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‘Stay still, stay still!’ Kun exclaimed, setting up the tripod, ‘Enzo, pass me the cable.’
‘I am still.’
‘No, you’re not. Just sit down, relax. You look like I’m pointing a gun at you.’
Leo sighed, trying to shift into a more natural-looking position on the couch at Kun’s home office. ‘Kun, what is this about?’ Kun smiled to himself as he retrieved his other laptop from his bag, and started setting up. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Calm down. You’ll see in a second.’
‘Enzo, what is he doing? Are you in on this?’ But Enzo only smiled mischievously and shook his head.
Kun had gone through a bit of a nightmare trying to get Leo in the right place at the right time, trying to fit all this into his hectic schedule, without actually informing him of the reason. Jorge Messi had sent him the video a few days back after having found it in the depths of a hard drive, buried between childhood pictures, clips to send to the youth coaches at La Masia, and blurred, grainy photos of birthday celebrations. The two had come up with the idea, and the former striker had had to employ the services of the tech-savvy younger guys, Enzo and Paredes in particular, to get the fossil of a clip to run on his modern laptop, without the stress of leaking anything to the media. Eventually, it had all been set up.
‘I want to do a stream,’ Kun said, and as Leo opened his mouth to protest, he stopped him, ‘no, no. It’s not what you think. Trust me, this is good.’ And then he couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s increasingly concerned expression. He connected the camera to the laptop through which he was going to stream, and then turned the blank screen of the other towards Leo. ‘Ready?’ He asked.
‘Kun, seriously, what is this…’
‘Okay. Ready,’ he said, and pressed a button to start the stream, grabbed his phone so he could look at the comments, and sat next to Leo. ‘Hello, people!’ He exclaimed, and his phone immediately exploded with notifications. ‘Despite the fact that he looks like I’m holding him hostage, Leo is actually really happy to join us today.’
Leo chuckled next to him, burying his face in his hands in shame, and shaking his head. Kun snatched his hands away, and whispered, ‘come on, dude. It’s gonna be fine, you’ll see,’ and then turned to the camera once again, ‘now, this is going to be a bit of a special edition. I know you’re all excited for asking Leo all about the World Cup, achievements, trophies, rivalries, transfers, and whatnot, but I’m afraid we’re not going to actually get to that. I have gathered you all here today for an exclusive interview with the world champion. What makes it exclusive you may ask?’ He said with a smile, and turned to Leo. ‘Well, the special thing about this interview is that… it’s going to be conducted by…’ he started drumming on his thighs for dramatic effect, ‘the man himself! Lionel Messi.’
Leo turned to him. ‘What?’
‘Yes, you heard me,’ Kun said and took out his phone to look at the comments on the screen, bombarding him with confusion similar to one etched on his friend’s face, ‘calma, calma. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. Enzo, will you do the honours?’
The young man first leaned in front of the camera, sending the audience a small wave. Then, he connected another cable between the two laptops, and pressed the space button on the one that was facing Kun and Leo. A face appeared with a buffering symbol spinning at the centre of the frame.
‘Give it a second,’ Enzo said, ‘it’s an old file.’
‘What? What is this? Where did you find it?’ Leo started asking agitatedly.
The face on the screen was his own, from at least twenty years ago. Kun smiled, and asked:
‘While we’re waiting for it to load, would you care to tell the fans what this is?’ And turned to his friend, whose eyes were sporadically switching between getting as wide as saucers, and squinting to study the picture in front of him.
‘Uhm,’ Leo started, and then laughed, and then covered his face again, ‘I don’t… I don’t know.’
‘Sure you do.’
‘I think… I think this is the hotel room I stayed in in Barcelona? With my dad? When I was auditioning for La Masia.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Wait, you knew already?’
‘Yep. Your dad sent it to me a couple of days ago. Told me all about it. You sure you don’t remember?’ And when the other man, face red, shook his head, he said, ‘oh, you’re in for a treat, my friend.’
‘Where did he even find this? That’s at least—‘
‘Shush!’ Kun exclaimed when the picture started moving. ‘It’s starting!’
‘Okay, Leo,’ said a voice behind the camera, probably Jorge’s, ‘say your name and how old you are.’
Little Leo laughed, ‘but you already said my name.’
‘Come on, don’t be cheeky.’
A groan, ‘fine. My name is Lionel Messi. I am twelve years old.’
Current Leo also groaned next to him, and Kun shushed him again. ‘Where are you from and where are you now?’
‘I’m from Rosario. In Argentina. We’re now in Barcelona.’
‘And why are we here?’
‘Because I’m going to play for the best club in the world!’
‘If it all goes well.’
‘Yeah,’ said little Leo with a sigh, ‘but it will, right?’
‘Sure it will. Now, have you got your questions ready?’
‘Mhm,’ and the boy took out a notepad, looking straight into the camera, and after clearing his throat started, ‘hello, Leo from the future. How are you?’
‘Stop it, stop it,’ said Leo next to him, and Enzo paused the clip, ‘oh my god. Fucking hell…’
‘I know, I know,’ said Kun, ‘hey look at this,’ he smiled, showing his screen to Leo.
@blaugr4na2001: “oh no, now there’s two Lionel Messi! Florentino Perez is frothing at the mouth jajjajajaajja”
@LM10babygirlsm: “AAKSJDHFSJKDHF he’s so cute!!! im banging my head afgainst the waaaallll”
@messigoat18_12_2022: “Here we can see the two greatest players of all time. 35-year-old Messi and 12-year old Messi!”
@neymarjr: “feo x2 🤣”
‘Ney?’
‘Yeah, I think it’s him,’ said Kun, pointing at the camera, ’don’t be mean, dickhead. Ready, Leo?’
He looked at his friend, whose face had developed that bright blush it always did when he got nervous. In the past people would make fun of him for it, but to Kun it had always been strangely endearing. Some kind of proof that he was actually human, flesh and blood. ‘Yeah,’ Leo said, nodding apprehensively, ‘go on.’
‘Go for it, Enzo. And pause after each question.’
‘Question?’ Asked Leo, but Kun only patted him on the shoulder. Enzo rewound the clip ten seconds back and pressed play.
‘Hello, Leo from the future. How are you?’ Pause. Leo giggled and shrugged.
‘Well, go on then,’ said Kun.
‘Uhm, yeah… I’m good, I think,’ Kun looked at him expectantly, gesturing with hands to continue, ‘how are… you?’ Play. Little Leo courteously waited for the answer.
‘I’m okay, thank you for asking. I’m a bit nervous. I have tryouts tomorrow, but I got food poisoning so I’m not sure I’ll be up for it,’ all three occupants of the room laughed, ‘speaking of… did we… I… we get into La Masia?’ Pause.
‘Yeah, I remember that food poisoning,’ Leo said, turning to Kun, ‘god, it was a nightmare. Yes, Leo, we made it in. Had to wait for everything to be sorted, but it was fine in the end.’ Play.
‘Yay! Or… oh no! I hope it’s “yay!” Anyways, did we make any friends there? Did the kids make fun of us?’ Pause
‘Hm,’ started Leo, looking at the ground, ‘they made fun of us at the start, some of them. But then we met this really tall kid called Geri who protected us. We’re still friends, kind of. Cesc was also great. We made a lot of friends.’ Play.
‘I hope you said yes, because otherwise I’d be stuck with dad, and I have been stuck with him here for the past three days and let me tell you, he’s boooooriiiiiing.’
‘Leo!’
‘Sorry, sorry,’ said the boy to the man behind, and then more quietly to the camera, smiling, ‘but you already knew that. Okay, what do I have next… oh, yes! Do we get really, really tall?’ Pause. Everyone laughed again.
‘Come on, then,’ said Kun, trying to catch his breath, ‘break the kid’s heart.’
‘Sorry to say this, Leo, but not really. I mean, it could’ve been worse. Stops bothering us at some point, so don’t worry about it.’ Play.
‘Yes, I’m so glad! Okay, so…’ continued Leo, ‘as per my calculations—‘
‘Ooh, math wiz, over here!’ Said Kun mockingly, which earned him a punch on the shoulder from older Leo.
‘—if we make it pro we should be playing at the World Cup in 2006. Do we win it?’ Pause.
Leo sighed next to him and took his time, looking at the ground. He put a finger in his mouth and started biting nervously at a loose cuticle, ‘uhh…’ and then chuckled, ‘well. No. Not then. Not for a while. But eventually, yeah.’ Play.
‘Woo-hoo! Can’t wait. I’ll be…eighteen? Nineteen? God, that’s old. And so far away, too,’ little Leo looked off-camera lost in thought. He started nibbling at his cuticle, and Jorge slapped his hand away. Kun laughed.
‘Oh, you haven’t changed one bit, have you?’
It was true. The beard couldn’t hide it. Same big eyes, perhaps a little tired now. Same lopsided, quiet smile, and the same dimple, like a punctuation mark, at the end of it. Same messy brown hair that couldn’t quite stay in place. Same fidgety fingers, and soft voice.
‘Anything else, Leo?’ Asked Jorge.
‘Yep… Leo do we ever get nominated for a Ballon d’Or?’ Pause.
The room exploded once again. Leo leaned back on the couch, hiding his face.
‘Oh, boy,’ said Kun, ‘if only the little guy knew! You better start freeing up shelf space now, kiddo! You’d spare older you a few headaches.’
‘Yeah, about that. Anyone want a League 1 trophy?’ Asked Leo, laughing.
‘I’ll take it!’ Said Enzo. Kun looked at his phone.
‘Well, you better hurry, they’re already bidding on it in the comments. Anyways… well?’
‘What? Oh,’ started Leo, ‘yeah, we do get nominated.’
‘Leo, for fuck’s sake.’
‘What? That’s what he asked…’ his friend said, shrugging his shoulders. Kun shook his head and gestured to Enzo to resume. Play.
‘That’s good! I mean, whatever you said. I don’t care. It’s good if we did, doesn’t matter if we didn’t. So long as we won something with Argentina…’
Kun turned to Leo, who looked back with a sad smile, and placed a hand on his back, rubbing circles on it.
‘Oh, I almost forgot! Did we ever meet Maradona?’ Pause.
Leo chuckled, ‘yes, Leo. We did! We were good friends, in fact. Sometimes, though… well, you know how these legends are…’
‘Basically, little Leo,’ started Kun, turning to the camera, ‘what they say about “never meet your heroes” is true, and although I know it’s inevitable, don’t listen to anything he says about you in the media.’
Enzo put a thumbs-up in front of the camera to highlight the point. Kun looked at the comments again.
@siempreD10S: “nah put some respect on his name!”
@intermiamifansince1889: “LEO>>>>MARADONA”
@ankaram3ssi: “body that coke fraud kuni!”
Play. ‘What is he like? Is he nice?’
‘Leo, we have to go soon…’
‘Okay, okay. Uhm, do we ever get a dog?’
‘Leo…’
‘Come on, it’s important! Do we?’ Pause.
‘Yeah,’ Leo chuckled, ‘Hulk. You’d love him.’
‘He’s bigger than you!’ Joined Kun. ‘Then, now. At any age!’
Play. ‘I hope it’s a big dog. If I get a big dog I want to name him Hulk!’
Enzo snorted and Kun shushed him.
‘Okay, what else, what else,’ and the boy scanned through his notes, pulling at his hair with one hand, ‘there’s this ball. The Adidas Tiro Pro Fevernova… did you buy it?’ Then little Leo gasped when he remembered something else, ‘did we get it signed by Ronaldinho?! Oh please tell me we met Ronaldinho?’
‘Leo, come on.’
‘I want to—-‘ Pause.
‘Well?’ Asked Enzo and Leo looked positively bewildered. He shrugged.
‘Oh, man, how I wanted that stupid football. I wouldn’t shut up about it. Couldn’t afford it back then.’
‘Back then…’ said Kun, cocking an eyebrow, ‘Enzo?’
Fernandez nodded and took out a plastic bag from under the table where the two laptops were placed, throwing it to Leo. He grabbed it and looked at his two friends quizzically.
‘You didn’t.’
‘Yeah,’ nodded Kun, wrapping his arm around his shoulders, ‘we so did.’
He looked at Leo’s eyes and that confirmed that he hadn’t changed a single bit over the years. Same glint, and his face would adopt that strange shyness, his posture hunching embarrassedly, when he’d receive a gift or a compliment.
‘Well? Open it! What are you waiting for?’
‘Open it! Open it! Open it!’ Chanted Enzo behind the camera. Leo smiled and took the football out of the bag.
‘Wow. Oh my god. Where did you even find this?’ He asked handling it gently.
‘I have my ways…’ Leo cocked an eyebrow. ‘Fine, fine. You know how it was made for the 2002 World Cup?’
‘Yes…?’
‘Well, you remember who won, right?’
‘Brazil.’
‘Yep. Called Dinho, he said “give me a minute” and a day later it arrived at my house. Come on, take her for a spin.’
‘Yeah?’
‘Yeah. These guys would lose it,’ said Kun, pointing at the camera. Leo smiled and got up, and did several keepie-uppies with the newly-acquired ball, adding in a few tricks for good measure. Finally, he kicked it high enough to grab it again and inspect it. Enzo and Kun applauded, whistling.
‘Wow,’ said Leo again, ‘it is signed by Dinho after all.’
‘Of course it is.’ Said Kun, but before he could continue, his friend had thrown himself on top of him, squeezing him tightly.
‘Thank you so, so much, Kuni…’
Kun hugged back. Such a wondrously strange person to have as best friend. All the trophies, contracts, money, accolades, sponsorships, signed paraphernalia, medals, tournaments… none of this compared to the joy a simple football would bring him. ‘Are you crying?’ He whispered.
‘No,’ said Leo, but his voice was a bit pinched.
‘You so are. Go hug Enzo before you start bawling on the stream. He helped set it up,’ and he slapped him on the backside for good measure, to distract the audience from the touchy moment. Leo chuckled hoarsely and went off-camera to embrace his younger teammate.
@kunessiiiii: “ASDKJFSKJDFJSJEJDSFA”
@lascalonetaenjoyer2: “aweee this is too cute!!”
@ronaldinhosponytail_3: “Kun, can you bring Dinho on next?"
@dibumartinez_ioweyoumylife: “doing tricks with a half-deflated ball from 2002. Just GOAT things.”
Leo made his way back to the couch. He sniffled quietly and his eyes were a bit red, but he wasn’t crying, so the little details wouldn’t be caught on camera. He plopped down next to Kun and nodded to Enzo. Play.
‘—I want to make sure he remembers! We have to meet so many people, future Leo. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Maradona, Aimar, Scaloni, Guardiola, Cruyff, Zidane… we can use this notepad as an autograph book!’
Older Leo looked at Kun expectantly, but the latter shook his head with a laugh: ‘Look, I’m no miracle-worker. You’d have to ask your dad about that one…’
‘Okay, Leo,’ said Jorge, ‘last question. We have to go to the stadium after.’
Little Leo looked lost in thought. He dropped the notepad, sighed, and crossed his arms, brushing his fringe away from his forehead. Kun heard older Leo do the same next to him, probably unintentionally, in the exact same order.
‘Okay, okay,’ started the boy on the screen, ‘hm. One last thing: are we happy?’ Pause.
Kun and Enzo were silent, both turning to Leo, who had dropped his gaze to the ground, kicking his foot at nothing. Kun watched him observe his surroundings: the ball, the camera, the video, the framed picture of La Scaloneta with the trophy on the wall, Enzo, and then Kun himself.
‘Yeah,’ he said, finally, ‘I guess we are.’
‘That’s all?’ Asked Kun. Leo shrugged and decided not to push it. He gestured to Enzo. Play.
Younger Leo smiled the same pensive smile, and Kun thought if perhaps the little kid already knew something no one else did.
‘Thank you for the interview, future Leo,’ he said seriously, ‘hope we’re still around to do it.’
‘Leo, don’t say stuff like that!’
‘What? There could be like a comet or something, I don’t know!’ Said Leo defensively, which made Enzo chuckle quietly, ‘okay, I gotta go now. Decide your future, I guess. Or your present. I don’t know, now I’m confused. Anyways. I hope we’re okay, bye-bye!’ And in the middle of the wave, the screen cut to black.
‘Okay, happy?’ Asked Leo.
‘Sure,’ said Kun, ‘but I have some follow-up—‘
‘I, uhm, kind of have to go.’
‘Where?’
‘I have something to do.’
‘No you don’t, liar,’ said Kun, smiling at the camera.
‘Kun.’
And when he looked at Leo he got the memo. His eyes were a little glassy, and his lips bitten-through.
‘Oh! Right! That thing, of course!’ He said, facepalming to make the lie more believable, ‘anyways, dear people… we have to leave you now, Leo is a busy man! Thank you for tuning in and I’ll see you tomorrow! Aaandd… cut, Enzo!’
Enzo pressed the button and stopped the stream. Kun had fumbled a few times with not having left properly, so he went up to the laptops and the camera and switched them off just in case, before turning to Leo.
‘You okay?’
It was a bit of a dumb question. ‘Yeah, yeah,’ said his friend, still looking in the distance, ‘just… I don’t know,’ he hid his face in his hands and sighed. Kun went to sit next to him, embracing him with one arm.
‘Hey. Hey, Leo? It’s okay. What’s wrong?’ His best friend sniffled and Kun could hear his already damaged heart shatter even further. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing, I…’ Leo said, voice muffled. He chuckled, ‘I don’t know what came over me, I’m fine, just…’
‘What is it.’
‘Didn’t really hit me before.’
‘What?’
‘We… we made it.’ And he started full-on crying then.
‘Oh, Leo, you dumbass,’ said Kun, now hugging him properly, and bringing him to his chest, ‘I thought it was something serious.’
‘It is serious,’ Leo stuttered out between hiccups, with Kun feeling his shirt getting a bit wet, ‘it’s so serious.’ Kun laughed a bit.
‘Yeah, but, you know. I thought something was wrong,’ he strokes his friend’s back, and he wanted to cry himself. He looked up and caught a glimpse of Enzo who was staring at them frozen, still behind the camera, bearing the saddest expression Kun had ever seen. ‘Oh, are you gonna cry, too? One’s enough to deal with!’ Enzo shook his head. ‘Come here,’ and when the kid didn’t move, he repeated more firmly, ‘come on, come here,’ and stretched out one of his arms to invite him into the hug. That was all the invitation Enzo needed, and a mere second later, he was also on top of Leo. Kun sighed, ‘what will I do with you…’
‘Sorry,’ said Leo.
‘It’s fine. That’s my job, isn’t it?’
‘I guess.’
Enzo did end up crying a bit, until Kun bullied him into laughing. They ended up playing FIFA for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow, he’d ask Leo to prepare another set of questions to record a second edition of the interview. He hoped they would be there to answer them twenty odd years later. No, he’d make sure of it. Unless there was a comet or something. Actually, even then.