The man with dreadlocks flicks an empty cooldrink can onto his foot, and then kicks it to me.

I stop it with my foot.

“Quick reflexes,” the dreadlocked guy says, “just like your father.”

“You knew my father?” I stammer, “But…”

“Silver?” says the short, blonde guy. “Of course we knew him. He had the best left foot I’ve ever seen. You should have seen him take a free kick. It was a work of art…”

“Who are you two?” Rose interrupts, her eyebrows lifting and her hands on her hips.

The dreadlocked guy smiles, revealing a gold cap on one of his front teeth.

“The young lady is right to ask,” he says with a bow. “Please forgive us. We were so excited to speak to you we forgot to introduce ourselves.”

“Very excited to meet you,” the blonde guy repeats with a strange smile.

“This is my colleague, Shorty,” says the dread dude, patting his companion on the shoulder, “and my name is Jim, but everyone calls me ‘Nails'”

“What kind of a name is ‘Nails’?” Rose asks.

“A nickname,” Nails says, “because of these…” He holds out his right hand to show long fingernails that have been sharpened to a point. “I use them to… play the guitar.”

“Gross,” Rose mutters under her breath.

“We read about the Streetskillz competition online,” Mr. Smith says, “We’re soccer fans you see. It seems you put in quite a performance there! We recognized your name. With your soccer skills and surname we just knew you had to be Silver’s son.”

“Yes Nathi,” Nails says, “before Silver died he made us promise that we’d look after you, but then your mother moved and we didn’t know where to find you.”

Nails puts his hand on my shoulder. I can feel his sharp fingernails through the fabric of my shirt.

“Shorty was Silver’s friend,” Nails says, “but I was Silver’s best friend, and before he died he gave me a great honour.”

Nails looks at me with his dark eyes.

“Nathi, your father made me your godfather.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK: Should Nathi trust Nails and Shorty? Why or why not?