Page 28 of The Cut
‘It’s about love.’ Karine’s gaze moved from his face, passing over his shoulder across the field.
‘And pain.’ She lifted the camera and continued recording. ‘It’s a simple story, really. Like football, we all know the rules but we won’t know what will happen in the game until it’s played. That’s what makes it exciting.’
The score was one all, and with five minutes left they would most likely be going into extra time. Lily knew this wasn’t good. If it ended in penalties, they would lose; she was the only decent striker on their team. The final minutes seemed like a blur. Backing up into the halfway line, the ball was thrown in and Lily was off111like a shot. Whitney Briggs, the other team’s attacker, had been salivating for months at the opportunity to bring the team captain down a peg or two.
Karine continued. ‘Barton Mallet’s a quiet village … I like it. I live in the city but it’s nice out here in the peace and quiet of the countryside.’ She breathed in the cool breeze and surveyed her new location.
‘Yeah, not much happens here though … it’s pretty boring.’ Nate shrugged and chewed his lip.
‘Well … Not anymore.’ She winked. ‘Not now I’m here.’ She jolted to attention as a loud boo surged through the crowd. ‘Ouch! That must have hurt.’ Karine’s eager eye returned to the viewfinder and Nate’s head whipped back to the pitch. The brutal foul from Whitney Briggs, akin to a rugby tackle, had swept Lily’s legs from underneath her. Winded, she lay on the ground, tasting iron in her mouth.
‘Briggs, what are you playing at? WRONG SPORT.’ Branchflower was striding across the field from the sidelines.
Whitney Bully Briggs was up on her feet. ‘She fouled me, innit … I was clinging on.’
‘With both hands wrapped tight around her knees, Briggs? I wasn’t born yesterday.’ Branchflower was fiddling in his top pocket for the inevitable yellow card.
‘Wha’ever.’ Briggs shrugged, turned to her gaggle of friends filming everything on their phones and smirked.
Nate was standing shaking his head. ‘SHOULD BE A RED CARD!’ He turned to Karine. ‘That girl never plays by the rules … she’s a bad sport.’
Karine eyed him beadily. ‘And what about you? You ever break the rules … just to win?’ She raised her eyebrows. ‘No matter the cost?’112
Nate finished the soup and drop-kicked the cup over the chain-link fence. His head snapped back to her as if caught out.
Karine laughed, throwing her head back. ‘Is that all you got?’ She stopped for a second. ‘What? No necking on the swings, no smoking weed, no joy rides?’
Nate shrugged. ‘I guess not.’ He didn’t have a lot to say. His eyes focused back to the sports field, where his sister was still lying on her back. As she sat up on the grass, a trickle of blood rolled down her cheek. A stone had caught her temple and opened a small cut close to her eye. Whitney Briggs glanced over in the direction of Karine Mickelsen’s camera. Then, unseen by the referee, Briggs booted Lily hard in the ribs. Lily flinched with pain, holding on to her side. Nate noticed Karine’s energy lift. He thought she was about to wade in and break it up, but instead she moved in closer and continued filming.
Hordes of kids began to pour out of the school doors and something in Lily snapped. The attack took her opponent by surprise. Briggs was down on the ground in a second and Lily Knot was on top of her, pummelling her face and pulling on her braids.
‘KNOT, KNOT, KNOT, KNOT.’
Karine moved like a bullet from a gun, striding across the field with Nate in tow, homing in on the action. ‘Go on, Nate, get in there … do your brotherly thing.’ Karine guided him to his sister’s aid, filming his every move.
‘Get off me!’ Briggs fought back as the crowd began to gather round. Karine’s camera captured every moment and the circle of spectators were too preoccupied filming the action on their phones to do anything. A girl-on-girl fight was the perfect click bait. It would most likely go viral, especially if hair got pulled or clothes got torn and body parts spilled out. It took Nate barging through the tight circle and pulling Lily off the massive physical113form of Whitney Briggs to bring the vicious fight to an end. Nate held Lily’s arms and tried to calm her down as she continued to lash out.
Mr Branchflower helped Briggs up from the floor and ushered her inside as the clique of girls, checking their phones to ensure they’d captured all the drama, finally rallied to their friend’s aid. As Whitney passed Karine, they made eye contact, a moment of recognition. Karine smiled at her and she nodded back. She’d set the whole thing up.
Nate clocked it, but busied himself with his sister, talking quietly into her ear, stroking her head, and using the corner of his shirt to wipe some of the blood from her face.
Karine had witnessed the fight in close-up. She had captured everything, just as she had promised. From a safe distance, the focus puller, Freddie, had sharpened the frame as Karine pushed in close on the rage boiling across Lily Knot’s face and witnessed it melt under her brother’s touch. The effect was dramatic; a score was already playing in her mind, something poignant, strings or a solo sparse piano. She needed to cut to a wide shot to close the scene, so she changed lenses and dropped back to the very edge of the sports field. School was out, the game was over and the girls were cleaning up in the changing room. Karine saved the data to her hard drive. She had decided to defy Max and shoot on digital where possible; the vintage camera would come later.
She sent Freddie and Fedora back to the Red Lion for a well-earned pint and waited for Nate to leave the main school building. She watched him cross the tennis courts, then headed him off at the shortcut between the houses.
Karine was leaning against the fence waiting for him, her eyes focused on the end of School Lane, where glittering Santas, robins114and bells already hung from each lamppost in the distance, lining the path. ‘Mind if I walk with you for a bit?’
Nate paused for a second. ‘Is this about filming?’
‘Yeah … Nate, listen … Those rules we were discussing. I am going to need you to break some of them.’ Karine walked alongside him, hunched over against the icy wind that was now picking up. ‘Just for me … for a bit of extra drama, you know?’
‘Like you just did?’ Nate looked down to his feet.
‘How do you mean?’ Karine kept her eyes fixed on his face.
‘Whitney Briggs … the fight with Lily.’ Nate turned to Karine and stared her down. ‘You set that up … the foul.’
Karine stopped for a second and smiled. ‘I’m just testing the water.’
