Autumn in Kensington

Soccer Hooligans

“Come on, come on! Let’s go. We need to head for the pub. “ Veronica said, leaning over to tell me. She did her best to motion over at John to indicate that we were leavin’ but honestly, we had no idea if he saw. I nudged Chrissie in the arm to let her know that we were leavin’. The three of us began to wade through the crowd to get toward the front door. I kept my hand in the middle of Chrissie’s back and kept her in front of me, leading her through an appropriate path. Veronica was behind me as we made our trail. Chrissie opened the door, the cool October night hitting us in a rush.

 “Shit! It’s cold out here tonight.” I commented, rubbing my shoulders after stepping outside in front of the bar.

 “Whoa…when did Autumn get here?” Veronica asked coming outside behind me.

 “I know! Can you believe this!?” I was still holding my shoulders. The three of us headed down the street, weaving in and out of pedestrian traffic on the sidewalks. The pub was only two blocks from the bar so it wasn’t a far.

“What did you think of the show?” I asked Chrissie.

 “It was really good. But, it’s hard to concentrate on anything.” she said. That was a familiar soundin’ response to me because it’s exactly what my reaction was at one point.

 “Good. You’re gonna’ have a terrible time playin’ pool when Brian’s standin’ right beside you.” I winked at her.

 “LYDIA!” Chrissie sighed. “I may as well just surrender to you now. You’re gonna’ keep this up all night.”

 “Relax! Once I have my game and my Roger I will leave you alone. You know I love you.” I told her.

 “That’s one of the sweetest things, Lydia!” Veronica said. “You’re such a nice friend.” We looked into oncoming traffic as we poured into a crosswalk along with the crowd. The city was active tonight. We had another block to go.

 “What happened to all that talk of how nervous you were gonna’ be and how you’d have nothing at all to talk to Brian about?” I antagonized Chrissie.

 “We’ve got so many things to talk about! I don’t know where to start!” she said seriously. Veronica and I laughed at her. We…well, wait…I…. picked up our pace a little as we walked through the sidewalk in the next block.

 “Lydia, you can slow down. We don’t have to run there.” Veronica taunted me for walkin’ so quickly.

 “We’ve already missed the kick-off! If we get there by nine we won’t miss the first half.” I told her, referring to the Manchester and Leeds game. Chrissie laughed at me.

 “She’s been like this for as long as I’ve known her.” She told Veronica.

 “It’s so funny! I just don’t think sports when I think of Lydia.” She shared with Chrissie. She spent the next few minutes talking to Chrissie as we approached the pub on the left.  I opened the door and immediately eyes shot our direction. I stood there a moment, fixin’ my hair from the air rushin’ through the door. Chrissie and Veronica were behind me. There weren’t many other girls in here tonight. A host walked up to us quickly.

 “Hello Ladies! Welcome to McNally’s. Three of you?” he asked us.

 “Actually, we need a table for seven.” I said. “And tell me…what will it take to get a table close to the telly?” The host looked around.

 “Hmm…well, I’m not sure I can do that. I’m not supposed to double seat in sections.” The hose told me.

 “Dane, is it?” I asked examinin’ his name tag. “Listen, Dane…” I was digging through my purse. “…will this get us a table near the game and a pool table reserved for  just us?” it tickled Veronica that I actually went through with bribing a restaurant host with money. Chrissie’s eyes grew wide.