Football singularity

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[Location: Rose Isle, Orlando | Date: 24/12/2019 | Time: 08:35 | Christmas Day]

[Rakim's Pov]

Christmas morning was a weird one for me, which was weird since I loved the day more than any other of the year. Not even the scent of cinnamon, lemons, Peppermint and Pine made me feel happy. Heck, not even Zeus's smiling face next to me as he pretends to sleep can bring a smile to my face.

I even slept in something I never did, come rain or shine, but the pit in my stomach with which I woke up made it hard to find the joy. The ceiling fan spun lazily above me, its rhythmic hum doing nothing to drown out the replay of last night's conclusion. "In the end, I was too much of a coward to bring it up to her," I mumbled, knowing that all the excuses I came up with were more for my sake than hers.

'Eva, don't you have some system gismo that can make this whole situation go away?' I inwardly mumbled carefully not to be too loud, just in case Zeus would perceive it as a challenge to wreck stuff. Despite him already being an old dog, he only seemed to get stronger with age like a great wolf.

{Sorry, but there is no cheating life,} she cooley responded, but what I heard was 'It's your problem, deal with it,' bringing my irritation to a new level.

'Hey, so what do you call what I'm doing with the system then?' I retorted, not quite understanding how she could spout such BS with the efficiency of a certain Nigerian politician. (They keep taking from us Africans... Why do you have 3 private jets?)

{Let's not kid ourselves, you use the system like a personal trainer rather than what it's intended for. Plus, while you were struggling with what to do, that little girl noticed something was wrong. Never underestimate a woman's intuition.} She responded with a matter-of-fact tone, leaving no room for me to find fault with.

"Yeah, but how do you even tell your girlfriend that her dad is gambling with a billion dollars? Oh, and btw, he emptied your trust fund to raise that money," I questioned with an exasperated tone, not sure what she found so straightforward.

"What did you just say?!" Emma's voice resounded from the connected bathroom door, and the next moment, she barged into the room dressed in her PJs and her toothbrush still in her mouth. Zeus, who had been peacefully asleep, dreaming about chasing cats and squirrels or maybe last night's Byson leg, jumped up in fright.

His eyes were comically wide as he jumped up in the air, landing ready for a fight, only to realise Emma was friendly. (WOOF) The look of disdain in his eyes as he jumped off the bed and walked off to his designated doggy bed in the corner of the room spoke volumes. "Tell me I'm dreaming and didn't just hear what I think I heard,"

"You're dreaming and.." I started but was interrupted by her flying slippers that smacked me in the face. "Are you some kind of Asian manga character? Use your words, woman."

"Don't give me none of that BS and get serious," she retorted, hands on her hips and a glare that could freeze Everest once over.

"(sigh) Well, I might as well let you suffer with me," I told with a sigh and began narrating last night's proceedings that landed me in this predicament. From start to finish, I told her everything, even some of the colourful words I overheard Victor say.

A long silence was all that met me, with neither of us saying anything. I don't know why I expected her to give me the answer to this situation, but I wanted more than just her expressionless gaze. Just as I felt the urge to knock on her head to see if she was experiencing an information overload, she finally spoke. "Oh, that's not the worst case, we thought you were speaking to another girl, and that's why you were acting so weird last night."

Emma's blunt honesty caught me so off guard that I blinked once, hoping for a clarification, blinked twice and still no 'JK'. "…Wait, you thought what?" I asked, particularly jumping out of bed as I grabbed her shoulders, ready to shake an explanation out of her.

She didn't flinch under my grip. She just leaned back slightly and gave me that patented Rex family deadpan, her toothbrush now clutched like a dagger. "Well, you were being all distant, hardly talking and practically did a 180 on the physical contact you had with May. What were we supposed to think?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but she steamrolled right through me. "And don't look at me like that. May didn't say anything directly, but she's not stupid. You think you're slick, but your poker face is mid at best for those that actually know you," she added with a dramatic sniff, wiping the toothpaste foam from the side of her mouth like she was on a talk show.

"Sigh, you guys are just too broad," I responded, not really wanting to linger on this topic. "Anyway, what are we gonna do?"

Emma tilted her head slightly, her expression losing the sass for a rare moment of genuine contemplation. She stepped back, walking a couple of steps back into the bathroom and tossed her toothbrush into the sink behind her without even looking. Then she came back in front of me and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing.

"We?" she repeated slowly, testing the word like it had too much weight. "Don't drag me into what is obviously a couple's conversation." With those words, she strode back into the bathroom, closing it with a loud thud. "We should get ready for breakfast, I can already smell Dad's baking and Mum's cooking,"

"Coward," was the only thing I could mutter before falling onto the bed with a sigh. Zeus let out a long, dramatic sigh from his corner and turned his head away as if to let me know that he also wasn't going to help.

~~~

The rest of Christmas morning unfolded in quite a familiar upbeat tone, making me forget about all my worries. Dad made his famous German waffles with powdered sugar and punch, a dish he had enjoyed as a young boy. Mum, however, made sure we had a more balanced breakfast with croissants, fresh fruits, homemade jam, and poached eggs.

After breakfast, it was time for everyone's favourite time of the year: the gift opening. It was tradition in our house to do it late morning, allowing us to spend the first part of the morning with our family. Our 12-foot Christmas tree, which, apart from the decorations, had just been empty the night before, was now decked out in presents from all sides.

"Y'know we stopped believing in Santa a long time ago, Dad," Emma said in a deadpan tone as she looked at the plate of half-eaten cookies and milk, which she definitely didn't put out last night. "Plus, how did you get Mum to agree to let you intentionally dirty her cashmere Carpet?"

Dad almost choked on his cup of coffee, and Mum, who was just about to take a seat next to him on the sofa, immediately shot to her feet. "Where did you dirty my carpet?" She exclaimed with so much rage and indignation, immediately demanding an answer.

Dad blinked in confusion, then glanced at me like I was his last hope for backup. Naturally, I just leaned back on the armrest and took a long, dramatic sip from my cocoa. "Don't look at me," I said through the cup, "I thought the Santa gig ended two years ago when Zeus tore apart your sack full of presents when you sneaked in like the third member of the Home Alone robbers."

Zeus, now sprawled in front of the fireplace like he was posing for a calendar shoot, gave a disinterested glance before turning back to the bone in front of him. Mum, meanwhile, had already slipped off her house slippers and was on her knees inspecting the carpet like it had personally offended her. "Benjamin Michael Rex, you better tell me exactly where the mess is before I find them myself and file for Christmas divorce," she snapped, eyes scanning for spills like a seasoned forensic investigator.

"Relax, honey!" Dad laughed nervously. "I put parchment under the glass. It's fine. Totally clean—Zeus didn't even lick it this time!"

That was clearly the wrong thing to say. "You tested that theory on Zeus?!"

The entire room fell into an awkward silence… before Emma let out the loudest cackle I'd heard from her in a week.

Mum finally gave up with a huff, muttering something about "boys and their nonsense" before storming off to grab a mop—even though there wasn't a single stain in sight.

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To Be continued...