We had this in the bag, I was sure of it. There was no way they could come back and get us now, but I wasn’t slowing down anyway. My legs screamed in pain as I sprinted up the wing looking for Joel. He was right where I wanted him, directly in front of goal – he could always predict my play better than anyone. My kick went long, really long, and landed smack bang in the middle of his chest.
The twenty thousand or so Rangers fans who’d made the trek across the Nullarbor to be here at the MCG were on their feet, roaring. I turned to the cheer squad when the umpire waved through Joel’s goal, sealing the Grand Final for us. Raising both arms straight up in the air, I gave them a double thumbs up.
Almost every person in that stand responded by mirroring me with their own thumbs up.
Then the ball was back in the centre and it was time to shut the crowd out again, and to shut out the blinding pain in my calves and thighs as I ran back to position.
‘Finish it, boys! Man up! Let’s do this!’ I yelled above the crowd to my teammates.
The final siren sounded.
I fell onto my hands and knees and kissed the turf.
Before I knew it, Bruce was on top of me, shouting in my ear, ‘You fucking beauty, Harding!’ and within a couple of minutes, the entire team, the coaching staff and the ground crew were in a pack surrounding us – cheering, back-slapping, hugging, crying.
I looked up into the stand where Mum, Lily and Ross were seated. All three of them were jumping up and down with their arms around each other. They saw me wave and they waved back manically.
As one, the team ran over to the cheer squad and we clapped for them while they clapped for us. Then we sat with our legs stretched out in front of us, leaning back on our hands while the runners-up sat a bit further away with sombre faces and hunched shoulders – a feeling I remembered well from this time two years ago. We all waited for the formalities to begin.
There were a couple of speeches that I was way too buzzed to listen to and then the MC said it was time to announce the Norm Smith Medallist. It was Joel – for sure. It had to be Joel. Nobody came close to the amount of touches he’d had out there today.
The person giving the Norm Smith Medal speech was a player I grew up worshipping – Brendan Chesson. I assumed he was talking about Joel until I heard the words, ‘missed half the season with stress fractures’. My breath caught as he continued, ‘But since his return in June, he’s blown the nation away with his courage and determination, both on and off the field. He’s shown himself to be a true leader and he brings his A-game to every match, including today where he singlehandedly turned the game around in the third quarter. Ladies and gentleman, please show your appreciation for this very deserving Norm Smith Medallist, number 4 for the Western Rangers, Nicholas Harding!’
I was pushed from side to side by my teammates as I stood up, astonished.
The world moved in slow motion as I walked towards the stage and the noise drowned out until all I heard was the blood rushing between my ears. It sounded like the sea and I was taken back to a hot summer morning sitting out past the break on my surf board with Dad next to me on his as the sun beat down on our faces, thinking how peaceful it was to hear nothing but the sound of the lapping waves.
The clouds over the MCG parted to reveal the sun that had been hiding for the entire game. I lifted my face up to the sun, just like I did that morning out in the ocean with Dad and the rays from heaven shone right onto me. A deep warmth spread through me from my face, to my chest, to the tips of my fingers and toes. And I felt Dad – not figuratively, but actually here with me. He was here to see me play in the Rangers Premiership squad.
And just like that the sun disappeared behind the clouds again as did the sound of the sea between my ears.
The world shifted back into focus and my eyes adjusted after the bright glare of light. The cheer squad chanted my name as I jogged up the stairs to shake Brendan’s hand.
‘Um, well, I’m in shock really,’ I said into the microphone that echoed my words out to the ninety-thousand-plus people in the stadium. ‘Firstly, commiserations to Collingwood. They gave us a run for our money and made us work hard for this Premiership, so well done, guys, and good luck next year.’ I paused to let the crowd applaud. ‘Next up, to my teammates, we played some beautiful footy out there today, boys, and it was an honour playing with you all. To the coaching staff, Craig, in particular, thanks for the monumental effort you put in, week in, week out, to get us here. And to the Rangers fans, especially all of you who made the trip over from Perth to support us today.’ I turned my head to look at them. ‘The Rangers have the best football fans in the country. We’d be nothing without you. So cheers!’ A thunderous cheer erupted from the stands. ‘I’m lucky enough to have my family here in the crowd today, I want to thank them for all their support and I know my dad, who was my biggest supporter, is here watching over me too. And finally, to a special person who’s back home in Perth and I hope she’s watching.’ I found the camera and stared straight down the barrel. ‘Anna Hayati, thank you for showing me what it is to be brave and to believe in something.’ I held up the medal. ‘I love you and this is for you.’ My voice broke and I dropped my head.
When I sat back down, Joel leaned over. ‘Another perfect Nick Harding moment, mate, well done.’ He slapped my back.
But it wasn’t a perfect moment. It couldn’t be perfect unless I could share it with her.
I’d done everything she wanted these last four months. I gave her the distance she asked for a whole month. But then I couldn’t take it anymore so I went to the restaurant.
Fariz was coming out through the back door just as I was about to walk in.
‘Nick!’ He eyed me warily. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Um, hello, Fariz, I . . . ah . . . I came to see Anna.’ I wondered if he was about to pull a knife out on me again. He certainly looked like he wanted to.
‘Well, she doesn’t want to see you,’ he growled. ‘And she is not even here. She goes to Asylum Assist on Tuesdays. If she was here, I would forbid you to see her anyway.’
‘Is she okay, Fariz? I just need to know that she’s all right. I’ve stopped myself from going to Black Salt or the pool to see her, but—’
‘Well, you would not have found her at Black Salt or at the pool. She left her job there and she stopped swimming.’
‘What? She stopped swimming? She used to get anxious if more than a day went past and she couldn’t get to the pool. Swimming’s like breathing to her.’
‘I know.’ The wind picked up his combed-over hair and it spun about like a mini tornado on his head. ‘But, yes, it is exactly like she isn’t breathing these days.’
I flicked my own hair out of my eyes. ‘What do you mean?’
He leaned against his van and crossed his arms. ‘What is troubling Anna is no small matter. It hurts me here to see her like this.’ He gave his chest two big thumps with his chunky hand. ‘She has never once spoken of Leila since we buried her. Never once. And as if that was not enough you took advantage of her and now you have left her with a broken heart!’
‘What? I never took advantage of her in any way. What are you talking about Fariz? She’s the one who broke my heart!’ I said with feeling.
He didn’t answer. But he looked unconvinced.
‘Fariz, I love Anna. I’d do anything for her. Tell me what I can do to help.’
He sighed. ‘I think the pain is too deep for her to be helped. The mention of Leila makes her eyes blacken.’
‘It’s understandable that she’s angry. Leila abandoned her.’
He clicked his tongue. ‘No, no, she is not angry. I know my niece like I know my own heart.’ He looked me in the eyes. ‘She is only protecting herself from grieving by closing her heart off to her mother. It is easier to live without the mother you hate than without the mother you adore.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘But closing off her heart like this is not who she is, so it is affecting her badly and she has lost her spirit – she is just surviving now for Ricky and the—’ He coughed. ‘For Ricky. She has become the same shell her mother was before her. History is repeating itself, like it always does.’
‘Oh no.’ I couldn’t bear to think of Anna as the lifeless person her mother was.
We stood in silence in the wind.
‘Fariz, please don’t get angry but I need to know. Does she ever ask about me?’ I ventured.
‘No, but she appears from wherever she is if you are on the television. She reads every piece in the paper about you and every day I see her on her phone checking the internet for news of you. Do not be fooled by her silence. I myself was wishing she could forget you because you brought so much misery with you.’ He gave me a filthy look and I squirmed under his stare. ‘But as the time passes, I am seeing that she is even more miserable without you than she was with you.’ He sighed.
‘Well, I know how miserable I am without her, and without Ricky too. Is he okay?’
‘Yes, he is well. He watches every Rangers match.’
My heart thumped. ‘How’s he coping without Leila?’
He shrugged. ‘Leila was dead long before she left her body. Ricky’s life is not much different to when she was alive. It was Anna who took care of him.’
I nodded.
‘And Anna is wonderful with him.’ There was real pride in his voice. ‘For Ricky, she smiles and laughs and plays. But as soon as he turns his head the other way, she stops acting, and as soon as she stops acting, I see how broken she is.’
‘Is she eating, Fariz?’
‘Enough to stay alive. She eats, she sleeps, and she cares for Ricky. This is all she does.’
‘But she goes to uni too, right?’
‘She has deferred her university degree.’
This was too much. ‘Are you kidding me? She deferred uni?’
Studying law was her one big dream. Anna had fought so hard for months to get her Baccalaureate recognised. She even had a countdown going on her phone for the number of sleeps left before she started her degree.
What was her dream now? Anything?
‘I don’t understand, why did she defer uni?’ I asked him.
‘I am ashamed to admit to you, that it is my fault she made this decision. I was unable to keep paying two of my staff because of the debt I am in. These days, Anna, Rosa and I must work longer hours. She cannot go to university while she is working this much. Since the vandalism and attacks on the restaurant we have had almost no business. And the conservative members of our community disapprove of Anna so they do not want to eat here anymore, and they were the ones who filled our tables every night. Even though Anna is only in the kitchen now and does not waitress anymore to keep hidden from their view, they still do not come and I am sinking quickly. I am more in debt every week.’ He stared into the distance. ‘I have tried different things, costly things, to bring our patrons back or to encourage new patrons to come, but I am afraid none of them have worked. We are lucky if two small groups come on any one night and if we get one or two takeaways.’
I thought back to the Masri’s I first went to that was packed to the rafters, with Fariz in his element as the host. I remembered his smiling eyes, his passion for the place, and I compared it to the beaten man who stood here now, his face wracked with worry for both his niece and his business.
‘I’m so sorry that’s happened to your business. I’m really sorry, Fariz. I feel responsible.’
He didn’t argue.
I knew what I had to do to rectify what had happened to his business because of Anna’s involvement with me, but it meant enlisting Rosa’s help, and she was quite possibly the person I liked least in the entire universe.
‘Listen, I have to get to the club.’ I extended my hand and was relieved when Fariz shook it. ‘But is it okay if I come back another time to see Anna?’
A panicked look came over him. ‘Why would you want to come back and upset her? No, I forbid it. She does not want to see you and I will not let you, do you hear?’
I was taken aback by how aggressively he spoke after he’d just been open with me.
‘Okay, okay,’ I put my hands up in surrender. ‘I’ll leave her alone. But could I at least come to see you next Tuesday to check in on how she’s going? She’ll be at Asylum Assist then won’t she? So the coast will be clear, right?’ I gave him a pleading look.
He sighed a long sigh. ‘I will not have anything new to tell you, but you can come back.’ He gave me a sideways look. ‘But do not think I am your friend after you betrayed Anna with that pink-haired lady.’ He curled his lip at the word lady.
I threw my head back. ‘Oh God, you saw the photos. Do you know if Anna saw them?’
He scoffed. ‘Pfft, of course she saw! Everyone saw! You broke her heart.’
‘No, no, no,’ I moaned. ‘Fariz, I wrote her a letter explaining those photos. That girl, Arielle, she’s a friend of my sister’s who was helping me get home when I’d had too much drink. There was nothing between her and me, I swear to you. I honestly swear, I—’
‘I believe you, Nick. Okay, okay, I believe you,’ he said with a dismissive wave as he climbed into his van. ‘Go home now, let me go to the market and see who will rob me the most today, the butcher or the fishmonger.’ He slouched forwards over the steering wheel, his face full of worry lines.
Once he drove away, I knocked on the back door before walking in with gritted teeth to face Rosa.
Her face registered the shock of seeing me for the briefest of seconds before she gave me the stony stare I was used to as she pulled her hijab further down her forehead. ‘Why you here? What you want?’ she barked. ‘Anna, she no here. You goes please away.’
She shooed at me with her meaty hands.
‘Rosa, I have money.’ I rubbed my thumb against my index and middle fingers, the universal signal for cash, and her eyebrows shot up.
It was easy from there. She might’ve thought me destined for eternal damnation up until that moment but as soon as I explained my plan to her in a mix of English and charades, she put her arms out and slammed my head into her bosom.
‘Ya habibi! Ya habibi, enta!’ she repeated over and over while I gasped for air with my nose and mouth buried in her massive bust.
When she released me she walked to an antique wooden wall unit and opened the second drawer, producing the newspaper with the photo of me and Arielle. ‘Zis, no more zis?’
I shook my head. ‘Not. My. Girlfriend.’ I enunciated each word separately and loudly so she could really get it.
She didn’t get it. Her expression stayed the same.
I sighed and pointed at the photo of Arielle, then shook my head and said ‘No!’ several times over.
‘No choppy-choppy?’ Her eyes searched mine with suspicion.
‘No choppy-choppy,’ I confirmed, whatever the hell that meant. I tapped my heart. ‘I love Anna.’
She looked me up and down. ‘You pray to Allah!’
I chuckled. ‘Yes. Okay.’
She patted both my cheeks at once. It hurt. ‘Allah maak, ya Nick.’
This was one of the many Arabic sayings Anna had taught me. I knew that Rosa’s words meant, ‘God be with you’, and I remembered how to say it back to her, using the correct feminine version when addressing a woman. ‘Allah maaki, ya Rosa.’
She grabbed my head and rammed it back between her breasts.
It took ten days for the paperwork to go through and on the Friday of the following week, the mortgage on the restaurant and the house was paid off. Fariz was debt-free.
I drove straight from the bank into town and offered up my services to the young woman behind the desk at Asylum Assist. Her name tag said Kathryn, and her jaw hung wide open as I introduced myself.
‘I want to help out, doing whatever I can. How can I use my media presence to help?’
‘Um, what about the Rangers? And SafeXone?’ Kathryn’s eyes darted from side to side, as if SafeXone had hidden cameras on her.
‘Nothing to worry about there,’ I assured her. ‘I sorted it all out with the club before coming here.’
Kathryn chewed her lip. ‘I’m sorry but after what happened last time you were involved, I think your media presence might actually hurt us rather than help us. We received a solicitor’s letter from SafeXone, threatening to have us shut down after the march. And our individual donations have decreased by thirty per cent since then too. We also lost two corporate sponsors.’
I leaned my forearms on the desk. ‘Kathryn, I’ve got here a formal letter of apology from SafeXone that also says they’re behind Asylum Assist one hundred per cent. And what about if I can convince some of my corporate sponsors to sponsor you guys? I’ve got billion-dollar companies behind me, Kathryn. Sports shoe companies, breakfast cereal companies – the big guns. They’re always looking for causes to lower their taxes.’
She looked doubtful.
‘The Rangers haven’t lost a game since my comeback. I don’t want to sound full of myself, but I’m in demand right now. I get interview requests every week. I could use that time in front of the camera to share some asylum-seeker stories. What do you say? Want to use me to get some more attention and some more action for this place?’
She looked tortured. ‘It sounds great but I just don’t know if it’s a good idea.’
I looked her in the eyes, giving her the look. And I gave her the smile to go with it while I flexed both arms, making it look like I was just innocently raking my fingers through my hair. It was the never-fail combination I used to rely on to get what I wanted in the days before Anna. ‘You sure you don’t want me, Kathryn?’
And so I became an ambassador for Asylum Assist.
It felt good to be actively involved in something where there was no reward except the knowledge that I was doing good. Sure I’d done loads of charity work with the club, but that was because it was in my contract. It wasn’t through choice. Asylum Assist – that was all me.
I was given a mountain of material to read through so that I wouldn’t sound like an ignorant idiot, and once I’d got my head around the facts and figures, as well as committing to memory some personal stories, and with everything I already knew about Ricky’s situation, I went on a national morning talk show and spoke about what Asylum Assist stood for. The donations from that day alone doubled what had come in over the previous month.
I was anxious to see what the reaction would be at the club when I went to training later that morning, but all that happened was that a few of my close mates laughed at the pink shirt I wore on TV.
‘It wasn’t pink, it was salmon,’ I defended myself.
Craig cornered me after training. ‘Careful, mate.’ He spoke in a voice low enough that nobody else could hear him. ‘It’s one thing to be supportive of asylum seekers, it’s another thing to go on TV taking on the government. You’re a footy player, not a social commentator. Don’t get in above your head. They’ll make mincemeat of you.’
I blew air out hard. ‘All I want is to use my name to give those orphaned kids a voice.’
‘Are you prepared for a backlash from media, from fans? There will be one.’
‘Yes.’
He gave me a long look. ‘It’s your life, Harding. You have to do what’s right for you.’
As I walked towards the lockers he called out. ‘Nick?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Proud of you, mate.’
The next day Kathryn called me with a shaky voice. First she told me about the donations that had come flooding in. Then she said, ‘Thank you very much, Nick, you were amazing. You really were, but Asylum Assist won’t be requiring your help again. So if you could please stop speaking on behalf of Asylum Assist to the media from now on that would be greatly appreciated.’
‘Why? I don’t get it.’
‘I’m not at liberty to say,’ she replied.
‘Kathryn, I spent a whole week memorising facts about asylum seekers and the Australian policies and procedures. I deserve an answer.’
‘It’s Anna,’ she blurted. ‘She’s worried you’ll lose fans or get yourself in trouble again. I’m sorry.’
She hung up.
I was waiting for Fariz again in Masri’s car park. It was our third Tuesday meeting. He had been much less hostile last week than he had been the first week.
This time when we said hello he crushed me in a bear hug and thanked me a hundred times over for clearing his debts.
‘Please don’t tell Anna that I paid off the mortgage,’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘I don’t want her to feel manipulated.’
He didn’t answer.
‘I hope the restaurant starts to pick up for you again now, Fariz.’
‘Nick, I must work out a way to bring our patrons back.’ He stroked his chin. ‘Our community has abandoned us and whatever I have tried to bring in new customers has failed.’
‘I’ve got an idea.’ I pulled out my phone and messaged Joel.
Reckon you could pull a few people together and turn up for dinner at Masri’s tonight? Anna’s uncle needs the business really badly.
His reply was immediate.
Course I can.
So I sent out a tweet to my forty thousand followers.
Best food in Freo – Masri’s, South Terrace. Authentic Egyptian. Get on it! @therealjoelcoombs you’ll be there tonight right?
@nickharding you bet your sweet falafels I will be.
A minute later Fariz’s phone started ringing. And it didn’t stop ringing.
‘You won’t need the old patrons anymore.’ I slapped his shoulder as I left. ‘Once these new people taste your delicious food, you’ll be turning people away.’
Fariz and I fell into the comfortable habit of catching up every Tuesday morning before I reported to the club for the day and before he drove to the farmers’ markets. He took to fixing me Turkish coffee, and he would walk out from the kitchen with one freshly brewed when he heard the sound of my car pull up. Not wanting to offend him, I chugged it down each time. But I would never get used to that sludge.
Every week, I wondered if he would tell me that Anna had spoken about me or said she was ready to see me. But he never did.
At least I got to see Ricky once.
I squatted down when I saw him waiting for me in the car park and he ran into my arms.
‘Look at your hair, it’s curly!’ I smiled. ‘And look how much taller you are. Are you eating ten meals a day or something, mate?’
He beamed.
‘He says he is “sick”,’ Fariz made quotation marks with his fingers. ‘He overheard me talking to Rosa about you coming this morning.’
Ricky smirked. ‘I have a sore tummy.’
‘You do not!’ I laughed, scooping him up onto my shoulders. ‘Would Anna be okay with me seeing Ricky?’ I asked Fariz.
‘No, I am certain that she would skin me alive.’ He chuckled. ‘As we say though, Tajannub ma yatatallab aetdharaan – Avoid that which requires an apology.’
I gave him a sideways look. ‘But you’re doing the opposite of that saying. You’re sneaking Ricky out here to see me, knowing she’d demand an apology.’
‘What I mean by this saying is that Ricky and I will avoid telling her about this rendezvous. Then we will not need to apologise.’
I pursed my lips together. ‘Hmm, I don’t feel good about making you to lie to Anna, mate.’
‘Not lying. Avoiding apologies.’ Fariz tapped his nose.
‘Please, Nick, I’ll keep it a secret. Please, please,’ Ricky begged. ‘Can you watch the replay of last Saturday with me?’ He clasped his hands around my neck in a hug that nearly choked me.
I reluctantly agreed. As much as I felt guilty being in Anna’s home against her wishes, I couldn’t let down Ricky.
We sat and watched the Rangers and I hung onto every second of him curled up on my lap, his little hands on top of mine, and his head resting on my chest, just like he used to do before. Three hours went too quickly.
After the match finished, I patted his leg. ‘I missed training this morning, buddy, so I could hang out with you but I really have to go now. I’ve got a school to visit today. But it was really good to see you, hey?’
His face crumpled so I quickly added, ‘I’ll see you again, for sure. I’ll check with Anna if you can come over to my place one weekend when the season’s over. Maybe you could have a sleepover? That would be cool!’
Ricky shook his head. ‘Anna will say no. She doesn’t care.’
‘She does care, Ricky. You’re the most important thing in the world to her.’
He shrugged. ‘Anna told me how your dad died.’
The wind got knocked out of me. ‘Did she?’
‘Mmm-hmm.’ He fiddled with my Apple watch. ‘She told me your dad drowned just like my dad drowned.’
‘Yeah, he did.’ I didn’t know what to say next so we sat in silence. ‘I miss my dad.’ I said more to myself than to him.
‘I miss my dad too.’ He pressed a button on my watch that turned the backlight on. ‘I saw him drown.’
As far as Anna had told me, Ricky couldn’t remember anything about the sinking boat or the journey at all. She’d said it was all gone from his memory.
‘Did you? I didn’t see my dad drown.’ I wished Fariz would walk in. He’d know the right thing to say. I felt completely out of my depth.
‘Mmm-hmm. I didn’t see my mum drown, but my dad was holding me, then the big wave came and we both went under it and he didn’t come back up. And I called him but he didn’t hear me. Because he drowned. I think your dad went under a big wave too.’
‘Maybe.’ I could barely speak.
‘I don’t like the ocean. I like swimming in the pool but I don’t like the beach. Anna said I should go to the beach this summer and just put my feet in the water but I said no.’
‘I don’t blame you.’ I stroked his hair.
‘It’s not fair that Anna doesn’t want me to see you because when we watch football I feel better.’
I swallowed hard. ‘I’ll make sure she lets it happen soon, Ricky. I absolutely promise. Watching football with you makes me feel better too.’
I left a note for Anna, letting her know that I’d been there and asking if I could please spend a few hours with Ricky once a week or so. The next Tuesday Fariz gave me her answer: ‘No.’
As more weeks passed, my panic rose that maybe Anna was lost to me for good. But two weeks before the Grand Final my heart soared when Fariz announced with dramatic flair, ‘Yesterday Anna went swimming at Challenge! She told Rosa that she plans to go back to swimming again every day from now on! She is smiling again, Nick. Something has changed inside her.’
‘Do you think she’ll go back to university too?’ I asked hopefully.
‘Perhaps one day she will.’ He placed his hand firmly on my shoulder, bringing his head in close and lowering his voice as if we were exchanging details for a drug deal out there in the car park. ‘When she is less burdened.’ He gave me a long look that I couldn’t read.
‘Has she brought up Leila’s name at all yet?’ I asked.
‘Not a word.’ He sighed.
‘And me? Has she talked about me?’
‘Sorry, Nick. No.’
When it was time to go, I asked him for the first time in weeks if it would be okay to visit Anna. ‘I want her back, Fariz. I want her back and I want Ricky back. I want us to be a family. Please allow me to see her.’
‘Yes, yes, I think it is time now that you see Anna.’
I told him that I’d go around and see her the day after the Grand Final when I got back to Perth. ‘I’ve waited this long, I think it’s best I wait until the season’s done and I can put all my energy into it. What do you think?’
‘I agree, and I will make sure she is home the Sunday after the Grand Final, Nick. I hope you return from Melbourne with a Premiership medal to show us.’
And tomorrow was the day I’d finally get to see her. I hoped she would at least hear me out and not refuse to let me in like the last time I saw her, that awful day of the protest march.
But first was the celebration of the Premiership with my teammates. None of us had won a Grand Final with another team so it made this first win special for us all. I hadn’t touched a drink since the night that Anna dumped me. But tonight, everyone would be drinking, including me.
My phone buzzed. It was a text from Mum saying they’d made it through the crowds and were waiting outside the club rooms. When I went out there to meet them, Lily did a running jump into my arms.
Ross slapped my back. ‘We’re so bloody proud of you, mate.’ His voice was choked up.
I looked at his face, so full of pride in me when all I’d done was be cold towards him. It was about time I let him in. I gave him a hug and he hugged me back hard.
‘You won a Premiership, honey!’ Mum threw her arms around my neck. ‘All those sacrifices you made, over all those years – you got there. You did it, Nick! Your dad’s smiling on you, sweetheart. I know he is.’ Her eyes were wet.
I pulled her in close. ‘I know, Mum. I felt him out there with me today. I swear I did. There was this moment, Mum.’
‘I saw.’
‘Had nothing to do with you, though.’ Lily joined in the hug, just as teary herself. ‘As if Dad would ever miss a Rangers’ Premiership no matter who was playing.’
That made me laugh.
‘Premiership, Nick!’ Lily pulled out of the hug and jumped up and down like she was on a springboard. ‘You won a bloody Premiership!’
As I walked back into the MCG club rooms, with my arms draped over Mum on one side, and Lily on the other, and with Ross out in front, walking backwards so he could take photos of the three of us, again, I thought about how Anna should have been here for this. Anna would have completed the picture.