CHAPTER FIVE

“You are right, Nanni. What will be the difference between us if I stoop to their level?I say to Nanni and he nods. Who doesn't know Filippo in the whole of Naples? He's a notorious criminal, he has been arrested more than twice since last year, and for someone who is only 18 years of age, it might seem pretty unbelievable.Filippo is believed to have some kind of connection with Giovanni [The Mafia Boss,] a 38-year-old trafficker who has done everything he pleased along the major cities of Italy for the past 8 years without being apprehended by the police.Filippo, who is believed to have some connection with him, has been caught several times, smuggling drugs between Millan, Florence, and Naples. Each time he gets arrested, he gets out a week after. I wonder who bails him out, since his parents are both dead, and he has no relative I know of. He was released last month after being arrested for illegal possession of firearms in his apartment, and a girl's corpse in his closet with a bullet stuck in her forehead.I wonder who gets away with that kind of crime. When we first moved back to Italy from Kansas, he's parents were still alive and he was actually less of a criminal. After his parents got killed by bandits, he was arrested for pick-pocketing, which many people thought was only as a result of hunger, since he lost his parents and had no one else to provide for him.Few weeks after that, he was adopted by a couple who took him in and took good care of him for only about a year and a half, and then Filippo ran away immediately he turned 13 and told people who asked about it, that he preferred to be independent.He moved back to his parent's house and started living at that place again.I wonder who in his situation would throw away that that kind of opportunity. ★NOW★30 Minutes later, after walking passed Filippo and his friends, we arrive at ROSSO-NAPOLI MINI STADIUM. We both halt at the gate and peep through the bars of the gate. NANNI: Oh no! Coach is already here, we will have to do pushups.Nanni says to me, whispering into my ear.“Yes, I can see that.I say to him and he looks at me with his brows knitted. NANNI: Shouldn't you be worried right now?Nanni says to me and lets out a sigh.“Why should I be worried? Pushups doesn't bother me.I say to him and he slaps his forehead.NANNI: But it bothers me.I laugh at the face he made while saying it, and he frowns.I push open the gate and I walk through, waiting for Nanni to walk in, so we can both arrive at the pitch together.“Nanni!” I call to him as I notice he has suddenly grown cold feet. Nanni walks in after realizing I was about calling his name for the second time, “What? I'm here now, don't call my name for the second time.He says after walking in.“Capitelli,” the coach yells at me and I tremble slightly at the sound of his voice.He sees Nanni too and says to us, “You two better get down to this place before the next second,” he yelled and we both ran down to meet him.We arrive at the pitch, where the coach and our teammates are standing, while we are still panting, we try to make up excuses, but the coach won't even listen to us.COACH: Nanni, why would you follow someone as unserious as Sebastiano? You know we can't start the training without our number 7. Why did you keep us waiting? The coach says to Nanni, but when Nanni tries to explain or defend himself, the coach shushes him.COACH: You, join the others, we have no time to waste.The coach says to us both, at least so I thought.Nanni moves forward to join the other players standing behind the coach, and when I also try to move towards them, the coach yells at me, COACH: Not you, you are of no importance to the team. You are just allowed to join us on training grounds because you are one of those who stick around so that actual players can train with. The coach says to me and everyone on the pitch laughs at me, and the coach shamelessly joins in the laughter.I'm already used to such insults, this is nothing compared to the ones I've received in the past 4 years.COACH: Now, Sebastiano, give me a hundred pushups.Coach says to me, and when Nanni tries to say something in my defense, he gets shushed by the coach again.I prostrate, and I do the pushups. With my face frowned and sweats dripping from my forehead, I struggled to give him a 50.“Stop! Stop! Stop!” The coach yells at me and I stop whilst standing, testing on my hands and remaining in the same position.COACH: I never mentioned the word, “START,” you started without me giving you the permission to start.The coach says, as he shoves my head to the ground until my chin touches the grasses.He yells into my ear again, “Give me a hundred, Start!I can't believe he just asked me to give him a hundred after I have already given him a fifty.Now, I realize he's only trying to punish me for making us lose that tournament, something I've already been punished for.

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