Red or Dead

Red or Dead Read Free Page B

Book: Red or Dead Read Free
Author: David Peace
Tags: Fiction, General
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water.
    Bill said, No water? So what do you do?
    There’s a tap in the visitors’ dressing room, said Arthur Riley. We run a pipe from there out here.
    Bill looked down at the pitch. The Anfield pitch, the Anfield grass. Frozen and bare, hard and barren. Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, You run a pipe? That’s no bloody good, is it?
    I know, said Arthur Riley. But what can we do?
    Bill said, We can fix it. We can buy some bloody equipment. That’s what we can do, Arthur.
    I’ve been saying that for years, said Arthur Riley. But there’s no money. No money here.
    Bill smiled. And Bill said, Leave that to me. I’ll get you the money, Arthur. Trust me.
    I do, said Arthur Riley. You’re the Boss.
    Bill smiled again. And Bill said, I am. Now let’s you and me go and have a look at the training ground. Let’s go out to Melwood.
    You’re not going to like it, said Arthur Riley. You’re not going to be happy, Boss. I can tell you that for nothing.
    Bill shrugged. And Bill said, How bad can it be, Arthur? It can’t be any worse than this place, can it?
    …
    In Liverpool, in the car. Bill and Ness drove from house to house. This house for sale and that house for sale. This house too big, that house too small. Outside the last house, back in the car. Bill shook his head. And Bill said, I’m sorry. love. That was a waste of time.
    No it wasn’t, said Ness. There’s no rush, love. Better to find the right house than any old house. Better to take our time, better to wait, love. And at least we can have Christmas in Huddersfield.
    Bill nodded. And Bill said, Yes. With our friends.
    On their way back home, home to Huddersfield. Bill stopped the car at Melwood in West Derby. Bill and Ness got out of the car. It was cold and it was dark. There were trees and there were bushes. There were hills and there were hollows. There was an air-raid shelter and there was a cricket pitch. There was an old wooden pavilion. In the cold and in the dark. Bill and Ness stood in the middle of the training pitch. They felt the long grass and the uneven ground beneath their feet. Bill shook his head again. And Bill said, What do you think, love? Have I made a mistake in coming here? A big mistake, love?
    No, you haven’t, said Ness. You want to get into the First Division. You want to win the League. You want to win the Cup. So this is your chance. The chance you have been waiting for. The chance you have been working for. Your whole life. You are not a coward. And you are not a shirker. So you will do it, love. I know you will.

3. WHAT IS TO BE DONE
    In the winter, in the morning. The players of Liverpool Football Clubwere packed into the old wooden pavilion at the Melwood training ground in West Derby. All forty of them. They were here to meet their new manager. And they were nervous. They were worried. All forty of them. They had all heard the stories about Bill Shankly. One of them whispered, The man’s a fanatic. A bloody mad man. He’ll come in here like a fucking hurricane. We’ll all be for the chop, lads, I tell you.
    Some of them nodded. And another one said, Yeah. I heard that story about him at Carlisle, when he was manager at Carlisle. And they were two down at half-time. And they come into the dressing room. And the first thing Shankly does is he grabs their captain. He grabs him by the throat and he says, Why did you kick off the way you did? And the captain says, Because I lost the toss, Boss. So Shankly says, Well, what did you call? And the captain says, Tails. And then Shankly calls him every name under the sun. Every bloody name there is. In front of the whole fucking changing room. And then Shankly says, You never call tails. Everyone knows that. You never call tails.
    In the pavilion, in the corner. Bob Paisley looked up from his
Sporting Life
. Bob Paisley laughed. And Bob Paisley said, But the feller was right, wasn’t he? The Boss was right.
    Now the players of Liverpool Football Club heard footsteps on the

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