NOTE: This is a polyphonic writing, so, the narrator would be mentioned at the top of each chapter, have fun.
Narrator: SANTI
It's the 88th minute, Nico has been shit all game, I'm through on goal now, I can seal the game. "SANTI!" "Pass, I'm free." It's Nico.
True, he is free. I, on the other hand, have this entire team chasing after me, but like hell I'll pass. Nico has lost his edge; he just isn't that good anymore.
A defender slides in to take the ball, but I dispatch him with a roulette. That's it, I'm in the goal area now, I cut to the left and sent another defender flying to the right and in that sweet moment, I aimed a beautiful curved shot to the right of the goal with my left foot.
My left foot did not have the strongest shot, but it was certainly the more accurate of my two feet. However, this shot was anything but accurate.
I watched as the ball cruelly hit the post, only to drop perfectly to Nico, who prepared to volley it in so we could get an equalizer and send the match to extra time.
A defender came out of nowhere and clipped Nico down, his reward was a red card and we were awarded a penalty, I grabbed the ball to position it in the penalty area but Nico called my attention to something, it was the coach, I was being subbed off.
What? Me? Not Nico? I've carried this bum-ass team all game, and I'm the one getting axed, not Nico? How? We only got this penalty because of me. All the same I went down and got off, trust me, nothing prepared me for the earful I was about to get.
"You're far too selfish and you'll be warming the bench the next game". I was confused, what did he mean by I was too selfish? Surely, he did not expect me to pass to Nico, Nico had wasted every single pass I had given him.
I protested and told the coach the bitter truth, passing to Nico was the wrong choice and I was happy I did not make that choice cause if I had, we would never have gotten this penalty cause Nico would have skied it, the same way he skied every chance I gave him.
The coach was one to talk; his shitty tactics led us here anyway, he benched me for this crucial game, a second goal was scored against us in the 81st minute, then and only then did he decide to bring me on to save him and this shit team.
That would have been the case if I did not have shit teammates who left it all to me, they could not even pass well and Nico was the worst of the bunch, if he was even average, we would be up by two goals.
"That's it, you're off the team", the coach barked at me, what? Huh? I was off the team? What did he mean I was off the team? He told me to head into the locker room and as I took the walk of shame, the penalty was played, Nico tried a panenka.
It was straight to the keeper, the keeper grabbed the ball and kicked it to his teammates who had now begun a counter attack, their no 6 made a long pass to their no 10 who gave a defense splitting pass to their no 9, he unlike Nico did not sky the ball.
He took it down graciously, did step-overs and floored the keeper before carefully slotting it down an empty post, the score was now three goals to one, Helllllllll Yeeeaaahhhhhhh! I screamed as my team officially crashed out of the National U-16 high school cup.
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I heard that you lost again, is that true? My father had arrived and he was going to definitely shit on me for this, "how did you manage to lose? I really want to know, that team barely made it out of their group, they were probably the weakest team in this competition, how could you put up such an abysmal performance?"
"Do you know how much I invest in you? You stupid idiot, all you know how to do is eat, you are already fifteen and you still can't win anything in this backwater country. You sure as hell can not do anything abroad."
With tears now welling up in my eyes, I protested, Dad, I only played for like ten minutes and I scored a goal and won a penalty before being subbed off, it was all the coach's fault, not mine, I tried my best.
My dad slapped me and told me it was Nico who won a penalty, not me, he slapped me again and told me I was now a liar as well as a disgrace.
He proceeded to give me the beats before my elder brother stepped in and he took the beats for me. My dad was once a promising footballer but that all changed when his ACL would not stop tearing and no one would take him.
This dream of his was forced on both me and my brother and anytime we under-performed, we were severely punished, although, we were also rewarded when we did perform.
He beat the daylights off my brother before punishing us for hours, as we knelt with our knees hurting, I cursed at him and begged God to kill him, I hated him, I wished he was not my father but something that would change all our lives as we knew it was about to happen.
My dad told us to get up and gave us blackberry wine to drink. I wondered what the occasion was for and that's when he broke the news, we had been selected to join Red Zone, I looked at him in shock, what did he mean? How did Red Zone hear about us, no way in hell they wanted us, this must be a spam message.
Red Zone, located in London, England, is the greatest football academy not just in the world now but ever. Red Zone, an academy that has not only the best talents but also the best equipment and professionals, they produce about 50% of soccer's biggest superstars.
The only academy that comes close is La Masih, located in Barcelona, Spain. I looked at my father, dumbfounded. Huh? What did he mean Red Zone wanted us? My dad just told us he had prepared our bags and papers, we were leaving tomorrow, he kept talking about how he was rich now and how Red Zone had paid a million pounds for both of his sons.
I was still lost in thought, why would Red Zone want us, none of this makes sense, my brother dragged me off to our room and told me we needed to pack anything else we would need, with his bloodshot eye, he winked at me and told me we could leave our father now and did not have to come back, that really was all we had ever wanted.
I packed with my brother as my father informed us that he was going to the bar to celebrate this beautiful moment, my brother nodded and he went his way as we continued packing.
My dad got back visibly drunk as was his routine a few hours later, well, at least, we'll be free from him tomorrow, a few hours later, we informed our father that we were going to bed, he nodded and as we turned to leave, a couple of men broke into the living room.
They had guns, "Oya lie down there", one of them continuously screamed at us, we lay on our bellies as they pointed a gun at my father's head and asked him where the one million pounds he got was, he kept explaining that the money had not been wired to him and that it took a few weeks for transactions like this to take effect but these men were not ready to listen.
They pointed a gun at my brother and told my father they would kill him if he did not give them the money but he swore the money was not with him, he also told them to please not point the gun at my brother but instead at me, in case it went off, as I gasped in horror, I heard a loud bang.
My brother's head splattered blood everywhere as he lay down, dead. I and my father simultaneously screamed. "Where is the money", one of them barked at my father, one of them theorized that my dad probably did not have the money yet and it was almost midnight, the security men of this neighborhood would soon start patrolling and things could get ugly.
They nodded in unison and the robbers bolted away from here, those monsters, they had killed my brother. That was not all though, the last of the robbers turned around and shot his gun again, my father did not survive it.
I just crouched and cried until morning came, before running to the neighbor, Iya Ibeji. She saw me covered in blood and asked what happened, I told her and she just called the cops, I was viciously interrogated and they found out that my father had told everyone at the bar yesterday that he had a million pounds.
He also bought drinks for everyone as well, my father and brother's bodies were carted off soon enough and I was left with Iya Ibeji. A man visited soon enough, in an English accent, he told me he was my agent and he had come to take us to the airport.
He told me he had heard what happened to my father and that it was quite unfortunate, but I had to honor my contract now or things
would get much worse. I just begged him to take me away from here, away from this hell. He nodded and told me he would take me to RED ZONE...…..