It was a bright and wonderful day for training, thought Fedrick just getting up from his bed to prepare for school. He had just been inducted into the most famous high school soccer team in Texas, The Golden Cats. He was so happy that he woke up the morning feeling inspired and agile. It hasn’t been an easy journey for Fredrick who had been working night and day to join his high school team. He went to training with friends and sometimes with his age group around the neighbourhood just to develop his soccer skills and be a better player waiting for the day he gets inducted into the team. At long last he's gotten what he always wanted. Patience do pay. 

He took his bath and came down stairs hurriedly to have his breakfast. Very excited, he hugged his mom before taking his seat next to dad.

“Mom, dad, I feel very happy and enlightened this morning. I could eat a full wrap of rice cake.” He jokingly said. 

“And may I ask why?” Asked Dad. 

Fedrick’s dad is someone who doesn’t talk much, especially not when he’s 

busy with his meal. He loves his meals, mostly his breakfast. As normal as 

every other father in the universe, mom would say when ever Fedrick complains of his dad’s eating habits. Dad hated eating light food as breakfast because of the nature of his job.

“Wow! dad you really are fast with the chicken. You are already tearing into the lap of your chicken. I could bet on you out running Usain Bolt on the tracks if you were an athlete.”Fedrick joked as everyone laughed.

“you know me well boy, I don’t joke with my meal, especially, not my breakfast.” Dad responded with his mouth robust with chicken meat and his lips oily.

“Now boy, I asked a question. What’s making you feel enlightened, did you win lottery?” 

“Mom you didn’t break the good news to dad?”Fedrick asked.

“Sorry dear, I was to busy with the home chores and forgot to tell him. Really sorry Fedrick.”

“Anyways, dad I have been inducted into the soccer team of the Famous Golden Cats of my school! That’s why I’m happy. It’s a dream come through for me.” He broke the good news.

Dads chicken lap fell off his hands on hearing the news. Dad has always wanted Fedrick to be part of the Golden Cats, always stating the fact that it is a rare opportunity to be part of a soccer team which have produced some of the best professional soccer players and have prestige and successful history in high school soccer.

“Wow! You have made me proud boy. You have joined the best high school soccer 

team in Texas. I always knew you had it in you. I’m proud of you, really I am.” 

Dad complimented.

“Thanks dad, I got my genetics from you. I love you.” He hugged his dad.

“My son, congrats once again. I have watched you work hard and train hard to get here and I mean it when I say you deserve it all.” Added mom.

“Thanks mom, love you also.” Fedrick thanked her.

“I love you too and your sister…..Yes, by the way where is that girl? I haven’t 

seen her this morning.” 

“I guess she’s upstairs in her room. I also haven’t seen her this morning”. 

Answered Fedrick.

Suddenly here comes Fiona running down the stairs with her bag pack.

“Here I am mom, I was getting ready for school, but am all set now.” Fiona shouted, running down the stairs,

as she ran towards her dad and gave him a hug.“

Morning dad, morning mom.” She greeted them.

“Daddy’s girl, aren’t you going to have breakfast again today?” Mom asked.

“No mom, not today. I’m already late to school.” 

“And whose fault is that? When you always go to bed late and wakeup late in the morning. You and your brother should stop missing your meals, especially your breakfast. It’s not healthy.” Mom advised.

“yeah yea mom, I have heard you.” Fiona said as she left the house heading towards dad’s car. 

“You should hurry up with your meal too Fedrick and head to the car before 

your dad finishes with his meal.” Mom commanded.

Few minutes later, Fedrick’s dad was done with his breakfast. He washed his oily hands, wiped them with table cloth, stoodup and was headed outside towards the car when his beautiful wife (Fedrick’s mom) called his attention.

“My love, aren’t you forgetting something?” 

“Oh yes! Silly girl you would never forget your morning kisses. I’m really sorry I forgot about you.” Dad apologized. 

He walked closer to her, held her by her waist, drew her closer and gave her 

quite a long kiss. Fedrick and Fiona watched them from a distance when 

Fedrick suddenly uses his hands to close Fiona’s eye’s from seeing this 

beautiful sight.

“Oh no, not again Fedrick. You’realways doing this.” Fiona complained.

“You are not to see this.” Responded Fedrick.

“But I’m no longer that little sister again.” 

“Not to me. You are still that kid sister to me and you aren’t ready for all these yet.” He teased her.

“Says who?” Fiona asked.

“Says your elder bro, who I believe is me.” He replied as he let out a light smile.

A minute later dad got into the car and drove off.

In a matter of minutes they were already at the school gate. Dad dropped them off and drove off to work. Fedrick walked with Fiona until the departed to their various classrooms.

As he walked into the classroom, crowd of beautiful girls swoop around him, kissed and hugged him. He felt on top of the world. This was because of his association with the Famous Golden Cats of the school. This was the first time a boy of his class and family status got inducted into the team. It was usually seniors and boys from prestigious families that get to join the team, but he made it. That’s how good he was. This fact made most of boys in his class jealous of him.“Why does it have to be Fedrick, now he has got all the attention of beautiful girls in the school”. This were the thought and anger of some group of boys. They dislike the fact that Fedrick was getting all the attention and so decided to destroy Fedrick’s association with the Golden Cats.

The famous golden cats are a famous high school football team known for their dominance in the league. They have won the league champions on several occasions with more points than expected, that’s how good they were. They were so good that it had been four years they last lost a game to any other team.The last time they lost a game against a team, that team became the league’s champion over them with a difference of six points. The Red Tigers who were later banned from the league because of their involvement in match fixing were the only team to defeat them in years.

The Golden Cats had some rules set out for them by their coaches. Among 

those rules was that no player must be seen training with another team, especially rival teams. It was believed that information about the team could 

get leaked to other teams, be it unconsciously or consciously. Three of his jealous classmates decided to use these rules against him. 

Emas, Maxwell and Job were from prestigious families, but never got the 

golden opportunity Fedrick got. This was part of their anger and Maxwell’s

cousin who was also in the team really didn’t like Fedrick, so he wanted him 

out of the team by all means.

“let’s set him up……” Emas suggested.

“Sorry, I’m not getting you, please come clear.” Job requested.

“what he is trying to say is we should set Fedrick up and make sure he is sent out of the team. Don’t you know what setup means?! Dump head”. Maxwell responded angrily. 

“I’m not having that good feeling to just let him be in the team when he’s not even qualified to be my driver. I can’t even see what’s so good about him. Moreover, my coz doesn’t like him in the team, so we have to take him out of the team by every means possible.” 

“Really, how do we do that?” Job asked.

“That’s easy. All we have to do is use the team’s rules against him. I heard that there’s this rule that prohibits any member or aspiring member of the Golden Cats from training or playing for any other competitive team.” Emas responded.

“Really? I never heard about that”. Job said.

“True, there is such a rule and we aren’t really setting him up if you want to be 

realistic because I actually did see him several times playing and training with 

the Evergreen High school football team, the Net Shakers.” Added Maxwell.

“this isn’t nice and its cruel, but I love it.” Job responded as they all laughed 

out loud.

“all we have to do now is to make it very true and make sure there is no way his escaping this one.” He added.

“Don’t worry about that, I have got that covered. I Have this friend from Ever 

Green high, Billy. I just have to pay him a little and he can just tell exactly what he saw.” Maxwell informed them.

“nice. Let’s do this now!!” Emas shouted in excitement.

During lunch time later that day at school, while everyone was out at the 

canteen, Maxwell went back into the class together with Emas to put a Jersey belonging to the Net shaker’s into Fedrick’s bag pack, while Job ran to the coach’s office to report.

On getting to coach josh’s office, Job met him leaving the office….

“Coach Josh! Coach!!”. He called out to him. 

“Yes, Job boy, how can I help you?” 

“There’s something important I have to tell you about one of your team player.”he said breathing heavily like he Had just ran a marathon🏃

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Really, is it that important? Cause if it’s not, I advise you to not waste my 

time. As you can see I was heading out before you came”. Coach Josh said to 

him.

“No!no!! I can assure you that this is really important and crucial. It’s relating to the team, coach.” 

“Okay if you say so. So, can I hear the information you have for me?” he 

requested.

“It’s about Lionel Fedrick, the new boy in your team”.

“Okay, what about him?” 

“While trying to grab something from my bag pack during lunch break. I saw 

something very suspicious in his bag so I decided to take a look. I found a Jersey with his name and number on it. I decided to do some investigating and found out that he trains and occasionally plays for the Net Shakers”. Job informed.

“Really? And how did you find that out, young man?” coach asked.

“I have a friend who attends the Evergreen high school, I enquired from him about Fedrick and he confirmed that he does train with their school team.” 

Coach Josh stood for some seconds looking perplexed and confused. He really couldn’t bring himself to believe the fact that Fedrick could do that. He 

personally picked Fedrick because he really loved Fedrick’s attitude towards 

achieving his goals and the fact that he really is a good player isn’t in doubt.

After a while, he let out a big sad sigh;

“Hmmm, this is interesting. I still need to confirm this.I will need to call 

everyone involved in this, including the Net Shakers coach and his parents to 

confirm this.” 

“Job boy, please let Fedrick know I need him to be in my office now and also your Friend who confirmed this your claim, him to.” He requested.

“Yes coach!” Job responded and hurriedly ran out of the coach’s office.

Some minutes later, both the school authorities and the coach of the Net 

Shakers were already seated, even the Wild Cats were present, that includes 

Fedrick. They all sat looking confused, because nobody really knew why they 

were all gathered and seeing another coach present at the meeting was 

surprising. Only coach Josh and Job who was also present could relate. 

“Good day to everyone present here today. I am Coach Josh, the head coach of the Golden Cats. Really sorry I have been keeping you all waiting and wondering why we might all be gathered here today. But before we 

commence there is someone I would like to be present. So please a little 

patience,I beseech you all.” He addressed.

Almost immediately, there was a knock on the door and in came Fedrick’s Dad. 

Now Fedrick could confirm that this meeting is or should be about him; his dad exchanged pleasantries with those he was familiar with before sitting down.

Coach josh stood up from his seat to address everyone. His eyes looked red 

and his face pale with disappointment written all over it.

“I really want to thank everyone present for honouring my invitation, even with the fact that most of you have better things to do with your time. But it was really important you all be here today.” He said. 

“Please Fedrick, come upfront.” 

“He is Lionel Fedrick, a new member to the team. But just moments ago I heard something outrageous about him from a student of this school. So I need to confirm how true what I heard was. So that’s why I had to call everyone involved, including his parent.” He started. 

Fedrick who stood in front of everyone, was afraid, confused and lost. He could feel his heart racing and his legs shaking from fear. He wasn’t really sure what was happening or what he did wrong, but he feared this would not be good for him and his big dream of playing for the Golden Cats. 

“This young boy here is Job, a classmate to Fedrick. And this Jersey on my hand is claimed to be Fedrick’s by Job, who said he found it in Fedrick’s bag pack. As you all can see the jersey has his name on it and an official team number on it too.” Coach Josh said holding up the jersey he was holding on his hand.

“Excuse me Coach, that isn’t mine. In-fact I have never seen that Jersey 

before.” Fedrick interrupted trying to defend himself.

“Hey! You will have your chance to explain yourself!! Let me finish”. Coach Josh responded angrily.

“It is already know that this team has rules guarding us, that’s why we have 

been very successful in this past years. Some of these rules are not training with another football team or even play for them. But according to Job and his friend Billy, who is a student of Evergreen High school where the team we believe he trained with and supposedly played for is from, claimed they had seen him on several occasions”.He explained.

“So, with due respect I would like to here from thecoach of the Net Shakers and then from Fedrick himself.”

Fedrick’s dad was quite shocked and speechless, this wasn’t what he was 

expecting. He got a call from coach Josh, requesting him to come to Fedrick’s school, he thought this was a call for something better.

“I am Bull Ledge by name and I am the coach of The Net Shakers.” He 

introduced himself.

“This young boy, I know him and his family very well because we live in the 

same street. I have known him for a while and I know how good a player he is, but I can assure you all that he’s never played a single competitive game for my team. He has only trained with us, and that’s because I offered him to always come around to train, because I felt that would make him a better player. If he did play for my team, that should only be friendly games.” 

“So, Fedrick do you have anything to say regarding this accusation?” the 

principal of Famous high school asked.

Fedrick who was already in tears, wondered in his mind, what bad he had done to deserve all this ill treatment from his mates.

“I really don’t know what to say, because most of it is quite true. Apart from the jersey that’s not mine. Yeah, I did train with the team, yeah, I did play friendly matches with them, but all that was to help me improve and be a 

better player that would be worthy of playing for a good and big football team like The Golden Cats and if that is a crime I don’t regret committing it. I will be happy to accept any decision you make.” Fedrick responded with tears 😭 rolling down his cheeks.

“Excuse me Principal, I know my son very well and I know his long dream to all always want to play for the Golden Cats team. I don’t believe he has any other motive than his improvement and to do better for the team. I will not seat back and watch any of you break the heart of a little boy. No matter the 

decision you all make I won’t let him be associated with this team again. A 

team that can’t trust their own players and student and make outrageous rules and regulations, I don’t think is worth my son’s talent and gift.” Fedrick’s dad Mr. Lionel said angrily.

“Okay, I have had to listen to everything and I can come to the conclusion that

Fedrick only did what he thought was best for him and could help him grow 

and I don’t think he was aware of the rules as of the time that he trained and played with the team, but it is not my place to make a rash decision or verdict. 

That’s why I will have to speak with the coach and his team privately and get 

their decision on the matter. I only do what is best for the school.” The 

principal addressed.

The principal of Famous high school had to be excused as he and the team 

deliberated on what decision was best to make.They took quite some time, 

but soon they were out and ready to make the decision.

“Well, I and the team has made a decision regarding this issue. We have come to the conclusion that Fedrick should be dropped from the team, as allowing him to remain part of the team could damage and low the team’s morale. This was decided after official voting among the team members and officials.” The 

principal announced.

Immediately, Fedrick broke down in tears. He had worked very hard to be here in this team. All his dreams to play for and become one of the best players to ever play for The Golden Cats was gone. His heart ♥was broken and his dream gone down the drain.

“I am really sorry about this Fedrick, I was really rooting for you to be a very 

good player for us. It’s so sad it ended like this, but every decision or action I 

make or take is all for the good of the school. Really hope you understand me.”

The principal apologised to Fedrick who was face down on his palms weeping.

“There is nothing any of you can do or say that can mend the broken heart and dreams of my son! I will never forget todays humiliation, especially from you, Coach Josh!! I am very disappointed in you. My son will be transferring school, so please kindly email me his transfer letter.” Fedrick’s dad requested angrily.

“Fredrick boy, let’s leave this place now before I do something I might regret later.” He commanded as he reached out for Fedrick’s hand and stormed out of the office.

Fedrick’s dad felt very unhappy, angry and disappointed about the way the 

matter was handled. He felt that was a very silly and outrageous reason to 

drop a player from the team. Mr. Lionel kept on lamenting while he drove, 

while Fedrick kept on crying.

“It’s okay son, I know how you feel but they are not worth your tears. You 

should only get stronger and push harder to get better. I know how good and hard working you are. You will always come back bigger and stronger, I can promise you that.” Dad consoled and encouraged him.

“Thanks a lot Dad, I love you.” Fedrick said to his dad, wiping away the tears 

from his face with his palms.

“Love you too boy, more than you can imagine.” 

“Thank you very much for trusting and believing in me.You defended me and 

stood by me, you were my strong hold back there.” 

“Sure boy, you are my son, my only son and am sure I know you well enough. 

If I don’t protect you who will. Anyways don’t let it get to you, I promise you 

that I will find you a very good school, just be happy and wipe away that sad 

face of yours.” His dad assured him.

Although Fedrick felt better after dad’s consoling words to him, but Fedrick and dad knew it would take a longtime for him to heal. It’s just a process.