Striker Boy Kicks Out by Jonny Zucker Page B

you about what has been taken.”
    â€œFine,” said Swinton, walking past them and entering his room.
    It was in a state. The cupboards and the writing desk had been turned out, the bedding was on the floor and his duty free bag had been emptied, with several bottles of spirits now missing. Luckily Swinton had had his wallet and passport with him. It could have been much worse.
    And then a thought struck him. He span round andlooked at the bedside table. He’d placed three of his most treasured and precious possessions on there – his irreplaceable notebooks. He felt a bolt of shock in his chest when he saw to his dismay that they were no longer there. This was far worse than a few missing bottles of vodka. This was serious. It had big implications, not just for him, but for other people as well. And one of those people was Nat Dixon.

CHAPTER 14
Crashed Out
    At breakfast Inés was quiet. She read the papers and kept sipping from a small cup of coffee. José wasn’t around. Nat had some toast and orange juice. After a while Inés folded the newspaper and put it down on the table.
    â€œThere’s something I want to tell you,” she said.
    Nat looked at her expectantly.
    â€œIt’s about José.”
    Nat looked back towards the door, expecting José to be hovering there.
    â€œDon’t worry,” said Inés, “he’s gone to Almería this morning – chasing some kind of lead about a possible job with an architect’s firm. He really is trying.”
    Nat pursed his lips, waiting for her to cut to the chase.
    Inés sighed. “It’s about him storming out yesterday. I should try and explain.”
    â€œYou don’t need to,” said Nat.
    â€œI know, but I want to.”
    â€œOK,” replied Nat.
    â€œYou know I told you about my husband’s crash?”
    Nat nodded.
    â€œWell José was involved in the crash too.”
    Nat’s eyes widened.
They were on that motorbike together!
    â€œThey crashed into a tree. My husband took the full force of the impact. José was thrown onto the road.”
    â€œDid he get hurt?”
    â€œOh yes,” nodded Inés sadly. “He was heavily concussed and broke several bones in his right leg and ankle. He was in hospital for a couple of weeks.”
    â€œBut he recovered?”
    â€œYes, but unfortunately it put paid to his playing career.”
    Nat raised an eyebrow.
His playing career?
    â€œJosé was on course to become a professional player, Nat, just like you. He’d been with Talorca FC youth teams since the age of eight. The injuries he sustained on his leg and ankle meant he would never play again.”
    Nat took a deep breath and blew out his cheeks. “I can’t believe it,” he said.
    â€œI know, it’s a tragedy,” sighed Inés. “He was a very promising player – a midfielder. Everyone at Talorca rated him very highly. But then the crash happened and that was all extinguished in one breath. That’s why he’s gloomy a lot of the time and why he feels so negative about Talorca. He’s just very crushed inside. It will take him many years to come to terms with it.”
    They sat in silence, Nat trying to absorb this new and shocking information.
    â€œIt must be hard for José having me stay here,” mused Nat. “I mean, I’m a professional player staying in his house. You must have thought about that when you agreed to have me to stay.”
    â€œOf course I did,” replied Inés, “but when I mentioned it to José he said it was a good idea.”
    â€œReally?” exclaimed Nat with surprise.
    â€œHe seemed very keen. I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of test for him – if he could deal with having a footballer to stay, he could further get to grips with the accident and the fact that his career was ruined by it.”
    Nat mulled this over. He knew that if the tables were