"It's been hell at home, had to help my parents' out." He gave her a sympathetic look but turn his attention to me and Zalika.
"Understandable, but who's the shrimp and dekama boy?" I looked back at the boy in confusion, I couldn't be a shrimp because I was the same height if not taller than him. What was 'dekama boy'? I looked to Sekai for an explanation, but she just looked at the boy calmly.
"They're my cousins that are in town for the weekend, no need to worry about them. I've heard you've been picking up a win streak since I've been gone Cisqo. You should focus on beating me since it's something you've never done."
The boy, whose name seemed to be Cisqo, flinched at Sekai's words but his smile was as wide as ever. He was a rough looking dude, but I could see women falling for his charisma. He had darker skin than me but nearly the same build. His kept his face shaven but he looked like he was in the middle of trying to make his hair lock up, so it was unkept. We were wearing the same thing, a white t-shirt and shorts but you can tell his clothes were several years older. His shoes were a bad cut away from bursting open.
Despite his obvious appearance of means, his wide teethy smile and air of confidence overshadowed everything else.
"As long as they play on your team then there's no problem, get your usual crew together and lets go." Cisqo turned his back and started organizing the rest of his group.
The rest of the kids there gathered around Sekai. Clearly, they looked to her as the leader and she responded in kind, putting everyone in position and giving them clear instructions. When we were the only three left she crowded us 3 close together in a circle.
"So, I'm going to need to know if you guys have any experience playing and what you're confident in physically and technically."
Although I played before I've never played with a full-fledged team just with my family and I was never the one to score.
"Zalika?" She looked up in thought and responded.
"I've never played before, but I've watched it and I know the rules. I probably won't be much help technically since I've never kicked a ball before." Sekai looked downcast and disappointed, but Zalika continued anyway.
"However, it doesn't take away that I'm supremely athletic with perfect body control. I'm without a doubt the fastest and strongest one here. Rah can vouch for that."
Sekai looked to me and I nodded my head at her without hesitation. I was confident in my speed and strength but I was nowhere near her and I've never eve seen her go all out.
"Fine, then that means I'm going to have to put you back in defense. You're not the tallest but if your as 'athletic' as you say you are then it won't matter. Your area is the entire middle of the field, from the goal box to the halfway line. Don't let anyone with the ball have a clear shot on goal. If they enter your 'zone' make sure you take the ball away from them with your feet or kick it away to any of us."
Zalika nodded and she ran away to her spot looking happy. She seemed to be enjoying herself. "Now you, what you got for me."
"I've played before but never with a full eleven, it was me and my family, three on three. I never managed to score but I'm great at keep away. So I would say my biggest strength is ball control and passing." Sekai looked surprised and I started to feel embarrassed. "Is there something wrong with what I said?"
"No, I just expected you to be like 'all I do is score goals' but you're a lot less…." I looked to her to finish her thought. She seemed disappointed in me but the best help I could offer is do what I've always done. Her disappointment turned into a smile.
"Never mind, you're the baby cousin I've always known. Start around the halfway box and your area will be box to box. Your job is to keep possession of the ball and get it to me when its time to attack, ill finish it from there."
"Roger." I rushed to my spot and started to stretch my limbs. Sekai, the person that knows me best also expected me to be more eccentric. I wonder what it is that is giving off that vibe, I've always been fine with following and listening.
Well, she understood me in the end. I saw her walk to the center circle barking out orders with her undercover voice. Not faltering with appearances in the slightest.
"Let's go already! It's hot enough as it is." Cisqo yelled impatiently. Sekai exhaled heavily and gave a heel pass back to one of our teammates.
"Fine let's play."
The game was far more chaotic and aggressive than I thought it would be. I tried to keep the right amount of space between me and my teammates, but Cisqo's squad was determined to press the ball and the surrounding pass routes with every chance they got.
They would run through our team members if it meant gaining possession. We couldn't hold onto the ball in midfield to complete a pass before it was recovered by Cisqo. If it weren't for Zalika following directions perfectly, we would be down by multiple scores.
She was demon in the back, every through pass was intercepted by her, every shot on goal was blocked by her. She was the fastest and strongest person on the field, it wasn't even close. She didn't tire and even though her mouth was covered I could tell she couldn't stop smiling as the frustration from Cisqo and his team started to stack up.
"What's up with this mosquito?" Cisqo held the ball in midfield tried to peruse his options. I took this chance to try and regain possession for our team. However, with a simple and strong armbar he quickly created separation and got the ball to the flanks. "Move dekama-Boy."
Frustration started to show on my face, and I saw Sekai looking at me from her position up top. She just shook her head with more disappointment; she couldn't pay too much attention because we were getting over run all over the place. As Zalika knocked another ball out of bounds, she finally approached me.
"We need you to take control of the game, we can't counter if we can't even keep the ball." I started to get defensive and agitated.
"If it was that easy I would have been doing that already, I'm going to need better instruction than that." She just continued to shake her head and talked to me calmly.
"The problem is that your more than capable to do that, I've been watching you move. I'm not saying you're as fast or powerful as Zalika is, but I KNOW you are in her ballpark. That's enough to dominate this field, you're not a novice."
I couldn't help but to be unconvinced at her pandering. "Also, he keeps calling you 'dekama-Boy' I was ignoring it because it's just trash talk but you are oblivious to what he's saying to you." I was curious at the minimum but I didn't pay it much mind.
"He's calling you soft, sissy, a punk. Honestly, seeing you not even touch the ball yet. How can I argue?" My mind went back to myself sparring and competing with my brother. The trash talk and the belittlement, and my vison started to narrow.
My anger was rising, and blood was starting to boil. Without saying anything further I got back in position and waited for restart.
The ball was thrown back in play, and I put my attention to the people that surrounded the ball. One man had an open path to goal, so I shadowed him. Like I observed, Cisqo tried to play the ball to him, I stepped into the passing lane and intercepted it.
Side dribble to the right to avoid one tackle, two touch spin to the left to lose my marker. One glance up and I saw Sekai making a run up top. Without hesitation, I pinged the ball over their defender's head right to Sekai's feet.
It didn't take much for Sekai to finish it in the back of the net. Our team cheered and Sekai ran back giving high fives to her teammates. She ignored me as everyone got back in position to restart. I never smiled or acknowledged that I even noticed. I was concerned with only one thing, breaking Cisqo.
They continued to be aggressive with us, crashing their bodies into us to regain possession of the ball. After a few exchanges of possession, I decided to take it into my own hands and get the ball from Zalika instead of waiting for it to recycle near me.
"Luck won't get you out of this 'dekama Boy'." Cisqo crashed down on me to recover the ball, but I didn't budge. Just an arm bar was enough to keep him at bay and keep the separation as I dribbled up field. I saw our winger streaking up the flank on my right.
With him still trying to kick my feet from under me, I passed the ball with the outside of my foot to curl the ball to my teammates outside shoulder. He found Sekai not long after that to make the score Two to Nil.
Cisqo, looking exhausted, stood next to me with his hand on his knees. "Once is a coincidence, twice I need to start taking it serious." It seems he still wasn't going to acknowledge he was below me. So, I finally responded.
"Thrice, you need to seek God." At that he stood up tall and looked at me in the eyes. My expression never changed but Cisqo let out a hearty laugh.