FATED TO THE PROPHECY

CHAPTER TWO

DAMIEN'S POV

I was running on the right side of the court to receive a pass before giving a layup for another of the team to dunk. There were cheers but it was cut shut almost immediately as Chris and his minions came late as usual.

"What's up, guys?" He shouted and some cheered at him. Dropping his bag, I watched him stroll over to the court with his ball in his hand. He spun it on his index finger as he walked over to me.

"Coach Dammy," he said and stopped in front of me. "What about we do something fun?" He added and I swallowed. "We go five against five for half an hour. What do you think?" He said with a confident smile on his face and I knew that he wanted to destroy me on the court, but I wasn't going to give him that pleasure.

He paired up with his minions and two other guys, while the early birds that I had been practicing with were my teammates for this matchup.

I wasn't so good at shooting compared to these cats, so I made sure I gave my best in the area I was good at– making passes. In ten minutes time, we were up by six points.

"You think you are going to have the last laugh?" Chris said as he switched with the guy guarding me, and began to pressure me into giving away the ball but I maintained my confidence and evaded him most of the time. Seeing that that wasn't working, he resorted to trash-talking me, but there was nothing he told me he hadn't said before, so I wasn't shaken.

Instead of bringing me down, it fueled me to make more fun of it as I danced around, dribbling and setting up my teammates for the basket.

In twenty minutes, it was 40–37. I really appreciated my teammates whose blocks, shooting accuracy, rebounds, and steals complemented my passing skills. As the clock read towards the thirtieth minute, I could see frustration written all over the face of Chris.

I had the ball again, and I saw him charging at me. Waiting patiently for him before jumping to shoot and he followed suit to block, I stopped and made a pass to another guy who shot a three-pointer sealing the game and others cheered.

Chris looked so mad and I knew he would tear me apart if it was possible, because the team had started chanting my praise and making mockery of him. His lips twitched in disgust and anger, and I prepared for whatever was going to happen, which was– run! I was going to run away before he had the chance to do me dirty.

"That's not sportsmanship, it's the wrong way to act," I said to them. "They played good ball and made points too, so please we should see this as an avenue to work on where we are not doing well," I educated them out of the fear of what Chris and his friends could do to me. I knew they were already mad from the defeat. The taunting would only add insult to the injury, literally.

Minutes later, everyone started leaving and in a minute, I was the only one clearing up everything. I picked the last ball and put it on the ball rack.

It was 10:00 pm already and I had promised myself to always be home before midnight because of the weapon. I took my glasses off, wiped them off, and wore them again. The leather rope with the glasses that went around the back of my head, securing it firmly on my eyes even while I played basketball.

Watching out and not seeing my archenemies, I dashed for the doors, not thinking of locking them. Running as fast as my legs could carry me towards the parking lot. Immediately I went past the door, I noticed some people chasing after me and increased my speed. Immediately I got to my car, I unlocked it, jumped in, and locked it from within before turning on the ignition.

Chris, Bunny, and Rashid banged at my glass, raining curses at me but it only made me smile because I was safe now. Pulling the gear, I took a sharp reverse and the guys had to move out of the way before they got knocked down.

Driving as fast as I could I got to my house and my heart was still racing, probably faster than my car. I alighted,

"Oh my goodness," I said after jamming the door and locking it from within. Resting my back to the door, I slid down with my head in my palm. I had managed to survive today, I hope I did tomorrow and the next.

My heart's beat had returned to normalcy after minutes of resting and recounting how comical I must have looked as I ran for my life. Chris and his friends have been a thorn in my flesh since I became their junior coach for about a year and a half now.

What did I do to deserve all the hate? I had no idea.

My stomach grumbled.

I stood up and walked into my kitchen, turned on my microwave and in a few minutes I had my dish of rice and stew on a tray, as I walked back to the living room.

After dinner, sleep called and I immediately climbed up to bed. What had happened earlier was still on my mind, making me wonder what made me scared of Chris and his minions. I really wished I could do something back to pay them in their coins, but compared to them, I was a dog to their wolves.

I was still pondering on this when I fell asleep and had a dream.

I was kissing Sabrina, my hands flew to her sides. I had really missed her, and I never knew how much I had done until now. Her lips were still as soft as I could remember, and her skin still reacted to my touch. This brought a mischievous smile to my lips as the kiss deepened. Her hands wrapped around my neck, drawing me closer to her.

She shared a quick kiss with me.

And another.

And another.

I tried kissing her again, but she held me back.

"Teasing me, right?" I asked, and she gave me a very seductive look. But just like a flash of lightning, the smile was gone and she had a look of disgust on her face.

"What's the problem?" I asked, but she remained quiet, not looking at me. I tried to touch her, but she pushed me away.

"You are a weakling," she blurted out bluntly, and I stood back, staring at her shocked. She had never said this to me when we were together.

Why now?

I questioned.

Just as I was still staring at her puzzled, I saw other people appear out of thin air.

"What a weakling, you've always been a weakling," Coach Dennis said after appearing. "That's why you found it hard to get picked by any college in Republik City," he added and that broke me completely. This had always been something that bothered me, and though I knew I was good, the best sixth man in my high school times, no college came for me, unfortunately.

"Quite unfortunate that his passes are great, but his shooting is zero," Rashid said, hanging on the shoulder of Bunny, who was laughing and pointing at me.

"I won't blame someone who was so much of a weakling that he couldn't even face death," Chris said.

That wasn't supposed to be an insult, I believed. But it broke me and I sank to my knees. Sabrina, Coach Dennis, Chris, Bunny, and Rashid came around me, mocking me and I buried my head in my palms. The voices continued for a long time until they stopped, and I managed to raise my head up slowly to see if they had disappeared.

They hadn't disappeared. Rather, I saw two familiar faces that I was never able to see in reality, but in pictures– my dead parents.

"Such a weakling," Father said, and I was shocked. He had died when I was a year old, and we didn't know each other at all. The type of look on his face showed so much disgust, that I was stared at like I was some kind of ghost.

Mother, who held hands with him, had almost the same look on her face, if not even worse. I didn't know when I started crying. My body shook in tremors as I tried fighting the pictures with my eyes closed, and my head buried in shame.

"I will be strong! I will be strong! I'm no weakling," I shouted, and woke up from my dream with a sweaty body and my bed wet.