Page 30 of Playing By Ear

His next touch was too hard again, and this time the ball was picked up by a defender and whizzed past Perry’s legs in the opposite direction. He let out a curse.

“It’s okay, Perry,” Graeme called out from the touchline. “You’ll get it next time.”

But he didn’t, not the next time, nor the next-next time. He’d be subbed off soon if he didn’t stop making a state of things.

When the whistle blew in several short bursts to signal a referee’s timeout, Perry bent over to catch his breath, more from stress than from exertion.

“Per?” Brian called out from his right.

“Here.”

Brian touched his arm. “All right?”

“Yeah,” he said, though the chaos was making his head spin. “I need to imagine the pitch better.”

“Stop trying to imagine the pitch,” Brian said. “Just see it. Let the sound make a picture.”

“Right. One question.”

“Yeah?”

“Am I facing the right way?”

Brian laughed. “You’re perfect in that regard.” The whistle blew to restart play. “Remember, see the pitch and follow your instincts.”

“Got it.” Perry took a deep breath, and as he let it out, he felt the omnidirectional hum in his head morph into specific sounds from specific angles. One of those was the ball, headed his way.

A Dundee player to Perry’s right shouted for the pass. The ball jangled as it was struck hard—but maybe not hard enough, judging by the noise it made.

“Voy!” Perry surged forward and intercepted the slow pass. The ball ricocheted off his left foot to strike his calf just behind the shin guard. He ignored the sting, and with a quick stutter shuffle, solidified his possession.

The player who’d made a mess of the pass tried to steal it back, but Perry stepped around him like he was standing still.

“Nice one, Perry!” shouted Graeme from the touchline. “Take it all the way, lad!”

Perry did a slalom run toward the goal, dodging the defenders’ shouted Voys.

“You’re in the D!” the Glasgow guide called out from behind the goal.

With the guide’s voice as a beacon, Perry shot with his right foot. A -chiiiiinnnggg!- sounded as the ball spun against the back of the net.

Cheers erupted. Perry wanted to rip off his top and tear around the pitch screaming his face off. Instead he planted his feet, raised his arms, and gave a bellow of triumph.

One by one his teammates found him, each adding to the force of the exuberant group hug.

“Your first goal, mate!” Kenneth shouted, an arm around Perry’s neck. Alex gave a high-pitched “Wooooo!” as he ruffled Perry’s hair.

Brian slapped him on the chest. “Sounds like you’ve got a new fan. Is he the one from Saturday night?”

Perry stopped short, filtering out the shouts of those he knew, like Brian’s wife, Sarah, and the families of other teammates.

A newly familiar voice came from the spectator seats:

“Yaaaaaaaasssss! Get in, Perry!”

Chapter 6

Jamie froze as Perry’s masked face turned in his direction, the exultant smile fading.