The final whistle blows, and Singaling the end of the match.
The Opposing team starts to celebrates they rush towards each other, taking off their jersey as they celebrate.
The scoreboard reads 6-1
They won by 5 goals.
Kairo stood near midfield, hands bracing his knees breathing hard as his lungs burned. He watched them celebrate like this match mattered, like the worst vs the worst was something good.
Lucas, the striker who told Kairo to pass the ball, rushed towards him. He grabs Kairo by his jersey.
"Why didn't you pass to me? Lucas snapped. "You think you're better than us now, huh?"
Kairo stares into his eyes. "You were marked."
"That's your excuse? You're a joke, Lane, always trying to be different."
The players on the field stop and watch
"So because I was the so-called mark, you passed to him that clown," he said while looking and pointing at Eli.
"So?" Kairo looks at him, then the scoreboard.
"It didn't matter. Passing to you or him wouldn't have made us win. We were losing badly; one goal couldn't change that."
"Tell me, could one goal have changed us losing?"
"No" said Lucas.
"That's my point."
"So you started deciding for all of us now?" someone grumbled
Kairo said nothing because at the end of the day, that was it for them, the worst team of the league had played the second-worst team and lost.
The coach gathered everyone in a line up.
"I guess this is it, boys," he said with a flat voice
"This is as far as we go. Thought we could do a little bit better than last year, but we ended up doing worse. Come back next year, boys, maybe then we won't lose."
Even though he said that nobody believed him, not even he believed him.
The boys head to the locker room, and a teammate looks at Lucas and says, "Next time, hopefully Lane won't be on our team."
Everyone starts to laugh.
Kairo walked away alone.
The locker room emptied quickly. Nobody wanted to stay. Not after losing like that, everyone took a shower and left.
Only Kairo was left in the locker room he zipped his bag and stepped outside. The
Rain had stopped but the night it left behind was cold.
It seems tonight is going to be cold at least mom doesn't have to use the fan tonight, so we can save a little money from the electric bill, he thinks to himself.
One by one, the stadium lights began to click off.
Kairo started walking. He looks up to the sky.
"Football doesn't make any sense" he muttered.
"You could do everything right and still lose, you could assist with a great goal and still be blamed. You might even think ahead and still be called selfish ."
Kairo starts to remember his father and how the way the ball obeyed him, the way defenders disappear when he's with the ball.
"I will never be like him. Maybe I should just focus on my studies." Kairo Whispered
He stops on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.
"I thought with my intelligence, football would be easy. Guess I was wrong, maybe football has nothing to do with intelligence. Maybe it was just a matter of talent"
He holds down his head
"If that's the case, then I really and truly never belonged. "
Kario hears kids laughing.
He lifts his head and looks across the street, he sees a nearby park kids were play football, and laughing.
He watch them chasing the ball and having fun. The sight pulled him back in time.
His mother stood in the doorway, her hands crossed, watching him struggle to control the ball.
"You will never have his touch," she said softly.
He was too young to realize that his father had already vanished, leaving him, his sister, and his mom by themselves.
"Keep at it, my son, you will get better," she said.
He tried every single day, but the talent never came his way; it was like it skipped him.
The memory faded, his eyes blurred by his tears. "I give up, I'm not him, will never be as good as him, will never beat my dad," he said.
"Why quit?" a random man's voice said.
Kairo turns around its the man and woman from the stands, the man had on his coat with his hands in his pockets, and the lady stood quietly beside him.
"You have exceptional spatial
understanding," the man said.
"I don't know what you're talking about, sir," said kairo
"Your vision is elite. You simply need refinement, not talent."
Kairo shook his head, "You're mistaken, the players you want are on the winning team, my team lost, or maybe it's Eli you're talking about."
"We're recruiting for FC Blau Noire Academy" the man said.
"our wasting your time playing high school football."
Kairo gave a small laugh.
"I don't have talent, and even if I did, I can't play for you my family is poor. My sister needs my mom, not me."
" I won't let her spend on something I know won't help me or help me get any money".
he turns and ran away
FC Blau Noire Academy, that's one of the best football clubs in the world, but why me? he thinks to himself while running.
Few minutes later, he reached home.
He opens the door to walk inside, but he sees two extra pair of shoes.
"Mom I'm back sorry, I'm late. I saw some shoes. Do we have company?"
He turns towards the kitchen to see the man and the woman sitting in the kitchen.
"What are you two doing here?"