THE LIGHTS OF NITERÓI
MARCELLO Q UINTANILHA
We have plenty up here, look! What more do you want?
Up to you, you’re the one paying him! I’m not paying for anything! two minutes! turtle, we can get so much more!
Listen to me, don’t waste too much time down there!
quit swimming around, you’re wasting time…
You want to go home with a bunch of pinheads?
Look at all this fish!
Stop being so dumb, turtle!
Then you’ll deal with Célio! it’ll take two minutes!
...like leaving the world…
somehow leaving all the commotion up there behind…
...Do you know what I mean?
...The routine of his coach scolding him every single day.
He could leave it all on the surface… his routine, so to speak…
When he started playing for Manufatora, he didn’t mind…
...He punched his card and headed straight to the field.
He didn’t even stop by the folding room to say good morning.
For all intents and purposes, that was where he worked, in the folding room.
The folding room is where the fabrics are folded once they came out of the machine. it was the easiest job at the factory.
one could work sitting down…
...and talk to whoever is next to him.
Leave work behind at the end of the shift…
That’s why, when mr. Antônio finally convinced his father to let Hélcio play on the Fluminense Textile Company’s team, mr. Antônio insisted…
God knows what it’s like working in the weaving room…
Folding is much better.
With all that noise.
Thank god he wasn’t there!
“Mr. Alício, he’ll have it easy in in the folding room, I give you my word.”
He arrived early, along with everyone else…
…Then headed to the field for practice.
The field was located behind the factory.
Whenever they hosted the Niterói Championship, everyone would say it was the best grass in the city.
All the workers used to say…
Now, practice… Every single day!
… that mr. Antônio took better care of that grass than his own wife.
Except on days before a match.
On those days, Mr. Antônio likes to gather the team at the factory.
… except it started in a factory warehouse instead of a nice hotel.
You know how all the big teams pre-game together, right? They take all...
...the players to a hotel and everything…
…and then go together to the stadium the next day?
Well, with Manufatora it was the same thing…
That’s why Hélcio sometimes thought this Niterói Championship business…
…Especially since it was so easy for him to dribble past the entire opposing team, all the way from the backfield…
...Up to the net... and strike! just Like he...
…Maybe wasn’t for him.
...always did back in the neighborhood…
…where no one ever complained.
But ever since he started playing for Manufatora, every time he got close to midfield…
…He’s a fullback.
You can tell by the jersey number. See? Right-back.
...mr. Manoel Styrofoam nearly had a heart attack! Yes, because Hélcio…
Exactly as the name suggests.
Well…
Basically, a fullback’s job is to stop the other team’s attacks from either side…
Back.
He’s a defender, playing out from the back of the pitch.
…and if they regain possession of the ball…
…to pass it to the midfielders, who link up with the strikers. on paper, anyway.
Because in real life, Hélcio much preferred to hold the ball and run toward the goal by himself.
To dribble past the entire opposing team…
…and Pretend he didn’t hear anything mr. Manoel Styrofoam yelled from the bench…
… while shooting the goal himself! but maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do?
of course it was!
if he could get past their entire team and actually score a goal…!
what, would it be better to lose the game?!
there’s a mullet down there, this big!
You keep obsessing over size, while in the meantime I’ve filled up half the boat!
Eh, so what?
That’s nothing! Wait there…
I’ll be right right back!
Hélcio didn’t know if mr. Manoel Styrofoam knew everyone called him mr. Manoel Styrofoam…
Don’t waste too much time!
look at the time!
Why Styrofoam?
After the war, Marcílio the fisherman found something floating on Barreto beach. He didn’t know what it was.
Hhh…
it was very light.
Only later did the neighborhood learn that it was called Styrofoam.
Big, but light.
And it easily fell apart.
You know that Styrofoam texture?
That’s why everyone called mr. Manoel…
Full of those tiny things?
...mr. Manoel Styrofoam.
And what if Hélcio’s brother was stil around?
No! Hélcio doesn’t want to think about that!
Now, if he tries that with his new team, Canto do Rio*…
Would everyone call him… ...Luiz Styrofoam, too?
He’d rather think about when he played for Manufatora, and how easy it was for him to pretend he couldn’t hear what mr. Manoel Styrofoam said…
...And just head to the goal with the ball, without…
...if he as much as thought about crossing the halfway line…
… Passing it to the midfielders, or the forwards, or to anyone!
* The Canto Do Rio Football Club was founded in 1913. Nicknamed “Cantusca,” it quickly became the most popular team in Niterói.