The Vila Belmiro neighborhood ofSantos glowed at 3:57 Monday morning.
A helicopter shined its light up in the air. There were firecrackers in red and white. More than a few heads poked out the windows of the squat, flat-roofed houses as lamps in bedrooms flipped on.
There were seven police officers in front of the old soccer stadium. One officer shouted a single word into the walkie-talkie pinned to his shoulder: "Chegando!" It's Chegando!
It's arriving.
The person was Pel. Vehicles turn onto Rua Princesa Isabel. There was a car and a motorcycle. There are two bikes and an SUV. A van is followed by a car. There was a black Mercedes hearse.
A man is by the curb. The bar he owns is 25 paces from the stadium gate. He has a tattoo on his forehead.
Pel was a friend of Alemo. Pel used to come to his bar to talk about football. To drinkguarana. The barber next door to Didi has a sign that says Pelé's hairdresser and yours, too.
Even if it was before dawn, it was necessary for Alemo to be there. He needed to look at something. Pel's hearse made a left down the side of the stadium as he passed by. The hearse turned into the stadium's belly. He rubbed his hands together as Pelé walked away. He whispered something under his breath. He lives in his house.
One of the best known athletes in Vila Belmiro was Pelé. He went all over the world to spread the message of his sport. The only thing bigger than his fame was the smile he showed in all those pictures and speeches and films and commercials.
He lived his life. His way was the way to go. He wanted it that way. Pel was a part of the world for more than 50 years. He came back on Monday.
While his customers drank from beer cans wrapped in yellow sleeves he sat at a table. He said there had been a lot of tears recently. There should be a party as well.
According to Brazilian records, Pelé scored 1,283 goals in 1,361 matches for both his club and his country. He was responsible for 10 state titles and six national titles. He is considered the best soccer player of all time, having won the World Cup three times. Muhammad Ali was the only athlete who could have reached his renown.
There was something wonderful about watching Pel on the field, and talking about it sent a man who walks with a limp into a contemplative place. His eyes twinkled as he said something. He described what it was like to watch Pel dribble. It's a beautiful thing.
In one, he traps the ball on his chest, drops it to his foot, flips it over his head, and in the other, he does the same thing. He seems to step on the defender's skull as he heads a laser past the goalkeeper on the other side.
Pelé came out of retirement to play in the United States and elevate a club out of a small city on the south coast of Brazil. Pel's strength was always there.
The quality of Pelé made him an icon in Brazil.
He rubbed his thumb over the tattoo on his head and said it was how he made them feel. In the current political environment, Brazilians can often be self-critical. There is a sense of gratitude and pride in Pel.
He was the first person to do everything with soccer out in the world. He was the one who built soccer out there. He turned it into something.
A few steps away from the main gate fans use to enter the stadium is a small house. The house has been home to Jose and his family for 50 years. Pelé was a spokesman for the company where he worked, and he specialized in electronics. One of Pelé's sons befriended a teenage son of the man who helped him set up the television. Sidnei said they would sneak whiskey together when they were young.
Sidnei was living in Florida when Nunes came to stay with him. The two were at a house where some construction colleagues of Sidnei's were working on installing a new floor, and one of them accidentally cracked some tiles.
I didn't know what to do because I didn't speak their language, but I was worried because they were so angry. They started smiling when I told them that I was fromSantos.
They shook my hand because they were soccer fans from Puerto Rico. They were no longer angry. They said that the floor was okay.
His granddaughter wouldn't give him the Pel jersey he wanted to wear, and he didn't go to the wake because he was worried about exposure. When he wanted to hear the sounds of Vila Belmiro he sat in his chair behind the glass window and watched the crowd.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined up for nearly a mile as they waited for the chance to walk past Pel's body.
The mourners ranged in age from young to old. Chefs, bakers, students, engineers, retirees and toddlers were all there. There were heavy memories hanging around. The mother brought her children to see what Pele meant to her grandparents. The story of the night Pelé scored two goals was told to the grandson by his grandpa. As a child, Romildo PeroniSantos heard that Pel was like nothing he had ever seen.
There were many well-known figures, including former Brazilian stars, like Ze Roberto, as well as local and national politicians, as well as a Brazilian supreme court justice.
The people who loved Pelé's sport were the ones who died. They ate in line, sang in line and sweated quite a bit as temperatures reached well into the 80s and they criss-crossed the avenues to get their turn. There is a king.
They had their reasons. For as long as he can remember, Haroldo Stampaccheo has had the image of Pel on his mind.
Stampaccheo said that his father worked at the bank from 7 to 5. I didn't pay much attention to him. We were not close in that time. He would take me in the car on match days. The roads were bad, but we would use the bumps and bumps to get to the stadium. We sat and watched the game and talked about Pelé. My father was fond of talking to me about Pel.
Stampaccheo stopped. He said that his father died in 1993. I thought I could see him here as well.
A few miles away from the stadium, Dida Dias finished her morning coffee and walked along the beach. As she dodged families lugging baskets and beach chairs, she passed one of the many stores with a sign for Pel out front, but didn't notice.
She said it was difficult to take a position that wasn't the same as everyone else's. There are things that are important.
For most of her life, Dias has been an activist with feminist and anti-racism groups. She understands that Pel was a great footballer, but she doesn't think it's a good idea to erase the feelings of some Brazilians.
Even though he personally experienced racism in Brazil, Pelé denied it throughout his career. Pel was sometimes called "Gasolina," a reference to the color of oil, and even though he became a star player in the 1960's, he wasn't allowed to join.
Other Brazilians used their platforms. The Brazilian military dictatorship was upset by the fact that Reinaldo celebrated goals by raising a fist.
"Reinaldo was left out of the World Cup team because they didn't like what he was saying." Pelé didn't say a thing. He didn't use his fame for anti-racism causes. He said he had suffered because he was poor, not because he was black.
Pel was critical of Aranha for making an issue of it when he claimed to have been the target of racist chants. He said that if they called him a creole or a monkey, then every game would have to be stopped. The more attention is given to this, the worse it will get.
Pelé's charity work, his work with children, his global diplomacy were meaningful, and he modeled the importance of higher education, even as many of his peers never did. It was important for young people to see that.
She said it was not about saying he was not special. He wasn't a deity. He was male. We should not forget that no man is perfect.
Doraci Ribeiro waited for three hours on Monday to get into Vila Belmiro.
There is a flower shop across the street from the cemetery where Pelé was to be buried.
Ribeiro has been a florist for 30 years. The vertical cemetery is like a high-rise apartment building with floors of graves, ossuaries, mausoleums and a car museum in the back. Pel's body will be kept on the second floor in a mausoleum that looks like a soccer field to make it easier for people to visit.
Ribeiro said that people would still want flowers.
Ribeiro frequented the restaurant next to the cemetery. He said that he always felt an ease or comfort in his life from Pel.
As Ribeiro sat in his chair on the sidewalk, tossing stems into a bucket, he began to make small bouquets for the mourners that would come to the cemetery across the street. He said that he chose tigerlily and chrysanthemum because they felt appropriate.
He said the flowers were white. They bring peace.
On Tuesday morning, the newly elected president of Brazil came to Vila Belmiro to pay his respects. The wake was over at 10 a.m. after 230,000 people came to pay their respects to Pel. A fire engine was used to start a final trip around the city after Pel's coffin was carried outside. There was a Brazilian flag and a soccer ball on the back of the truck.
The man was there again. He looked straight ahead. He said "King, you looked f---ed up," and Pelé laughed and said, "What do you mean?". I'm going to play a sport.
There was a procession that started. It was a slow journey through the city. The music was loud and the drums thumped. The horns were loud. Songs and chants came from storefronts. The children sat on their parents shoulders.
The procession passed by the beach where Pel played soccer as a teenager. The man who played in those games remembered how the officials ofSantos wanted him to only play as a goalkeeper in pelada because they were worried about Pel getting hurt.
"He was an excellent goalkeeper, he was maybe the greatest scorer in history, he had good hands," he said, laughing at the fact that he was saying something about a man who was perhaps the greatest scorer in history. We were young at that point in time. I remember a lot of laughter.
Canal 6 is one of the city's drainage channels that splits Avenida Coronel Joaquim Montenegro. Thousands, including one of Pel's old teammates, the goalkeeper Lal who lives around the corner, squeezed into the narrow road between the canal and a modest, white, rectangular house where members of Pel's family, including his sister, Lucia, waited at the second floor Lal said that he came because of their friendship.
The fans began to sing a song about Pel being the only player to score a thousand goals and Celeste Arantes, Pel's mother, who is 100 years old.
A fire truck turned down a street. There were police officers clearing a path. Thousands of people bowed their heads in prayer after the engine stopped in front of Pelé's family's house.
The words rang out across the canal as they spoke. Hallowed be the name of our father. Seja feita a tua vontade, assim na terra.
As it is in the Heavens.
The fire engine was outside. It came around the bend in the road, rolled past Doraci Ribeiro and the flower shop and then reversed back towards the steps. The pallbearers folded the flags with care. The people picked up the coffin. A man is moving.
Mandu held a trumpet. Despite being an accomplished musician, he admitted that he was terrified. His country's greatest athlete was coming towards him and he worried that his lips would fail him. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to play.
The first notes of "Il Silenzio," a haunting melody about a soldier, flew up as the coffin was lowered down off the truck. A helicopter flew in the sky. Two women are holding flowers across the street. Pel's family wiped away tears on the second floor of the cemetery.
Mandu finished the song. There was a final shout for their star from those behind the fence. A man shouted out. There is an eternal king.
The time had come. All the people who wanted to see him were welcomed by him. He traveled through the streets of his city. He would take a break.
Mandu put his trumpet back in the air. Pel's casket was raised high by the Cadets. As the pallbearers climbed the steps, the first notes of "Amazing Grace" sounded out.
Mandu wiped his face clean. There was nothing left. He is going to play at a wedding.
He said that without pain, we might not know what happiness is like.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
