Prologue

Akin's life was one filled with countless moments of regret; he had previously been hopeful for a brilliant football career.

He had been arrogant and believed in his talent. He was considered one of the best players in his youth Academy. Until he began drinking, smoking, and partying with his friends.

He was a hedonistic youth, often getting into fights at the pub; he was charged with assault and began to spiral out of control.

His life took a turn after he suffered an injury that ruined his career before it started.

He became a thug; a football hooligan, doing drugs, getting drunk, and fighting in bars. His life was spent in lockups and drunk tanks.

All the local bobbies knew him by name, and he was best described as a real mess of a man, but that was not what defined him.

He was a man fueled with resentment for broken dreams.

But he was forced to mature, he was going to be a father. After learning this he sat down and spoke with his mother; Alicia Orou.

Alicia was a self-made woman who ran a salon. She came to London by herself at 17; two years later, she was married and pregnant.

Akin's father, Joseph had a life similar to his; his father dreamt of being a musician.

Still, life got in the way, and his dream never came through, so he fell into drugs and gang violence, Alicia was often abused, but she stayed with him.

Eventually, she discovered she was pregnant and she knew she couldn't raise a child in an environment like this so she left, but she still hoped he would turn his life around and be a part of their life. Later the two officially divorced after she discovered he had been having an affair since their marriage began.

Alicia saw Joseph in Akin; it was heartbreaking for a mother to see her son acting like the man that had caused her so much pain.

This was the first time she ever told him about his father, but it was what he needed to hear.

Akin began studying Sports science while working in a warehouse; he quit drinking and smoking and spent more time with his mother while seeing his baby mother.

After getting his certificate, he began working as a fitness instructor. However, he had not wholly changed. He still loved football, so he joined a local amateur team.

He made new friends who recognized how much the sport meant to him and encouraged him to get a coaching license.

He eventually applied to join a coaching course; he served as a part-time coach for his local team.

He surprised almost everyone with his understanding of tactics, technical development, and high EQ.

Eventually, he led his team to win their amateur league. Still, for Akin, this was not happy ever after because while going to his mother's store he soon discovered that Alicia's Salon had been broken into.

He rushed into the shop and fought with the looters but was overpowered; he collapsed, taking a blow from behind.

He was unwilling as he fell, snapshots of his life playing before him, from a football prodigy to a meteor, from a failure to redemption. Still, he never got the complete his dream.

If only I could do it all again; I want to do better, to be better; how can I die here !!!

With a jolt, Akin awoke with a scream.

He looked around. He was not in the Salon but in an unfamiliar room; it seemed to belong to a child.

The room was a small blue room; toys were scattered around the floor.

Suddenly the door burst open, shocking him even more; a familiar woman walked into the room, her face worried as she made her way to the bed.

"Are you okay, baby? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?"

Akin was stunned as he took in the woman's face, scrunched up in worry; he recognised her, but it shouldn't have been possible; his mother was in her late 40s, so how could she look so young now.

"Look how much you're sweating. did you wet the bed?"

Suddenly, she picked the stunned man from the bed, lifting him effortlessly and placing him on her hip; something in the mirror caught his eye.

Akin saw a child of 4 looking back at him, the horror in his eyes mirroring his own as he whispered.

"What the fuck…."