Lily sent a looping pass over the defense and Vee ran onto the ball, making sure she was not offside. No flag went up, no whistle blew. She gathered the ball at full sprint and crossed into the 18-yard penalty box. Vee was about to shoot when she felt a tug at her shirt. El Fuego was fast too, and they had caught up to her. The defender cut her off. Vee juked left, but another orange shirt had come to help. She lifted her head to try and find Lily or Tabitha. She was surrounded. Vee pulled the ball back and realized she had no option but to dribble. Gabriela was next to try and stop her. One by one, Vee outmaneuvered the El Fuego girls, bobbing and weaving, until she found herself with a shot. Wasting no time, Vee planted her left foot in the ground and did nearly a 180 to shoot the ball with her right. Her shot wasn’t hard, but it didn’t have to be. It was low and on target. The El Fuego goalie made a beautiful dive, arms outstretched, trying to tip the ball out of bounds. But she couldn’t reach. Vee’s shot hit the side netting and the whistle blew.
Bombers 2, El Fuego, 1.
Vee and her Soccer Sisters celebrated their goal while the El Fuego girls just shook their heads.
Vee thought she heard one of them mutter, “unstoppable.”
“Who needs a little green bean!?” Tabitha teased. “Eat your heart out Man U. We have our own super star right here!”
“Green pea!” Vee corrected, laughing.
Out of the corner of her eye, Vee spied the Brookville Lacrosse team watching the game and banging their sticks on the ground in approval. The Bombers would play for the indoor championship!
Vee beamed. She hadn’t intended on dribbling through six players to score the game winner, but she had been surrounded.
The final whistle blew and the Bombers cheered their hard-fought victory. The teams lined up to shake hands and the coach of the other team made a point of stopping Vee in the line.
“You are a fantastic player, señorita,” he said, in a voice that sounded much like her father’s.
“Gracias,” Vee answered, instinctively.
Vee stopped when she reached Gabriela. “You should come and kick around with us after school sometime, Vee,” Gabriela said. “We’re even thinking of trying to get the school to start a team. We’d love to play with you anytime.”
“Thanks,” Vee said, surprised at all the attention.
Chris shook hands with the coach from El Fuego. It was clear they knew each other.
“Girls, this is Kite Robinson. We played together in college. To both teams, I just want to say this game was beautiful to watch. It’s one of those days that someone ends up winning, but really all the girls on both teams should feel like winners. Days like today are the reason we love this sport.”
Vee lingered a little longer to talk with Kite and Gabriela for a moment as the rest of the Bombers moved to the sidelines to gather their bags and coats.
“Vee, let’s go!” Tabitha called. Vee saw Tabitha and her brother waiting by the exit.
Vee hustled over, happy to see that Olivia was also nearby. In all the excitement she’d forgotten to try and find out what was bothering her.
“I’m coming!” Vee said, picking up her bag.
“Hey, that was a nice piece of foot work,” Mark said as Vee approached.
“Thanks,” Vee said. “They were all over me. I was trying to find someone to pass to, but couldn’t.”
“Yeah, they were marking you really tight from the beginning of the game,” Mark said.
“I guess,” Vee answered, surprised that he had been watching. “They were good.”
“Where are they from?” Tabitha asked. “I’ve never seen them.”
“I guess they are a new team, actually some of them are from my town, and some of them go to my school.”
“Cool,” Tabitha said. “They were nice. Ok, you ready?”
“Ready,” Vee answered. The trio started walking to the door when Vee remembered her promise to track down Olivia.
“Actually, guys, can you give me one second?” Vee asked.
“Okay,” Tabitha said, stopping by the entrance and having to dodge all the incoming players.
“Hey, Olivia!” Vee called, running after her. “Wait up.”
Vee jogged over and Olivia turned around.
“That was quite a game, huh?” Vee said.
Olivia didn’t answer right away, but just glared at Vee.
Finally she asked, “Looks like you knew some of them. Do you?”
“I guess I do. One of the girls used to be in my math class I think. She’s nice.”
“Oh, you like them?” Olivia asked with a sneer.
“Yeah, why not? They were cool,” Vee said, trying hard to figure out how to turn the conversation around. She wanted to ask Olivia why she was so mean to her lately, but fumbled for the right words.
“Olivia?” Vee finally asked, determined to find out what was wrong. “Is something the matter? It feels like you are mad at me. Did I do something?”
Olivia was quiet for a second. Then she answered. “Actually, yes, Vee. There is something wrong and it’s time you knew it. None of the girls are brave enough to tell you the truth, but I will.”
Vee was puzzled. “Tell me what?”
“Look Vee, you just don’t belong on this team anymore. You don’t go to our school. You don’t live in our town.”
“What are you talking about Olivia? Are you crazy?” Vee was angry.
“Things have changed, Vee. You just don’t see it. I mean, your dad doesn’t even help with carpool. And even if he could, do you really think Tabitha would be seen dead in that clunker he drives? You are always late these days. Look, I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but everyone else is too scared to hurt your feelings.”
Olivia clearly wasn’t, Vee thought. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. What was Olivia talking about? She looked around for Lily, forgetting she had already gone to Billy’s game. There was no way Olivia was speaking for her team, no way she was speaking for LJ. She looked for Tabitha, who was waiting by the door. Vee noticed she did actually look a little annoyed.
Could what Olivia was saying really be true? The Bombers didn’t want her anymore?
“No. You are making all this up,” Vee said firmly.
Olivia fired back. “I’m not, actually. No one wants to hurt your feelings, Vee, but face it. You don’t fit in anymore. Though you fit in fine with that team we played today.”
Olivia gestured toward the remaining El Fuego players. “Why don’t you just go play with them?”
Chapter 6.
Vee half walked, half stumbled back to the car. She felt like a passenger on an amusement park ride. The serious ones you have to be taller than 54 inches to ride. Maybe sign a puke waiver. She felt Six Flags-sick-to-her-stomach.
Tabitha laughed when she saw her, probably thinking she was doing the drunken frog walk again.
“Let’s get out of here,” Tabitha said as Vee collapsed in the roomy back seat.
Vee only nodded.
Olivia had rendered her speechless. She’d launched her verbal bomb attack, flashed a fake sympathetic look, and walked away. Just like that.
Vee was trying to regroup. She knew Olivia was full of it. Totally and utterly mean and crazy. And wrong. Why did girls have to be so nasty to one another sometimes? Vee tried to whip out her observation skills, to view what Olivia had said calmly, but then another wave of OMG hit her right in the stomach.
“Oh, turn it up, Rini!!” Tabitha cried when she heard the new Katy Perry song on the radio. “I love this one.”
Mark rolled his eyes and grinned at Vee as Tabitha danced around in the back seat. Vee tried to return his warm and sincere smile, but all her game euphoria had been wiped away like pretty snowflakes on a windshield. Smeared with one swipe of Olivia’s bitter words.
Vee wanted to talk to Tabitha, but the music was too loud. Tabitha, oblivious, bopped around, trying to get Vee to dance with her. Vee’s glazed eyes wandered around the plush car,
the driver, and realized she’d been blind. She imagined what Tabitha would say in her father’s old junky car, a giant hole in the floor, recipes everywhere. She wouldn’t say anything, of course. Olivia was right about that. Vee knew that Tabitha was too nice. She probably felt sorry for her. She didn’t belong in this fancy car with a driver. It made her feel like a fake.
Suddenly, Vee needed to escape.
“Hey, want to come over?” Tabitha yelled over the radio. “We can make up some dances or something.”
Vee squirmed inside. She hated to lie, but needed to try and get her head straight. What she really needed was to talk to Lily.
“Oh thanks,” Vee answered. “But actually if you can just drop me at LJ’s, my dad’s going to pick me up there later.”
Tabitha turned her head to the side, “I thought LJ had to go to her brother’s game?”
“Oh yeah, she did,” Vee realized. Then improvised, “My dad was doing something in their kitchen.”
Tabitha gave Vee a quizzical look, but shrugged and said, “Ok. No problemo.”
Vee made sure all her old socks and bandanas and worn shoes were well contained in her soccer bag, then scurried from the car as soon as it came to a stop. For the first time she was embarrassed that her father worked for the family of one of her teammates.
“Bye, Vee,” Mark said. She waved a quick and hopefully confident goodbye and ran up the front walk to the James’ door. She rang the doorbell and pulled her jacket closed, praying there was actually someone home.
The big black car idled in front of the house. Rini was, of course, waiting to watch Vee go inside. Vee rang the doorbell again. She peered through the little glass windows on either side of the front door. Oh please, someone be home, she pleaded. Vee was banking on the fact that the James’ family almost never all went to Lily or Billy’s games.
The tinted window of the black car smoothly rolled down.
“Are you sure someone is home?” Mark asked from the passenger seat.
“Uh, yeah,” Vee stammered, banging harder on the door.
“Okay,” Mark said, but Vee could tell by the look on his face that he was unconvinced.
Finally, Vee heard a noise on the other side of the door. She knocked one more time as the door finally swung open and Pop Pop, Lily’s grandfather, unleashed a tirade in Italian.
Vee couldn’t understand anything he was yelling and thought she caught him muttering something about Final Jeopardy. But it didn’t matter because he wasn’t looking for conversation anyway. He just turned around and walked back to his den, leaving Vee alone in the entry. Vee could hear the television blaring. No wonder no one could hear the doorbell or Vee’s knocking. Vee waved to Mark, Rini and Tabitha and closed the door.
“Lily?” Vee called as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Anyone home?”
In any other house, it might have felt weird to be left unaccompanied by a cranky grandfather. But Vee loved the James’ home. She’d been hanging out there almost all of her life. And whereas Tabitha’s enormous house was perfect and spotless and modern, Lily’s house just felt family funky. There were piles of life–papers, permission slips, recipes, and food and nature magazines stacked on the kitchen counter. There were bowls of fruit on the table and usually something good cooking on the stove. The James’ house was a home and just being there already helped Vee feel a little better.
“Hi Vee!” a voice called from the top of the stairs. It was Lily’s mom, Toni James. “Your father already finished fixing the stove. He went back to Katerina’s.”
“Oh. I was actually looking for Lily. Is she home yet?” Vee asked, hopefully, dropping her soccer bag on the floor.
“Actually, she’s not. She is at her brother’s game, if you can believe that one?”
Vee smiled. She’d always had a soft spot for Billy.
“She’ll be home in not too long,” Toni James said, turning to go back upstairs. “Make yourself comfortable. Pop Pop is probably watching TV in the den. Just be careful you don’t talk to him during Final Jeopardy.”
Vee tried to laugh, but her heart wasn’t in it. It felt heavy in her chest. Her shoulders sagged and her head kept tilting down.
“Vee?” She asked. “Is everything alright? Did you guys lose today?”
Vee wanted to tell her everything, but something about being twelve clamped her mouth shut. She stood up straighter, lifted her chin and put on her best fake smile.
“Oh, everything is great! We won today…” she said in a perky voice, but it trailed off at the end.
“Are you sure you are okay? How’s the knee?” Mrs. James asked.
Vee rubbed her knee instinctively, then stopped, “It’s fine.” She knew better than to get Lily’s mom going. She didn’t need any starter fuel to worry.
Lily’s mom tilted her head to the side and looked down at Vee. Uh oh. She knows me too well, Vee thought.
“Why don’t you get yourself a snack and then come up and help me while you wait for Lily?” she asked Vee. “I’m doing a special on the medical uses of honey.”
Vee perked up, “Sure, that sounds fun, actually.”
Walking into the kitchen, Vee could tell things had been moved around. All the normal cooking paraphernalia was scattered on the countertops and her father’s tool bag was still sitting on the floor. She decided to skip the snack and made her way upstairs.
Mrs. James was in her home office. It was packed with butterflies, crickets, beetles, wasps, spiders, ants, termites, scorpions, and pretty much any other kind of weird bug you could imagine. Lily’s mom was one of the world’s foremost experts on butterflies, also known as a lepidopterist. She had her own webshow called Madam Butterfly’s Journey, but it often featured other insects.
Vee watched as Mrs. James organized her supplies for the show. She had several display cases with various sized bees. She also had a wide array of honeys on the table, hence the sticky bit. Vee noticed that there was a good-sized bandage wrapped around Mrs. James’ right hand.
“Did you cut yourself?” she asked.
“Yes, actually, I did. So silly. I was working in the yard, without gloves, and I reached down and scratched the top of my hand pretty badly.” She lifted up her hand to show Vee. “It’s actually the reason I am doing this show on bees.”
Vee was confused. “What do bees have to do with your hand?”
“Well, when I reached down, I scratched my hand against a sharp rock and got two really serious gashes on the top of my hand. While not deep enough for stiches, they were pretty bad. The weird thing was they were about exactly the same size.”
Vee was still a little confused and made a face.
Mrs. James smiled and continued, “So, I decided to do a little experiment.” Slowly, she began to unravel the white gauze.
“So you know that honey bees make honey, right?”
“Uh, I got that part!” Vee said.
“Well, bacteria cannot survive in honey. It’s just too thick. Too sugary. It also fights infection. So for thousands of years people have covered their wounds with honey. The ancient Egyptians used honey as a wound treatment as early as 3000 BC, and it’s even been found in Egyptian tombs.”
This was news to Vee.
“Seriously? I put honey on my toast. Or if I have a sore throat, my dad gives me hot water with lemon and honey.”
“Right, when you drink hot water with honey, the thick sugary honey can make it hurt less. Some honey is also thought to have anti-bacterial fighting properties.”
Vee tried to get a better look at Mrs. James’ hand. It looked like a regular old bandage.
“So you put honey on your cut?” Vee asked.
She nodded. “I did. On one of them I put honey and then covered it with a bandage. On the other cut I put an antibiotic lotion. The regular old kind you get at the pharmacy.”
“And you want to see which one got better faster?” Vee asked.
“Bingo,” Mrs. James said.
“Have you peeke
d?” Vee asked.
Mrs. James smiled. “Well of course, I have to change the bandage every day to keep it clean.”
“So you just squirted honey into your cut?” Vee was appalled. That really did seem awfully messy.
Lily’s mom laughed. “No, no. You definitely want to use sterilized honey especially made for wound care. The kind I use is from New Zealand from a pioneering scientist named Megan Mallgrave, and it’s called Manunka honey.”
“Does the queen bee make all the honey?” Vee asked.
“Actually the queen bee doesn’t make honey at all. She lays eggs. Up to three thousand a day. The workers make the honey from flower nectar. It’s their food.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep.” Mrs. James turned behind her and picked up a small glass case. “Here I have a specimen of a Queen Honey Bee and a worker bee.” She handed the case to Vee.
The queen bee was much longer than the worker, Vee could see. “This is so cool,” she whispered.
“How do you get to be the queen?” Vee asked. Inexplicably, Tabitha popped into her mind.
“Well, the queen is just a regular bee that is fed royal jelly. That is what makes her turn into a queen.”
“Royal what?” Vee couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Royal Jelly. When a hive needs a new queen the worker bees feed a special egg with a special substance that is super nutritious and the egg develops into a queen. That special substance comes from a gland on their head and it’s called Royal Jelly.”
“Okay, this is totally freaky stuff,” Vee said. She wanted to call Mrs. James “dude,” but thought maybe that wouldn’t go over well.
“This is just nature, dear,” Lily’s mother replied.
Vee was fascinated. She realized there was so much for her to learn about the world and it made her excited. Honey for a Band Aid! Royal jelly! Egyptian tombs! She felt thirsty for more. Vee couldn’t wait for Mrs. James to remove her bandage and see which one of her cuts was healing faster. Vee was betting on the bees.
A door slammed downstairs, followed immediately by what sounded like a herd of buffalo bounding up the stairs, then yelling, “Mom! We’re home! Mom!!!!”
Vee Caught Offside Page 5