Page 35 of Lord of the Lock

I crossed the field toward him. “So, so sorry,” I was already saying. “Rhod asked me to set all this up and I completely forgot and…”

Nathan reached out for my hand and grabbed it. “Don’t worry, stupid. I get it. Pont comes first.”

He didn’t seem like he was pissed off in any way but I still felt fucking awful.

“I’ll just head to the gym now…if it’s still OK that I use it?” he asked. “Maybe I’ll see you later then, when you’re done?”

“Yeah….” I muttered. There was no solution to my idiocy, and Nathan would be left alone because of it. Nathan took a step away from me just as Ben skidded up next to us.

“Hey, you joining us for the session?” he asked.

Oh.There was the solution. So simple that even a hormonal, stupid teenager could see it. “Fancy giving rugby a go?” I asked Nathan.

“I don’t know, I’ve never…” Nathan looked around, and seemed to notice that the people at the session weren’t ourusuallot. “Fuck it. Go on then.”

“Everyone, this is Nathan…my…my Nathan. Be nice.” I grinned at him and gestured for him to join the rest. “Lucky I’m not giving you an extra lap for lateness,” I said.

“Lucky I’m not whooping your arse for being a shit personal trainer,” he shot back. The whole group laughed. I smiled, and turned away so no-one could see that my eyes had gone a bit shiny. No-one could have predicted that the Nathan I met a month before would have built up the kind of confidence to get so cheeky in front of strangers.

“Right, for that kind of language, let’s start the session with some fitness. I want to see where we’re all at. Have any of you heard of the bleep test?”

There were more groans from the group. The schoolyard exercise - running between two sets of cones in time with a series of bleeps which got faster and faster, facing faster and faster runs - was a great measure of fitness, but bad experiences in PE had soured it for a lot of people. Ben had already set up the cones for me, and I had everyone line up for the first bleep to play from my phone.

There really were a range of fitness levels in the group. The first few started dropping out at around level four of the test, but I knew a few of them as heavy smokers and drinkers so I gave them a pat on the back as they left and flopped onto the grass. After that, there was a steady stream of dropouts until there were a few left, spearheaded by Ben. I was proud to see that my training regime had pushed him into getting so fit. I saw a lot of myself in his gangly frame and awkward gait.

And then there was Nathan. Huffing and puffing, but still going. Still pushing through at the same pace as the fittest. When he finally missed two beeps in a row and flopped onto the grass, I couldn’t hold back my smile. Once Ben and the last of the guys dropped out. I let everyone have a drink and get their breath back.

“Now, for the rugby!” I said once almost everyone was standing. The air smelled of sweat and most were still panting and red-face but I could see a lot of smiles in the group. “We’ve not got much time tonight but I thought we’d have a bit of fun. Next week we’ll focus on ball skills and passing practice, if I haven’t scared you all off this week with fitness. But today Ben has gotten the tackle pads out. Ben’s going to show you all how to tackle. We want it low, below the shoulder. And you wrap your arms around your target to bring them down.”

I held up the heavy foam tackle pad and Ben moved in in an exaggerated slow movement, pushing his one shoulder against the pad and wrapping his arms around it. He stepped back and repeated the action again and again, faster each time until he was pushing me back with a grunt. The kid was getting surprisingly strong.

“Right, pair up. Grab a tackle pad each pair. The goal isnotto tackle your opponent to the ground, it’s to practice the technique.”

I watched as the group paired up. I didn’t like that Nathan paired up immediately with one of the biggest guys there, but Ben grabbed my elbow as I stepped forward to move them around. “You wouldn’t stop me doing it, so don’t stop him.”

“When did you get so fucking smart?” I asked.

“When you got so fucking dumb,” Ben replied.

“For that, you’re cleaning out the showers late,” I said.

“Nope, I’ve got a date with my girlfriend…and her girlfriend,” Ben grinned.

“Bloody hell, Ben. You’ve got two girlfriends now?”

“No, I have a girlfriend, and my girlfriend has a girlfriend. We don’t all date each other, we’re both dating…anyway, doesn’t matter. We’re all meeting together for the first time tonight.”

“Well…be safe,” is all I could think to say. I may not understand it, but there was no way I was going to get in the way of it. I’d heard too many stories of valleys kids getting shunned by their parents to be the judgemental older figure in Ben’s life.

We watched as the pairs of lads practised tackling, and Nathan was obviously taking his much bigger opponent by surprise, Every run and wrap performed by Nathan pushed back the bigger guy by a couple of inches. My man— my fake man, anyway — could take on the world.

When I called for them to swap, I watched the group like a hawk. I didn’t like the angry look the bigger guy was giving Nathan. He was a big bastard, and obviously wasn’t used to getting pushed round by someone six inches shorter and half his height. Rugby was great for getting aggression out in a safe environment. I was just watching to make sure he didn’t do anything too stupid.

The second the tackle pad was in Nathan’s hands, the big guy took a run forward and smashed it — and Nathan — into the hard ground. I was moving toward the two of them before Ben could stop me.

18

Chapter Eighteen - Nathan

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