She arrived at the kitchen just as the evening shift started showing up. Aldo, Ramón, José and a few new faces shuffled in quietly and started chopping vegetables, browning meats and gutting fish. They all greeted Lily with holas and warm smiles, and if they were surprised to see her standing in her cleats with a dazed look in the middle of the kitchen, they didn’t show it.
She went looking for her father. She walked out the back door, down the steps, and found Tomás supervising a produce delivery.
“Qué pasó, linda?” he asked.
“Nada, ” Lily lied.
Tomás gave her a long look. He knew she was supposed to be at practice.
“Dime, niña.”
“I was suspended from the team,” Lily said quietly.
Tomás nodded knowingly. “This can happen, even to the best,” he told her. “Remember Zidane?”
Lily nodded. Her coach had made them all watch it on YouTube: Zinedine Zidane was the legendary French player ejected from the World Cup finals for head-butting an Italian player. It was one of the most egregious and shocking moments in World Cup history. Tomás came over and embraced her. Then he ruffled her hair. “I hope you will use your cabeza more wisely.”
The back door opened and Lily’s father emerged. “I thought you might find your way here,” he said. Lily was puzzled.
“Chris called your mom earlier today,” he told her.
Oh, great, Lily thought, does everyone already know I got kicked off the team? “It’s not fair!” she complained. “I told him I was sorry like a million times.”
“I’m sure he thinks it’s the best thing for you and for the team,” her father said.
“Best for the team?” Lily was incredulous. “I’m the team’s best player! There are only two games left, and I’m going to have to sit on the bench for both of them. I’ll even miss the championship!”
Aldo stuck his head out the door. “Un señor está aquí al frente,” he said.
“I’ll go see who’s here,” Tomás said, leaving Lily alone with her father.
Liam motioned for Lily to sit with him on the stairs, but she hesitated. The last thing she wanted was another lecture. Surprisingly, her father didn’t say a word. He just gathered Lily next to him and hugged her tight.
“What am I supposed to do for the next two weeks?” she asked finally. “I feel so lost.”
“Well, you can still play with the guys and hang out with us here if you like,” her father said.
Lily tried to smile, but her mouth sagged. “Maybe he’ll change his mind. He’ll see that the team can’t win without me and change his mind. In two weeks we’re set to have the big rematch with Castle Creek.”
“LJ, I’m not sure you’re getting the message here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means stop feeling sorry for yourself and starting thinking about how you can be a better teammate and a better player.”
“How in the world is not playing for two weeks supposed to make me a better player?”
“You’re the one who needs to figure that out for yourself.”
The door opened and Tomás came out with a long face and a thin envelope. Lily was grateful for the interruption until he looked at her with raised eyebrows and handed the envelope to her father.
“It’s from Mr. Prescott,” Tomás said. “And he wants to talk to you, not me.”
“He’s here now?”
“Sí.”
Lily’s father jumped to his feet, grabbed the envelope and headed back into the kitchen.
The door closed with a bang and Lily hung her head. She could feel Tomás’s eyes on her.
“Ay, niña.” He sighed. “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
In the envelope was the bill for the broken Heritage sign. It was a whopper. “What in the world were you thinking, LJ?” was her father’s first question when he came back outside. The second followed without an answer. “Why didn’t you tell me about this when it happened?”
“Because the sign wasn’t broken, Dad, it was no big deal.”
“No big deal? You think damaging private property is no big deal?”
“Of course I think it’s a big deal. But the sign wasn’t broken, Dad! I swear. His son was being such a jerk to Vee. I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
She’d never seen her father so angry. Whatever suspension sympathy he’d had was long gone. “Well, my dear, you are responsible. And you are the one who is going to pay for this.”
“Me? How? I don’t have any money.”
“Come,” he commanded.
Lily followed her father into the kitchen. “It’s a good thing you have nothing to do for the next two weeks.”
“Why?”
“Because you are going to work in the kitchen until you earn enough to pay for a new sign.”
Lily sighed. “For how long?”
“As long as it takes.”
“But, Dad!”
“No buts. Not only are you suspended, you are grounded until further notice.” Her father handed her a scrubbing brush and a pair of gloves. “Get to work.”
She opened her mouth to argue but took the look on his face told her to stay quiet. Could this day get any worse?
An hour later, Lily cringed at the waiting pile of gravy-crusted pots and baked-on lasagna pans. She mindlessly grabbed a pot when the pantry door slammed shut.
“Need a hand?” Vee was standing next to her wearing a pair of bright orange gloves and torn sneakers and holding a dishrag.
“You scared me!” Lily said.
“Sorry,” Vee said. “My dad told me everything. This totally sucks.”
“Tell me about it.”
Vee grabbed the nasty lasagna pan and started scrubbing. The two girls washed in awkward silence. Vee tried to break the ice.
“So.”
“So what?”
“You never called me back.”
“I know, sorry. How was the dentist?”
“Fine.”
“Cavities?”
“Nope.”
“Gums healthy?”
“I need braces.”
“Bummer.”
“LJ?”
“We need more soap.”
Lily went back to the supply cabinet for an industrial-sized jug.
“LJ?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we going to talk about this?” Vee stopped scrubbing and stared at Lily.
“About what?” Lily asked, dripping sarcasm like thick dishwater grease. “The fact that I’m suspended from the team or the fact that I’m grounded for the foreseeable future? Which of these would you like to talk about first?”
“Let’s start with the game,” Vee answered.
“No.”
“No, what?”
“I don’t want to talk about the game,” Lily said.
“Why not?”
“We lost. Remember?”
“Yeah, I remember,” Vee said. “I was right there, remember?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean I was there. I was open. Why didn’t you pass the ball? I could have tied it and we could have won it in OT!”
“I didn’t see you,” Lily lied. “Guess you weren’t as open as you thought you were.”
“I was wide open! I saw you look at me! What’s gotten into you?”
“What’s gotten into me?” Lily fired back. “You were the one showing off for the select coach!”
“So that’s what this is about?”
Lily was dying inside. She wanted to know every detail of what the select coach had said to Vee, what his voice sounded like, when the tryouts were. The tingle of envy started in her fingertips and flooded her whole body. She started to fume and the stress of the day coiled in the back of her throat like a cobra.
“Maybe I could talk to the select team coach for you? I’ll just tell him ...”
“Tell him what?”
“You know ...”
&
nbsp; “No, I don’t know.”
“I would just tell him what a great team player you are. Normally,” Vee said.
“Normally?”
“Come on, LJ,” Vee said, drying off a strainer.
“Listen, Vee,” Lily said testily. “Thanks for the hand, but in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t need any more help from you. You’re the reason I’m grounded for the rest of my life washing dishes in this stinky kitchen.”
“How is this my fault?” Vee asked. “Last time I checked, I never asked you to fire a rocket at that kid’s head. Plus, it’s not my fault you were a ball hog and I wound up getting picked and you didn’t.”
The last line stung like a line drive hitting a bare thigh on a frigid day. “Well, I have better things to do than the stupid select team anyway,” Lily said.
“Like hanging out with Tabitha Gordon?”
“Yeah. So what? She’s not so bad, actually.”
“She’s not so bad?” Vee asked. “The girl you used to make fun of for doodling on balls and who thinks fish eggs have something to do with soccer?”
“You wouldn’t understand,” Lily answered.
“Try me.”
“Just forget it.”
“Is that why you didn’t call me back?”
“No. Duh. I was busy, that’s all,” Lily said. “You’re not my only friend, you know.”
Lily tried to ignore the crushed look on Vee’s face and grabbed a dishrag.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Vee asked.
“I guess you just don’t get it, Vee,” Lily said. She looked at Vee up and down, then turned away. “It’s a Brookville thing.”
Vee stood still as shocked tears filled her eyes. “Oh, dude,” she said quietly. Laying down her towel, she slowly turned and left the kitchen.
chapter 13
By the end of her third day as a kitchen worker, Lily’s temper was as raw as her fingers. She slammed pots and scowled her way through the tasks, determined to make her father sorry to have her around. Yet Liam James paid little attention to her theatrics, and his only reaction to the constant sighing and moaning was to point at the bill posted on the bulletin board behind his desk.
$399.99.
That’s how much she had to earn to pay for the sign. The sign she didn’t break. Dishwashing wasn’t her only task from hell: mopping the floors, hauling trash and any other torture her father could concoct for a measly five dollars an hour. Her task du jour was washing the restaurant windows, and she struggled to keep the big heavy door open while lugging a giant blue bucket filled with a steaming sudsy concoction.
Lily hadn’t seen Vee since their fight, and she was trying hard not to admit to herself how much she missed her best friend. Yet every time she moved to pick up the phone, she got a pit in her stomach and reminded herself Vee was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.
Lily was also trying hard not to think about soccer, but that was like a fish pretending it didn’t miss water. The lecture from Chris replayed in her mind like a CD on repeat.
Suspended. Suspended. Suspended.
On the bench.
On the sidelines.
Off the team.
A small soapy tidal wave lurched to the ground and soaked Lily’s sneakers. “Oh, great,” she muttered to herself. She shook her foot to get rid of the water and casually looked down the street to make sure the coast was clear.
To the right, the mailman. No problem.
To the left, nada.
Lily pulled her cap down low and her jacket collar up high and quickly turned her back to the street. She lifted the squeegee and got to work, praying no one she knew would walk by. This is beyond humiliating, she thought, grateful to know, at least, that all her teammates were in the middle of the grueling midweek practice.
She soaped the window in a giant arc that reminded her of the center circle of the field. With the first stroke of the squeegee, Lily told herself she was glad to be missing the sprints and drills and speeches. In the next swipe, she longed for a good game of two-touch. She missed the feel of her cleats on the grass; she missed the sound that ball made when she hit it right on the laces. Lily had lost herself sulking in the suds when there was a loud tap on the window. She tumbled backward with a start. Her father was on the other side pointing upward. “Make sure you go all the way to the top of the window.”
Lily looked up and shook her head. “I can’t reach.”
“Then come inside and get the ladder.”
Lily got the distinct impression her father was enjoying this torture. She put the squeegee in the bucket and slowly walked inside. Her dad was rummaging through a closet. She considered closing the door and locking him inside.
“Here,” he said, holding out a stepladder. “This should do it.”
Lily just stood with her hands by her sides.
“Take it,” her father commanded.
Lily didn’t budge. “Dad, I really think this has got to be against the law or something.”
“Get back to work.”
“Ever heard of child labor laws?”
“Ever heard of corporal punishment? Perfectly legal,” her dad shot back.
“This is so totally and completely unfair!” Lily whined.
“Life’s not fair. Get used to it. And don’t leave any streaks.”
Lily dragged the small metal ladder outside, forgetting this time to make sure the coast was clear.
“Hey, LJ!” said a chipper voice.
Lily nearly fell to the sidewalk. Standing outside Katerina’s was Tabitha Gordon. Her mom’s giant black car was parked across the street, and Rini gave her a bright wave from the driver’s seat. Embarrassment flew through Lily’s body, landing with a red flush on her cheeks.
“What are you doing here? Did practice get out early?” she asked Tabitha, looking around.
“Oh, I have a ballet recital this afternoon. I’d skip it, but my dad is taking off work to be there.”
“Wow, that’s nice of him.”
“Well, not exactly. He’s only going to make sure I show up. So annoying.”
“Yeah, well . . .” Lily stammered, holding up a squeegee.
“I know,” Tabitha said with sympathy. “You have to work to pay off that sign.”
“I didn’t break it.”
“I know.”
Lily just nodded. Her preference would have been to curl up and die on the pavement. She couldn’t believe Tabitha Gordon, of all people, was witnessing her washing windows in the middle of Brookville. Tabitha had probably never washed a dish in her life, much less a window, Lily thought.
“So, we missed you at the last practice,” Tabitha said, oblivious to Lily’s dismay. “Did like a million sprints.”
“Listen, Tabitha, I’d love to chat, but Attila the Dad is on my case today,” Lily said, gesturing inside. Hearing about practice gave her a bellyache.
“Yeah, okay,” Tabitha answered. “So it really sucks about the suspension. Totally unfair. But I was thinking . . .”
“What?”
“You might have some time to help me over the next two weeks? ...”
“Help you with what?”
“Remember when I wanted to ask you something at my house?”
“Sure. You asked me to go see your game room.”
“Well . . .”
“That wasn’t really it?” Lily finished the sentence for her.
Tabitha nodded and had begun to speak when there was another loud tap on the window. “You missed a spot,” Attila mouthed.
“Okaaay,” Lily said in surly reply.
“Dads,” Tabitha said in sympathy.
“No kidding.”
“So anyway... it looks like I might get some real playing time this week,” Tabitha said, looking to Lily like she was trying to build up her courage.
“And?”
“I was wondering if ... you would . . .” Tabitha looked down and hesitated. “Since we’re teammates and all...”
As she bowed her head, Lily gasped. Tabitha had unblocked the view of a black dirt bike weaving down the sidewalk.
“Oh, perfect,” she muttered.
“What?” Tabitha whipped her head around. Griffin Prescott IV skidded to a halt and sized up Lily, her bucket and the squeegee.
“Well, well,” he said. “If it isn’t Brookville’s newest washerwoman.”
“You know I didn’t break that stupid sign.”
“No es mi problemo,” G-4 said with a bad accent and snide laugh. He did a jump off the sidewalk. “See ya.”
“Man, that guy makes me mad,” Lily said, feeling suddenly hot in the fall air.
She raised the squeegee over her head. All the simmering frustration from the week headed for a boil. He was still close enough to hit. What difference would it make, anyway? She couldn’t play soccer, she was stuck in this kitchen... why shouldn’t she make him pay? She held her arm aloft and revenge flashed before her eyes. As she moved her arm forward, a hand grabbed her wrist and held it back.
Lily looked to find Tabitha behind her. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to do that,” she said.
Another really loud bang on the window.
Her father had witnessed the whole exchange and was eyeing her with a military-school-is-in-your-future glare. Lily lowered her arm and was stunned to catch her own reflection. She hardly recognized the contorted face and the ugly stance. She was trying to place the squeegee back in the narrow bucket when the door to Katerina’s flew open with a clatter.
“Get inside this instant,” her father commanded.
“But, Dad . . .” Lily tried to protest. “I just need a second to talk to—”
“Now!” her father barked. Lily knew this was no time to argue. She turned to Tabitha, but her friend was already walking away.
“Tabitha!” Lily called after her. “Wait!”
But the door to the big black sedan closed and the car slowly pulled away.
chapter 14
Saturday morning was one of the most beautiful days Lily could remember. The sun was high and the wind was low. A perfect fall day and a perfect day for soccer. For everyone except Lily. She’d never dreaded a game in her life.
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