I watch the shadow of the banana trees as I think about the deaths I have not overcome. And I feel sadness
Llorenç Bonet, 'My brother was a footballer'
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–That day I felt humiliated –Llorenç Bonet (50) tells me.
-What a day?
–The day Moisés, my little brother, scored a goal.
-Because?
–I was the team coach, you know? The children of Poal. Moisés had an intellectual disability, fragile X syndrome, but we had integrated him into the team. He played with us.
-And what happened?
–That day we faced Juncosa. They were the penultimate ones. We, the last. We played at the lowest level in the province of Lleida. We were the two worst Catalan clubs in the category. We were losing 4-0 when, in stoppage time, Moisés made it 4-1.
-And then...?
–Moses went crazy. The whole team went crazy. Moisés started running, he came towards the bench. But, instead of hugging me, he hugged Miquel, my second coach. And with them, the rest of the team also embraced.
-Because they did that?
–Miquel had always supported him.
-And you?
–I deserved the humiliation. I was 21 years old, I had prejudices, it caused me pain not knowing how to manage my emotions. I was ashamed to see how other children, on other teams, made fun of Moisés. My brother didn't know how to tie his shoelaces, he had problems playing soccer... I wasn't trained to hear that: 'Look, the subnormal is coming out to play.'
–And did you react then?
–I started to react.
He didn't have much time to do it either. A month later, Moisés died in a traffic accident.
(...)
Although 29 years have passed, many will remember the event. It was January 28, 1995. The children from El Poal were traveling to Balàfia, a neighborhood in Lleida.
They had a match.
Nine of them were traveling in the van. Among them, Moses. The coaches were behind, in another car, with Llorenç Bonet. At a black spot, a heavy truck hit the van. There were thirteen injured and one deceased, Moisés.
The accident was public because TV3 arrived before the ambulances. On Telenotícies, the viewer could distinguish Llorenç Bonet at the scene of the tragedy, doing what he could: he moved behind the chronicler's back.
–At home they didn't talk about that. It hurts me to think of my parents carrying him in silence. We were a humble family of seven siblings in a 45m2 apartment. We all slept in the same room. I was the fifth son and Moses, the seventh. For years, I thought that the worst thing that can happen to you in life is that your brother dies. It was like that until I finally had my children (Roger and Llorenç)...
He looks at my daughter out of the corner of his eye.
The girl accompanies us on this date.
–Is losing a child worse?
–Imagine it.
(No way, I refuse to imagine it).
And it continues:
–Being a father, I did it: that's how I could imagine my parents' pain. They had lost a son.
(His eyes become moist.)
–And from there the book?
Pues has just published the book: 'My brother was a footballer'.
–It hasn't been easy for me. My father died last year. He was 90 years old. We had a very powerful relationship, I always needed his authorization to move forward. I refused to fail him. I had been writing the book for seven years. Àngels Masó had helped me create it, especially when he got me stuck: he taught me how to write. He was my editor, my tutor and my psychologist. When my father died, I felt liberated. I felt like I could now publish the book. But when I finished it, I plunged into a crisis.
–¿...?
–My family is not particularly excited about this book. They respect me, but they think it's stirring things up.
Whoever reads it, it stirs the soul.
(...)
'My brother was a footballer' lives outside of conventional publishers. It is sold on Latocafootballsports.cat, the small portal of Llorenç Bonet.
