Tournament Trouble

by Sylv Chiang

  “Uh, sorry to report, your mom’s already home. She got here about ten minutes ago.”

  “Nothing’s going right today.” I’m glad Cali’s here, at least. I’ve missed hanging out with her. “You never told me what was the matter yesterday.”

  “Oh . . .”

  My door opens and Mom steps onto the porch. “Er zi, why are you standing here soaking wet? Come inside.” She notices Cali. “Xin Yi, why are you sitting outside?” Cali is my only friend that Mom can speak Mandarin with. She calls her by her Chinese name, Xin Yi. “It’s raining. Come in. Do you want to eat dinner with us? I’m making your favorite, mapo tofu.”

  “Xie xie, A Yi.” Cali thanks her. Unlike me, Cali always speaks Mandarin with our moms.

  “You sit on the porch a lot lately. Is everything okay with your mom?”

  “She’s sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her.”

  “She’s not well again?”

  “It’s been pretty bad lately.”

  In Mandarin, Cali sounds like a different person. When I look closely, she looks different too. There are dark circles under her eyes.

  Her mom’s always had this disease that makes her clumsy sometimes so she trips and drops things. But most of the time she’s okay. I can’t remember what it’s called. When I open my mouth to ask about it, no words come out.

  Mom says, “Eat with us and bring her home some food too. Lai, lai. It’s too wet outside.”

  Dinner feels like old times. Cali and I always used to eat at each other’s houses. Now that I think about it, I can’t remember the last time I saw Mrs. Chen. Was it before Christmas?

  When everyone’s done eating, the stories start. “Remember when your mom was Jaden’s piano teacher?” Melanie says.

  “What?” Cali shakes her head.

  “Yeah, it didn’t last long. He was a lost cause,” Josh says.

  Just like everything else I tried. Except gaming.

  “Every time Jaden was supposed to have a lesson, he said he had a stomachache to get out of it,” Melanie continues, playing with her green pendant.

  Dad joins in. “So I took him to the doctor. She wanted to do an x-ray and run tests. Jaden got scared and fessed up that his stomach was fine, he just hated piano.”

  I really don’t think Cali wants to hear stories about someone pretending to be sick when her mom is actually sick. “So, is everybody done?” I get up and start taking dishes to the sink.

  “Wow! This morning you did dishes, now you’re clearing the table.” Dad points to Mom. “See, Linda, I told you he’d come in handy one day.”

  “He just doesn’t want us to keep telling embarrassing stories in front of Cali,” Melanie sing-songs.

  Mom joins me in clearing the table. “You must eat here more often, Xin Yi. My kids use better manners when you are around.”

  Cali gives a weak smile. “Xie xie, A Yi. Dinner was delicious. I’m going to take this to my mom now.” She holds up the leftovers Mom packed up for her.

  “Tell your mama I will visit her tomorrow,” Mom says.

  I want to say something too, but I can’t figure out what before Cali heads out the door.

  After dinner, I sit at the desk in my room staring at my homework but thinking about Cali. How did I not realize that her mom was so sick? I can’t believe I went on and on to her about a video game tournament.

  Josh comes into the room and starts packing up his baseball gear for practice. “I think it’s time you get your own gamertag. I keep getting these annoying messages from your friends when I’m playing.”

  “No way. I’m the one who built JStar up in the standings. You get a new gamertag.”

  “I don’t think so. I had it first. Anyway, who the heck are Catchup and GodofGods?”

  I smile at Hugh and Devesh’s onscreen names.

  “Or Kn1ght_Rage?”

  I pretend to be really busy with my homework.

  “He wrote a weird message saying he heard from a friend that I’m only twelve years old.”

  I don’t look up. “Oh, yeah. I played that guy the other day. What’d you say?”

  “I ignored him. Hey listen, don’t go talking to strangers online, okay?”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “No, seriously. That could be anyone, like some creepy old perv. I heard about this one kid on the news. He went to meet some online friend to trade hockey cards and it turned out to be this old guy who wanted to take pictures of him—naked.” Josh gives a shiver of disgust, then stops to pick something up off the desk. “Hey, how’d my ID get here?”

  “Oh, that? I found it under my bed just now. Must have fallen down there.” I keep my eyes on my paper.

  “Aw man, I looked everywhere for this thing.” He shoves the card into his pocket, grabs his bag, and flies out the door.

  The next morning before school, Ty and Flash march across puddles toward us. Ty calls, “So, which one of you told Mr. E that we copied?”

  “We didn’t say anything,” Hugh counters.

  “Probably all three of them told.” Flash’s voice is much louder than it needs to be.

  “You guys think you’re sooo smart.” Ty moves right up in my face. “We’re not stupid. We know you ratted us out to Mr. E.”

  “I told you, we didn’t say anything,” Hugh fires back, fists clenched. “We didn’t need to. You guys are so obvious. Do you think Mr. E is blind?”

  Devesh grabs Hugh’s shoulders and pulls him back. “Just drop it, Hugh.”

  “These guys are total snitches.” Ty plays it up to the crowd that has gathered.

  The bell rings like it’s the end of a round in a boxing match. Me and Devesh immediately grab Hugh’s sleeves and pull him like a prisoner of war to the main doors.

  In the distance, Ty continues to rant to anyone who will listen.

  Hugh struggles out of our grip. Punching the locker in front of him, he says, “But we didn’t say anything. What the heck is their problem?”

  “It’s not worth it,” I say.

  At lunch the three of us sit by ourselves in the cafeteria, trying to act like we don’t see Flash and Ty pointing at us.

  On our way to my place after school, Hugh sums it up. “They’re telling everyone who will listen their side of the story. And people believe them.”

  “I know,” I say. “Everyone was giving me the evil eye in the halls. In geography, Ryan coughed into his hand, and I’m sure he said, ‘Snitch.’”

  “I can’t believe they’re making this into such a big deal,” Hugh whines.

  “Who cares? By next week everyone will forget their stupid lies.”

  “I hope you’re right, Dev. If the rest of the year is going to be like this, I don’t know what I’ll do.” I’m serious too. I work hard to blend into the background at school. I can’t handle all those people staring and talking about me.

  “I want to blow some things up. Let’s play Blast ’Em Up today instead of Cross Ups,” Hugh says.

  “Yeah, I might as well stop playing Cross Ups. It’s too depressing. I just keep thinking about the tournament.”

  Devesh stops a few doors down from my place, smiling wider than his monobrow. “Yo, things are looking up. There’s a hot girl on your porch.”

  “What?” I look over. “That’s just Cali.”

  “That’s your friend Cali?” Devesh looks from me to Cali and back again, jaw wide open.

  Hugh sighs. “I guess she doesn’t want to play Blast ’Em Up, huh?”

  “She might. We used to play together a lot. She’s pretty good.”

  Devesh and Hugh answer together. “Awesome!”

  Chapter 8

  “Holy crap, she’s good,” Hugh loud-whispers to Devesh.

  It’s a couple of hours later, and they’re slouched on the couch with a laptop between them. Me a
nd Cali are sitting cross-legged on the floor, controllers in hand. We were all losing to Cali until I challenged her to play Cross Ups.

  “Don’t tell anyone a girl beat us all at Blast ’Em Up,” Hugh says.

  “No? I was totally just going to send it out to everyone, loser.” Devesh is live-streaming the game. “Check this out. I’ve got eight viewers.”

  “You think she can beat J at Cross Ups?”

  “Nah, but she’s coming closer than we ever do. Did you see that? She just turbo boosted her Super Meter with that move.”

  “How’d she do that?” Hugh grabs Devesh’s arm. “No way! She’s throwing Saki’s Blizzard Super.”

  Saki is the yeti-cross so, obviously, this Super move causes a snowstorm to bury his opponent. Like Kaigo’s Dragon Fire Super, the Yeti Blizzard Super is really hard to time.

  My block comes fast enough, so I take minimal damage. I throw a series of fireball combos to run Saki’s Health Meter down to critical level. One last hit is all I need to win.

  It doesn’t feel right though. I turn to Cali. “Call it a tie?”

  I can feel Hugh and Devesh freaking out behind me. Hugh loud-whispers, “What?”

  “Thanks. Won’t your mom be home soon anyway?” Cali asks.

  “Nah. She works till nine tonight.”

  “Well, I should get back to my mom.” She turns to Hugh and Devesh with a shy smile. “Nice meeting you guys. Sorry for hogging the controls.”

  “No prob. We, uh . . . we can play a lot better, you know. It’s just this thing at school . . .,” Hugh stammers.

  Devesh elbows him in the ribs and smiles at Cali. “What he means is, ‘Nice to meet you too.’”

  Cali gets up, and I follow her to the door.

  “I don’t remember you being that good at Cross Ups.”

  “Well, I’ve been staying home and gaming a lot since my mom’s been sick.” She bends down to get her running shoes.

  I want to ask about her mom, but what should I say? “How . . .” I swallow and glance back at the living room where my friends are craning their necks to stare at us. “How, uh . . . how’re you at Death Raid? We should play. Just come over whenever.” Oh, that was weak.

  “Yeah, maybe. Thanks.” She slips out the door carrying her shoes in her hands.

  When I get back to the living room, a message is blinking on the screen. Devesh and Hugh, still staring down the hallway, haven’t noticed.

  “What should I say?” I ask.

  Devesh follows my eyes to the screen, but Hugh, still staring at the front door, says, “A pretty girl who can play like that? I say, ask her to marry you.”

  “What?” I say.

  Devesh grabs Hugh’s head and turns it to look at the television. “He means Kn1ght_Rage, moron.”

  “Oh.”

  Devesh picks up the controller and taps in

  I punch Devesh in the arm. “Uh, that would be great if I was going to be there.”

  I reach for the controller, but Devesh jumps over the back of the couch with it. Before I can stop him, he types YES.

  “What the . . .?” I tackle him and wrestle the controller from his hands. “Why’d you put that?”

  “Because you have to go.” Devesh moves quickly backward to avoid my punch.

  Kn1ght_Rage signs off.

  “You’re an idiot.” I throw the controller at Devesh.

  “Relax, we’ll figure something out.” He climbs back over the couch and sits down. “But first I want to know the same thing that Kn1ght_Rage does. What was that? You’ve never pulled a punch for either of us before.”

  “Yeah. You never offered to call it”—Hugh flutters his eyelashes—“a tie.”

  I shrug, but I can feel Kaigo’s dragon breath on my cheeks. “It’s not like that. She’s just got a lot going on right now, so I cut her a break.”

  Chapter 9

  The next morning I hear the school bell, but I don’t want to go in. I think of Ty and Flash and their stupid comments and consider skipping the day. Then I notice that the bell sounds different. Instead of the usual brisk, metallic ring, this bell sounds more like a rhythmic whine, and it doesn’t stop.

  I wake up and jump out of bed to look out the window. It’s Saturday, and that sound isn’t a school bell, it’s an ambulance. I throw on jeans and a T-shirt and run downstairs.

  I pull open the heavy front door. Through the screen I can see Cali on the porch, half hidden behind the bulky frame of a police officer. I hear the words MS and interferon, whatever that is.

  I notice another sound and look down to see my hands against the door. As usual, my thumbs are tapping, wishing for a controller. That’s not helping. I need to get out of hit stun and do something.

  I push the screen door open and walk out. There isn’t enough space on the porch for me to get around the officer, so I’m stuck behind him. Two paramedics come out of Cali’s house, carrying Mrs. Chen on a stretcher. As they pass Cali says “I love you” in Mandarin.

  Mrs. Chen’s skin is pale, somehow thinner. She holds her arms strangely in front of her chest, wrists bent like she’s about to play the piano. I realize that I haven’t heard her play in months.

  “We’re going to help your mom, honey,” the police officer says. “Is there someone you can stay with? Who can we call for you?”

  Cali stares down at the ground. Her tears drip like rain on the porch boards.

  “She can stay with us,” I say, but my voice is lost in the slam of the ambulance doors.

  “Or, we can take you down to the station . . .”

  “I guess I could call my da—”

  Mom bursts out the door in her bathrobe, a towel wrapped around her hair. The officer moves aside, almost tripping over me. Mom puts her arms around Cali and hugs her tight to her chest. “Don’t worry,” she says to Cali in Mandarin. Then she turns to the officer. “Which hospital?”

  Mom and Cali don’t get back from the hospital until late. Dad takes care of dinner.

  While I can’t figure out what to say to Cali, Dad goes into funny-guy mode. He holds open the pizza box, and in a tough-guy voice says, “Hey, you want a pizza me?”

  “Don’t smile,” Melanie warns, “it only encourages him.”

  “Do you know how to fix a broken pizza?” he asks.

  Cali shakes her head.

  “With tomato paste, of course.”

  “No, don’t laugh,” Melanie insists, “or else he’ll keep going.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell any more pizza jokes. They’re all too cheesy.”

  We all groan, including Cali.

  After dinner, Dad sets up an extra mattress in Melanie’s room for Cali.

  I hang back in the kitchen with Mom. “How’s Mrs. Chen?”

  “Hao.” Good. She smiles and continues. “They are taking good care of her. Her disease is very bad lately. She’s been having trouble with her muscles. This morning she fell on the stairs because of it and broke her leg. She’s lucky she didn’t hit her head.”

  She finishes her slice and goes to the sink to rinse her plate.

  Dad walks back into the kitchen and Mom switches to English. “Cali need a good friend now. She is a tough kid. Been through many problems already even so very young.”

  “Sounds like someone else I know.” Dad winks at Mom.

  The next morning after breakfast, Cali and me are the last ones at the table. Dad and Melanie are at a golf tournament, and Mom drove Josh to his job at Sportworld. We stare at our empty plates.

  Cali breaks the silence. “Wanna play Cross Ups?”

  “My mom will be home any minute.”

  “We could go to my house.”

  “Never thought of that. Aren’t you going back to the hospital today?”

  “Your mom said she’ll take me after lunch. Gaming he
lps me not think about all that stuff. We can play something else if Cross Ups makes you think about the tournament.”

  “Whatever. It doesn’t matter that much. It’s not like . . .” I want to say “life or death,” but that’s stupid. You don’t talk about death to someone whose mom is in the hospital.

  “I know you wanted to go, but I didn’t think you’d actually lie to enter.”

  “I tried, but I’m not a good liar.”

  “I think deep down you didn’t want to go against your mom and that’s why you messed up.”

  “Maybe. Or I was too nervous.”

  “Well, I think you’re just a nice mama’s boy.” She winks. “If you want to prove me wrong, don’t pull any punches today. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 10

  When the school bell rings on Monday morning, I stand behind the play structure at the end of the field and watch everyone enter. Who am I kidding? I’d never skip school. Cali’s right, I am just a mama’s boy. I wait a few more minutes, then finally go in.

  At my locker, I find the word Snitch carved into the metal. Nice. Just what I need.

  I don’t see Devesh and Hugh until math class, just before lunch.

  “Guess who’s going to T3?” Devesh announces when I come into the room.

  “Who?” I sit down next to my friends, who are smiling like they just beat me at Cross Ups.

  “You, dude. You’re signed up.” Hugh holds up his hand for a high five, but I leave him hanging.

  “What did you do?” I ask Devesh through clenched teeth.

  “I told you I’d think of something. Yesterday I asked my dad to take me down to the store. I got him to sign the form first. Then, instead of my information, I put yours. There was some other guy working behind the counter. I just told him I was JStar and he waived the fee. It was so easy.”

  I stare at Devesh.

  “Uh, you’re welcome. Here’s the schedule and the official rules.” He hands me two sheets of paper.