He's not wrong.
"Ah, I don't know if it's even a possibility. Tony's trying to work a deal, so we'll see."
"Take it. Take whatever deal you can, as long as it gives you playing time and money. Even your pretty face won't sell shorts forever."
"That's not what sold the shorts, and you know it." I laugh.
"But I don't want to be thinking about your bum, as handsome and perfect as it may be."
Without thinking, I flex a little. You're hard-pressed to meet a footballer without a good backside. However, I wasn't disappointed with that paycheck. It was the only one though, before all that stuff went down, and I've yet to secure a big American endorsement. The decreased playing time this year didn't help that either.
After Alastair and I disconnect, I call my dad. I can't make any major career decisions without running it by him. He was the one who convinced me to come to the States in the first place."Better to play there than not at all. You don't want to waste your life sitting here forever."
"Xavier, boy, to what do we owe the pleasure?" From the echo, I can tell Dad has me on speakerphone. My guess is Mum's right next to him.
"Eh, well, I've got some career decisions to make. I could use some advice."
"Are you coming back home? Did Jones change his mind?" I can hear the hope in my mum's voice from across the ocean.
"No, the commissioner's still got a ban on me. At least as far as I know. No one's come calling."
"Can't you ask Phaedra to talk to him?" The optimistic nature in her tone just about breaks me.
That name makes me shudder. "No. I have no call to ever speak to her again."
"But you know she could set the record straight."
She could. But she hasn't. Won't. And I won't ask either. I rub the spot between my eyebrows. "That's not what this is about."
"Well, then get to it, lad. This call isn't free, you know." Dad never was one to beat about the bush.
"Right, then. My agent is working on negotiating a deal for a trade, but it'd be better if I was an American citizen." The silence that follows stretches on for so long, I wonder if we got disconnected. "Hullo?"
Then I hear it. The faint intake of breath. Mum's crying. I know how she feels. I want to cry too. Finally, Dad speaks. "That's an interesting idea. It probably makes sense."
I nod, not that he can see me. There's a thick lump in my throat. Everything about me is tied up in my nationality. My heritage. My mum has our ancestry traced back to practically the beginning of time. At least to Henry IV. My family has worked the land and prospered when England prospered. All of my grandfather's brothers on my dad's side perished during the Second World War.
We bleed for England.
"England doesn't want me," I finally manage in a croak.
"Their bloody loss," says Dad. "America is lucky to have you."
"It's not like I'll never come home again. It's just that my passport will read something different."
"And when you stand before a game, it won't be for 'God Save the Queen,'" Mum manages.
"Mum, I stand for the American National Anthem now. I'm playing football here. This may be the best career move I can make. My days with the Terrors are limited. I'm looking to go to the Boston Buzzards. That's where Coach Janssen is. Alastair's coming back to Bristol, so I'll be losing my best mate," I explain. "They're already benching me where I am. I need to move. If I don't do this, I'm stuck in Baltimore until after the start of the season."
"Coach Janssen took you in right … after. He didn't even blink," Dad recalls. "He's a good sort, even if he is Dutch."
"Is he Dutch? Bjorn is not a Dutch name. It's Scandinavian. It means bear," Mum supplies. She's the history buff in the family. "How does a Dane get a Dutch surname?" she continues to ponder like it makes a difference in this conversation.
"You know, Mum, I've heard people from different nations can intermarry these days." This is dangerous territory, as we're bound to get an hour-long history and genealogy lesson. I can hear Dad groan.
"Xavier, don't do that. You can't afford the length of that call. Let's get back to the topic at hand. If it makes sense financially and personally for you to become an American citizen, then do it. You have your mum's and my support. You always do."
I have to smile. I'm where I am today because of that support. Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have such a great family. "Right, then, I'll tell Tony to get cracking on it."
