My Game of two Halves Ch. 03

I might have been a nerd when I was young but I did play rugby, even if it meant putting up with a bit of rough play for being a nerd. My favourite position was half-back because I was fast and fleet on my feet. I could whip those passes out with astonishing accuracy for my age.

The incentive was to get the ball away before I was smashed to the ground. Still, there were many who ignored the late tackle rule to their peril as our team was quite protective of me. Once they got to know me, a few of the refs were as well.

I left rugby late at High School, I didn't see the point in being pummelled week after week when I had other things I wanted to achieve. I had a small deputation of the rugby playing teachers try to convince me to stay on saying I had potential in the higher levels in the game. Flattered as I was, I did not relate to those old rugby veterans held together by titanium and opted for a more academic path. It did not mean that I fell out of love for the game and I have been an enthusiastic follower all my life. Within reason of course; after all it is just a game isn't it?

Well, yes and no.

The two most powerful teams in the Rugby Universe are New Zealand's All Blacks and South Africa's Springboks. These two teams have been uncompromising foe on the field for decades. Their games are always brutal but off the field they have always been mates.

In these two countries Rugby is a religion

The game in South Africa was traditional to that of the white Afrikaans and many years ago the White South Africans harshly suppressed the majority Black South Africans under a system called apartheid. Rugby matches were highly symbolic of the white rule. The blacks who were allowed in to the stadia had to sit in designated places and would actually cheer for the All Blacks.

There were riots in New Zealand as many felt we should not be playing a game with a country that did not allow equal rights. The protestors tried to disrupt the games. The country became divided and there was near civil war during one Springbok tour of New Zealand.

But rugby is just a game, isn't it?

Well, what has this to do with my story and extra time? Those supporting South Africa's right to play said that politics should not interfere with sport. It's an absurd proposition because politics control every facet of our life. We simply don't see it until it is too late. Believe me I know, from bitter experience.

Let me give you an example.

The greatest rugby match of all time was the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. At that tournament the All Blacks were undoubtedly the favourites and the team to beat. In their march to the final they had annihilated the English; the All Black's legendry mountain of a wing, Jonah Lomu, repeatedly grinding tacklers into the South African dust.

Inevitably the final was to be South Africa versus New Zealand. From the start of the game there were things stacked against New Zealand. The game was to be played at altitude, on Ellis Park Johannesburg. The altitude had always been South Africa's advantage as they were used to training there.

Apartheid in South Africa had only recently been shattered; Nelson Mandela was the first black president who was desperately following a policy of reconciliation to avoid civil war. This was the first world cup that South Africa had played in, it was at home and their final was against the might of the All Blacks.

Immediately before the match two thirds of the All Black team were stricken with food poisoning but they elected to play.....at altitude.

The game was as brutal and uncompromising as All Black Springbok games can be and at full time the score was 12 all. No player had successfully crossed the touch line, all the points were penalties.

The game went to extra time.

Following a five minute rest both teams were back on the field to play a further 10 minutes to try and break the deadlock. And the Springboks did it with one measly three points from a drop goal leaving the once mighty All Blacks, literally vomiting on the field.

It was Mandela's triumph, as dressed in a springbok's jersey and cap he held the Webb Ellis Trophy. The sight of a black man of such stature in a Rugby Jersey was revolutionary and may well have symbolically paved the path of reconciliation avoiding the civil war everyone feared.

South Africa had to win that game. Were the All Blacks deliberately poisoned? Some were sure they were but it was all swept under the carpet. Maybe in 50 years' time, in some declassified document we will finally get the truth.

Anyway Rugby is just a game, isn't it?

Well consider this.

Nelson Mandela's success inspired Obama to become President of the United States, whose success provoked the implacable desire of Trump to gain the presidency and so on.

Now imagine if you were the All Blacks coach. He was focussed on the All Blacks winning. He was not interested in all this geopolitical crap. He had the best team and was expected to win as he watched his players dropping like flies. What the fuck was going on? And then he loses the game and nobody is interested in his protestations. Who knows? If he happens to live for another 50 years maybe he just might find out what happened.

This gets me to the ending of my story, in extra time.

As unrest continued in the United States there was fall out in New Zealand. New Zealand had received a large number of refugees from the States. Some of these were Climate refugees but increasingly many were from the now nearly defeated Confederate resurrection looking for an offshore bolt hole. The long standing progressive government in New Zealand was becoming a little stale. The opposition were exploiting the refugees to bolster their support.

That was the politics of the situation. On our home front Mary was the director of Civil Defence. New Zealand fortunately had few natural disasters of late and the global situation and the influx of refugees was seen as the greatest risk. Mary was mandated to coordinate the agencies overseeing health, housing, and security. The refugees often arrived in waves and the effect of them had the potential to destabilize New Zealand's small population so her job was an important one.

We at least had a stable home life although Mary, these days, seemed remote. She was there at home in the weekends and for events like birthdays and anniversaries. We had our holidays but Mary always seemed to be detached. Our intimate life was comfortable but uninspiring. It took a bit of alcohol and some special event to invoke a romp in the hay, as it were.

In short Mary was not the mother and wife she had once been. Sexually, I usually had to do it solo; late at night when the kids were in bed. There was very little love in our love making, she seemed focussed elsewhere. Let alone the sex, I was missing affection or even just conversation about the inconsequential. Our conversations about children digressed into something akin to planning military logistics.

I began really discussing the personal and private stuff that one would normally do with the wife with my work colleagues. They were all now my long standing friends and I think they understood and were sympathetic. One of these was Mary's father Frank and the other, dangerously, was my former wife Georgia. Both had now joined partners and me in the architectural firm.

Frank was always reassuring. He had great faith in his daughter's integrity. He recognised the important position the Mary held at a time when the world was in peril and reminded me of what spouses had to endure during war. He was sure that once the recent troubles were over she would be back.

Georgia was different. While thankful for the help Mary had done for her she also knew me intimately and understood me. She was wary of Mary and I believe she had heard some things from those early days when we first met them; stuff that I did not know.

My practice was now thriving with Pania and James. The elderly Frank Hollis liked to put in a few days a week, so he and I were pretty close. I hired some home help to keep the house and ground tidy, meals and laundry looked after. This was so Mary and I could devote our time to the children. I did not want Robert to turn into another Vaughan junior and the girls were moving into their difficult teenage years.

Georgia had joined the practice as a project design manager and publicist. She was able to reinvigorate and indulge her love of interior design. Mary and I did not finance her breast implant removal as I offered. She and her beau, Andrew took care of that. She included uplift as well. This resulted in her insisting to come to work braless and the sight of those pokies started to become a little distracting in the office but we were liberal about such things as long as it did not go too far.

Financing breast reduction would have been a step too far for Mary and my relationship so we financed a week getaway at a luxury resort for her and Andrew. This was the height of their time together and it is with some sadness that later they amicably drifted apart and marriage was not to be.

Georgia became a favourite aunt of the kids and with the departure of Andrew we found her increasingly an integral part of our family social calendar. I look back on it now as something Mary may have been encouraging. Mary did not seem the jealous sort. Something, I admit I found a little unnerving.

I had heard little in the meantime of the infamous Whitmore except that he was now a Major General and was acting chief of the Defence Force. Although Mary would inevitably have dealings with him as part of her position I thought he was effectively out of our lives until one astounding day.

It was a fine sunny morning. The office was quiet and busy with piecing sunlight flooding into the main tiled reception area. Georgia was sitting at the reception and we were hovering over a spreadsheet displayed on the computer discussing the finances of a proposal when in walked Mary and Major General Whitmore; Mary in uniform.

This was a complete surprise. Mary had said nothing about the impending return to uniform; this was not something that had just happened. She was back in uniform as a full colonel. Had our marriage become so impersonal that this could happen without my knowing it?

I was astounded and blurted "what the fuck!" Mary in forthright manner just started into the explanation, "I am sorry to spring this on you; Civil Defence has been absorbed into the Defence banner."

Whitmore chimed in,"Mary will be under my direct command."

I glared at Whitmore who was looking too smug for words.

Mary uncharacteristically stuttered, "I'm sorry Vaughan, it is a matter of national emergency. I can't possibly refuse."

With that little entrance I suddenly saw my marriage going down the toilet. My mind went blank; here I was absorbed in a spreadsheet full of figures which I was trying to understand when an emotional grenade just goes off. I could not think of anything to say. I finally blurted "Look we have an important proposal to get in. Can we discuss this at dinner?"

"I'm sorry I can't be in tonight, I'm going to be based in Auckland. I am flying up on a military flight this afternoon."

"I turned and looked at Georgia who was wide eyed and horrified."

"Well thanks a fucking lot for discussing that with us. What do I tell the kids?"

The reply was meek for a Colonel, she just said, "It's my duty." She turned and it is hard to believe of that heroine wonder woman, she fled. Whitmore just stood there looking triumphant for a second. And did I detect that stony face cracking into a smirk before he swivelled and purposely left through the door.

I turned to Georgia. "I have had as much as I can stand. It's bad enough with all the secrecy but this is a betrayal and Whitmore was there to humiliate me."

Georgia looked back at me with a look of utter compassion. She made a move to hug me but shrank back remembering her position as ex-wife who owed so much to Mary in her redemption. Instead she began to tear up and excused herself; retreating in her embarrassment to the women's.

Mary was in touch with the kids but it was two weeks before she returned. There was to be a function celebrating the setting up of the new regime and Mary's position. The function was held at Government house. It was a huge deal. I was invited as Mary's partner and Helen and James were to be there as close military friends of Mary's.

As it turned out, I was Mary's partner in name only.

Mary and I arrived together. We were chauffeured to the event in a black official limousine. I had calmed down a bit with Frank's help over the previous few weeks and our mood in the car was quite upbeat despite the clouds on our horizon. We smiled and we chatted about the children. As we arrived, the door was opened by a uniformed aide. We were silent as we were ushered to the grand hall. As soon as we passed the doorman we were offered drinks. We only glanced at one another as an aide ushered Mary out of my sight. I was left alone in a room full of dress suits and mess kit. I made my way slowly around the room looking for Mary but she was out of sight. I found myself chatting to two cabinet ministers who seemed to latch on to me as one of the few civilians in the room at that time. They were two I had not met before. We seemed to be speaking in low conspiratorial tones. I didn't know why, I just went with the flow. We were not talking about anything of consequence. Curiously they were quite friendly until I mentioned I was Mary's spouse and they almost immediately made excuses and abandoned me.

Eventually Mary made an appearance with Whitmore and his wife. She seemed to look flustered and kept straightening her kit. Whitmore's wife looked the same as always, icy calm. She paired off and disappeared into the crowd. I followed Mary as Whitmore circulated introducing her to various dignitaries. Whitmore's wife suddenly appeared at my side.

"Do you feel just a little bit intimidated by this?" was her opening line. I looked at her. She held herself with her beaky nose up. She was shorter than me but she gave the appearance of looking down on me. I was silent but she continued. "He set this up to humiliate you, you know."

I finally spoke, "I can see that. I just wonder, what's next?"

"If you marry into the military you just have to accept it if your spouse is ambitious. I accepted my humiliation years ago. I learn to live with it. I just accepted it. It is a military thing."

"Ah, but I will not. I don't believe that belongs in the modern military. There is such a thing a sexual harassment and coercion. Dinosaurs such as your husband may wish to believe that they retain the right but the risk is their Achilles heel."

Her demeanour changed a little. She lowered her head and glared at me.

"I think you are a little naive Mr Spenser. This is about power. He is a very powerful man. Power is the greatest aphrodisiac; he has the power and you do not. Be very careful; that is for yourself, I fear you are too late as far as you wife is concerned. In fact you were never in it right from the start. If you want to stay with her, accept your humiliation, if not make a very quiet exit."

With that she smiled as a crocodile would. It was the most emotion I had ever seen her exhibit and she sidled off to impress somebody else.

As soon as she left, Jeff and Helen appeared both in their uniforms. Jeff was now a major and Helen now a Lieutenant Colonel.

"I see you met the General's wife. That can't have been an uplifting experience?" Chuckled Jeff.

"that was one bitter lady", I replied," Hiding behind a veneer of status and decorum....I was given a dark warning."

"That sounded ominous."

All this time Helen remained silent. I looked at her and she turned away. There was so much I did not know. I was suddenly very aware that I had bitten off more than I could chew in marrying wonder woman. Even the term "wonder" was developing a new sinister meaning.

Helen turned back, changing the subject and trying to lighten the mood. "Hey look, there are some penguins arriving." Across the room there were number of embassy officials dressed in their dinner suits. I smiled but it would not have shown in my eyes.

Later at dinner I was sitting with Jeff but Helen was seated elsewhere. With us was another Major, Mark who had been friends with Jeff since they graduated as officers. I am not sure what Mark's current role was but he was aware of things that were not public. He was discrete but there was obvious method to what he was telling us. "If you look around the room," he was telling us "you will notice two discrete groups of people other than those the head table. Now I happen to know the head table was selected by the General but I don't know who set out the rest of the arrangement. The General would have signed it off although he may not have checked it."

"What are you suggesting?" exclaimed a bemused Jeff.

"There are two opposing sides in this room. They do not mix."

I did not have the knowledge to tell. Mark obviously did and I was fascinated.

"It is not a fait accompli that the Acting General will finally be the Chief. At the moment he is constrained. If you look where his supporters are they are far fewer than the rest. Now for example, where are the government ministers who are not at the main table?"

I spoke up, "I guess they are not in his support group."

"Right, the opposition are though. And there is something you will be very interested in. The brass with the Ministers are, to a man, those that had strong links with our departed Robert."

"What about the top table?" I asked.

"Nothing much to report there; there are the usual, the PM, leader of the opposition, the defence attaché's from the five eyes partnership. The fact that Whitmore's wife is there, with Mary flanking Whitmore and he is not next to the PM is curious; definitely not protocol. Jeff filled me in on your situation by the way. I doubt whether he is mixing business with pleasure though."

"Are you suggesting needling me his pleasure?"

"Oh it definitely is but that is not entirely what going on."

"What do you suggest?"

"Mary is the heroine. She is the Queen bee at this little gathering. He has to be seen with her, she is his ace, but with all the rumours swirling about, his wife is his cover."

Fuck, I thought, "What rumours?" I kind of choked when I said it.

Jeff steadied me. "Don't worry about it tonight. It's complicated. Meet me for coffee tomorrow. I think it is time you knew about a few things."

That set my mind in overload. I kind of went blank until Mark spoke again. "I think you are here for similar reasons. He needs you here to help provide that cover but while you are here he can't resist humiliating you. A not so subtle thing I am afraid. It is significant that you are one of the very few civilian spouses."

Jeff changed the subject, "Vaughan , have you noticed how everyone is guarded and subdued."

"I don't really have many functions I can compare it with but there it does appear to be a very strange atmosphere. I thought that this was to be celebratory, but it certainly does not appear that way."

"Jeff leaned forward. Something is going to happen, I think, There is a coming storm that is about to break."

"Thanks for your jolly thoughts Jeff," said Mark, "but I think you are right."

I glanced over at Mary who was staring at us from afar.

I tried to read her face but the distance was too great. Was she glaring at me, no, it looked like sadness.

Next afternoon, I was sitting with Jeff. He was oddly dressed in civvies. We were sitting outside a café perilously close to the passing traffic but apart from the other customers. It was a calm sunny day and not too hot. I was happy just to soak in the sunshine but the meeting was not to be a pleasant one. We had ordered coffee and I had added a melting moment in my own moment of insanity. I was destined to be covered in crumbs.