Red Card

A tragi-comic short story that examines the delicate balance between success and failure.
Pat Carmichael was a charismatic and talented footballer with a promising career in the British Premiership. With rugged good looks a Porsche, a pretty wife and a glamorous lifestyle he was envied and desired by all and sundry. The media loved his cockiness as much as his skill on the ball. At 27 Pat had the world at his feet, but a crippling knee injury brought it all to a deadly halt. In no time the media, his fans and friends had forgotten him. Depressed, Pat turned to drink. Within a month his wife was at the door with suitcases packed.
“I fell in love with Pat Carmichael the footballer,” she said, handing him the front door keys. “I’m not interested in being married to Pat Carmichael the unemployed drunk with sick in his beard.”
Nearly two years later Pat is living in a bedsit and in debt. Drink, gambling and the divorce settlement have eaten through his entire fortune. Paying someone to kill him is looking like a good option. Does any of the bravado of the old Pat survive?