Split Loyalties - Final Part: The end

Misunderstandings and memories

Shock. That was the first emotion that Monty felt as he sat in the England team’s hotel lobby, eyes transfixed on the television screen.

While he may not have understood a word of what the Brazilian news presenters were actually saying, he didn’t need to. The pictures said it all.

The images on the screen of Hugh lying prone on the floor in obvious agony, surrounded by Italian players, coaches and medics, anguished looks on each of their faces, told Monty everything he needed to know. There was no way Hugh would be fit to play against England.

Only a day earlier, every single player in the England squad had agreed to give up access to any electronic communication device that they owned – mobile phones, laptops and tablets – for the duration of the World Cup. They had all agreed that for as long as they remained in the tournament, their minds should be totally focused on football and nothing else. As a result, Monty had been completely unaware of his brother’s misfortune up until only a few hours before he and his teammates were due to board the England team coach and travel to the stadium for the game against Italy.

Monty’s initial feelings of shock quickly gave way to sympathy. It had long been Hugh’s dream to play for Italy in the World Cup and, judging by the pictures he now found himself watching on the television screen, it seemed that dream was now hanging by the slimmest of slim threads.

Hugh had missed the previous international tournament through injury and it appeared that history was just about to repeat itself. The younger Capulet could not have felt any more gutted for his elder sibling.

Suddenly, though, another thought entered Monty’s mind. It was a thought that led to anger replacing his initial emotions of shock and sympathy; what if Hugh had decided to feign an injury after all?

His brother had told him only a couple of weeks earlier that he was thinking of faking a hamstring injury so that he wouldn’t have to face England. Now, here he was, the day before the match, rolling around on the floor clutching the back of his right leg. Maybe he had decided to follow through with his threat.

The more Monty thought about it, the more convinced he became that his brother had indeed decided that his involvement in the match would do more harm than good to the family.

Although Monty’s place in the England starting 11 hadn’t been confirmed yet, it had been widely rumoured that he would be selected. Hugh would have been aware of this. Would have known there was an extremely strong possibility he would be facing his brother in the match. Maybe, Monty reasoned to himself, the doubts that his brother had expressed to him regarding the damage the outcome of the game could have on their family had come flooding back to him. That this was the real reason behind his ‘injury’.

It was at that moment the last email he’d received before handing his laptop over to the England management came flooding back to him. In his mind’s eye he could clearly recall the picture his Mum had sent him. You didn’t need to be a genius to realise that his grandfather’s had been totally unhappy about having to pose in a rival national team’s replica shirt. They couldn’t have looked more disgusted if they’d tried.

Monty pondered the picture for a few more moments. He began to wonder what Hugh would have made of that photo. What if his Mum’s well-meaning attempt at trying to show her sons’ that their grandparent’s had put their feelings of enmity behind them had backfired? What if Hugh had taken the photo as further proof that playing against Monty in the World Cup would provide the final spark to blow the simmering family rivalry apart forever?

The young defender had just convinced himself that Hugh was definitely feigning the injury in order to miss the match, when he saw Ray Williams approaching. The England manager explained to Monty that he’d just heard the news about his brother’s injury and offered Monty the chance to phone Hugh so that he could offer his brother his condolences.

Williams was well aware of just how much respect Monty held for his brother. Although phoning a member of the opposition team so close to a match would be a highly irregular thing to do under usual circumstances, he figured that in this instance it would be the right thing to do.

He was therefore extremely surprised when Monty declined the offer, coldly stating that he was only interested in concentrating on the game ahead and would catch up with his brother at a later date.  

The truth was that Monty’s conviction that Hugh was faking his injury had left him feeling totally livid. Hugh had promised him he wasn’t going to do that. His much-adored brother had lied to him. Speaking to Hugh was the last thing on his mind at that particular moment in time.

It was only when he was sitting on the coach on the way to the game later that day that his feelings towards his elder brother began to soften.

Jacob Anderson, who was sitting next to Monty, had tried unsuccessfully on a few occasions to enter into a conversation with his friend. England’s star striker had been trying to gauge how his teammate was feeling ahead of what was potentially the biggest game of his fledgling career to date. If it was at all possible, Jacob wanted to attempt to set the younger player’s mind at ease. Do anything he could to alleviate any pre-match nerves the defender may have been feeling.

But Monty was totally zoned out. He gave no reaction at all as to whether he was even aware of Jacob’s presence; let alone the fact he was being spoken to. Jacob wasn’t concerned, though. He figured Monty was just doing what he needed to in order to prepare himself mentally for the game ahead.

In reality, Monty was not thinking about the game at all. He was in fact thinking back to a summer many years ago. Hugh had just broken into the Portland Town first team, while Monty himself had just been rejected by a third professional football team’s academy.

That summer, Hugh had done everything he possibly could to restore his younger brother’s confidence. He had spent hours and hours offering Monty tips on what he could and should do to improve as a footballer. It was Hugh who had ultimately given him the belief that, in spite of the rejections he’d received, he really was good enough to make it as a professional football player.

As he sat silently in the coach on the way to the stadium, consumed by those childhood memories, Monty fully realised that without his brother’s help that summer, there was no way he’d be where he was today. No way that he’d be sitting on a coach in Brazil about to take part in the ultimate football tournament, watched by billions of people worldwide. He owed Hugh everything.

It was for that very reason that less than three hours later, Monty was to find himself sprawled on the treatment table in the England changing room. The team’s physio gently prodding at his groin. Ray Williams looking on; an expression of genuine concern on the manager’s face.

“There’s no way I can do it gaffer,” sniffed Monty, blinking back genuine tears from his eyes. “It’s my groin, it really hurts! I can barely move my leg. There’s no way I can play. I’d be a liability.”

It was obvious to Williams that Monty was totally devastated; it was clear to see that the young defender was doing his best not to cry, so upset was he at injuring himself in the pre-match warm up.

The physio looked at the England manager and shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t really feel anything. There’s almost certainly no lasting damage but that might just mean that it’s only a slight strain,” he said. “If he plays it could aggravate the strain and make it a lot worse. Possibly even rule himself out of the entire tournament. With a bit of rest, I’m confident he’ll be fit for the next game.”

Reluctantly, Williams sadly shook his head. “I’m sorry, son,” he said to Monty in his most soothing tones. “I think you’re going to have to miss this one.”

Monty slumped back on the table, bringing his hands up to cover his face. The England manager gestured to the physio to leave him. He could totally understand how frustrated and disappointed the young defender must have been feeling to be missing out on his big opportunity.

The second they left the room, Monty burst out into tears and lashed out at a drinks bottle that was placed on a stool next to him, sending it flying across the room and into a wall.

Yet it wasn’t pain that was causing him so much distress. It was the fact that there was absolutely nothing wrong with his groin. Nothing at all.

Yet Monty simply couldn’t bring himself to let his beloved brother sacrifice his World Cup dream for him. If Hugh was going to fake an injury, then so was he! Monty just hoped that he’d be able to get his place back for the next game.

As it turned out, though, neither Capulet brother would end up playing a single minute at the World Cup in Brazil.

 

Six months later          

As Juliet Capulet surveyed the scene in front of her, she couldn’t stop a huge beaming smile from spreading across her face. Only six months earlier, she had felt like she’d never smile again.

When she and Romeo had discovered that Monty would also be missing the Italy-England game after picking up an injury in the pre-match warm up, she had been inconsolable. As had her husband.

Both of her sons picking up injuries just prior to the biggest game of their lives; it simply wasn’t fair.

Worse was to follow. While Hugh’s injury had ruled him out for the tournament, Monty had been declared fully fit to play in England’s next game. However, he had been unable to get his place back in the team. The match against Italy had ended in a fairly stale 0-0 draw and Williams decided that, having kept a clean sheet, it would be unfair to change the defence for the second game. When Marcus Taylor then returned to fitness for the third game, Monty found himself sidelined completely.

That neither Italy or England ultimately managed to qualify for the Second Round hardly helped lift the disconsolate mood in the Capulet household.

Of course, when Juliet later found out the truth, that Monty hadn’t even really been injured at all, she was even more distraught. Especially when she learned that the photo she’d sent to both her sons in good faith had been partly responsible for him jumping to the wrong conclusion. 

However, as it turned out, it was when Monty confessed to his family what he had done, and why, that things had started to change.

Both Nonno and Gramps felt truly terrible when they discovered it was their behaviour that had led to the series of misunderstandings which had ultimately meant one of their grandsons had unnecessarily missed out on his chance to play in the World Cup.

The two elderly men had agreed to go out for a drink to talk through their differences, so determined were they to make sure nothing like that could ever happen again.

As they talked about their past behaviour, the petty rows, the needless squabbles and, of course, that race, both men couldn’t help but laugh at what a couple of old dotes they’d really been.

Juliet smiled as she walked over to the table and placed the turkey that she’d been carrying on the dining room table. Everyone was there: Romeo, Gramps, Nana, Nonno, Nona, Monty and Hugh. What’s more everyone was laughing and smiling. Juliet honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d been able to enjoy a truly happy Christmas meal with all her closest family around her.

“So, who’s going to carve the turkey then?” Juliet asked as she sat in her seat.

“I’ll do it,” said Gramps.

“No, no, no, it’s fine, I’ll do it,” insisted Nonno.

“Maybe you should race for the honour,” joked Hugh, causing everyone but the two old men to cast unsure glances in his direction.

“Don’t be silly. We’ve learnt our lessons. There’s no chance of anything like that evert happening again,” stated Gramps. “Anyway, Nonno cheats. And I’ve got a video to prove it!”

THE END

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