LINK: the article that inspired this story (BBC News).⚡
“Police injured and 19 arrested in Celtic celebrations”
(19.05.2024)
It’s a Saturday, and there’s a match on.
That means one of two things: either I’ll finally get the time off - and actually do some preparing - or I’ll get the phone call.
What world do I think I’m living in? I’ll get the phone call. It’ll be around 1PM. I’ll have to go. You didn’t used to have to go, but you have to go now, so I’ll end up going. I’ll wrap up the chunks of sweet potato, put the spices back in the jam-jar, move the hoover out of the way of my shoes, put my shoes on, make sure I have my keys, and then go.
Tough luck, some have said to me, sometimes - but whatever. Whether it rains or the not the lentils will have two eyes.
I’ll wait for the bus and get those funny looks from everyone, get on the bus and get to the ward - probably for two, two-thirty. I’ll walk in to a building where it is hard to tell what’s daylight, and get up to the desk. Up front, where Connie sits, there’ll be the sound of the radio, fuzzy, beneath all this concrete, but with everyone stopping by to ask:
“What’s the score?”
“Nothing yet,” Connie will say back. They will nod their heads like they approve, but with a kind of tension.
“Okay. Let’s hope,” they’ll say back (or something to that effect), and rush off somewhere; new coloured, pieces of paper in their hand, looking back over their shoulder, the radio echoing faintly in the corridor.
I’ll go off and lock my things, tie my hair. I'll wonder what the stadium is like, and try not to think of the first goal. If it happens whilst I am doing this, I won’t hear the radio’s cheer, but I will hear it as it reaches me - through a wave of people, tired people. Something like a thin fabric. Tired people getting more tired.
I will be hoping for a draw - we will all be hoping for a draw. I’ll walk through a ward that is busy, but feels quiet because of what we’ve all adjusted to. Later, this part will not seem so bad. I’ll walk through to the screening rooms, where I have to pass the reception, and I’ll stop, and I’ll hear the fuzzy sound of the hordes, the onslaught, the endless swarm of bodies that will soon flood this desk and this radio (and these people); and I’ll daydream, and I’ll think of something new, like sweet potatoes and cardamom beef, and I’ll snap back into it, I’ll feel my feet in my shoes, and I’ll ask -
“What’s the score?”
…
Check out this cool collection of Ethiopian wisdoms/idioms that I found (the lentils line^).
disclaimer:
This is fiction. The views expressed in this publication do not reflect the views of the author. The stories themselves are based on imagined events. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is fictitious and should not be taken as representative.
Read the full disclaimer.
FOOTBALL---Gave up watching when the 'STUPID GROSS MONEY'started being paid. COPS= UNIFORM THUGS and miners/paper strikes/covid protests showed that in bright red colours!
Two eyed lentils??