City of Marília, interior of the state of São Paulo
In this small town with 200 thousand inhabitants, is located the traditional but small Marília athletic club
Training camp - Marília sub20 team
"Damn the prince is leaving early again, what an arrogant boy"
"unfortunately many young people with potential are lazy nowadays"
The two U20 assistant coaches were talking to each other, neither of them made the slightest effort to lower their voices, and so many of the young players listened.
Among those who heard, the so-called "prince" was one of them
"prince" or his real name André Gazel, a 16-year-old attacking midfielder for Marília
André ignored the comments, he just hurried to the changing rooms because he was late
Inside the changing rooms, André's teammates looked at him with some anger on their faces.
6 years ago André joined Marília club, his skill as a striker is so good that even though he was only 10 years old he was promoted to the sub13 team
Until the age of 13, André had an average of 3 goals per match and received the title of genius because he played in the sub16, he was even probed by great Brazilian teams in the first division, Fluminense and Palmeiras.
Unfortunately at 14 years old everything changed, this is due to his family
André lived with his mother and stepfather, his mother is drugged and his stepfather is the purest trash a man can be, André endured all kinds of humiliation in childhood and adolescence, at 14 he witnessed his stepfather beating his mother
André, fed up with his abuse, attacked his drunken stepfather and defended his mother, however the next day his mother cursed and humiliated André for hitting her husband, André simply took his few things and ran away from home.
The Marília club paid about 70 reais (about 50 dollars in 2008) to André, it is impossible to pay rent and food with that amount, with no other alternative he got a second job as a dishwasher
André left the house every day at 7am to train until 5pm, then André washed silver in a restaurant from 5pm to 11pm before going home to sleep
As for asking the club for help, that was impossible in André's mind, due to the mistreatment André developed a shy personality and social phobia, in his head, if he talked about his problems to other people, all he would get is more. problems
His social phobia made him a cold boy, for other people this was arrogance and a lack of humility and that is why André received the nickname "prince", it is not a positive nickname, but the opposite, prince refers to a nobility and unique arrogance
"André, we're going to a party tonight, do you want to come with us?" Jaime
Jaime one of the main players of the sub20
"Sorry, I'll be busy" André
"Damn, you're always busy, just say you don't want to hang out with us!" Jaime, he was angry
"Why call the prince? he's too noble to hang around with us little commoners, he's just forgetting to score goals, it's been 5 games he hasn't scored" Igor
In the last 5 U20 games André did not score, in fact his body and mind were very tired and he was lost on the field
The other players started chatting happily, while André just changed his clothes and left for work.
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The restaurant where André works is called Flying Fish, it is a Japanese food restaurant run by Japanese descendants.
"André, finally you arrived, there are many dishes to wash quickly, today we had many customers" Mr Yoshida
Mr. Yoshida owns the restaurant, he hates losing money and doesn't pay the staff well, but it's still a good standard as it allows flexible hours and offers free food
"I'm leaving boss" André
André entered the kitchen, there were many dirty pans and dishes
He wasted no time and got to work, one of the few things his late father taught him was that a man should always honor three things, God, his family and his work, André takes this seriously.
11 pm
André dragged his tired body to his house, his house was located in a poor neighborhood of the city because the rent is cheap
The house has an old paint job and an ugly rusty gate, however it is the first time that André has looked at it with happiness, arriving at his house always makes him happy.
André opened the door and entered, a sweet voice resounding through the house
"dear, don't talk noise, he's sleeping"
The person who owns this voice is Ana Lírio, André's girlfriend and wife and mother of his son
Yes, André has a 1 year old son
at the age of 15, in the most difficult moment of his life he met a beautiful girl at the restaurant, Ana has blond hair and a thin body, André at the height of his adolescence became interested in her and for some reason Ana also liked André
André and Ana aroused mutual feelings for each other and in a short time they had sex, it was their first time and therefore neither of them knew what to do or used a condom.
This resulted in Ana's pregnancy, but it was at that exact moment and through Ana's choices that André began to truly love her.
Unlike André, Ana has a family with good conditions, she was one of the best students at the school and graduated from high school, she had everything to go to study at the best colleges in the country.
After finding out about the pregnancy, Ana's family wanted her to have an abortion and break up with André, unlike everyone else Ana chose to have the child and was kicked out of the house.
Ana gave up on her good life, gave up on going to a good college and moved into a small ugly house with her boyfriend and together they had a cute little boy named Rafael, or as they both call him little angel.
That's why even though André works two jobs without complaining, his family keeps him going, he can never have a normal childhood or adolescence but he wants to become a good man.
André entered the room and saw his wife putting their son to sleep.
"How was in the work?" Ana
"It went well, today I had rice and fish for dinner, I brought you some" André
"It's too late to eat fish, leave it in the fridge tomorrow I'll have lunch so thank you" Ana
André took a quick shower and went to bed, his wife was already lying curled up beside him, she was sleeping peacefully
André sat on the bed and looked up, the ceiling was dirty with mold due to leaks, he felt terrible for making his family live in this filth
Tears fell from his eyes, he hated his life at all times, just playing football or next to his wife and son he felt good
'It's time for a change, I'm leaving football, I have a full-time job at the restaurant, I can help my family more'
André gave up on his dream, just like his wife gave up hers for the family, it's time to grow up
André lay down beside his beloved and slept
Yet he had a dream that changed everything
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