The Shirt

Afterwards, I found him alone at the bar and asked him what went wrong. It's the shirt, he said. When I pull it on it hangs on my back like a shroud, or a poisoned jerkin from Grimm seeping its curse onto my skin, the worst tattoo. I shower and shave before I shrug on the shirt, smell like a dream; but the shirt sours my scent with the sweat and stink of fear. It's got my number. I poured him another shot. Speak on, my son. He did. I've wanted to sport the shirt since I was a kid, but now when I do it makes me sick, weak, paranoid. All night above the team hotel, the moon is the ball in a penalty kick. Tens of thousands of fierce stars are booing me. A screech owl is the referee. The wind's a crowd, forty years long, bawling a filthy song about my Wag. It's the bloody shirt! He started to blub like a big girl's blouse and I felt a fleeting pity. Don't cry, I said, at the end of the day you'll be back on 100K a week and playing for City.