Arizona Allspice (61 page)

“Have you seen Denise?” Marisol asks once I’m seated beside her.

“Nope.”

 “I can’t believe she’s going to miss this game!” Marisol sighs.

I shrug and anxiously wait for the game to start. I’m probably more nervous than the players are right now. I’m not as nervous as Auntie Amelia. She can hardly sit still. She and Uncle Frank are sitting in front of me. Marisol and Tia are on my right.
Morghan
and Manny are on my left. Jacob and his buddies from Dewitt are sitting behind us along with the 150 other people in the crowd. That’s not counting the people on the other side of the field who are cheering for the
Tormentas
. At least three hundred people have come out. Last year’s turn out can’t even compare to this. My baby draws the big crowds. Conversations quiet as the two team captains walk up to the center of the field and wait for the referee to toss the coin.

Marisol suddenly gasps. I glance at her and follow the direction of her wide eyes to the far end of the field. A guy with his shiny black hair cut into a faux-hawk walks cockily onto the field in a silver jersey. Did the
Tormentas
recruit a new team member? I gasp as I realize it’s not a new team member at all. It’s Raul! He throws his fists up in the air. The crowd cries out in disbelief and excitement, even the
Chupasangres
fans.
Even me.
Did he decide to come back home? Where’s Mateo? Raul looks so happy. Marisol and I clap loudly, screaming, “
Capitán
!”

I sense Joey’s eyes on me. I rip my focus away from Raul. Joey blinks at me with an amused expression that says, “Honey, why are you cheering for my enemy?”

I chuckle awkwardly. “Sorry,” I mouth and blow him a kiss before obediently dropping my hands into my lap. The
Tormenta
boys welcome their old team captain back into their midst and the referee finally makes the toss. The quarter flips up into the air. The ref catches it and slaps it onto the back of his hand.

Heads.

Joey called it. Miguel, the new captain of the
Tormentas
doesn’t appear surprised when Joey decides not to take the kickoff for himself. A few of Joey’s fans cuss under their breaths at his choice. The referee gives the ball to Miguel. The crowd goes quiet as Miguel taps the ball towards Raul who boots the ball to the other side of the field. It flies in Max’s direction, our goalie, but one of our defenders, Cesar, jumps up and blocks the ball with his chest. The game begins.

The first half is grueling. Through three fouls and consequently three free kicks, two for the
Chupasangres
and one for the
Tormentas
, not one goal is scored. However, in the first ten minutes of the second half,
Niko
wins the struggle for possession of the ball at midfield, and swiftly passes it to Claude, whose quick feet help him push past the other team’s defense. In seconds the ball is in the air. Joey leaps high and heads the ball. It zooms right past the goalie’s hands.
“
Raaah
!”
Joey roars
,
pumped by the goal he’s made. My throat goes hoarse after all my jubilation. Joey’s team members pat him on the back as he grins. For twenty long minutes,
Chupasangres
maintain their lead, 1-0. La
Tormenta
is playing with a vengeance, trying to get a goal of its own. With ten minutes left on the clock, the opposition finds a gap and sprints towards the goal. Cesar, desperate to stop it, trips the player as he attempts to remove the ball. Cesar’s legs crash into his. The player falls forward and grimaces, clutching his shin in pain. As his teammates carry him under the arms to the bench, fans hiss that he is faking his injury.

 Despite the fans’ suspicions, the referee pulls out a red card for the foul and awards La
Tormenta
a penalty kick, resulting in a chorus of boos. I sigh and mentally prepare myself for a tiebreaker that would add another tense 30 minutes to the game. Stopping a direct kick is incredibly hard for a goalie to do. The goalie becomes an open target because defenders are not allowed to interfere. If Raul makes this goal, the score will be 1-1 and the fight will have to continue. For how long is impossible to know. Max shifts his weight from one foot to the other, focusing on Raul who will soon turn that soccer ball into a missile. Silence settles over the crowd. Then Raul kicks the ball full force. Our goalie leaps and stretches his arms out as far as he can. My jaw drops as the ball bounces off of Max’s hands. He deflected it! Max stopped a penalty kick!
Chupasangres
’ fans rejoice with a full two minutes of shouting, whistling and applause. Max, always humble, gives only a shrug and a small smile.

The game has taken a turn I hadn’t expected. Maybe there won’t be a tiebreaker at all. There is still six minutes left in the game. We just need to keep our lead for six more minutes. I glance at all our players. They look confident and focused, but absolutely exhausted. Rivulets of sweat run down Joey’s determined face. Still panting, Joey’s eyes scan the crowd. He spots my blue parasol and then me. I blow him another kiss. He nods his head, his face serious. His focus is good.  He’s doing great in spite of not taking his medication. I tried for weeks to get him to take his pills again but his mind was made up.

La
Tormenta’s
players all have malevolence in their tired eyes. I wring my hands nervously. Anger is a powerful motivator. They were already a team with intimidating technique on the field. No one would be shocked if they scored a goal in the few minutes remaining. It all happened so fast. Red jerseys and silver jerseys traveling back and forth across the field as the clock ran down. I whispered encouragements to our players. And then we win. La
Tormenta
couldn’t get past our defense before time ran out and we
win
. Just like that. All around, the crowd erupts. Joey falls onto his knees and opens his hands to the sky. He grins with tears in his eyes and I read his lips. “Thank you,” he says. “Thank you.”

I stand up from my chair. Speechless, I watch as the people rush past me to join
Chupasangre’s
team members in hoisting Joey up with their arms and singing, “
Fuegooo
!
Fuegooo
!
Fuegooo
!”
Tears run down Joey’s face and mine. It doesn’t matter that this is just a town soccer match. He could have had to bury his passion for soccer after the accident. We could have had to lay Joey to rest after the accident, but he survived. He stood tall through all the physical and emotional pain and now he’s a champion.

Manny and I are one of the few people who stay on the sidelines and watch the celebration. He puts his arm around me. “What a game!” he laughs. He squeezes me to him. “I know this isn’t a good time for me to tell you,” his voice lowers, “but I should have told you this a long time ago and maybe you won’t take it too hard, now that you’re so happy with Joey these days. I’m…I’m moving to California. Caltech is still accepting me into their engineering program,” he says quickly. “I’m leaving. August 22.”

“How long have you been planning this?” I ask, dejected.

“Since May.”

I step away from him.

“That’s why I’ve been so adamant about you being with Joey. I know that you’ll be taken care of while I’m gone. He’s a great guy who loves you as much as I do.”

“That was the secret, then.” I nod to myself. “And what Mom went through with Daddy. That was part of the secret, too.
Right?”
He nods with me. “August 22 is three weeks from now,” I gasp. My eyes start to sting.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s good. Live your life,” I chuckle. “It’s like the homecoming dances and prom. Remember? I told you to go without me and that I would be fine.” I’m smiling and I don’t know why. Manny reaches his arms out to hug me but I gently push them away. “Go,” I swallow. “Just go.” Manny opens his mouth to say something, but Joey runs between us to grab me up in his arms. He’s dripping with sweat but I let him kiss and hug me. It’s good to know I’m his favorite fan. Manny congratulates Joey, tucks his folded lawn chair under his arm and then walks away with a bowed head.

Joey’s hands are locked together at the small of my back. “Are you ready for your surprise?” he leans back and searches my eyes.

I try to smile and look excited, but it’s obvious that I’m upset.

“You okay?”

“Manny’s moving to California. Did you know that? He’s known since May that he was going to leave me.”

“He told you that just now?” Joey grumbles.

I nod and begin to cry. “I thought Manny leaving me would be like ripping off a
Band-aid
. It feels like ripping off a
limb
. I just got him back and now he’s leaving me again. Could you please go talk to him? Tell him I don’t really want him to go. I can’t bring myself to say it.”

“Don’t cry,” he says as he hugs me. “I’ll go talk to him.”

******

 “You picked a fine time to break the news,” I say sarcastically.

Manny sighs. “There’s no good time to tell your little sister that you’re abandoning her.”

“Well, you could’ve at least chosen any other hour in the day. I was going to propose to her if I won the game!”

“Sorry,” Manny smiles widely. He’s quiet for a moment. “Oh
my gosh
.
Really?
You got a ring and everything?”

“Um…Not exactly?”

“What the hell?!”

“It was a spur of the moment thing!”

“Well, now you have some time to prepare, you big dope.”

 I nod. “Elaine wants me to tell you that she doesn’t want you to go. She didn’t tell you herself because she doesn’t want to hold you back.”

“I tried to explain and make it right between us, but she pushed me away. She wouldn’t listen.”

I sigh and walk back to Elaine. “You need to go talk to your brother.”

“No,” she begins, “He’s…”

I cut her off with a soulful kiss. “Go talk to your brother,” I repeat, my voice rough with desire.

“Okay, okay,” she whispers with hooded eyes and runs her fingers over her ravished lips. I almost chuckle.

******

Raul walked down the dusty streets of his old neighborhood. It was quiet now, but the ground was still littered from yesterday’s celebrations. He had conflicting feelings about
Merjoy
Trailer Park. He held memories of the anguish he felt inside his childhood trailer home, shame from weakness, self-centeredness, and disregard, pride from being part of a good team, and nostalgia from running out into the field at night with Elaine whispering in his ear.

The Boss had called and offered to pay for him to make the trip back home if he played with his team one last time. It was the perfect opportunity to recreate his farewell. He shocked everyone when he stepped onto the field at the finals. The whole town would remember him as a soccer warrior, and not as a coward who disappeared in the dead of night.

He wanted to make amends with Marisol. She was a sweet girl underneath her bad girl image and she deserved at least a goodbye from him this time around. It was also his chance to check on his mom, now that he knew his father had split. But the first thing on his list was Elaine. He knew that she and Joey were together now. He wasn’t going to try to interfere with that. He just wanted to talk to the only person who ever earned his total trust. Elaine had cared for him despite the abuse he went through. He didn’t know if he would ever find a girl like that again. He wanted to show her that he’d changed. He wanted her approval and to see her smile before he went back to the new home he’d made for Mateo and him. Manny answered the front door when Raul knocked.