The Chain (A Catherine Diary) - Stamfield. Complete

Chapter 80

80

I dropped my head back to my pillow, wondering what I was getting myself into. I was broken from that thought by another phone call, I grabbed the phone rashly coming up with some excuse as to why I couldn't meet her tonight, but then noticed Jack's name on the phone.

'Hi, how'd it go?', I said rolling my body to the side and folding my pillow to support my head at an angle.

'Hi to you too', he replied sarcastically, 'I'm fine, thanks for asking, how are you?'

'Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so abrupt'

'It's okay, I'm just pulling your leg. It went alright, the training went well, turns out I'm not that bad at rugby, just a bit shit at the rules. They put me on what they called the right wing.....'

'Jack', I interrupted, 'I know this may come out rude, but I'm not interested in the rugby, I want to know about Dwayne'.

'I was going to get to that', he paused, his voice calm, 'is there something wrong, you sound a little stressed. Did your evening go alright with our dad?'

'Can we talk about that another time, right now I still have to get dressed for college, so please tell me what happened'.

'You're not dressed, does that mean you're naked?', he asked cheekily.

'No Jack, I'm wearing my pajamas'

'Oh, what a shame'

'Jack', I raised my tone, to push him.

'Okay, okay. Dwayne was wearing his chain, with the pendants on them before and after the match, he didn't wear them while playing. But, the trouble was I couldn't get a chance to look at it, because there was always someone else in the changing rooms with me.'

'Damned'. I had failed. My day was already sinking, with a likelihood of reaching depths exceeding the previous day.

'You still there?'

'Yes. It was worth a try, thanks anyway', I said demoralized.

'What? Giving up so easily'

'What other choice do I have?', a tint of hope breaking into the sentence. "Jack, please tell me you have an idea", I repeated to myself three time before he spoke.

'Well I did think the two of us could just confront him',I was immediately deflated, I was about to shoot down his idea, when Jack continued talking, 'but I came up with a better one'.

I sat up on the edge of my bed. 'Go on'

'Well there's a mid-week match tonight, after college....'

'You're gonna try again', I interrupted him anxiously.

'No. This time you are'

'What?', I figured I must have misheard him and squeezed the mobile phone closer to my ear.

'I've spoken with the coach and agreed that you could come to the match as an assistant physio. I told him you were doing your sports therapy course and it would be good experience for you'.

'No Jack, there's no way. For a start, I'm not doing sports therapy, I'm doing massage and.....'

'....and nothing. Massage, sports therapy, peaches and pears, it's all the same thing. All the physios ever do is massage thighs and shoulders'

'I think you'll find there's much more to it than that'

'Listen, the physio is always the last person to leave the changing rooms and always the first there after the match. It would be a perfect opportunity for you to check it.'

'But I don't know anything about being a physio'

'You've intelligent, you can blag it'.

I went silent, I wondered if I was capable of this.

'How else are you going to get back Carla's pendant'

'Assuming he has it', I said