The chase.

Simon's happiness knew no bounds as he walked on the street, he even had a smile on his face while sauntering. The fact that he had found boys of his age that had the same passion as his was enough to make him happy. They had even permitted him to join them in the field for football practices. Maybe, this was the best route to achieving his dream of becoming a professional footballer.

A coach could one day notice this group of young boys that were good at football playing, and he could decide to help them out. He knew that he was good at football playing, those boys even confirmed it, so he wouldn't be left out when it was about time for them to fly to greater heights. He even had a close connection with one of the boys, these were the same boys that wanted to whoop his ass if he messed up.

Since he had come across these guys with the same passion as his, he'll have to find a way to start life anew in this city of California. He'll try finding a job with a nice pay he could use in sustaining himself and paying for a very mini apartment. But which landlord in his right senses would rent his apartment to a fifteen years old boy? He'll surely ask for his parents.

But by hook or by crook, he'll have to find a way, the landlord would most likely agree to lease the apartment to him as far as he could keep up with the house rent. He then remembered Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, they were residing in this city of California also, and most likely, they'll try finding him. The best thing he could do was to avoid them, dodge them whenever he sees them, and escape when the need arises.

Then the boys, most of the things they knew about him were false apart from the fact that he loves football. Especially the one he felt connected to, he told him he was residing with his parents in this city of California, when truly, his parents were dead. He'll have to hide the truth about him from them as they work together to achieve their dreams. If they find out, men, a lot was gonna happen. Do you know how they'll feel if they find out that he wasn't in his real body? Some might even faint and never wake up.

He even lied to the guy that he had a sporting jersey when he doesn't own one presently, well, he'll have to buy. As for completing his secondary schooling education? He'll have to forget everything about that. He'll gain more when he becomes a superstar footballer, he'll earn respect from people, that was the best to him...and that was what he was gonna chase.

As for now, he'll just have to find where he was gonna spend the night, it was evening already, it would soon get to complete nighttime. Then tomorrow morning, he'll start with other activities...maybe, job hunting. The only best place he could think of to spend the night was a hotel, yeah, he knew what a hotel was.

This wasn't like yesterday when he ran out of the Lewis' house very late in the night, and he couldn't lodge in a hotel 'cause it was late in the night. He had a f**king 500 dollars on him, but he had to sleep in a bus yesterday. Speaking of the bus, he then recalled that he brushed his teeth inside that bus...that was malicious.

But it would have dried by now unless the driver saw it before it scorched, he must have been really annoyed. He would have been like, 'Who had the guts to enter my bus still having the audacity to brush his or her teeth in it?'. But there was nothing that can be done about it, what has been done as been done. His plan now was to find a hotel, if he gets hungry, he can order something to eat in the hotel.

He kept on sauntering about in search of a hotel, little did Simon know that something was about to spoil the plan he had been building in his head. He kept on searching for a hotel, but he wasn't finding one. He wasn't gonna stop searching, he had that feeling that one was close by. He kept on strolling still searching for a hotel, getting to a certain spot, he stopped walking and began scanning around to see if he could sight any building that had the inscription of 'Hotel' on it.

Then he heard a voice behind him saying,

"Isn't that the boy? The one that we saw his pictures on a social media platform saying that he ran and he is being searched for? Anyone that can find him would be given a certain amount of money? Isn't that him?".

Simon wasn't sure if they were talking about him or not, there could be other runaway kids?...but he had that feeling that it was him they were referring to. He turned around to see the face of the man speaking, and men, that's where he got it wrong. The people he set eyes on when he turned around were two men, a white man, and a brown-skinned man. The white man was average in height while the brown-skinned man was tall and hefty.

The moment they set eyes on Simon's face, the browned skinned man pointed at him and voiced out audibly,

"THAT'S HIM, HE IS THE RUNAWAY KID. GET HIM!".

Then the two men started running towards him. They weren't sure if he was the one or not when they were seeing only his behind, but now that they've set eyes on his face, they were hundred percent sure that he was the one. Simon knew that at this moment, he would have to run. If these two men get him, things would happen, they wouldn't waste time to take him to the Lewis family since money was involved.

Simon took to his heels, he would make sure that they wouldn't be able to catch him...he was faster than them. People kept on making way for Simon 'cause he was running at a high speed that if he hits someone with his body, he could send that person flying. The two men chasing him knew that they wouldn't be able to catch him, so they started shouting out while pointing to him,

"THIEF! THIEF! GET HIM".

The plan was to create awareness so other people in the front could catch Simon, and it was working out. People started making efforts to catch him, but they couldn't, Simon was well prepared for them. He dodged every single one of them and kept on running. The people trying to catch him had the perspective that he was a thief 'cause the men chasing him were calling him thief.

Not only that, some of them had recognized that he was the boy that they saw on social media. The runaway boy, the boy that was being searched for. Just as the two men wanted to get him, they wanted to get him too, remembering that money was involved made them more eager to catch him. Simon kept on running and dodging the people that were trying to catch him, by now, the two men had tired out...they stopped chasing him some seconds ago.

It got to a point whereby people weren't trying to catch Simon anymore, just like the two men, they had all tired out. You know, Simon was a skillful footballer, when playing football, you run a lot. Now, tell me why those people would be able to catch Simon who has been playing football for a while now?

There's a lot involved in football playing, you run, dribble, guard, and so on. That's exactly what Simon did that made him escape from those people trying to catch him, he ran as fast as he could and he dribbled, in other words, he dodged them. Though people weren't chasing and trying to catch Simon anymore, he kept on running...he wanted to run as far as possible.

The fact that his pictures were already on social media made it very risky for him, someone else could notice him and a chase could begin once again. He ran and ran until he got tired, then he stopped. His thinking was correct, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis would try to find him, and they had taken the first step by posting his pictures on social media platforms informing people that he ran out of the house, and anyone that could find him would be given a certain amount of money.

Now, why won't people strive to catch him?