Rise of a Football God

"Barca or nothing, huh?" Mr. Moses looked into the distance, admiring the beautiful nightlife of Nigeria in Maitama.

As soon as Sam said that, he yawned and excused himself, going to sleep after a long and relaxing day. Sam loved sleeping, few things could disturb his precious sleeping time and his girlfriend already understood that.

With his son gone, Mr. Moses stood on the balcony, looking out even as a gentle smile caressed his lips.

He thought. 'Gavi, Pedri, Pau Cubarsi, Lamine Yamal…, very soon Sam,' his smile widened. 'I wonder what the future holds for FC Barcelona'.

Sitting down on the balcony, he opened a bottle of alcoholic wine, helping himself to it as he reminisced about how much his life changed in such little time.

'Life really can be a rollercoaster'.

…

While Sam retreated to sleep and his dad remained on the balcony, indulging himself, the 3 women were still engaged in conversation.

The conversation was gradually turning mischievous.

"Come on, tell me," Mrs. Moses said in a cajoling manner as she stared at Kayla. "What are the both of you still waiting for? Where is my grandson?"

"W-w-what…?" Kayla's face turned a bright shade of red even as she tried to sneak away immediately.

"Come on, don't run, tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone, who will I even tell? I have no close friends to tell such things to".

Kayla was blushing so fiercely that she could not say a word.

Sophia was no different as she blushed, occasionally muttering a curse under her breath. "Mother has started!" She grumbled.

In the end, despite how embarrassed she felt at this moment, Mrs. Moses was able to make Kayla feel comfortable enough to start talking.

"I don't think we're ready for marriage yet".

"Really? Why not?"

"I mean, we're still very young, Sam is just 19!"

"19 is just?" Mrs. Moses looked suspiciously at the girl. "19 is only small when other aspects that constitute a marriage are not yet in order".

"But you guys? You guys are more than ready already. Psychologically, you should be ready and there's no problem in terms of finance, so why not?"

Kayla chuckled awkwardly. "Mom, training children is not something that should be rushed so eagerly, it's a delicate subject".

Mrs. Moses sighed. "I understand where you're coming from but still…," she made puppy eyes. "I want to carry my grandson!" She nagged.

In the end, she relented. "Tell me what you want personally".

Kayla thought for a few seconds before answering. "Above all else, I want stability before deciding to give birth and raise a child".

Mrs. Moses' eyes widened. "You're telling me you're not stable? Tell me, is Sam not treating you right? That bastard, I'll kill him right now!"

"Mom!" Kayla complained, rubbing her temples. "It's not that".

"Not that?" She seemed confused. "Then what?"

"Right now, Sam's football career is still in a period of meteoric rise and his status and popularity keeps on increasing. It's something that we're not used to yet, and it's taking some getting used to".

"Besides, I've heard him talk, he's an avid FC Barcelona fan," she smiled knowingly. "I think he won't stay in Fulham much longer".

"If I'm not wrong, Sam may go to Spain soon".

"To do what?"

"…" Kayla looked at the middle-aged woman, thoroughly speechless.

In the end, staying patient, she explained. "FC Barcelona is a football club in Spain, one of the biggest clubs in the world. If Sam is to play for them, he won't stay in England anymore, he'll have to migrate to Spain and start staying there".

"Ohhhh!" Mrs. Moses nodded as she finally understood, but then she frowned. "That's so stressful".

"I know, right?"

"Why don't he just stay in Fulham then?"

"…"

Kayla felt like crying. 'Because Fulham is not a big club!'

In the end, she continued explaining. "Before settling to raise children, I want my career and Sam's careers to be stable first".

"I want to at least have completed my school first while Sam's career is stable in Spain. That way, we'll be able to build a harmonious and stable environment to raise a kid, your grandkid".

Mrs. Moses grinned excitedly. "Yes, you're right," she rubbed her chin in thought, already thinking of something else. "His name shall be Jason!"

"Huh? Why?"

"I've always wanted to name my son Jason, but I only got Sam".

Kayla laughed but then she added. "We don't even know if it's going to be a boy, anything can happen".

"It's going to be a boy!" Mrs. Moses added confidently.

An hour later, while the men were already long asleep with even Sophia asleep already, the 2 others stayed awake as they kept on conversing in the sitting room till it was midnight.

Mrs. Moses introduced Kayla to a bad habit of hers that night, too tired to stand up when they were done, they ended up sleeping on the sofa in the sitting room.

Sam woke up at night to find both of them sleeping peacefully.

He palmed his face. "Dammit!"

Returning to his room, he came back with warm blankets, covering them before sleeping on the sofa with them.

Sam didn't sleep immediately though. Picking up his phone, he went to WhatsApp as he started a conversation with 2 of his friends. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

He chatted till it was late before sleeping again.

…

Ding! Dong!

The next morning, the whole Moses' household woke up late.

They were woken up by the loud ringing sound of the house alarm. Rubbing her sleep eyes, when Sophia walked up to check the CCTV camera to see who was at the door, her eyes widened into saucers.

"…!"

Throwing the cup that she held to the side, she bolted to the sitting room's door and quickly opened it as 2 familiar faces appeared before her.

"Hey babe!" Ian grinned.

"Ian!" She screamed, jumping into his arms.

Beside Ian was a familiar face, an Englishman, Emile Smith Rowe came to Nigeria for the first time in his life.

…

An hour later, in the dining room…

"This right here is called Owo soup, and this is called starch," Sam grinned as he demonstrated to his English friend.

Emile Smith Rowe looked at him, trying hard to hide his disgust. "You eat this?"

"Of course!" Sam grinned, not at all annoyed by the look on his friend's face. "It's highly nutritious food!"

"I know it looks somehow but just trust me and test it, thank me later". He smiled.

Though Emile Smith Rowe wanted to simply run out of this dining room at this moment, out of his trust for Sam, he decided to try the weird-looking food.

"Not like that," Sam corrected patiently. "You don't just pick it, you cut it as if you're cutting a wood. Like this," he demonstrated.

Cutting a wrap of starch, he dipped it into the soup and swallowed, making Emile Smith Rowe grimace a bit at the sight.

In the end though, closing his eyes, he did it.

Gulp!

As soon as the food went down his throat, he shuddered, fighting his instinct to throw up what he just ingested.

Silently, he waited, allowing his tongue to taste.

A second passed, and then Smith Rowe opened his eyes. His eyes widened as the sensation of the food that just passed through his throat registered in his brain, triggering a wave of dopamine in him.

"Wow!" He exclaimed, looking at Sam. "It's…," he hesitated. "It's delicious!"

"I know, right?" Sam laughed. "Now, eat the fish with it and be bamboozled".

Emile Smith Rowe did just that, picking from the giant Catfish on his plate and devouring it and from there, the Englishman never looked back.

Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

Emile Smith Rowe ate so much, causing Sam to sweat on his forehead as he worried that if his friend stayed any longer in Nigeria eating like this, he would grow overweight before the holiday came to an end.

At the end of it all, Emile Smith Rowe finished the food, rubbing his stomach contentedly as he flashed a smile at Mrs. Moses.

"Ma'am, the food was splendid".

Mrs. Moses grinned. "An Englishman praised my food".

She maintained a polite smile on her face but smugly, she could not help but turn her face to look at her husband. "Your wife is the best!"

"Yes, yes," Mr. Moses nodded, not wanting to ignite trouble.

Watching from the side, Sam laughed.

He quickly noticed though that Emile Smith Rowe was struggling to move after eating such heavy food, he chuckled. "You remind me of when I was small, sometimes I can't even move from where I sat after eating too much".

Emile Smith Rowe looked at him pitifully, almost at the point of tears.

But then Sam chuckled again, suddenly thinking of something. "Do you want to play a game?"

"What game?"

Sam grinned. "When I was younger, I used to play football on local fields just like Brazilians play on the streets".

"There are local fields here in Abuja too".

Hearing that, Smith Rowe's eyes gleamed.

The atmosphere in this dining room quickly changed as eating fish, Ian stared at the 2 others guys, flabbergasted as he already realized their intentions. 'Don't tell me…!'

Kayla opened her mouth to interject. "Definitely no, he just got here!"

Sam laughed and jumped up. "Let's go play ball!"

Emile Smith Rowe followed him.

"Dad! Tell him…!" Kayla desperately looked to Mr. Moses to help.

Mr. Moses chuckled. "You can separate the player from football, but you can't separate the football from the player".

"It's something innate".

"Let them enjoy themselves, it's holiday period for them".