Page 50 of After the Siren
‘Hey, Jaze, I didn’t know your mum was a fuckinglegend,’ Dex said, sprawled on their back. ‘There are a stack of pictures of her up in the exhibition about the women’s game at the National Gallery.’
‘What?’ Drips asked.
‘Jaze’s mum is Debbie Cunningham,’ Dex explained. ‘She wonfivepremierships with the Woolamai Tiger Sharks and then coached them to another three. She’s, like, a pioneer of the game. She still runs clinics for girls who want to play.’
‘She’s pretty cool,’ Jake agreed.
‘What happened to you?’ Gabby asked, nudging Jake with her shin. He stuck his tongue out.
‘Here,’ Dex said, and handed their phone around. Debbie must have been in her twenties in the picture, dressed in muddy game gear and holding a trophy. There was a striking resemblance between her and Jake: same wavy blonde hair, same strong jawand stubborn chin, something similar in the way they stood. She had more tattoos than Jake: a big piece on each thigh and a full sleeve on one arm in addition to the pin-up on her other bicep.
‘Wow,’ Drips said. ‘She’shot.’
‘She should come in and talk to us,’ Dex suggested. ‘That’d be sick. She could do a pre-game address, if she’d be down for it.’
‘Oh, she would be,’ Jake said. Theo saw him hesitate. ‘She has to come down to Melbourne every couple of weeks for chemo, so we could maybe work around that.’
There was a beat of silence.
‘Shit, bro, I’m sorry,’ Dex said. ‘That’s rough.’
‘Thanks.’
‘How’s it going?’ Gabby asked. ‘Unless you don’t want to talk about it, in which case, no stress.’
‘No, it’s fine,’ Jake said, leaning his elbows on his knees and propping his chin in his hands. ‘She had uterine cancer a few years ago. It was in remission, but ... yeah. It’s back. It’s too early to know if the chemo is working.’
‘I’m really sorry,’ Gabby said. Drips and Dex murmured agreement. ‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do.’
‘Thanks,’ Jake said.
Jake hadn’t said much about the chemo, at least not to Theo. Maybe he was talking to Paddy and Xen about it, but Theo doubted it. He stuck to the facts when he did talk about it:Mum’s feeling shitty today, Lydia says Mum’s off her tucker, Mum’s pissed she fell asleep and missed the last quarter.He spoke about it with a matter-of-factness that might have been convincing if Theo hadn’t seen him so distraught in the locker room that morning before their second extra.
‘If she did want to come and chat to us, we’d love that,’ Gabby added. ‘It doesn’t have to be a formal thing. She could just come and hang out. I want to make sure we don’t forget our history, you know?’
‘She’ll be keen.’ Jake grinned. ‘Good luck getting her to stop talking.’
‘It’s hereditary, then,’ Theo said.
He wasn’t sure whether Jake tackled him due to the provocation or to end the conversation.
‘Stavs will be playing his first real game as a Falcon.’
Stavs froze for a second before he started to stand. Jake stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. Stavs looked surprised – he must have been the only one in the small auditorium who was. Jake had known it was a sure thing as soon as Rigger hobbled out of training early with hamstring awareness.
Stavs had been playing well in the VFL.Reallywell. He’d relaxed, too, now that he’d remembered where the goals were. Jake had seen himsmileduring a goal-kicking drill. He’dlaughedin a game when he went for a hanger, missed it, and did a full somersault on the way down. Jake was going to take at least some of the credit. If it hadn’t been the beach, it had been the fucking around with the footy until Stavs had forgotten to be stressed about it.
Jake, Xen and Paddy had all agreed it had to be Stavs coming into the team – there was nobody else pushing as hard for selection, and it was a like-for-like swap. Stavs was smiling as he clambered over Jake and Tommy and jogged down the few steps to the front of the room, but he looked a bit green around the gills. He took the jumper, shook hands with Davo, and managed to grin for the camera that Greg shoved in his face. But as soon as he sat back down, he flipped up his hood and crossed his arms across his chest.
Jake kept an eye on him throughout the rest of the session. He sat very still, folded in on himself. He was up and out the door as soon it was over, turning his face into the side of his hood.
‘Should I?’ Xen asked, jerking his head in the direction of the door.
‘I’ve got it,’ Jake said, deciding that he couldn’t see the meaningful look Paddy and Xen exchanged. As he headed for the door, he saw Paddy catch Raze’s arm. Probably telling Raze that he didn’t need to chase Stavs himself.
Jake left the meeting room and turned right down the corridor. There was an equipment room a couple of doors down that was always unlocked and didn’t have anything in it anyone was likely to need. It was, unofficially, theI’m having a meltdownorI need to have a manly cryorI need to hit a marking bag repeatedly so I don’t punch someone in the faceroom.
Stavs looked up when the door opened. He was sitting on one of the benches, his head near his knees. Jake slipped in and shut the door behind him. The only sound in the room was Stavs’ breathing, harsh and ragged. Too fast, with an edge of a whine on every inhale. The jumper was balled up in his clenched fists.
