❝does she know that
we bleed the same?❞
MAY 24,
twenty-four days after the funeral.
IN
the afternoon, jude accompanied nisha and her little brother, arun, to his football practice. it had been a long time since he had seen him play and it was safe to say that he had missed it.
the light-hearted atmosphere on the green field brought a smile to anyone unwell with the childish laughter and simplicity of the game. like nisha who smiled fondly as she watched her little brother chase the ball. alternating his gaze between the two, jude grinned like a fool, happy to see the two toone children happy.
only, he saw nisha's smile fall in a split second. when he saw arun on the ground holding his knee, the player quickly understood why. somewhat worried, the two young adults ran to him to make sure everything was okay.
"you're alright arun?" jude helped him up with both hands before the child nodded vigorously, he was fine.
"i fell 'cause of my shoe tie!" arun exclaimed pointing to his left boot where the laces were undone, a small pout on his face, "i don't know how to do it, jude can you do it?" nisha's little brother asked as he looked up at the tall figure of the footballer who agreed.
"what do we say arun?" nisha asked him after he had forgotten the politeness.
"please?" a radiant smile that deepened his small dimples appeared on his face and the girl nodded.
jude's fingers then found the laces of the boot while his body was bent over the boy. the kid wrapped his arms around the player's legs, his head resting on his upper thighs. once the task done, the midfielder ruffled arun's jet hair before indicating that he should join his friends.
"thank you jude!" the little boy shouted in the distance as he galloped off to retrieve the ball at his feet.
"you're welcome!" the footballer replied in the same tone, a smile on his lips.
with her phone out, nisha had captured the whole scene, the tenderness showing in her features towards the two men she valued most in her life. she cherished these little moments because they kept her head above water. they allowed her for a few minutes to stop thinking about anything other than what was happening right in front of her, and that did her good.
"he plays quite well for his age," said jude as he joined the young woman, watching arun dribble the ball past three players.
"who knows, maybe we'll have another footballer in the family. although i think he's more of an artist," her elbows rested on the fence in front of her as her chin was caught in the palm of both hands.
family. that is what the bellinghams and the toones were, family. as inseparable from each other as jude and nisha were. maybe that is why the two young people were so connected, having grown up glued together, leaving each other only out of obligation.
the girl often wondered — and even more so at the moment — what her life would have been like without them, without jude.
she could hardly imagine growing up without him; sharing every christmas or birthday present, together; playing football for hours in their gardens, together; discussing their dreams, together; praying to make them come true, together; bickering for hours on the sofa, together; crying the day jude left for dortmund, together; calling each other for hours in the evenings after his games, together.
