Mr. Ezekiel's Key Jingled, And We All Trembled.

"I have told you boys to stop playing football in the compound; take it to the field or somewhere you won't break anything in the process." Mr. Ezekiel warned us after seeing us play football in the compound again.

He hated seeing us play football in the compound for fear we might damage some of his property. Sometimes we get scolded by him, and sometimes we get a bombastic side from him, but all of that has never stopped us from playing football in the compound whenever we get the chance to do so. Whenever the chance to play football in the compound presented itself to us, we don't even think about it twice; we just took the opportunity and waited for his usual scolding and bombastic side-eye.

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We have been playing football in the compound for over 2 years without damaging any property. Why would he, who just moved into the compound 6 months ago, be so worried about us damaging his property when we have not damaged a single property for years? That was our mindset, and it was really painful whenever he brought an interesting game to an end all because of the same reason.

"We are sorry, sir." We responded as we stopped playing.

"It is not about apologizing; it is about not doing it again. In life, if you mean an apology, you don't go back to doing the same thing you apologized for." Mr. Ezekiel advised

"But sir, we can be careful while playing to ensure that nothing gets broken or damaged." I said

"You can never be too careful when it comes to playing football; at some point the game takes control of you, and it is usually when the damage happens." Mr. Ezekiel responded.

"Emmmm." Emmanuel wanted to say something but had to hold back because we cannot go around making promises we cannot fulfill.

We all knew that telling or promising Mr. Ezekiel that we were going to stop playing football in the compound was one promise we could not stand by or fulfill; we cannot be men of our words when it comes to a promise like that. Sometimes I can say that we play football in the compound subconsciously; it just starts, and we don't even know when we start playing, but we only get to realize it later on.

"I know you guys cannot make that promise because I was once young like you guys. I also know that you guys will be seeing me like a bitter soul who does not want your happiness, but none of that is true. I am just saving you guys from trouble and having to put your parents through the stress of having to pay back whatever you might end up breaking while playing football." Mr. Ezekiel said as he locked his door, and his bunch of keys jingled while he threw it into his pocket.

"Have a nice day, sir." We all shouted, knowing that he was on his way to his shop and won't be back till evening.

Any day he goes to his shop feels like we have approval from above to play football how we want, when we want, and for how long we want to play without any interruption, as other adults in the compound don't see anything wrong with us playing football in the compound. That day we played football for as long as we wanted, but something happened that made us stop. Of all the cars parked in the compound, the ball chose to bounce on Mr. Ezekiel's windscreen, and it left a very visible crack on the glass, and we all ran into our houses but kept thinking about what it is going to be like when Mr. Ezekiel comes back home.

Even though we had the TV turned on, our minds were restless; we could not focus on what we were watching.

"All we can do is apologize; I just hope he does not tell my mother because she will kill me." Emmanuel said as he slapped his forehead.

"You were the last person to hit the ball before it landed on the windscreen; you are the one to blame." Samuel said, pointing at Emmanuel.

"This is not the time to be passing blame; we were all equal participants, not just the last person to kick the ball." I said, trying to calm everybody down.

"To make whatever punishment he has for us mild, we should go and tell him about it by ourselves before he finds out on his own." Emmanuel suggested.

"We can still act like nothing happened and deny it when he asks." Samuel interrupted.

While we were still talking about it, Mr. Ezekiel's usual way of announcing his return hit our ears; his bunch of keys jingled continuously as he looked for the particular one that opens his house. At that point even Emmanuel, who was suggesting going to confess, trembled, and his legs and hands started to fidget.

"Let's go; it is either now or never." I said as I try to find the courage to lead.

"Wait for some time, like give me some minutes." Emmanuel said as he took a deep breath before taking a step towards the door.

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"Good evening, sir." We all greeted him with "Sir, we are sorry." We all apologized as we knelt down before him.

"I already saw the crack on my glass. If you guys did not come, I had other plans, but now that you did, you are forgiven since it is not that bad, but it should not happen again." Mr. Ezekiel responded as he let us go.

That was the last time we played football in the compound. He was merciful; maybe if it was somebody else, our parents would have had to pay for damages, or he might even have punished us mercilessly. In order to stop any of that from happening, we listened to Mr. Ezekiel's advice and stopped playing football in the compound.