Support Play

by Ella Jackson

  I stood up and looked around the room. "Hey, give me a hand to get the suitcase downstairs? I think it's too heavy for me to manage on my own."

  Nicole nodded. "Even though I don't want you to leave, I guess I have to help. Just let me change out of this get up, and when we're done go out and get us lunch." She made a face. "Rice bran muffin. Yay."

  By the time I'd finished sweeping and dusting, Nicole was back with muffins and coffee. I took one from her, and bit gratefully into it,

  "Thanks for not getting me a rice bran one," I mumbled in between bites. "I really needed this. Looks like packing works up a sweat."

  Nicole sipped on her coffee, and pulled bits of her rubbery muffin apart, slowly and unenthusiastically. "Yeah, it sure does. Maybe I could turn it into a workout regime. I can get people to come round and pack other people's stuff. What you think?"

  I frowned, in between bites of muffin. "To be honest, it's not the dumbest workout idea I've ever heard. Give it a try."

  She stood up again, and surveyed the room. "Now I need to figure out whether I'm going to get a flatmate or not. It's not like I want to replace you so soon, but I need the rent."

  I reached over and patted her shoulder. "I know, babe. Look, I'm really sorry to be leaving, you know?"

  Nicole waved a finger on my face with a shocked expression. "No way! This is your fairytale, right? I'll be damned if I'm going to let you say even a word about it. Sure, I'm gonna miss you, but you're only moving to another suburb. You're not moving to Mars."

  "Yeah, you're right." I sighed. "This is all incredibly sudden, but…"

  Nicole made pretend vomiting motions with her finger. "Stop with the schmaltzy crap already. Just because I approve of your romantic happy ending, doesn't mean I have to have a front row seat to it when it's actually going on. You know I hate that Nicholas Sparks romantic comedy crap, right?"

  "Yeah," I grinned theatrically, "I know. Hey, I just had thought – is that mean you're the sassy best friend?"

  Nicole pelted me with a bit of muffin. It bounced off my forehead and flew into the farthest corner of the room. "Shut up!"

  I pointed at it. "I'm going to have to go and pick that up, you realise."

  "It's better than eating it, believe me. Anyway, I'm not anyone's sassy best friend, thank you very much. Now, when is Dale coming to get you?"

  I checked my watch. "He should be here in about 10 or 15 minutes. I'm surprised he hasn't called get; he said he was going to give me some warning when he was inbound with the trailer. I offered to get movers, but he insisted on doing it all himself. Said it was good crosstraining."

  "Very manly." Nicole looked speculative. "Maybe I'll come down and watch while he's lifting things."

  I giggled. "Is this the part where I say, 'hands off my man?' I can't imagine ever actually saying that to anyone, let alone you."

  My phone buzzed, and I looked down. It was Dale. "Hello?"

  What he had to say to me made my face go white, and my heart starts pounding. "Keisha. It's… It's Daisy."

  The air gone suddenly chill, and I found myself fidgeting. "Dale, what's the matter?"

  His voice had a tone in it. I'd never heard from him before. Normally so measured and confident he sounded harsh, broken, almost cracked. "Ms Cooke said she didn't turn up for school this morning. She'd only just called because she'd assumed she was with me. Said it was unusual, but didn't think anything out of the ordinary at the time. I dropped her off this morning, and that was the last anyone had seen of her."

  "Oh no. Dale, I'm so sorry." I was aware of the pounding of blood in my ears, and across the room I could see Nicole's mouth working frantically, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. "Can we get out and look for her? Now?"

  "I've got the team out now. Tanya is down at the station, organising a search party right now. I don't know what else to do, Keisha."

  "Dale, it'll be okay. She's fine." I kept on saying the words, even though I knew I couldn't be certain of them. "Where shall I meet you?"

  "At the police station." His voice was hoarse. "I'm going there now." Without waiting for me to reply, I heard a clunk of the phone being cut off.

  I put the phone down, and looked up at Nicole to see her eyes were full of tears.

  Nineteen

  Dale

  I swear I broke every traffic law in the book on the way to the station, but there was no one around, so it didn't matter. I wouldn't have cared anyway; I wouldn't have stopped if they were after me with lights and sirens.

  By the time I pulled up outside, I could see Will's car and a couple of the others as well. Inside, Tanya was at the front desk, talking to the duty sergeant in low tones. She turned and faced me, her face worried.

  "Dale, we've got everyone spare out at the school now, combing the area. Can you tell me anything else about what happened?"

  I shook my head. "I don't know. I dropped her off at school, same as I always do, right? I mean, today was just the same as any other day, except it was a bit earlier than usual and most of the other kids weren't there yet. She was quite happy reading her book and waiting, though, and I thought she'd be safe. It was only when I got a call from Ms Cooke that I knew anything was wrong. There was no way of knowing."

  My head was spinning, and I was trying not to show it. Daisy was the most important thing in the world to me, and if anything happened to her…it hardly bore thinking about.

  Tanya's face creased with concern, and she put a hand on my shoulder. "Dale, it's gonna be okay, I promise." She looked around, gesturing to the police station. "We've got everything we need here, and statistically there's every chance of being able to find. Cheyenne is not a big town. There's only so many places she can be, and she can't have gone far from school anyway. Now, tell me exactly what happened up until the moment you dropped her off at school."

  I answered Tanya's questions in a daze, giving mechanical responses, as if I weren't really there.

  My most important job in all the world was to take care of Daisy; everything else was because of her. My career, my life in sports, all of those things existed solely because of her. After her mother died, I held her in my arms and promise to myself that I would do anything for her, no matter what. Now, she could be anywhere lost, frightened, alone, and I wasn't… I wasn't fucking there.

  "Dale!" Tanya was in front of me, looking worried. "Dale, I've been asking you questions for the past 30 seconds and you haven't said a thing. I you okay?"

  I swallowed. "Yeah, I'm okay. Well, no, I'm not okay. What the fuck are we going to do, Tanya?"

  "It's all happening now. We'll find her, I promise."

  The door to the station banged open, and Will and the rest of the team walked in, somehow filling the space, despite the vaulted ceilings and large windows. Will walked straight up to me and put one hand on my shoulder.

  "Dale, I'm so sorry. Please let us know if there's anything we can do." He looked up at Tanya. "Is there?"

  She shook her head. "Look, it's all happening right now. I filled out a report, and we've got officers and squad cars circling the school area. If she's wandered off, or gotten lost, she can't get far. All we can do now is sit and wait, and try to keep a clear head."

  I felt a small hand on my knee, and looked to my left. Keisha was sitting there, ankles crossed, one hand on her lap. I don't know how long she'd been sitting there. She hadn't said anything; she was just watching me, her face a picture of concern. "Dale, sweetheart. This is awful."

  I looked away from her quickly. What can I say to her?

  I didn't ever think I would drag her into something like this, something that she never signed up for. I tried to find the words to explain that to her, but they wouldn't come.

  "Look," Will said, "I'll go back to training facility and try to round up anyone else I can. The more people are out looking for Daisy, the more chance we're going to find her, right?"

  Tanya nodded, gripping his arm. "Alright. Keep an eye on your phone, and someone will be in
touch with you as soon as something happens." She looked back at me, reaching out a hand. "Dale, do you want to go home, or do you want to –"

  "Here." It came out more as a croak. "I need to stay here." I don't know why but I somehow thought that by staying in the police station, there'd be more chance of me being useful. My head was screaming at me to get out there and look for myself, to do everything I could. But I knew that wouldn't help right now.

  Keisha settled into me, and I felt her slip one arm around my waist. I didn't know what to say to her, and I struggled to find the right words.

  "Keisha, I… You didn't sign up for this. I understand if you don't want to deal with it, okay?"

  Her face was puzzled. "What do you mean? I'm here, aren't I?"

  "Yeah. I know. But, look, not everyone has children, right?" It sounded stupid when I was saying, but I pressed on. "Maybe you don't want this…thing. Maybe you don't want this kind of hassle."

  The look of pure shock on her face made me jump. At first I thought she was going to cry, then she leaned in very, very close to me, and spoke in a soft but strong tone, so that all I could hear was her, blocking out the noise and bustle of the police station.

  "Now you listen to me, Dale Williams. You listen very carefully. I am here for you. I am here for the long haul. Nothing that you can say or do is going to get rid of me, okay? Not one thing. I want to be here for you through everything, through good times, and…bad times. If you'll have me, I'll be here, no matter what."

  I felt like I should say something, but I settled for just nodding. Keisha threw her arms around me and hugged me tight enough that even I found it a little bit difficult to breathe. She was surprisingly strong when she put a mind to it.

  "Now, you need coffee." She stood up. I raised a hand to protest, but she wasn't hearing it. "Just humour me, okay? It'll give you something to do, and it'll take your mind off what's going on."

  I got to my feet; the nervous energy that had built up inside me demanded to be released. "I need to do something, Keisha. I can't just fucking sit here. I should go out and look for her myself, I should…"

  "Dale," Tanya interrupted, "the most important thing is that you're here so you can be easily located as soon as Daisy is found, okay? You're not going to be any use to Daisy if you're out somewhere and we can't get hold of you, right?"

  Her voice was authoritative, and I found it hard to disagree with her. "So I know you want to go and do something, but the best thing for you to do is to stay here, okay? Daisy is going to need you very soon, and when she does you're going to need to go straight to her."

  I sat down again. Reluctantly. Keisha disappeared quickly, returning with two cups of coffee, and handed me one. I sipped at it, slowly, the acrid, bitter liquid scalding my throat, but I hardly noticed. Every time I thought of Daisy being lost or hurt, it was like a physical blow, enough to make me sway in my seat. I couldn't imagine how any parent could lose a child and continue to live themselves.

  As we waited, Keisha never left my side. Throughout the succession of interviews, updates, and reports, she was there, right next to me, her small hand in mine, not saying much but always present. Whenever I looked down at her, she would look up at me, eyes full of sincerity and conviction, and whisper "it's going to be okay, Dale."

  I couldn't bring myself to completely believe her, but it sure as hell made things a little better. Forty-five minutes at least had passed, although it felt like years.

  Tanya's face was grey. "Okay, now we are broadening the search area to include the outlying buildings in the school. This is going to take longer, but I've put in a call for support from the surrounding towns. It's been a quiet day, so they should be able to spare a couple of squad cars." She turned to me, and I could tell she was about to try and comfort me. "Dale, I know you're worried, but this is quite normal. Often it can take a little while to find lost kids, and that doesn't mean anything."

  I wanted to say something, to say anything, to make a difference. But I knew there wasn't any point. "Okay." I nodded, standing up and walking back and forth across the room, to work off my nervous energy which had built up again. "What happens if we can't find her after another hour?"

  Beside me, Keisha squeezes my hand again. "Dale, honey, don't think about it. Let's just focus on what's directly in front of us, okay?"

  I turned to her. "Fuck, Keisha, there isn't anything in front of us, don't you understand? There isn't anything in front of me. Without Daisy there isn't anything for me at all." My voice came out harsher than I had intended to, and I checked myself immediately, feeling guilty. "Look, I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault, I just can't stand this…the sitting and waiting."

  Keisha's face was a study in misery. "I know, Dale. I know."

  The door to the station banged open, and a uniformed cop came in on the phone, he looked at me, then he looked at Tanya still talking, phone pressed to his ear. Tanya beckoned him over and took him into another room. I stood up and went to follow them, but Tanya warned me off with a shake of her head. After what seemed like an eternity she came out, shutting the door behind her.

  "Dale, they found her." A pause. "She's completely okay. She needed to use the bathroom, and she went to the basement of the old gymnasium because nowhere else was open. Security came round to check the place, and they must have locked it all up without realising anyone was in there. No-one would have heard her banging on the door, because the place is solid concrete. She's upset, and frightened, but there's not a scratch on her. She'll be fine."

  Tension seemed to drain out of my body, to the point where I had to grip the doorframe to stay upright.

  Twenty

  Keisha

  The night was crisp and cold, and I was glad I had invested in a thick jacket over my brand spanking new Thunderbirds Jersey.

  I had told my mother about Dale, and she insisted that they were going to come and visit within the next month. The idea of me being in a relationship with a pro athlete was…novel to her, but she took to it remarkably well. By the end of the conversation, my mother was dropping significant hints about making babies.

  Now, I don't know how the man that stole my heart felt about this, but something told me he wouldn't be completely averse to the idea.

  The stadium was filling up, and the team management were all assembled in the coaches box. Tanya was coming later this time; still tidying up paperwork from the backlog caused by dropping everything to search for Daisy. Jessie and I were together in the coaches box, and I was helping her as much as I could, running errands and taking messages while she tapped away on her laptop and communicated instructions at the last minute to will and the team, down in the players tunnel.

  All of this felt so surreal; like it wasn't really happening. The horror of Daisy going missing for that short time was like a nightmare, and this felt like the gentle sort of dream you'd have in the morning, when you're just about to wake up, but the world around you is so pleasant that you just don't want to.

  Inside, I prayed that this wasn't a dream, or if it was, that I didn't wake up.

  "Hey, Keisha," Jessie waved some papers in front of me. "Could you take these outside to the security guys, please?"

  I came back to myself. "Sure thing, Jess." It was nice to be doing something useful again. My story wasn't going to write itself, but for the moment I was happy.

  It was 10 minutes till kickoff, and everyone was nearly ready. Jessie had delivered last-minute instructions to Will and the team, who were down in the tunnel now, getting ready to run out. I'd seen soccer games before, but only on television; this was the first time I'd actually been in the middle of the noise and bustle of a real life game.

  The stadium was nearly full, a sea of purple Thunderbirds flags and scarves waving in the cold night air. I was amazed at how quickly the town had got behind the new team; maybe it was just the first game when, but from everything I'd seen from the team, and in the papers, it sounded like people were really gravitating to them.

/>   "Hey, you." Tanya sat down next to me, handing me a cup of coffee. She was out of her uniform, and dressed simply in jeans and a Thunderbirds switcher like I was. Out of her uniform, she looked smaller, less commanding, more approachable.

  I smiled at her, and took the coffee gratefully. "Thanks. It's cold enough to need it. Everything okay at the station?"

  She nodded. "Yeah, it's okay. There's always a lot of tidying up to do in a situation like this, but it can wait for tonight, at least. I promised Will that I would make it to as many games as my job would let me, and I need to keep up with that promise."

  Jessie looked up from her laptop briefly and saw Tanya. "Hey, glad you could make it." I had learned that the two girls had become firm friends in the time that Jessie had been working with the Thunderbirds, and I was glad that she had someone to support her when I wasn't around. I realised how much having a sense of family mattered to this team, and their response when Daisy went missing had proved that to me like nothing else ever could.

  I heard a swell of music from outside and looked up. The pre-game entertainment had started, pounding rock music and light shows sparkling about the stadium.

  Tanya grimaced. "I know Will hates this stuff, but I guess it gets the fans excited." She looked at me. "Imagine having to go to work with all of that going on. I don't think I'd be able to do it."

  I nodded. "Yeah, most of my work is done sitting at a desk with a cup of coffee. The idea of having to do your job in front of thousands of people screaming at you. Makes my blood run cold."

  "Did you think about inviting anyone else? I know that Jessie gave you a couple of tickets, huh?"

  "Only my flatmate Nicole. I'm going to miss her now I'm living at Dale's place, and maybe if I can get her to come to these games, it'll be a chance for us to see each other. How about you?"