call it what you want

6. not now but someday

The team was gathered at the Crown and Anchor that night per Ted's request. Vic stood pressed against the wall next to Roy who did a double take seeing her against the wall. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

She tilted her head, "Standing here?"

"That's the fucking thing, you've got a fucked leg." He pulled out the chair next to him. "Sit." Vic wanted to protest but he held his hand out, a warning look in his eyes. She sighed, handing him her cane as she sat down next to him with a huff.

Ted stood at the front counting heads when he looked down at Vic. "Have you seen Jamie?" With a quick look around her attention returned back to Ted.

"No, I haven't. I put the word out in the team group chat, he should've seen it." Isaac very quickly added her to the team chat the day she shot back at Jamie in the locker room. Ted nodded solemnly before looking around to the rest of the team trying to get their attention, much to no avail. "Boys!" Vic screamed, all the boys turned to look at her. "Listen to Ted."

"Alright, thank you guys for coming out." Ted clapped his hands together. "Look, I don't know a lot about this stuff, you know. I don't know about curses but I do know this, they don't last forever." Vic opened her mouth to protest but decided against it. "Okay, look at the Boston Red Sox curse. That's over." Her eyes fluttered over to Roy for some clarity, he brushed her off. "Chicago Cubs, over. Heck, even Mr. Martin Scorsese finally won his Oscar."

He did do that.

"But I think we can all agree that The Departed is not necessarily his best work. That belongs to The Color of Money."

Suddenly Colin spoke up. "No, it's Goodfellas."

"Nah, nah." She turned around to see Isaac shaking his head. "It's Age of Innocence, bruv." Vic tilted her head.

Close, close. But not it.

"Cape Fear!" Beard called out.

"Silence!" Roy screamed next to her.

"No!" All the boys plus Mae turned to look at the girl who just screamed out. "It's After Hours obviously!"

Roy tilted his head nodding as Mae spoke up next to Ted. "Oi! Once the word that you lot are in here this place will turn into a fucking zoo, and the answers Mean Streets." Mae paused as the boys agreed.

Fair, fair, I'll give her that.

"You're all here because of this poster behind me." She sent it over to Higgins to elaborate.

"Are you a fast, fit, fan of football?" Higgins read the old poster off. Suddenly she could feel someone sitting on her other side, turning she found Sam there. They smiled at each other for a second before returning their attention back to Mae as she spoke.

"Hundreds of those posters were put up around Richmond on the 18th of November, 1914."

1914, 1914? Oh the fuckin' war! That war!

"It was an invitation for young men to try out to be a professional footballer. It said to come to our stadium that day. And it was a lie." Roy stretched his arm out, setting it on the back of Vic's chair.

Higgins continued, "In 1914, the war was raging. There was no tryout. Just recruiters, waiting to encourage those boys to fight the fight. They enlisted 400 lads that day, very few of them came home. Do you know where they went for their physical?"

"Oh Christ it's our treatment room isn't it?" Nate spoke suddenly from behind Vic and Sam. The boys began clamoring talking all at once.

Isaac's voice spoke louder than the others. "Wait, wait, wait. What you're telling me is that we've got 400 ghosts?"