The City of the Broken (Prince of the Broken) (9 page)

“
Thanks and you too. Bye” I say, finding Freddie intimidating without Calix by my side.

“
Do you know him well?” I ask Calix as we make our way up to the Royal Box.

“
Yes. We used to be close friends. We’d see each other everyday, but Frederic started travelling a lot with his BlackBall so it was more difficult to stay in touch. He really is a fascinating human being. He’s supremely fit.”

“
Did he join the City of the Broken because he was broken?” I ask intrigued.

“
Do you mean  was he recruited?”

“
Yes”

“
I didn’t recruit him, because we’re both similar ages. He was actually one of the first people to join, not long after my mother died and Dad sank into a deep depression. Freddie was an abused child who turned to football as his only way of coping. He was really sad and lonely. My dad recruited him and he didn’t hesitate to say ‘yes’. Football became Black Ball. This city saved him Seren.”

“
Wow, I guess I always see all this depression and melancholy as a bad thing, but it certainly wasn’t in his case”

“
He’s a great star now. If he’d carried on as he was, his talent never would have been nurtured  enough to make it in football. But in BlackBall, he’s number one”

The chanting from the c
rowd is immense, and they participate in a Mexican wave of misery.

All around us is a sea of little black diamonds studding the seats of the stadium. The
Royal Box is positioned in the perfect location. We accessed it from stairs that led from the changing rooms, after all I’m sure Calix doesn’t want BlackBall fans heckling him. We open the door to the box, which only has five other people in it, although the secretary isn’t one of them. She cant have arrived yet.

“
Good afternoon Prince Calix. How wonderful it is to see you again” a red head with pillar box red lips lurches forward and smooches Calix on the cheek. I expected this from the mass of BlackBall fans, but the royal box I thought would have a little dignity.

“
And who is
this
?” she looks at me with disapproval.

“
Anita, this is Ser…” I cough remembering that tonight I’m not Seren.

“
Oh I mean…this is a cheerleader”.

“
A cheerleader?” she changes her expression from disgust to surprise in an instant.

“
Why, my dear Calix, would you want to be seen at the social event of the year with a cheerleader?”

“
Well she’s…um”

“
His date” I blurt out annoyed at this woman’s insolence.

“
Oh I see. Lucky little thing to be seen on the Prince’s arm, that will score you many a future gig I’m sure”

“
Anita! She is not with me just for her career”.

“
Why of course she is darling. Besides there’s nothing wrong with that. If you’re going to be a gold-digger ,at least be with a handsome Prince. She chose well” says Anita who speaks with a slight lisp.

“
I’m not a gold digger. I don’t care that Calix is a prince. Its enough that he’s lovely, intelligent and beautiful to boot.” I smile and he smiles back at me.

“
Whatever Sweetie. Calm down. Let us try and enjoy the game, do”

I
’m outraged Anita, winding me up, achieving her aim and then making out as if I was kicking up all of this drama. But I don’t react and ignore her instead. 

“
A cheerleader aye, young fellow? Your Father wont approve of that. Humph cheer” A stuffy older gentleman with a hat tilted to cover one eye sits at the front, saying this without turning around to face Calix .

“
I’m sure he will approve far more than if he knew the truth” Calix whispers in my ear and I giggle at this.

“
Seren, try to stay emotionless remember” he whispers.

“
It’s dreadful isn’t it Popsy?” says Anita.

“
Oh I don’t know, a cheerleader isn’t so bad. She’ll have plenty of stamina to keep up with Calix” says a lady with golden hair.

Its strange that people pay me more attention when I
’m blonde and sparkly.

Calix looks annoyed at all the fuss ,like he
’d rather just soak up the atmosphere of the game. I don’t blame him. The other two in our box include a prissy girl who seems horrified by the banter going on around her. And then there is the man who’s set me on edge since we’ve been here ,he has dark glasses on and for whatever reason I feel like he’s listening intently to every single word being said, but trying to do so undetected.

“
Who’s that ?He gives me the creeps” I say nudging Calix, slanting my head to Mr. Dark Glasses.

“
That’s one of Dads secret service commanders. He gets invited to this all the time, one of the perks of his job I guess, although I think he is a big BB fan” he whispers.

Calix and I sit in two reserved V.I.P seats, right at
the front of the box. Teenage girls scream “Look Prince Calix!” He smiles out of politeness but like he’s completely used to this attention.

The players all begin to line up on the playing field, which is tarmac with high white goal posts. Its vast ,surel
y you could fit five cemeteries on it.

The Eternal Blacks line the pitch looking muscular, dignified, heroic, with the man who embodies all these things in the middle, Mr Frederick Forefront. On the opposing tem, opposite the Eternal Blacks are the Purple
Predators ,who I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting but look every bit as fierce as the Blacks but with added bulk. The players on this team look heftier, the Captain being double Freddie’s width, though it looks like muscle and not flab. The Captains lock eye contact for a moment and its earth shaking stuff, they both look deathly competitive.

The whistle is blown and the game begins. The black ball is perfectly round and could be a bowling ball, but its made from a softer substance. Rubber? Plastic? I
can hear Anita complaining  in the background.

“
I cannot stand Black Ball, common sport” she says. She’s certainly made an effort dress wise. She’s wearing a black wide brimmed hat, a statement making black feather collar- which is circular going all the way around her neck and down her chest. Her stomach and arms are covered in black circular discs made from PVC, the tamest part of her outfit is her black pencil skirt, although its simplicity only serves to further draw attention to her elaborate top half.

Kick off has began. James passes the ball to Forest, both members of the EB
’ s and he kicks it into the goal three minutes into the game. Amazingly the crowd don’t go wild and I’m baffled by this for a while and then I remember where I am. Instead erupts a distant dreary chant ‘Forest, Forest’ because of course Broken city members cannot show any flicker of excitement or joy, let alone the ecstatic roar I was expecting upon Forest scoring. I think I made the most fuss out of the whole crowd, clapping loudly. Anita gave me a very disapproving look but then I am supposed to be a cheerleader. Speaking of which I can see the
real
cheerleaders waving black pompoms, dancing solemnly as dancers who could never quite perfect a routine. Their eyes look sad, they dance lifelessly although all the while looking beautiful and graceful but not all singing, all dancing as I would have thought them to be. More despair leaders.

The black ball moves around the pitch like the speediest beetle, wanting to escape the pursui
t of the players. The match entertains me more than any other sport I’ve watched before. I’ve never been one for sport but I’m thrilled by the game. Maybe it’s the players, they all seem to have a secret that lurks beneath the glossy veneer of professional BlackBall players. And they do, that’s the reason they are members of this city. They must all be in some way, broken. I look at them glimmering in success and find that magnificent. Then I think of Anita, I wonder why she’s here. She looks so polished ,so together and yet she cant be. Its all an illusion, her outfit, her strength. Calix’s watching enthralled, he clearly is a huge BlackBall fan. His profile is perfect, his midnight hair, those piercing eyes that look like they could know your every thought, every secret, the longing of your heart.

Four all.

Both teams have played incredibly, refusing to let the other have the upper hand. But there’s only two minutes left to go. The score board, the true star of the show having the honour of the final bow.

“
This is so close Seren, I’m glad you are here to share this moment. Its rare, timed to perfection, flawless” and for the first time in the whole match, he takes his eyes off the game and stares, with the same relentless focus into my eyes just as fascinated as he was with the game. This has to be the most perfect moment of my life, despite the fact I’m dressed as another person. Then he leans in and we kiss, making the match blur into obscurity. I hear the whistle blow and realize the game has ended. We missed the ultimate moment, or did we? I think on reflection, I was part of the ultimate moment.

Looking up at the score board I see the result. Eternal Blacks
‘5’:Purple Predators:4.They did it! Frederick Forefront stretches his arms wide, embracing victory with open arms.

“
You two are completely irritating. Your smooching blocked my view during crucial moment” Anita complains behind us.

“
Sorry you missed the last goal Calix” I say apologetically but not really caring since I’ll remember our kiss a whole lot longer than a Black Ball major match.

“
Don’t be Seren. I was scoring my own goal”. I blush and giggle, becoming more of a cheerleader by the second.

“
Seren” I hear the voice of a woman and look behind me, forgetting my faux cheerleader self for the moment.

It
’s the Kings secretary. Oh no, she recognized me.

“
I knew it was you. Why are you all dressed up like a harlot, dear girl?” she asks puzzled.

“
Um…”

“
Do you know this girl?” asks Anita clearly annoyed with me.

“
Why yes, that’s Seren. The girl Calix has been dating for months and who his father told him to no longer see”.

Oh no. Suddenly I
’m aware Mr. Creepy in the back row gets up abruptly, despite the fact the huge moment of the presentation of the cup to Frederick Forefront is happening on the pitch.

I knew he was spying on us.

“Calix I think that your father sent that man to watch us, he will probably report back what he’s seen and heard”.

“
Dad always does things like this, he promises me he wont. He never trusts me. But don’t worry Seren, we’ll just use our plan and look broken, then he will have to accept you” I don’t know how he does it but one look at his perfect face is all I need to be thoroughly convinced this master plan of his will work, even though our cheerleader scheme fell flat on its face.

“
Better take off the make-up and dress more depressingly though” he adds raising his eyebrows at me.

“
Yeah, I don’t think we’ll convince him in this” I concur.

Before I rush off to change into morbid mode, we decide to watch th
e presentation of the cup to Freddie.

The cup itself is exquisite, black onyx, with a gold plaque reading
‘Eternal Blacks’. Fans in the audience are wearing their Black ‘EB’ scarves and black and silver confetti is raining from above. There is even a giant balloon reading ‘Eternal Blacks, Eternal Champions’ that floats across the sky travelling to a paradise unknown.

Frederick, despite his great win, still looks guarded, as though he doesn
’t trust anyone, knowing full well the fickleness of his fans who may adore him one moment and turn their backs on him the next. His team mates line the field, with him at the centre and flash bulbs explode  around them.

“
That’ll be front page on the Broken Gazette tomorrow I have no doubt” Anita says behind us, as if she thinks them undeserving of their win.

“
Front page on all the papers, and some tabloids I’m sure. Young Frederick is exceedingly popular with the girls who read those magazines” says the Kings secretary.

After the presentation along with crowds of others, C
alix and I depart from the stadium. He grabs my hand and leads the way. Its dark now.

“
Come on Seren, change into you regular clothes and I’ll walk you back” .

I giggle as I
’ve never seen Calix this flustered before, he’s normally the very definition of cool composure. I wonder what the hurry is. We run through the city centre, with Calix practically dragging me along all the way. Suddenly I’m aware of several bright lights shining directly on us.

“
Stop there” a voice shouts with authority. As I turn I see a group of people, who look like police, all dressed in black uniform.