Numbers - A Ted Lasso OC Story

9 - Burning Shit in a Barrel

*Buckle your seatbelts kiddos it's a long one*

Vanessa had left the stadium a bit after practice ended, because of, you know, school. It surprised her when she got a text from Ted.

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New text from: Coach Ted

Come down to the crown and anchor pub at 6:00 (pm). We're having a team meeting, and you are a part of the team now. 🤗 Wear your curse breaking hat!

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Some of the text was very confusing. Nessa owned many hats, but none were really style specific to curse breaking.

Nessa had never been apart of a team before. It was nice to feel included.

~

Nessa arrives at the bar and sees almost the full team was here, crowded in a small back corner. She found the first available spot she could and sat down beside Colin Hughes and Richard Montlaur, behind Sam, with Issac Mcadoo standing and leaning against the walls a bit behind her chatting with O'Brian and Bumbercatch.

"I have an extra, you want one?" Issac grumbles, extending out the unopened beer in his hand.

"Oh, I'm good thanks, I'm not much of a beer drinker. I prefer whiskeys, rums, and the occasional wine. And I have to study, tonight. Cause you know, University." She replies, half the truth, the other half was that she was kind of a lightweight and if she accepted one, she might accept two.

"Wine? You say?" Richard curiously leans over, "I know lots about wines, fine wines, and not-so-fine wines." He was French, of course he likes wines.

"Hey, fellas. Fellas, listen up." Ted echoed to grab everybody's attention, quite successfully. "Thank you guys for coming out. Um, look, I don't know a lot about this stuff, you know. I don't know about curses. But I do know this, they don't last forever."

Right, curses, that's why we were here. Vanessa was still unsure why Ted called a full team meeting to talk about curses. Strange. But there was no deciphering Ted.

"Heck, even Mr. Martin Scorsese finally won his Oscar. But I think we can all agree that 'The Departed' is not necessarily his best work. That belongs to 'The Colour of Money.'" Ted's words unintentionally causing a debate about what this unknown actor's best move actually was. Vanessa didn't know actors, she didn't watch a lot of movies, didn't have the time.

"Oi, once the word gets out that you lot are in here, this place will turn into a fucking zoo. And the answer's 'Mean Streets'" The Bar's owner, M... something, points out, clearly wanting this to be done as soon as possible. "You're all here because of this poster behind me. Mr. Higgins." She points to a poster behind her, plastered against the wall in a frame.

"Are you a Fast, Fit, Fan of Football" Higgins read. This country really liked their titles alliterated.

"Hundreds of those posters were put up around Richmond on the 18th of November, 1914. It was an invitation for young men to try out to be a professional footballer. It said to come to our stadium that day. And it was a lie." She finished stoically. She gestures to Higgins to continue.

"In 1914, the war was raging. There was no tryout. Just recruiters, waiting to encourage those boys to fight the fight." Damn. That's cruel, maybe they had good reason to be cursed. She was slowly getting more details about this spontaneous get together, hoping the full explanation would come.

"They enlisted 400 lads that day." Mae, MAE THATS HER NAME, continues. "Very few of them came home."

"And after they enlisted...do you know where they went for their physical?" Higgins cringes a bit at the rhetorical, or very real to some, question.