Rise of a Football God

Abuja, Nigeria…

In a big supermarket at the heart of the Nigerian capital city, a mature middle-aged woman dressed in elaborate native attire that highlighted her Southern Nigerian origin, most likely Delta State surfed through the goods on display.

She had a happy smile on her face as she moved.

As this customer surfed through the supermarket, hovering around the spices section for making native Nigerian soups, one of the cashiers could not help paying attention to her repeatedly.

"Do you know her?" One of the guy's colleagues asked.

For some reason, this cashier suddenly seemed excited. "I think," he nodded but then he changed his words. "No, I do know her".

When the middle-aged woman finally went to the cashier, pushing her shopping cart forward for her goods to be calculated, the cashier put on his best smile on his face even as he calculated her goods.

After he was done calculating, he inputted it on the computer even as the mature middle-aged woman handed her debit card over to pay for the goods.

The transaction was completed swiftly. After handing her debit card to her and telling her the customary thank you for patronizing, this cashier hesitated before asking. "Madam, please you're Samuel's mom, right?"

Hearing that, the middle-aged woman beamed. "You know my son?"

The cashier's smile widened. "Of course!" He answered exuberantly. "Who doesn't know Sam?" He laughed.

'Oh my God! It's really her!' This cashier felt like he was going crazy inside.

Mrs. Moses smiled with a proud look on her face. "He's coming to visit today," she beamed. "He recently won…, what was it called again? The premiership in England…"

"The English premier league!" The cashier corrected respectfully, carefully shifting on his chair even as Mrs. Moses smiled.

"Ah! Yes, the premier league". She laughed. "Since he's coming back, I decided to make his best food to celebrate his win," she grinned. "He loves Banga soup and hot fufu a lot".

"Ahh!" This cashier was stunned.

'The almighty Sam? Eating fufu?!!!'

In that moment, the indomitable and inviolable image of Sam that this cashier had in his head diminished a bit but, in the end, he accepted it. 'That just shows that he's human and a normal Nigerian like me, right?'

In that moment, no longer hesitating, this cashier asked. "Ma'am, please can I have a picture with you?"

Seeing the look on the cashier's face, Mrs. Moses could not bring herself to reject his request. Besides, she was absolutely loving this.

Click! Click!

After a few clicks of the camera, while the cashier was feeling fly and excited, Mrs. Moses suddenly made a random suggestion.

"Why don't you come over to my place today? Have dinner with us".

"…!"

This cashier stared, too stunned to believe what he just heard and, in the end, he asked for clarification. "Please ma'am, were you talking to me?"

"Of course, Sam loves to share a meal". Mrs. Moses grinned.

In that moment, this cashier felt like crying. 'Dreams do come true afterall!'

'I feel blessed!'

The cashier didn't wait, directly going to his manager to use his only leave of absence for the month as he decided to go with Mrs. Moses.

As they left, thinking of something random, this avid football fan and cashier looked at Mrs. Moses again. "Ma'am, please don't let Sam be like other professional football players, please convince him to represent Nigeria".

"Huh?"

"The world cup is coming up again next year and Nigeria is yet to even secure qualification. At this rate, we'll fail to qualify for a 2nd straight world cup".

"With Sam though, I believe that we can do it".

"Please convince him to play for Nigeria".

Mrs. Moses looked at the boy, slightly confused but in the end, she nodded. "Of course, Sam is going to play for Nigeria".

"I mean, who else was he going to play for?"

Hearing that confident tone, this cashier heaved a sigh of relief but at the same time, he felt sweat gather in his head. 'This woman…,' he chuckled nervously. 'She sounds even more fearsome than Sam is on a football pitch!'

…

"Do you remember that hotel?"

When the plane flew through the skies of Abuja, recognizing a certain landmark building at the heart of the city, Sam smiled as he pointed through the window of the aeroplane, showing his girlfriend.

Kayla failed to recognize it at first but once she did, she blushed.

Few months earlier, after Sam made his debut for Nigeria, fulfilling one of his ultimate dreams which ended up concluding in a sour note, in an effort to console him, Kayla went to great lengths.

That night, things escalated inside the hotel room where they booked and, on that night, Sam ceased to be a virgin.

Not just Sam, she too.

Reminded of that night, she blushed fiercely before lightly punching him by the arm and looking away. "Ahem," she cleared her throat. "I don't recognize it".

Sam laughed. "The sound of a terrible liar".

"Get lost!" She punched him harder this time.

They both laughed, fully embracing the feeling of coming home already as the plane finally touched down in the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.

There, Sam's whole family was already waiting for him; his dad, his mom, and Kayla who already returned to Nigeria months ago. But apart from his family, Sam was surprised to see someone else.

"…"

Seeing the questioning look on his face, Mrs. Moses chuckled. "He's a fan that I met today while going to get ingredients from the supermarket".

"I invited him over to have dinner with us".

"Ok," Sam nodded, smiling as he turned to face the young man. "Nice to meet you, I'm Sam".

"I k-know, I know your name," he stammered, taking Sam's handshake and as soon as he did, he felt like electricity was coursing through his body.

'It's Sam!'

'The real Sam! Oh my GOD…!'

That night, during dinner, the cashier experienced the best day of his life as he ate with Sam and his family.

Of course, he asked for permission before recording a bit of how it went.

Sam didn't even need to do anything but still, he made this fan's day as the cashier went home feeling inspired and on top of the world.

"I ate with Sam!" He kept on muttering as he finally left the mansion.