Page 63 of Someone For Everyone

‘Why else d’you think I’m here?’ Nelson said, matter-of-factly. ‘It means I can send money home to my family in Ghana.’

Fair enough. Calvin was glad he’d thought of adding that detail to the advert. Anything to make the job more appealing. ‘The code for the doors is the same on each floor. We don’t have any residents with severe dementia at the moment, but for security reasons, we like to keep each floor secure.’

‘Makes sense.’ Nelson followed him upstairs. ‘You still involved in football?’

‘Not at the moment.’ Calvin noticed dust along the handrail and discreetly wiped it away.

‘Shame. It’s a loss to the game.’

Calvin opened the door to the first floor, hit by another wave of grief. Would it ever not hurt? He guessed not. ‘Do you play?’

‘Sunday league. Not quite jumpers for goalposts, but nothing like your level.’

‘I no longer have a level.’ He closed the door behind them. ‘This way.’

‘You thought about getting involved in coaching?’

‘It’s something I might look into. I’m not sure I have the right attributes.’

‘We’re looking for a coach at our club, if you’re interested. We’re based in Ashford. The Under 13s would benefit from someone with your football experience.’

Calvin straightened a wonky picture on the wall. ‘Thanks for the offer, but I’m not planning on staying in the area. I’ll be heading back to Leeds once this place is sorted.’

‘Shame. It’s hard getting a PAN team off the ground. No one involved in the club has the right skills to adapt the training.’

Calvin stopped walking. ‘What’s a PAN team?’

‘Integrating disabilities. Adult football is divided up by disability, whether it’s visual impairment, hearing loss or wheelchair users. But with kids’ football, they play according to age band, regardless of their disability. It’s a new thing for our club. We haven’t had sufficient interest before, but we’ve got enough kids now to form a team. What we haven’t got is a coach who knows enough about football to adapt the training to meet their individual needs.’

Calvin shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘I’m not sure I’d be much help. I know nothing about coaching kids with disabilities.’

‘But you know what it’s like to feel frustrated by your limitations. They want to do everything the other kids do, but they can’t. They get upset when they can’t run as fast, move as quickly or react to the ball changing direction. They need someone who knows the disappointment of wanting to do more than their body will allow. They love football, but at the moment they don’t love playing it, and that’s a shame. I thought you might relate to that.’

It was a moment before Calvin could speak. A lump had wedged itself in his throat, preventing him from swallowing. ‘Is there an established league for them to play in?’

‘Yeah, quite a big one. It covers most of Kent, but it’s hard getting a new team off the ground. We train Tuesday evenings, if you fancy coming down.’

‘Like I said, I’m not going to be here much longer.’ He turned to walk off, hesitated and then turned back. ‘But I’ll pop down ifI can.’ He wasn’t sure why he’d said that – curiosity, probably. Guilt, more likely. He knew he should give something back to the beautiful game that had given him so much over the years, but he just didn’t know how to do that without exacerbating his own suffering.

Nelson’s face broke into a smile. ‘The kids would love that. A proper star. You’ll make their year.’

‘No promises. My time’s pretty occupied with this place.’

‘Fair enough.’ Nelson followed him down the corridor. ‘So what’s the deal here? How many staff do you have on the books?’

‘Three. Geraldine, our chef, who you just met, and two full-time nurses. Hanna, who works days, and Natalie, who works nights.’

‘That’s it?’

Calvin glanced back. ‘That’s it.’

‘No wonder you need a locum.’

‘I look after the management side of things, and we have a solicitor and an accountant working for us at the moment who’re trying to sort out my uncle’s estate. The aim is to free up enough funds to get the business functioning properly, but until that happens, we’re running on reduced staffing levels.’

Nelson didn’t comment; he didn’t have to. Calvin was aware of how dire things were.

They reached the staff room and Calvin could hear bizarre noises coming from inside. For a second, he almost avoided going in there, unsure of what he was about to find, but it would seem even odder to ignore it.

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