A Unique Crossover

Chapter101: Breaking into

An hour and a half passed by when Uncle Gadin finally walked out of the little room he came out of, "How you feeling now, girly?"

Nodding my head with a small smile, "Very good, thank you, sir."

He nodded his head before taking a seat across from me. In his hands, he held my cleats, which looked much better than earlier today. "Thank you so much, sir Gadin."

"Just a minute, girly," Uncle Gadin held his hand up, stopping me from standing up. I nearly grabbed the cleats out of his hands. "They're not fixed."

Staring at the man confused before saying, "Yes, they are. You fixed them. They're not torn or anything."

His expression became almost like he was a doctor who was about to tell me that someone was about to die, "Yes, that's true. What I meant to say was I had snitched them together, which is better to glue them. However, you won't be able to play with these cleats again because if they had to break once again, it won't be easy to fix them the second time."

In that moment, I felt like someone close to me had passed away. This was a very bitter pill to swallow. Nodding my head in understanding before paying the man. Who was kind enough to have his nephew to give me a ride back to the hotel.

I dropped my duffle bag in my room with my cleats before going back to the sports field. Having my soccer ball, I ran back and forth across the field. Scoring in both goalpost, practicing free kicks, and penalties. Doing everything to break into the cleats.

It was lightly drizzling when I took a short minute to catch my breath. The cleats felt less tight and more comfort. But I still had a storm raging inside of me for my cleats.

"So, this is where you have been all the time, Ariel?" I looked to find David walking towards where I was. Tapping the ball, not having to look at him. "Do you have some hiding spot on the field, Ariel? I must have been here at least three times and haven't seen you."

Tapping the ball on my foot, not paying any attention of him. Which was causing my frustration to grow even bigger and almost out of control.

My feet were getting used to the cleats, which were now covered in mud and pieces of grass. Now in need of cleaning which won't take long.

Before the ball came back from the air when David caught it. Standing in front of me, making eye contact with me, "Are you not going to say anything to me, Anela?"

His eyes were so clear and open, asking me to speak to them, to him. Shame fell onto my frustration as my eyes cast down to my feet, "I feel like a spoiled brat."

A scoff of shock for my words, he never heard me speak about myself like this before. "Why?"

"Because I got new cleats for the first time, and I've been acting ungrateful!" My anger was boiling over itself as the words came out. As blunt and pain as my tongue could let them out, "My feet are breaking into them and are becoming comfortable in them. Yet I'm not happy, because I can never wear my old ones again."

David's hand, which was always lukewarm, was freezing cold as he lifted my head. He made sure to see my eyes when he said, "We can find someone to fix them, I know how much you loved playing in them."

A lump grew in my throat as tears burned my eyes, "I took them to this store that repairs shoes. This man, Uncle Gadin, he managed to fix them, but he explained that if I played with them and they broke again -"

My voice broke on those words along with my heart. Before I could try to finish, softly my body was pulled towards David's chest. Surrounding me with his strong arms in comfort, as if he understood. 

Holding me in silence as I softly cried in his shirt. For a few minutes, it was only the softly drizzles filling the space, "They were my Mom's cleats."

"Your Mom played soccer too?" David sounded surprised and maybe had this small smirk. As if he wouldn't have guessed anything less as I nodded.

Smiling at his chest as my mind wandered back in time, "She used to play in high school, but wasn't as serious as my Dad was. She kept them until one of my brothers or Rebecca decided to have them. But when I became more in love with the sport, she gave them to me after playing in them one last time." 

The last time my Mom played soccer was months before she became very sick. Aunty Sarah and Uncle Fred would always have a fun day with our family at the park. We would play soccer all day long, but Mom wouldn't have played.

That was the first time that I've ever watched my Mom play. Dad used to talk about those times whenever he told the story of how he fell even more in love with.

"They were the last physical thing that you have of her, weren't they?"

Nodding while pulling away to dry my tears. Holding up a piece of tissue to blow my nose before saying, "Whenever I had them on, it felt like I was playing with her. This may sound weird, but sometimes I felt like she was leading me on the field. Where to go, who I should pass the ball to, which side of the post I should score. And today, when they broke and I was told that I couldn't play in them again, it felt like I had lost her all over again."

Ceasing his thumb across my cheek, placing a sweet kiss on my forehead, "I know that my words won't make things any better. But I hope you know that your Mom will always be with you, Anela."

His eyes were gentle and clear as he stared at me, speaking to me in a soft-hearted tone, "Every time you play, you have this rare, amazing, skillful mind that your Dad developed into you. With a firey, passionate spirit that I bet your Mom had passed on to you."

My lips grow into a small, shy smile for his words as my cheeks fired up, "Do you think so?"

His rare and beautiful smile blossomed on his face, "Yes, I do, Anela. And I think it, because I've seen it every time that I've played with you, my love."

Kissing my forehead one more time, causing my entire body to heat up against the cold, "Try to be less sad about the cleats, Anela. I'm sure your Mom won't be too upset with you for them. You can keep them as a reminder of her, and maybe you will still be able to hear her whenever you play."

Nodding my head before standing on my tiptoes. Softly catching David's lips for a soft kiss of my own, "Thank you for buying my new cleats. You're the very first person to ever buy me a pair."

Pride and joy grow across his face when he hears of him being the first, "Is that so, my love? The very first?"

Softly giggling at his ego glowing while feeling some kind of pride for being the cause of it, "Yes, the very first person ever."

"Then I'll make sure to buy you other soccer kits for you."

I shook my head while softly chuckling. When I quickly turn my head away from him to sneeze. Which led to another, then another, and then another.

Softly smiling at me while handing another piece of tissue for me to blow my nose with. Taking my hand with the ball under his left arm, "Let's get you back to the hotel where you get dry and chicken soup before your cousin kills me for letting you get sick."

Letting David lead me back to the hotel, spending the rest of the day in the penthouse. Haylie got room service to bring enough chicken soup for both of us with toasted garlic bread. Giving us some vitamins that she got from the pharmacy close to the hotel.

My new cleats, now cleaned, were standing beside my bed while my old ones were inside of the red Nike box. Having in mind to have them placed in the glass cabinet back home, right next to the picture of Mom beside her high school's girls' soccer team.