the air. I’d never had that feeling of belonging, of everyone congratulating me because I had some outstanding talent or anything that made me the heroine of the moment. It was about time Victor had something to celebrate.
We walked over towards them, the chatter and camaraderie floating over to us. The head of games was saying, ‘And I’m thrilled to present Victor Yaro with Man of the Match! Not bad for only his fourth outing with the team.’
A huge cheer went up and two of the sturdiest players hoisted Victor onto their shoulders.
Up by the car park, I saw Lee reach Faye and Jordan, then, after a moment, Faye craned her head round in our direction. I’d have to ring her and smooth things over. She was always going on about Lee flying off the handle over nothing. Hopefully we’d end up having a good laugh about our husbands squaring up to each other over a schoolboys’ game of rugby.
When we got home, Victor went off to the shower and Patrick made us tea. ‘Lee can be a right pompous idiot sometimes. We’ve spent years listening to what a brainbox Georgia is and what a sporting talent Jordan has. But he can’t bring himself to acknowledge that Victor is far better than anyone else on that pitch. And he could actually cut him a bit of slack, give Victor something to be excited about rather than getting stuck on whether he’s having it too easy. No other kids at that school are having to deal with their mum dying.’
Patrick’s strength of feeling surprised and heartened me, appearing like it did as the first green shoots of spontaneous interest in Victor’s welfare. I was the eternal malcontent though.
‘You’re right, but let’s try not to fall out with anyone over it. I think people struggle with change. It’s such a close-knit school. They’ve all been together since they were five. Maybe they’re just threatened by someone new coming in. Lee’s always been a bit pushy about Jordan’s rugby.’
Patrick scowled. ‘Well, tough shit. He’d better not trot out that “running in the DNA” line again or I really will take him to task.’ So he had noticed Lee’s comment. I was glad it wasn’t just me being super sensitive.
For the umpteenth time, I wished I could apologise to Ginny for not understanding properly on the rare occasions she moaned about people thinking they knew what she was like because she was black. All that having to take it in good spirit when the lads at work used to sing ‘Simply the Best’ every time she walked into an editorial meeting. I’d actually been a bit envious that she got such a welcome, as though they were specifically waiting for her to turn up. Whereas people only tended to notice me if the coffee and sandwiches didn’t arrive on time.
Now though, twenty-six years on, I really understood how offensive the constant references to something that was just the body she was born with must have been. A bit like those irritating people saying, ‘You’ve got a spot on your nose,’ in case there was any