Live Love Lacrosse

by Barbara Clanton

  “In the yard?”

  Kimi’s mother nodded. “We use the natural energy from the sun to make the tea.”

  “That’s cool,” Addie said.

  Really cool. She bet neither of her parents knew how to make tea from the sun or grow lettuce in a green house. She picked up her fork and stabbed at her salad. As luck would have it, she stabbed a piece of chicken. Eureka, at least she could eat that.

  Addie struggled through lunch mostly digging through the salad to find the chunks of chicken and the carrots so she could avoid eating too much of the green stuff, except for the cucumbers. She liked those. She managed to get through half of her bowl while Kimi plowed through two.

  Addie couldn’t take any more of the green stuff and moved it around with her fork.

  “Hey, you done?” Kimi stood up with her empty bowl. Addie nodded. “Mom, we’re going out front to play lacrosse, okay?”

  “I doubt I could stop you,” Kimi’s mother said. “Put your dishes in the sink, girls.” She stood up. “I’ll be out back.”

  “Growing dinner,” Kimi’s father said. “Can you grow a steak for me?”

  “You eat too much red meat, hazubando.”

  “But it is a good protein source, kanai,” Kimi’s father answered.

  “You must have a balance in all things. All things in moderation,” Kimi’s mother said.

  “Except lacrosse,” Kimi quipped. “Quick.” She scooped up their dishes and put them in the sink. “Let’s get out of here before they start arguing about the benefits of garlic.”

  “Garlic is a natural anti-biotic,” Kimi’s mother called after them as they fled from the kitchen.

  After a quick trip to the rest room, they sat on the front lawn stretching. Addie asked Kimi if her family ate salad every day, and was surprised to hear that they pretty much did. Addie couldn’t imagine her own family doing that. Ever. She was so intrigued that she asked Kimi a thousand questions about what they ate for breakfast and lunch and dinner. She grimaced because it seemed like whole grains and fish and tofu and all kinds of fuzzy green things seemed to play a big part. Apparently what they ate had to do with the food’s nutritional value. She was just about to ask what kind of snacks and desserts her family ate, if any, but Kimi plopped to the ground and showed her how to do butterfly stretches. Even though Addie was sitting, bending forward at the waist caused her to huff and puff a little.

  “You’d better catch your breath, Addie, ’cuz we haven’t even started yet. Ready for squats?”

  “No, they sound horrible. I don’t even know if I want to play, Kimi. I’m probably not even staying here for the whole summer. My mom and dad’ll make up soon and then we’ll go back to Watertown.”

  “They’re not getting divorced? That’s awesome, but you know what?”

  “What?”

  “You’ll be so in love with lacrosse by then, that you’ll have to find a lacrosse team up there,” Kimi said undaunted. “And then, even though we’ll live in different towns, we’ll play lacrosse together for Syracuse—”

  “Just like Coach Cairns did.”

  “Yup, yup, yup, so it’s up, up, up, Addie. We have a lot of work to do.”

  Grudgingly, Addie got up. What she really wanted to do was go back to Grandma’s, get a snack, and read her book. Instead, she picked up a lacrosse stick and learned how to use it.

  Chapter 6

  About Your Dad and Me

  ADDIE LIMPED HOME from Kimi’s house after an entire afternoon of running and strength training, catching and tossing, and scooping and cradling. She felt her muscles tightening up as she reached her grandmother’s driveway. She had learned more about lacrosse than she ever wanted to know, and Kimi told her to keep stretching, but all Addie wanted to do was take a shower and then fall into bed. And it was only five o’clock.

  She dragged herself up the steps to the front porch and into the kitchen.

  “Addie Coleburn, get in here this instant.”

  Oh, no, Addie thought. Mom was mad about something.

  Addie shuffled into the living room where her mother sat on the couch.

  “Where have you been all day, young lady?”

  “I went to Kimi’s lacrosse practice at the park and then to her house after. I had lunch there. I told you I was going.”

  Grandma scowled. “Make sure your mother hears you, next time.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.” Addie looked down at the rug. “Mom, can I go upstairs? I have to take a shower.”

  “Grandma’s making macaroni and cheese for dinner. We’re eating in an hour.”

  Addie’s spirits lifted. Real food. Finally.

  “Cool. Where’s the—?” She was about to say “creep” but stopped herself in time. “Where’s Troy?”

  “He’s down the street playing basketball with some neighborhood kids. I’m surprised you didn’t see him. You need to watch out for your brother,” her grandmother admonished. She brushed back a loose strand of her short gray hair. “You are his big sister after all.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Addie said. “I will.”

  Her grandmother looked away, and Addie made her move toward the stairs. Unfortunately her tightening muscles slowed down any chance of a speedy getaway.

  “Lydia, she has to take on more responsibility,” her grandmother said. “Looking after Troy would be a good start. Especially when you get that job at the plant.”

  Addie heard the words, but they didn’t quite register in her overtired brain. Was her mother getting a job in Syracuse? How could that be? Weren’t they going home to Watertown? She opened the door to the room she shared with Troy and stared exhausted at the top bunk. Certain she’d never make it up the ladder, she grabbed the pillow off her own bed and fell into Troy’s. She was asleep so fast, she didn’t have time to worry about brother cooties.

  Someone shook her shoulder.

  “Get up, Lardo,” Troy said. “Mom said dinner’s ready.”

  Addie reluctantly opened her eyes. “Okay, I’ll be right down.”

  “Why are you in my bed? That’s gross.”

  She made a split-second decision. “You can have the top bunk from now on.”

  “I can? Really?” Troy did two laps around the small room. “Thanks, Addie. Sorry for calling you Lardo.”

  “Whatever.” Addie sat up, aware of every single muscle that was needed to do so. She finally managed to stand fully upright and stretched her arms to the ceiling, groaning with every movement. She hobbled down the stairs one slow step at a time, until she finally made it to the bottom. She took a deep breath and vowed to kill Kimi the next time she saw her.

  “Addie,” her mother called from the kitchen, “dinner’s on the table.”

  “Where in the world is she?” her grandmother said. “That’s one child who’s never been late to a meal in her whole life.”

  Troy burst out laughing as he sat down.

  “Now, Mom,” their mother said. “This whole move has been tough on them.”

  Move? Addie stopped in her tracks. Were they moving? Moving away from home? From Daddy? Was she going to have to share a room with the jerk on a permanent basis from now on? She took a deep breath, even though the muscles in her back protested, and let it out slowly. She shuffled to the kitchen and sat down in her usual seat at the small square table.

  Her mother did a quick double-take and raised an eyebrow in question. “Are you okay, Addie? You look a little pale.”

  Grandma grunted. “She’s fine, Lydia. It’s growing pains.” The chair groaned as she shifted her weight to reach the casserole dish on the table.

  “You’re probably right.” Her mother smiled, but her face held a worried expression nonetheless. “Kids bounce back from stuff like this, don’t they, Mom?”

  Her grandmother gave a reassuring smile. “Who’s ready for some of my world famous mac-n-cheese?”

  “Me, me, me,” Addie and Troy said together like starving little birds.

  Addie sighed as she took
her first bite. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. It didn’t take Addie and her family long to polish off every crescent roll and cheese-laden macaroni in the dish. They even finished off the last gallon of milk. Troy and Addie always liked eating at Grandma’s. She never made them eat fuzzy green things like broccoli or asparagus like Mom tried to do every now and then.

  Addie sat back and patted her stomach. She stood up from the table to put her dishes in the sink and remembered how sore she was. Even though it was only six-thirty on a Saturday evening, she wanted to go back to bed. Maybe she could keep her eyes open long enough to read a little.

  Her mother swept her gaze over both Addie and Troy. “Come out to the front porch with me and Grandma.”

  Addie exchanged a glance with Troy. This was new. Mom and Grandma usually went out on the front porch after dinner so Grandma could smoke, but they had never been invited. Something was up.

  They headed out to the porch, the summer sun still high in the sky and Addie and her brother sat down on two foldup metal chairs that had mysteriously appeared. Addie had never seen them before.

  The corner chair groaned under Grandma’s weight as she sat down. She reached for a pack of matches and lit a cigarette. Addie hated the smell, so she moved her chair to stay away from the smoke. Grandma was quiet. Yep, something was definitely up.

  “Addie, Troy,” their mother began, “about your dad and me . . .” She trailed off as if searching for the right words.

  Addie was on full-alert. What about her dad? Mom looked upset and tired. She usually kept her hair pulled back into a neat pony tail, but stray wisps of hair flew out everywhere. Even her hazel eyes looked tired and dull.

  Her mother got a reassuring nod from Grandma and took a deep breath. “Your dad and I might get a trial separation.”

  “What does that mean?” Addie blurted. “Are we moving here? To Syracuse? Is Daddy moving, too?”

  “If they’re separated, Lardo, he won’t be moving with us. Being separated means they’re not together anymore.” Troy rolled his eyes as if he was talking to the world’s biggest idiot.

  “I know that,” Addie said weakly. She looked up at her mother with expectant eyes. “It’s just that Daddy said . . .” Like her mother, she couldn’t figure out what to say.

  “What? What did that father of yours say?” Anger flashed in her grandmother’s eyes.

  Addie didn’t much like her grandmother at that moment. She was always mad at Daddy. Addie looked at her mother instead. “Just that he said you were mad at him and he, um, he wanted to apologize to you when you cooled down.”

  “He said that?” her mother said, putting a hand over her heart.

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “He wishes.” Grandma shook her head in disbelief. Ashes poofed up out of the ashtray as she jabbed her cigarette out.

  “Mom,” Addie’s mother said, “you’ve always been too hard on Tim.”

  “Timothy Coleburn is . . .” She continued to jab her already extinguished cigarette in the ashtray as if she was fighting back some not nice words. “You never should have married him, Lydia.”

  “He’s always done right by the kids.”

  “Why in God’s name are you defending him?” Grandma lit up another cigarette.

  “You’re right. I shouldn’t be defending him, especially after . . . Mom, I’m just not sure if moving out so quickly was the right thing to do.”

  “You did the right thing, Lydia.”

  Addie stood up. Troy stood a second later. They tried to look invisible as they waited for their mother to either talk to them or to tell them they could go. After several more uncomfortable minutes, it was plainly obvious that their mother and grandmother were talking as if they weren’t even there.

  “Mom, we’re going inside now, okay?” Addie took a step toward the front door.

  “Yeah, you kids go on.”

  Addie wanted to burst out running, but forced herself to calmly open the screen door. She gestured for Troy to go in first. Normally he would have suspected that she was going to trick him somehow, but he must have been in as much shock as she was and walked right past her.

  “I’ll be up in a minute so we can switch our beds, okay?” Addie whispered. “I want to wipe the table down first.” She walked over to the kitchen sink, grateful that Troy headed toward the stairs without an argument or snarky comment.

  She didn’t really want to wipe the table, even though she did, she simply wanted to hang around the kitchen and listen to Mom and Grandma talk.

  “Seriously, Lydia,” Grandma continued, “why do you even care what he thinks? He wasn’t thinking of you or the kids when he was spending so much time with that floozy, now was he?”

  “The floozy has a name, Mom. Her name is Sheila.”

  Addie gasped. Miss Sheila? From next door? Why were they calling Miss Sheila a floozy? What was a floozy, anyway?

  Addie double-timed it up the stairs and into her room. She shut the door behind her and leaned against it. Troy stopped pulling the sheets off his bed.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I guess. You?”

  “I guess.”

  Without another word they switched the sheets on the beds and then cleaned up the rest of their room without being told.

  Chapter 7

  It’s Embarrassing

  SUNDAY MORNING CAME way too early, and she wasn’t even out of bed when her mother called up the stairs.

  “Addie, your friend Kimi is here.”

  Addie sat up, regretting each movement as her muscles screamed in protest. “Be right down, Mom.”

  She hurriedly got ready and made her way down the stairs as fast as her sore muscles would allow. Kimi was sitting at the table with Mom. Grandma and Troy were nowhere in sight.

  “Hey, Kimi,” Addie said.

  “Are you ready to work out?” Kimi’s eyes were bright and expectant. “Brooke is bringing an extra pair of cleats for you to borrow.”

  “Mom, is it okay if I go to the park with Kimi?” Addie held her breath and willed her mother to say no. She kind of wanted to sit on the front porch and read her Star Trek book in peace, aching muscles and all.

  “Sure. I’m glad you’re making friends.” Her mother smiled at Kimi. “But you should have breakfast before you go, shouldn’t you?”

  Without waiting for an answer, her mother headed toward the cereal cabinet. Addie had to do something. She didn’t want Kimi to see the cabinet filled with the sugary cereal because Kimi might disapprove.

  “I’ll just have a banana or something,” she blurted.

  Her mother burst out laughing. “Good luck finding anything healthy in this house.” She glanced out the window and then her eyes grew wide. “Grandma’s back from the store.” She winked at Kimi. “Don’t tell her what I said about the healthy stuff, okay?”

  “Sure, Mrs. Coleburn,” Kimi said and winked back.

  Troy bounded through the screen door lugging two grocery bags. “Grandma bought us soda, Addie. Look. He pulled out a three-liter bottle of Price Chopper root beer.

  “Awesome,” Addie said, hoping Grandma had bought more potato chips to go with the soda. She introduced Kimi to her grandmother and to Troy. “We have to get going, you guys.”

  “Can I go with you?” Troy asked.

  “No, I don’t want to have to watch you.”

  “Addison Coleburn,” Grandma said in a fierce tone, “you have to involve your brother more. He will go with you, and you will make sure he stays out of trouble.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Kimi stood up, clearly uncomfortable by the exchange. “Hey, we’d better go. I told Brooke we’d be there by ten o’clock, and it’s almost ten now.”

  Addie groaned. That meant Kimi would want to run all the way there. And they both knew she couldn’t make it all the way.

  Just as Addie had predicted, she ran out of steam at the 7-11.

  “You guys go on without me,” Addie said, huffing an
d puffing. She leaned over with her hands on her sore thighs.

  “See you later, Lardo,” Troy said with a smack to Addie’s arm. He kept running toward the park.

  Kimi frowned after him. “You shouldn’t let him talk to you like that.”

  Addie frowned and shrugged. How could she stop him? It was true. She was a lardo.

  “Anyway, the best thing to do is to keep moving. C’mon.” Kimi slowed down her pace so Addie could keep up. Reluctantly, Addie followed.

  Brooke was already there, geared up and ready to go. She handed the extra pair of cleats to Addie without a word as if she was doing so under protest. Addie thanked her, of course, and tried them on. They were a little big, but they felt good.

  As they stretched together, Addie caught a glimpse of her brother at the basketball courts watching the bigger boys play. At least he was staying out of her hair. She’d hate for him to call her names in front of Brooke, too.

  “Ooh.” Addie winced when she reached down to touch her toes.

  “Sore?” Kimi asked.

  Addie nodded.

  Brooke leaned close. “You should stretch a little more while Kimi and I run.”

  “Okay.” Addie watched them jog down the sideline.

  “Stretch slowly,” Kimi called back over her shoulder. “You don’t want to strain your muscles.”

  “Okay,” Addie called back.

  She had no intention of straining her muscles. She’d had no intention of using them at all, but all of that had changed when Kimi entered her life.

  As her friends jogged around the field, Addie heard them talking.

  “She can’t even touch her toes. Why is she trying out for the team?” Brooke said. “She can’t play lacrosse. That’s a joke.”

  “So she’s a little out of shape,” Kimi said. “So what? I like her. She’s nice.”

  “Jeeps, Kimi, if she’s gonna hang around with us, at least get her in shape or something.” Addie heard Brooke’s groan clear on the other side of the field. “It’s embarrassing.”

  Addie joined them in their laps and afterward turned away from Brooke to hide how out of breath she was.

  Kimi pulled a couple of lacrosse balls out of her bag. “C’mon, let’s have a catch while Brooke sets up her goal.”