BURNING PASSION.

A five-year-old Similoluwa Akindayomi is playing hockey on a frozen lake in her backyard with a wide smile.

She skates gracefully while laughing. The rest of the kids can’t keep up with her. It’s safe to say that she’s good and talented.

Her mother, however, screams her name from the balcony.

Christy: "Simi!! Get inside right now!!!"

As every kid stops playing, Simi’s laughing and wide smile turn to a shocked expression.

She then drags herself into the house.

Christy: "Why are you playing hockey!!? You are a woman. Act like one!! I don’t want you to play hockey ever again!"

The next day, however, simi, in black cargo pants, sneakers and a baseball cap, rides her bike to her nearby park and plays hockey with boys twice her size with absolute ease.

She has a joyful expression as she plays.

But you know who doesn’t have a joyful expression? Her mother. Who stands in front of the hockey rink and screams her daughter’s name.

Christy: "Simi!? Get here now!!"

Simi has a look of disgust on her face when she sees her mother.

Christy: "Get here now, we are going home!"

As Simi and Christy walk side by side Christy scolds her.

Christy: "How many times have I told you to stop playing hockey? You are a woman; act and dress like it!"

Simi: "No!! I love hockey! I love the way I dress!!"

Christy scoffs: "What the hell is wrong with you? You are acting unladylike."

Simi: "Too bad!"

Over the years, it remained the same: After school, Simi, in sweatpants and a hoodie, would make her way to the hockey rink, much to her mother’s disapproval.

Simi looked joyful while playing until she was interrupted by her screaming mother.

Christy: "Simi, you get up here right now!!"

Simi now has a look of absolute disgust.

Christy: "YOU ARE NOT A MAN!! Why do you insist on dressing and looking like a man and playing hockey-"

Simi: "I am not INSISTING on doing anything, you are the one INSISTING that I become someone YOU want me to be! This is who I am."

Christy is quiet, and Simi walks past her.

The next day, the teenage Simi walks toward the breakfast table in baggy pants and a T-shirt, complete with sneakers, headphones, two golden chains, bracelets, and a baseball cap. As usual, her mother is unsupportive.

Christy: "Are you kidding me!?"

Simi rolled her eyes and walked out of the house.

She got on her bike and cruised to the hockey rink to skate. When she came back mere hours later, her mother hounded her.

Christy: "Why the hell are you acting like a boy? It is unladylike, you should consider acting like a fe-"

Simi: "I am a woman, just as any other woman. NOTHING is wrong with me; it is you making a big deal out of nothing! I like the way I am, and I refuse to be someone I am not….a pathetic housewife. Gosh! Why are you so overbearing!? Just leave me alone."

Simi storms into her room.

The next morning, Simi’s room, which is painted dark blue, is decorated with posters of Wayne Gretzky, many priceless bobbleheads, action figures and hockey jerseys on her wall.

Her room is raided by her mother, who grabs a few of Simi’s hockey sticks.

Simi with a look of shock on her face jumps out of her bed.

Simi: "What the hell are you doing!?"

Christy: "I am throwing away your hockey stuff."

Simi jumps on her mother and completely overpowers her.

Simi: "Leave my stuff alone, what is your problem!!!?"

Christy is shocked as she lies on the floor.

Christy: "How dare you?"

Simi: "How dare YOU try to do that to me!? What have I done to deserve this!?"

Simi sits on her bed, drops the hockey sticks on it, and begins to shed tears.