MASTERMIND | Jamie Tartt

EIGHTEEN: COME BACK HOME

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For Billie's entire life, Roy Kent had always been her protector, as much as he could when he was two hundred and eighty six miles away in Sunderland. He tried his hardest to be there for his youngest sister in whatever way he could. He might not have been there to pick her up when she fell, or hug her while she sobbed over her first friendship fallout. But despite the distance between them he had always been Billie's personal superhero.

When he moved to Chelsea he was busier, but he was closer to home. He'd take his sisters out once a week for ice cream, and they'd tell him all about their weeks, and then when they'd ask about his week, he'd just ask more questions about theirs, because he didn't want to miss out on any of it, even the most mundane moments.

Roy never doubted his abilities as a footballer, he got paid to play a game because he was good at it, but he often doubted himself as a big brother. He worried that he wasn't there enough, when Billie was a baby he worried that she would forget his face.

But Billie never forgot, not his face, not his love, not everything that her older brother had done for her. So at the ripe age of twenty two, the same age her brother was when she was six, she felt that it was time to return the favour. She knew it wouldn't be easy, because Roy struggled with expressing his emotions at the best of times, never mind in front of his 'baby' sister.

So there she was, standing on Keeley's doorstep, armed with a tub of Roy's favourite flavour of ice cream, honeycomb crunch. Their mother would always keep a tub of it in the fridge for the days that Roy would visit, and even though the tub was meant for him he would always share it with his sisters, even if it left him with just a third of the tub.

The way he shared his love.

"You're here!" Keeley smiled as she opened the front door, wrapping her arms around the young woman.

"How is he?" Billie whispered, looking over Keeley's shoulder to see Roy sitting on the sofa while Phoebe sat at the dining table.

"Down in the dumpiest of dumps," Keeley whispered.

"You got spoons?" Billie pulled back, holding up the tub of ice cream.

"I've got spoons." Keeley nodded.

The two women made their way back into the house, catching the attention of Roy, while Phoebe remained none the wiser, listening to music with headphones on.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Roy huffed.

"Keeley invited me over for dinner," Billie smiled, placing the ice cream tub on the coffee table and sitting on the sofa beside her brother as Keeley fetched spoons from the kitchen.

"Honeycomb crunch ice cream is dinner now, huh?" Roy couldn't help but smile to himself.

"It's always been dinner," Billie smiled, "You okay, Royo?"

"I'm fine," Roy huffed.

"Ted spoke to you, didn't he?" Billie muttered.

"You know about that?" Roy asked.

"I know everything, I'm like Aslan," Billie replied, "So, are we talking about it?"

Roy paused, looking out the window before turning to his sister, "Football is all I've ever known, it's all I'm good at."

Billie sighed, looking at Phoebe, Phoebe who didn't care how many goals her uncle scored or how many passes he made or how many minutes he played in a match, "Phoebe," Billie called out, "Pheebs!"

Phoebe removed her headphones, turning to face Billie and Roy, "I didn't know you were coming, Auntie Billie."

"It was a surprise," Billie smiled, "Come here, Pheebs."