Nothing left of him but an empty shell
Dear Diary. Tonight was the Euro final. Spain versus England. The country I live in versus the country of my birth. I don't care about football but I could see this match had important meaning so I texed "Is anyone going out tonight to watch the Euro final?" to the social WhatsApp group.
No-one replied.
Then, finally, Gordon replied with a single word: "Yes."
I wanted to reply "And may I enquire as to the location?" but Girlfriend said they'd be in the Irish bar because English people go there to watch football matches.
Girlfriend was right. I went to the Irish bar and found Gordon sitting at a table and wearing an England football shirt. He was with his two sons. Gordon barely looked at me as I entered. He was watching the screen in silence.
The bar was packed with people. There were twenty minutes of the match left. The score was 1—1.
In the 86th minute, Spain scored a goal. 2—1 to Spain. Everyone in the pub remained silent apart from three sole Spanish supporters cheering and jumping around
The match ended. Spain won.
Gordon murmured something to me.
"What?' I said.
"I've dropped my phone," he said.
I looked down at the floor. His phone was on the floor. I picked up his phone and gave it to him.
"How many beers have you had to drink?" I said. I felt like a police officer questioning a drunk driver.
"Two," he said.
"Two?" I said, in amazement. "Only two beers?"
"Two children," he said. "I've got two children. This one's called Peter."
He pointed to his oldest son, Peter.
"Yeah, I know," I said. "I've met your sons."
"This one's called Peter," repeated Gordon.
It was like Gordon's mind had cracked. There was nothing left of him but an empty shell.
"Paul, I'm going home," said Gordon. "I have a responsibility to my children." He was looking at me as he spoke but his eyes were far away. In the Kübler-Ross model of grief, the stage he was in was 'depression'.
Gordon left with his two children, presumably to go home to scream, cry, and void his bladder over himself. I went home too. Sorry for the anticlimatic ending.
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