by Tom Palmer
Craig tried to speak, but Yunis went on.
‘It’s none of your business what I do,’ Yunis shouted. ‘Just because your dad’s here with you…’
‘No, I’m…’
Then Yunis pushed Craig again. And before Yunis could do anything to stop it, Craig was on top of him.
Yunis wasn’t sure how it had happened. Just that suddenly they were on the floor. But neither of them was hitting. They were just holding each other’s arms, rolling around.
Yunis could hear the chant of ‘Fight… fight… fight…’ from boys who were in a younger team. And all he could think was, I’m having a fight. I’m having a fight.
And then, suddenly, he was on his feet, pulled away. By Ryan, it turned out. And James had Craig, holding him back.
Yunis felt like a child. A small boy being pulled away from danger.
‘What are you doing?’ Ryan said, still holding Yunis back.
‘He…’ But that was all he could say. He was so angry and hyped up that he couldn’t speak.
‘If Steve saw that he’d kick you both out,’ Ryan said. ‘Out of United.’
‘So what?’ said Yunis. ‘Let him.’
‘Right,’ Ryan said with a captain’s authority. ‘Both of you. Go in there. You’ve got two minutes before Steve makes it across the fields and gets back here. Sort it out. If you start fighting again, I’ll tell Steve. And he’ll release you. Got it?’
Yunis and Craig were bundled into the dressing room.
The door slammed behind them.
Friends?
‘I was trying to be nice,’ Craig said, after a long silence during which neither boy had even glanced at the other.
‘Nice?’ Yunis was still angry. But he looked up at Craig.
‘Yes, nice.’
‘How was that nice: taking the mick out of me reading in the dressing rooms?’
Craig had got to the root of Yunis’s problem. And Yunis didn’t like it. But he could tell Craig was trying to sort things out. And they had less than two minutes before Steve came back and then they’d be in trouble. Big trouble.
‘I wanted to say…’ Craig said. ‘About my dad…’
‘I’m sorry about what I said about your dad,’ Yunis said. He knew he should say something back to Craig. Something kind. He thought it would help them out of this mess.
‘At home,’ Craig went on, ‘after my dad left, my brother sort of took over. He never sees my dad. But…’
‘That can’t be easy,’ Yunis said.
‘It isn’t. I can only see Dad so many hours a week. And that’s used up by him bringing me to the football. So I never see him otherwise.’
Craig looked at his hands for a moment.
‘So, back to my brother, he…’ Craig paused again. ‘The reason I said something about you reading was that, because my brother’s such a… you know.’
Yunis nodded. ‘Is he older?’
‘Yeah,’ Craig said. ‘And he thinks he’s my dad now. More like my boss even. He doesn’t give me a minute’s peace. So, I can never do my homework.’
Yunis frowned.
‘My dad used to keep him from giving me a hard time,’ Craig went on. ‘When he lived with us.’
‘Can’t you go to your dad’s?’ Yunis said.
‘No, he’s only allowed that time with me. They went to court and he has to do what they say.’
‘What about your mum?’
‘She’s barely there. She’s got two jobs. One all day. Then she works in a pub in the evening.’
Yunis was feeling really bad about Craig now. He’d thought he was an idiot, a troublemaker. But he was wrong.
‘That’s hard,’ Yunis said.
‘And that’s why I was looking at you reading. I’d been thinking I could do the same thing. Do some homework after I got sent off. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it when I got home.’ Craig smiled.
‘Listen,’ Yunis said. ‘I’m sorry about what I said. But I didn’t know. It must be a nightmare at home.’
‘It’s all right,’ Craig said. Then he looked at Yunis. ‘What about your dad?’
Yunis shrugged. ‘He’s not happy with me being at United.’
‘Why not? Isn’t he a United fan?’
‘No, he’s…’ Then Yunis smiled. ‘He used to be. But he thinks it stops me doing my school work.’
‘So you end up doing it in the dressing rooms?’
‘Something like that,’ Yunis said.
‘He’s probably only doing it because he’s worried,’ Craig said.
‘I suppose.’
And then the rest of the lads came in. Closely followed by Steve Cooper.
‘All right, lads?’ Steve said, looking at them like he knew something was going on.
‘Yeah,’ Craig and Yunis said together.
Ryan and James looked at each other and shared a smile.
Dad’s Idea
‘How was training today, Yunis?’
Dad asked him this with no hint of criticism. No anger or worry in his voice. Just a question.
The family were eating dinner. In the dining room again. Yunis’s sister was out at a friend’s house.
Yunis looked at his mum. He saw her smile as she lowered her face.
‘It was good, thanks. I got to know Craig a bit better.’
‘Good,’ Mum said. ‘You’re making friends.’
Dad was nodding. And Yunis wasn’t quite sure what was going on. His dad was different. Being nice. No pressure.
‘Your dad’s had an idea,’ Mum said.
Yunis looked up to catch Dad eyeing Mum.
Now he knew there was something going on. This was a set‐up. His mum and dad had planned something and this was their softly‐softly way of telling him what it was.
But, on the other hand, this was better than his dad being cross with him all the time. And the threat of being pulled out of the Academy.
‘What’s that?’ Yunis said, trying to sound interested.
‘You know I get frustrated about the time you lose between school and the Academy?’
‘Yes, Dad.’ Yunis stayed calm. ‘I know. And I understand.’
‘Well, I’ve been talking to my work colleagues and they’re willing to let me work from home in the afternoon on training days.’
Yunis nodded.
He didn’t know where this was going. He started to feel a bit worried.
‘So I think…’ Dad said.
‘If Yunis is happy,’ Mum added.
‘Yes, of course,’ Dad said. ‘So we think… that I could come to collect you from school. At three. Then run you home. For 3.20 p.m. And set off for the Academy at 5.30 p.m.’
‘Then you’ll have two hours in the afternoon, Yunis,’ Mum said. Her voice was insistent. That meant Yunis had to agree to this.
‘Great,’ Yunis said.
It did sound OK. He’d still be at United. He’d have time to do some homework. And his dad would be happy. It was a pain getting two buses to United from school, hanging around at the Academy without somewhere he could sit and work properly.
‘And I’ll sort you out a sandwich. You can eat it as you work. Yes?’ Mum said.
‘Yes,’ Yunis said. Then he felt his mum’s eyes on him. He looked up. She was looking at him like she was staring down the barrel of a gun.
And Yunis realized what she wanted.
‘Thank you, Dad,’ Yunis said. ‘That’s very kind of you.’
‘It’s OK, Yunis,’ Dad said. ‘I think this will work for all of us.’
Craig’s Idea
Yunis was at school when his mobile phone buzzed in his pocket.
He looked at the screen.
‘Craig?’ he said to himself. ‘Why is he texting me?’
The message was from Craig. Yunis had all the other lads in the team on his mobile contacts list. Steve Cooper had asked them to. So they could stay in touch on away‐game days.
GOT AN IDEA. MEET B4 TRAINING? CRAIG
Yunis texte
d back.
OK. SOON AS.
Y
Yunis grinned. Things were looking up. He was friends with the boy he thought was his worst enemy a week ago. His dad was happy with him at United. And school was getting better.
It felt great.
At last, he thought. Everything is going well.
After his final class, Yunis jogged down the school drive to see his dad, as promised, waiting at the bottom.
‘Hey, Dad.’
‘Hello, Yunis. Good day at school?’
‘Great, thanks.’
‘Right. Let’s get you home.’ And with that his dad pulled out on to the main road.
‘We’ll get on to the ring road,’ Dad said. ‘Be home in twenty minutes.’
‘Great,’ Yunis said.
But as they turned on to the ring road, Dad’s face changed.
‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘Look at the queues.’
Two lanes of traffic were tailing back as far as they could see. Horns were beeping in the distance.
Yunis’s heart sank.
After fifteen minutes of crawling along, during which Dad said nothing, he turned off, left, on to a smaller road.
‘We’ll try and take a short cut. Up through Old Chelsea.’
Yunis nodded vigorously. He wanted his dad to see that he agreed with what he had decided to do. With anything he decided to do. But the smaller roads were gridlocked too. Yunis’s dad was not the only one who’d thought a short cut through Old Chelsea would be a good idea. After over thirty minutes on the smaller roads, Dad edged the car back on to the ring road.
It was over an hour since they’d left school. And not much over an hour before they would have to leave for the Academy. And that was if the traffic was good. Dad said nothing for the next ten minutes. But Yunis could see him gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles going white.
Yunis took out Macbeth. He started to read, to try and make his dad less angry. But still Dad said nothing.
Once they got home, they collected Yunis’s sandwiches and left immediately for the Academy. No time for work. No time to eat. Just time for Mum and Dad to have a short conversation on the doorstep.
They drove back the way they’d come. More traffic jams. More roadworks. More hooting horns. But silence from Dad. Yunis would have preferred him to be shouting. Silence was worse. He wanted to know what his dad was thinking. But he found out soon enough, when they arrived at United.
‘Yunis?’ Dad said.
‘Yes?’ This was it. Yunis knew it. He cast his eyes out across the training fields, through the trees.
‘I’m sorry. But this is your last time here. After today, I want you to stop coming to United.’
His dad was staring down at his knees as he said this. Yunis looked at him, tears forming in his eyes, then running down his cheeks.
Last Time
Yunis went into the building, like he normally did. Through the glass doors, past the reception desk. But the Academy seemed different to him. Like it had the day he came here for his trial.
And he realized why.
Everything was in sharp detail for him today. Because today was the last day he would see any of this.
There was no sign of Craig, so Yunis went straight to the dressing rooms. He thought he was the first, but James was sitting there.
They got changed together and went out to the pitch early for a kick about.
As they left, they heard Ryan taunting Tomasz again. Outside the dressing room.
‘Speak English, Tomasz. You’re in England now. You can’t expect us to learn Polish.’
‘I wish Ryan would lay off Tomasz,’ James said.
Yunis nodded. He agreed.
‘You’re quiet today,’ James said, as they walked over the bridge towards the pitches.
For ten minutes Yunis and James played long balls to each other, using the width of a pitch. James’s passing was amazing; the ball landing at Yunis’s feet every time. Yunis concentrated on trapping the ball, then playing it back to James, all with quick movement of his feet.
It felt good to be here, in control of a football, playing better than he ever had, playing with the son of an England international at United’s Academy.
He couldn’t believe it was nearly over.
They played a full game in training. Eight‐a‐side.
‘Right, lads,’ Steve Cooper said. ‘I want a quick game. One touch. No dribbling. Just pass and move. Use the skills we’ve been building up with the short passing.’
Craig had arrived with Steve, just as the training session was about to begin.
‘I’ll talk to you after,’ he said to Yunis.
Yunis nodded.
The game was great. All the work they’d done on passing paid off. Yunis played up front with Will. Half the time the one‐touch game led to his side losing the ball. But the other half of the time it led to swift attacks that the defenders couldn’t deal with.
The best moment was when Yunis knocked the ball to Chi, who knocked it to Will. Because Yunis had moved forward, his back to the goal, Will played it back to him. Yunis played the ball first time to James, then dropped his shoulder to spin round his defender. James played it to Will again, who slid the ball to Yunis, ten yards out.
Yunis hit the ball.
‘Great goal,’ Steve said. ‘Stop the game.’
Steve gathered everyone in a huddle. ‘That was perfect. Well done, Yunis. All that passing and movement. The best defences in your age group would struggle with defending that.’
Yunis grinned and looked across at the parents. He checked them. One by one. Was his dad there? Had he come to see him play at least once?
No, of course not.
Craig jogged over to Yunis as the team made their way back to the dressing rooms.
‘I talked to Steve,’ he said breathlessly.
Yunis was feeling sick. He still hadn’t told anyone that this was his last time here.
‘Listen,’ Yunis said. ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’ He was surprised it was Craig he was going to tell. He thought it would be Jake.
‘No, you listen,’ Craig said. ‘I had this idea. I asked Steve if we can use one of the classrooms? The ones they use for the over‐sixteens.’
‘I’m leaving,’ Yunis said.
But Craig hadn’t heard him and carried on talking. ‘And Steve said yes, that we can have one of the rooms. Any time from three until six. The two nights we have training.’
Yunis looked at Craig. He felt something welling up inside him. Something he’d not felt for days, even weeks.
Hope.
Football People
‘Mr Khan?’
Yunis’s dad looked up from his laptop to see a man in a tracksuit tapping on his car window.
He immediately felt the anxiety he always felt around football people. Like he was a boy again.
But he opened his door and stepped out of the car.
‘We’ve not met,’ Steve said. ‘I’m Steve Cooper. Yunis’s team manager.’
The two men – both so important to Yunis – shook hands.
Yunis’s dad thought Steve must want to talk about Yunis leaving. He thought that perhaps he was going to try to persuade him to reconsider.
‘I wanted to talk to you about the boys’ idea,’ Steve said.
Yunis’s dad nodded, hesitantly.
A part of him wanted to smile. Yunis had come up with some idea, some scheme to stay at the Academy. This was one of the things he loved about his son – for always thinking of a new way of doing something.
‘I’m sorry,’ Yunis’s dad said. ‘What idea? I –’ He was about to tell Steve that he was withdrawing Yunis from the Academy. But Steve broke in.
‘The idea that he and Craig… you know Craig?’
Yunis’s dad frowned. ‘No, I’m sorry…’
‘That Yunis and Craig use one of the classrooms here. For two hours before training to do their school work. I know it’s a concern of parents. Maybe more of th
e lads will do it.’
‘That is a good idea,’ Yunis’s dad said in surprise.
Suddenly he felt happy. He’d been sitting in the car for two hours feeling awful after seeing his son so sad. And regretting being so rash after the traffic jams.
‘Yes,’ he said again. ‘That is a very good idea.’
‘Good,’ Steve said. ‘Also, I wanted to confirm…’
But Steve stopped talking. Yunis’s dad wasn’t looking at him. He was staring over his shoulder.
Steve looked round. The man Yunis’s dad had been staring at was James’s dad, talking to some of the other dads.
‘Do you know Cyril?’ Steve said.
‘Cyril?’ Yunis’s dad said.
‘Cyril Cunningham?’
Yunis’s dad nodded vigorously. ‘I do. Well, I know of him. It’s just I haven’t seen him for twenty years.’
‘I’ll take you over…’
‘No,’ said Yunis’s dad quickly. ‘You were saying.’
‘Yes,’ Steve said. ‘About Warsaw. Can I confirm that Yunis is not coming? Just for my paperwork?’
‘Warsaw?’
‘The trip?’ Steve said. ‘To Poland? To play the tournament?’
And Yunis’s dad understood immediately what had happened. The team were going on a trip to Poland. And Yunis had been too scared to ask him if he could go.
As he watched Steve walk back to the Academy, Yunis’s dad leaned on his car.
He had some thinking to do.
Free Kick
Yunis lined up the free kick.
Twenty yards out. Four men in the wall. The keeper standing to the right of the goal.
He felt good. Really good.
At last the fear that his dad was going to pull him out of United had gone.
They’d talked about it after the training session on Wednesday, when Dad had had his chat with Steve. And Dad had loved the classroom idea. Yunis had been ripping through his homework ever since, thanks to Craig. He felt like he really could keep up with his school work and be at the Academy. No problem.