Chapter 1
“Is there soccer there,” I ask my dad as he packs my clothes
“Yes,” he says.
He is a bit distracted. There is no system to how he packs. He just throws everything in and then picks out what he feels doesn’t belong.
He watches over the half filled bag and then he scratches his head. This is the face of a man who is clearly going to forget to pack something important while overpacking useless things.
I’ve never seen him like this. He is a best freak and orderly. Something has overcome him.
I should help him. I could pack my own bag but I don’t want to go.
“What else will he need,” he whispers to himself.
“Is there bathrooms there. If so, I may need a tooothbrush,” I sarcastically remind.
“Ohh, thank you for reminding me,” he scurries to the bathroom
Yes. I don’t want to go but I can’t have a stink bomb of a breath around my new found relatives.
Okay. Maybe they are not new found. But there are new to me. I knew they existed. I have visited once. It has was so long ago and I was so young that I don’t even remember their names.
He returns to them room with two toothbrushes. Mind and his.
“I forgot to pack one for me too,” he jokes
“Who is going to stay with the boyz and continue their training if you’re leaving?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about it. The captains got it,” he reassures
“Why are we going,” I ask for the 43rd time
“For December holidays.
“Who are we going to see?” I continue to ask
“Your mom’s brother and his family. Your family. We are going to live among royals. We’ll be treated like royals. We get to stuff our faces with good food and there’s a PlayStation there,” he markets me the place
“Will mom be there?” I ask the only thing that matters
“She will and that’s why I am a little excited.” he answers me.
He is really patient with my questions, even the difficult ones
“We need to get her flowers,” he suggest to me
Even in trying times, he still wants to get my mom flowers. It is a nice gesture but can we afford it? Can we even afford the bus tickets to Metsungo.
“Do I look good,” he asks me as he looks into the mirror in my room
He looks good. He is in great shape. No grey hair in sight.
“What time is our bus leaving again?” I ignore his question
“There’s no bus. A driver will come and pick us up. He might be close by,” he says closing the suitcase.
He rolls it out of the room and places it by the front door, next to his.
“Why is your bag much smaller than mine,” I question
“Because you have more clothes and stuff than I do,” he says
“What stuff,” I ask
I don’t have a lot of stuff. I have close to nothing.
“Stuff. You are going to be a detective one day. I just know it,” he complains.
“I want to be a soccer star,” I say
“You can be anything you want to be,” he says as a flicker of light shines on his face.
We both look out a window. A shiny black car parks in front of our gate.
“He is here,” he says and my stomach churns
“You promise me there will be soccer there?” I ask for the 100th time
“Yes. And the soccer field is so much bigger and fancier than ours, it should be considered a stadium,” he says
“And we can play everyday?”
“Yes. Every hour of everyday. The weather there is very sunny unlike here,”
“It’s not sunny. It’s extremely hot,” I correct
“And you will be there with me always?” I look at him with puppy doll eyes
“I will not leave your side. We’ll sleep in the same room. We’ll eat together, play together and pray together,” he says
“Okay. I will go,” I say, carrying both our bags
“Let’s go,” he shouts in joy
