Stealing Luca's Heart (19 page)

“Simone, do you ever rent one of the suites?”

“Dear,
these
are the best seats. If I’m going to watch my son, I want to feel like I did when I was sitting on the sidelines watching him in grade school, not from way up there. Besides, do you know what those cost?”

Ally shook her head.

“George, what do those boxes up there go for now?”

“How the hell do I know? Too much, that’s what I say.”

Simone gave Ally a knowing smile.

Ally watched the stadium fill up. “So it seems like rugby is the national religion?”

George turned to her and nodded. “Ally, for a rugby player to make this team, to play on this sacred ground, is historical. There is a legacy that comes with the uniform. The All Blacks are the toughest rugby team ever,” he said with pride. He looked up at the flags across the field. “Going to be an excellent test match today. Not a breath of wind blowing.”

Ally searched the field for Luca and found him completing passing drills with his teammates. There were also some small boys running around chasing balls.

“It must be a thrill for those boys to be down there?” And intimidating, she assumed. Those guys were tall and beefy.

“Those are the Small Blacks,” Sean answered.

“That’s a cute name.”

Sean leaned in to talk around his dad. “Actually, most of our team names aren’t that original,” he laughed. “So, here we have the All Blacks because of the black shirt and shorts. Our soccer team is the All Whites, again, white shirt and shorts. Our women’s netball team is the Silver Ferns, the Black Caps are our cricket team, and our basketball team is called the Tall Blacks.”

“Really?” Ally thought he was joking.

“Really. But the best one, which isn’t the name anymore, was the name of our badminton team, the Black Cocks.”

“Now you’re just making it up.”

“You can’t make this up. But even that one was a bit controversial, even for us kiwis.”

“I would guess so.” Ally still wasn’t sure she believed him.

“Then there’s the haka,” George added. “Not the usual way to wish your opponent a gentlemanly good luck.”

Ally jumped in. “I’ve heard about the haka. What is it?”

“You’ll see for yourself shortly,” George said. “It’s a Maori war challenge, used for intimidation. All the teams stand and give their respect to the haka before the game, accepting that it’s a part of rugby’s heritage going back to the early 1880s. Well, they sometimes choose not to respect it, but that doesn’t happen very often.”

“It’s performed in the Maori language?”

“Right. It’s been the same haka for over a hundred years, except they made a new one a few years ago. It included a gesture that at the end looked like they were slitting open their opponent’s throats. They claimed that’s not what they were implying, but it didn’t go over well with the other teams, as you can imagine. I’d say every boy in New Zealand learns the haka at some point growing up.”

“Wow.” Ally couldn’t wait for the game to start.

Finally, it was time for the national anthems. The words were displayed on the large screen at one end of the stadium. All stood as Australia’s anthem was played for their team, followed by New Zealand’s, first performed in Maori, followed in English by a wonderful tenor. They were both beautiful songs. Knowing more now about New Zealand heritage and Maori culture, Ally felt extreme pride in standing up for their country.

The crowd was in a frenzy as the two teams wasted no time getting in position for the haka. Australia formed a line about ten meters from the All Blacks, who were in no formal formation but spaced out in five or six lines facing their opponents, feet spread, knees lightly bent. All players knew where their place was on the field.

“You’re going to love this,” Simone said, excitedly, squeezing Ally’s arm. “The team picks a player each year who symbolizes leadership, someone who can inspire the team to do great things.”

George leaned in. “Love, you really should learn that it’s poor form to brag.”

“You just watch,” Simone said, pointing toward the field.

Ally read the words
Ka Mate
on the large screen. The crowd cheered as Luca walked among the men shouting Maori phrases. When Luca yelled the first instructions, the men bent their arms and brought their forearms in front of them in unison. Ally looked on the board for the translation so she could read what he was yelling—or rather, screaming—to his teammates.

“
Ringa pakia!
” Slap the hands against the thighs!

“
Uma tiraha!
” Puff out the chest!

“
Turi whatia!
” Bend the knees!

“
Hope whai ake!
” Let the hip follow!

“
Waewae takahia kia kino!
” Stomp the feet as hard as you can!

The players aggressively slapped their chests, using sweeping gestures, while maintaining a wide-eyed fierce gaze fixed on their opponents, who stood with reverence watching the haka. The intense war chant continued, now with the team and Luca alternating lines. Ally watched Luca with a new fascination.

“
Ka mate, ka mate.
” I die, I die.

“
Ka ora’, Ka ora’.
” I live, I live.

“
Ka mate, ka mate.
” I die, I die.

“
Ka ora’, Ka ora’.
” I live, I live.

“
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru.
” This is the hairy man.

“
Nāna I tiki mai whakawhiti te rā.
” Who fetched the sun and caused it to shine again.

“
A Upane! Ka Upane!
” Up the ladder, Up the ladder!

“
Upane Kaupane.
” Up to the top.

“
Whiti te rā!
” The sun shines!

“
Hī!
” Rise!

The stadium erupted with cheers. The passion and power of the haka sent chills down her spine. “He would have had me running if he yelled that stuff at me,” she said, laughing to Simone.

The game started, and Ally relied on the Tetaris to fill her in on the rules. It was fun watching the teams jockey for position as the runners took off up the field. She learned if the runner was about to get stopped, he needed to pass the ball backward to his teammate so the ball could be run or kicked forward, but not passed forward.

In watching her first scrum, it was obvious why these men had such massive thigh muscles. They needed to push as a unit against the other team for ball position. It was also nice that they didn’t wear helmets, making it easier to see who was who.

Luca was clearly a crowd favorite, especially when he had the ball. He weaved through a small gap and broke away from the defense, outrunning everyone down the field for New Zealand’s only try. The stadium erupted with cheers. Sean smiled, but little else.

The Wallabies followed with the next two tries.

It was closing in on the end of the first half, and New Zealand was down thirteen to six.

“Ally, I’m going to get something to drink. Can I bring you back anything?” Simone asked, standing up.

“No, but thank you. I’m going up to find the ladies’ room.” She followed Simone up the steps and back out into the stadium vending area.

“Toilets are that way,” Simone said, pointing to her right. “You may want to hurry as the break isn’t very long.”

“Thanks.”

When Ally walked out of the ladies’ room, she spied a concession stand across the hall. All the lines were long, but she figured she’d wait for a couple of minutes to see how fast it moved. Looking at the soda choices, she decided on a lemon lime L&P.

She took out her phone to call Tara and saw that she had received a text from her. Tara said Dad was in a recliner in the Tetari’s living room, watching the game, and essentially kicked her out to go catch her flight, which she did. There was a housekeeper keeping an eye on him until they returned. Tara said she’d talk to them both when she got back from Australia. That was good news, Ally thought.

She put her phone away and looked at the backs of the heads in front of her. She recognized Sean a few feet ahead, but he seemed to be in a discussion with the man next to him. The way they were rubbing shoulders and leaning in, she figured they must be good friends, but when they turned to speak to each other, she noticed their conversation looked more serious than just a couple of mates talking rugby.

He was a tall, nice-looking man, she guessed mid-forties, wearing khaki slacks, a white short-sleeved polo, and an All Blacks baseball cap. She assumed the two must have a business connection and planned to meet while Sean was in town.

The second-half horn sounded, and the line suddenly thinned, people making dashes for their seats. Ally was now only two people back from them. She decided she’d be friendly with Sean if he noticed her in line and make an effort to talk. Maybe he was just a mean drunk.

She continued watching them. Sean took something small out of his pocket and handed it over to the man, who briefly glanced at it in his palm. Ally made out that it was a flash drive before he slipped it into his pants pocket. He patted Sean’s back as they shook hands, and then each left the line in opposite directions without ordering. That was weird.

The game was in full swing as she took her seat. Sean was grumbling over the score with his dad.

“You were gone quite a while,” Simone remarked as she took her seat. “Did you find everything all right?”

“The concession lines were unbelievable,” she said, holding up her soda. “How are we doing?”

“Terrible!” George yelled. “We just got two penalties for offsides. Aussie’s got the ball off the scrum, ran out the back for a try. Where the hell was the defense! Look at that score, nineteen to six in the first minute, shameful!”

George, and it seemed every All Blacks fan, was becoming unglued. Ally looked for Luca out in the field but didn’t find him.

“Where’s Luca?”

“They brought him out to rest. Should be in any minute would be my guess. Actually, there he goes now,” said George. “About bloody time!” he yelled out into the field.

Luca joined the two teams already huddled in a scrum. The two teams pushed against each other until the All Blacks managed to push the Wallabies past the ball. An All Black player snatched it up and passed to Luca, who ran hard up the field and did a quick dive, avoiding a tackle and managing to pass it off. His teammate had an easy short run for a try into Australia’s end. New Zealand earned five points.

“You see that? Luca set that up,” George called out. “Our scrum is powerful. Ally, did you see the way the team easily pushed those Wallabies away from the ball? Luca’s presence just lit up the back line.”

She nodded, trying to give the impression she understood what the hell was going on. Of course, she agreed he did light up the back line.

“Luca had the tackle covered too,” Simone added.

The second half was full of penalties, but in the end, New Zealand prevailed with a final score of twenty-one to nineteen.

“Ugh! That was harder that it needed to be!” George complained to Ally as they were herded out the exits. “I’ll text Luca that we’ll meet him back at the plane. He usually gets tied up with interviews and such.”

* * * *

Graham stood against the glass watching the All Blacks from the stadium bar. He could listen to the commentary that was blaring from the television up in the corner. It was actually a good game for a while. Then they put the Tetari boy back in. He fingered the flash drive in his pocket. Poor Luca, he thought, in a couple of days the golden boy’s world wouldn’t look quite the same.

Sean promised to deliver the signed documents to him at the conference. Graham had enough contingency plans in play so there was no way this deal wouldn’t stick. He’d anticipated the obstacles, was outplaying his opponents—or potential business partners, as it were. This would be his greatest conquest.

Graham heard the low ring of his phone. Pulling it out along with his wallet, he set down money at the table next to him for his beer. He looked at the number and saw it was from Auckland.

“It’s Graham,” he answered.

“Graham. Todd Jenkins, from Auckland.”

“Todd. I hope you have good news for me?”

“Naturally. I told you our firm could pull your request together quickly. The legal documents have been sent to the e-mail you gave us. Everything was kept anonymous, just like you specified.”

“Good. I’ll be traveling back to Auckland within the hour, but you can use this number to reach me after you make contact tonight.”

“This is an incredible deal you’ve proposed. I don’t know how they could refuse it.”

“Just call me tonight. Thanks, Todd.” He strode out of the stadium to catch a taxi to the airport.

Chapter 15

The late afternoon sun was warm on Ally’s back. She and Luca were making their way back from the Queenstown airport in an old black MG convertible. He told her he was keeping an eye on it for his cousin Gracie. Ally couldn’t fathom why his cousin would choose him with that responsibility the way he tore along the mountain roads. He’d been busy taking phone interviews since he left the stadium. She silently praised his sanity in using a blue tooth so both hands could navigate around the hairpin turns. He pulled up to his parents’ house and parked the car behind his mom’s truck.

“Sorry, about all the calls,” he said as they climbed out of the car.

“I didn’t mind. It was fun listening to your answers. You’re awfully patient. The person on the other end would never suspect that you’d been answering the same questions for three hours.”

He nodded, grabbing his bag from the trunk. “I know, right? Actually, that’s the easiest part of my job. I can feel my muscles starting to scream from the tough part.”

They started walking up the sidewalk. “Are you going home to rest?”

“I wish. Sitting in a hot tub with a beer would get my vote. No, I’ve got lots to do still. I’ve got a real job, remember? We are having a meeting here shortly to discuss Turning Green.”

“Why are you doing all this tonight?”

“The energy conference is just the day after tomorrow, and I’m presenting it to the world. I can’t believe how Sean cut it so close with getting the necessary data pulled together.”