Fever Dream ~ Neymar Jr

Chapter 55

2015

When I returned home after my dinner with Toly, the living room had been transformed into an actual casino. There was a dealer, a poker and a blackjack table, a slot machine and a barman.

"What do you think?" Chris, one of Neymar's friends asked excitedly.

"What's all this?" I asked, but he was already out of earshot. I went up to Neymar's and my room and found him sleeping soundly. I checked the time and quickly ran back down. "Hey guys." I said when I went to garden where Gil and Chris were smoking. "When is Neymar's dad coming here? Is someone going to go get him?"

They both shrugged. "No one told me to arrange anything." Chris, who was usually in charge of things like that, told me.

I was wondering if I should wake Neymar up, but then I remembered that the flight info would probably be in his computer. When I opened the computer, I pulled up the calendar and thankfully found the info. Neymar Sr's flight would arrive in half an hour. Maybe it wasn't too late for Chris to arrange for someone to pick him up. A message popped up on WhatsApp then.

Estou cansado dessa merda. Ela age como se fosse sua casa. Eu diria algo se ela não fosse namorada de NJ.

My Portuguese was better, good enough to understand the message was about me, namorada de NJ, Neymar's girlfriend. But not that good to know what it said exactly. I opened it, even if I knew I shouldn't. It was a message from Chris to a group chat with all of Neymar's friends that were staying with us now, but Neymar wasn't a member of the chat. I realized that Jô, who was using Neymar's computer today must have forgotten to log off.

I translated the message: I'm tired of her shit. She acts like it's her house. I would say something if she wasn't NJ's girlfriend.

I felt a pang in the chest. Others were replying already, but I didn't want to read anymore. I switched off the computer and went back to the living room. Neymar had said I could borrow one of his cars whenever

I wanted. I could go get his dad from the airport myself. I certainly was not going to ask Chris. And I needed to leave the house and cool off.

I got in the car and pressed the key to open the gate. I set the directions to the airport on the GPS and all the while prayed not to crash Neymar's car. I bet Chris would love that.

It wasn't that surprising that they didn't like me that much. At first, I tried harder. I participated in poker nights, I went with them for events they had scheduled, even if I always was the one behind the lens of the photos they took. But it became exhausting soon. It was a constant party and every day was the same. And I was usually the only person to not get the joke that made everyone laughing, on account of them speaking in Portuguese and me struggling to understand.

Furthermore, when they played poker, they played with real money. At first the bets were small, but towards the end of the night, things would get intense, with bets even reaching four digits. I was a good bluffer, but I wasn't that big of a risk taker, especially now that I was out of money. And all these guys were on Neymar's payroll and from what I understood he was a generous employer.

Neymar liked it though, he seemed happy. So, I didn't say anything, I just took a step back, not participating in poker nights like before or going everywhere they went. I think they preferred it like that too, they didn't have to try harder with English, which none of them were comfortable with.

I reached the airport, with the car in one piece. Neymar Sr's flight had already landed, when I parked outside of arrivals and was about to go in, but I saw him come out the exit. He recognized the car and came towards it but he looked surprised when he saw me.