Breakaway

by Andrea Montalbano

  Until now.

  The Bombers were facing the Lockwood Tigers—a good matchup that usually ended with a win for Brookville. A win or a tie would send Brookville to the championship and a rematch against Castle Creek. A loss and they would play for third.

  Lily wore a dark blue sweat suit so at least she’d look like part of the team. She slid onto the bench next to Chris right before kickoff. Her coach acknowledged her with just a curt nod, then got up and called out the lineup. Vee was up front, with Amelia as the other striker in Lily’s place. Sue was out with an ankle sprain, so Olivia was taking her place in the defense. Tabitha would play right wing, the outside striker position. Lily couldn’t ever remember Tabitha starting in a game. She usually came in toward the end, when she couldn’t do too much damage. She must be so excited, Lily thought. She watched as Tabitha straightened out her shin guards, stealing nervous glances toward the sidelines. Lily followed her eyes and spied the regular granola mix of Nuts and Berries dotting the sidelines. In the back of the pack was Mr. Gordon. He was standing on the soccer sidelines but watching his son’s football practice on the other field.

  The teams took to the pitch, and things got off to a sloppy start. The girls were crowding around the ball like six-year-olds. Neither team could string two passes together, and it seemed like the ball spent more time out of bounds than in play. Lily felt a tinge of satisfaction. The Bombers were a mess without her.

  The Tigers, with the requisite orange and black uniforms, were the first to get their act together and spent most of the first half on the Bombers’ end of the field. Lily watched Vee trying to get some offense going. Her buddy was working hard. It seemed like she never stopped trying to get open. She never stopped cheering her teammates on, no matter how severely they were under attack.

  Tabitha, on the other hand, just looked lost and terrified. Every time the ball came close to her, she would run down the line away from the action. It was as if she was afraid of the game. Lily willed her to get in there, but the Tigers defender invariably stepped up and sent the ball back into the Bombers’ box.

  “Oh, come on,” she heard a voice call. “If you’re going to play, then get in there!”

  It was Tabitha’s father, in between e-mails. Tabitha’s head snapped up and she looked to Lily like she wanted to shrink down into her uniform and hide. Chris was instantly on his feet.

  “Way to stick with it, Tabitha,” he called. “You’re doing great, but you’re running away from the action. Check back to the ball and you’ll be off to the races.”

  Lily saw Tabitha nod and stand a little taller. The Tigers lost the ball out of bounds—Bomber throw-in. Tabitha raced to the sidelines to take it. She lifted the ball over her head with both arms and then launched it forward. Immediately, the whistle sounded.

  “Illegal throw. Have to keep both feet on the ground. Orange ball,” the referee announced, pointing to Tabitha’s feet.

  Tabitha looked to the sidelines. Her father was holding both hands over his eyes, as though he couldn’t bear to watch anymore. Then, with a shake of his head, he turned his back in order to watch Mark Gordon’s football practice on the adjacent field.

  Once the ball was back in play, Chris sat back down on the bench next to Lily.

  “She knows never to lift her feet on a throw-in. He’s totally psyching her out,” Chris muttered. “She’d be better off if he didn’t show up.” Lily thought of her own parents. She’d give anything to have them come see her play.

  Suddenly Chris was on his feet, rushing onto the field.

  Player down.

  Vee.

  Her coach rushed to Vee’s side. It looked like she was holding her ankle. Lily held her breath. Not Vee. Lily strained to see as Chris helped her to her feet. Vee walked gingerly for a few paces and then nodded that she was okay to play.

  “That trip was intentional!” Chris yelled to the referee. “You need to get control of this game.”

  “That’s enough, Coach,” the referee replied. “Drop ball.”

  The ref had decided no one was at fault, so both teams prepared for him to drop the ball between two opposing players. The girl with the quickest feet would win the battle and control the ball. Avery stepped forward to take it for the Bombers, and Lily felt a pang. She was the best drop ball winner on the team.

  Avery won the face-off, though, and the Bombers finally worked the ball into the Tigers’ half of the field. Chris came back to the bench.

  “The ref is losing control of this game. That number six is all over Vee. She totally brought her down from behind. Could have broken her ankle or wrecked her knee,” her coach said. She could hear the emotion in his voice but noticed his tone stayed steady.

  Neither team was able to score by the time the halftime whistle blew.

  The Bombers came over for water and gathered around their coach. Lily was relieved to see Vee walking without any limp. She watched the eyes of her teammates as they listened to Chris.

  “Listen, I know this isn’t our normal lineup,” he said. “But we can take this team if we just play our game. The first half is over. We got the jitters out and we’re still even on the scoreboard. Let’s just go back out there and work together. Tabitha, remember to stick with the outside defender if she sneaks forward. Vee, keep looking to the outsides. Olivia, keep switching field, don’t just go up the middle. All of you remember, you girls are a team. Look to each other and move as one. You can win this game if you do that.”

  The Bombers huddled together, and Lily stood silently to the side as they refueled on orange slices and Gatorade. It was a strange sensation watching her team as an outsider. The whistle blew and the girls took to the field. Lily noticed Tabitha still looked uneasy.

  “Does she always look like that?” Lily asked Chris.

  “When her father is watching, she does.”

  “How do you know?”

  Chris looked at Lily and smiled for the first time. He bent his long neck to her. “Because I watch everything and everyone, LJ.”

  “You do?”

  “Of course I do,” Chris said with a grin. “I’m your coach.”

  The second half looked like a different game. The Bombers were more aggressive. Vee was in the middle of every play. She was making passes up and down the field. Reese made an overlapping run down the left-hand line. “I’m open, Vee!” she called.

  Vee sent a long pass without even looking up. Reese picked it up and fought her way to a Bombers corner kick. Olivia looked to the sidelines, and Chris nodded. Olivia would take the kick. The team fell into position, just like they’d done in practice a hundred times. Lily saw then how she’d caused so much confusion when she took the kick against her coach’s wishes.

  Olivia put in a cross, and Vee was able to control it at the top of the box. Instead of taking the shot, she faked it and made a beautiful pass to Amelia. Amelia hit the ball without even taking a dribble, and the Tigers’ goalie barely got a finger on the ball, tipping it over the goalpost at the last possible second. The Bombers were getting closer, and they could feel it. Even Tabitha was in the middle of the action. She wasn’t half bad, Lily noticed, when she stuck out those long ballerina legs.

  Chris sat next to Lily again. “Beautiful pass, Vee. Man, she makes everyone look good.”

  Lily watched Vee. He was right. She was completely unselfish. Darting around the field, she was constantly making things happen. Lily had been taking Vee’s hard work and energy for granted, she realized.

  The Bombers kept pounding, and Lily felt herself getting swept up into the action. She wasn’t watching as a player now; she was screaming like a crazed fan.

  Just as it seemed that a Brookville goal and win was inevitable, the Tigers’ right halfback stole a pass and made an arching run down the line. The crowd jumped to their feet.

  “Tabitha! That’s your mark!” Chris called.

  “Stop her!” Lily yelled.

  Tabitha gave chase. The girl in orange and black got the ball
at midfield and took it straight down to the corner. Tabitha closed in but was too late. By then, the Bombers’ sweeper had no choice but to leave her position in the middle of the field and face the Tiger. There was now a gaping hole in the center of the field. The girl saw the opening and quickly passed the ball sweetly back to her center mid. The girl touched it once and shot. A rocket to the upper-right-hand corner. Beth never had a chance.

  Tigers 1, Bombers 0.

  Just like that, Brookville went from destined to score to losing by a goal in the final minutes of the game. The entire field energy shifted. The Tigers were regenerated. The Bombers deflated. Lily knew just how they felt.

  Chris tried to rally the troops. “Heads up, girls! We have lots of time! Vee, let’s get one!”

  Vee sprinted back to midfield with the ball, but the referee had to wait until all the Bombers were back on their side of the field. Lily felt Tabitha’s pain as she walked slowly back to midfield. Her paces looked heavy, and defeat circled her shoulders.

  “That’s all right, Tabitha,” Chris called. “Get back in the game now.”

  Tabitha lifted her head slightly. She gave Lily a weak smile, but her eyes darted to the sidelines. Mr. Gordon was leaving the game in the direction of the adjacent field where her brother Mark’s football team was now running wind sprints. He’d clearly had enough of his daughter’s soccer exploits.

  The referee blew the whistle, and Tabitha started toward the bench. She must have assumed she was being subbed, Lily thought.

  “No. Tabitha, stay in,” Chris commanded. “We’ll get ‘em.”

  Again, Lily was amazed at how much coaching didn’t have anything to do with actual soccer. Tabitha slowly took her position, and the referee restarted the game.

  It was do or die now for the Bombers. They had to score to make it to the league championship. A tie would be enough, but a loss wouldn’t cut it. The Tigers were invigorated and playing with confidence, but the Bombers were the better team. Even without Lily. Vee kept working and with only a couple of minutes left in the game sent a neat cross to Amelia, who had taken over Lily’s position. Amelia was in perfect position and nailed a sweet shot right past the outstretched Tigers keeper.

  Goal!

  The final whistle blew soon after, signaling the end of a tied match; no overtime for regular season games. But the tie was enough to send the Brookville Bombers to the championship game. Lily was exhausted. She felt as tired as if she’d played every minute. Eleven spent and sweaty girls exited the field. They’d nearly lost the chance to make the finals but pulled it off in the eleventh hour. Tabitha’s head still hung low as she walked off the field. Lily noticed that Vee gave her a friendly pat on the back. Vee makes everyone else look good, Chris had said.

  Do I? Lily wondered.

  chapter 15

  “Don’t move please,” Lily’s mom whispered as she dabbed with the needle. “I’m so close, and the slightest air current will send the wing flying. Again.”

  It was Tuesday afternoon. Lily watched with fascination as Toni James applied a minuscule drop of glue to the butterfly thorax while flattening the bright blue wing with a toothpick.

  “This is a blue morpho,” her mother whispered. “From Panama. It came to me with a detached wing. But I think I can fix it.”

  Lily leaned forward to look at the specimen. The blue wings were nearly the size of an outstretched hand.

  “It’s huge,” Lily said.

  Her mother nodded as she applied another dab of glue. “It’s not the biggest morpho, but it is beautiful. This one is M. cypris. And I have to set it perfectly flat or else the color will be wrong. It’s iridescent,” she said with a twinkle.

  Finally, her mom leaned back and exhaled. “Okay, come on in.”

  Lily hesitated. “You sure?”

  “Really. It’s safe now,” she said, gesturing to her daughter to join her at the table.

  Lily wrinkled her nose. Her mom laughed. “Oh, that’s the glue. But you know me—I only use a watersoluble, biodegradable, repulpable, water-bearing colloidal hydrogel material.”

  Lily opened her eyes wide.

  “You definitely don’t want to eat it. It’s not the best glue—which is why it’s taking me all day—but it’s safe to use in the house with my babies around.”

  Lily made another face.

  “You don’t like that? Well, sorry. You’ll always be my babies, no matter how old you get.” Her mother held up the specimen. “So, what do you think?”

  “Pretty. But a little crooked,” Lily replied.

  Her mother looked down and glared. “You’re right. Have to start over. Again. But I have time. It’s a model for a school presentation I’m doing next week in Tulsa.”

  “When do you leave?”

  “Sunday night. So don’t worry, I’ll be here for the big game.”

  Lily shrugged. “I’m not even playing.”

  “It’s your team, isn’t it?”

  She nodded.

  “Then we’ll find a way to be there. At least for moral support,” her mother said, examining the blue morpho.

  “Did it really take you all day to set one butterfly?” Lily asked, changing the subject.

  “Yep. And as you pointed out, it’s crooked.”

  “It looks okay,” Lily said, feeling bad.

  “Okay? Well, I don’t know about you, but just ‘okay’ is not good enough for me,” her mom said, peering over her glasses. “You can understand that, can’t you, Lily?”

  Lily shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “So Dad called to say he’d never seen better or faster dish washing and potato peeling in his life. Maybe you’ll be a chef like him one day.”

  “Are you kidding?” Lily asked, shocked. “No way. He’s making me go back to wash the prep dishes. It’s endless. I can’t wait to get out of there and . . .”

  “Back on the field?”

  Lily smiled. She wanted to play so badly her feet hurt.

  “Mom, I really think I’ve definitely learned a lot since I’ve been suspended. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking over the last two weeks.”

  “About what?”

  “About growing up. I’m ready.”

  Lily’s mom smirked a little but tried to hide it. “Today?”

  “Yes,” Lily said seriously. “I really am. I’m ready.”

  “Well, that’s terrific, honey,” her mom said, laying out a new set of toothpicks and remixing the glue paste with water. “Help me get this set up.”

  Lily held the frame steady and watched her mother realign the beautiful butterfly. “Mom, I was wondering ... could you maybe call Chris for me?”

  Her mom stopped dismantling the display. “You want me to call your coach?”

  “Yes. I really really really need to play this weekend. Maybe you can convince him to let me back on the team? You know, tell him I’ve really . . . matured.”

  Lily’s mom took off her glasses and sat up, stretching her back as she did it. “LJ, your coach is the only one who can decide when you’re ready to play again.”

  “What about Dad? Can’t you talk to him and tell him I’ve washed enough dishes? If you can get him to free me from kitchen patrol, maybe I could jog around the field until Chris changes his mind and lets me play?”

  “Is the bill paid off?”

  “Almost.”

  Her mother gave her a hard look.

  “Uh, not exactly.”

  “Then that’s between you and your father, sweetie. Growing up means understanding that there are no shortcuts in life. The bill has to be paid. You can’t erase your mistakes, LJ. You can make up for them and you can make sure not to repeat them, but you can’t just will them to disappear.”

  “But Mom, I’ve told you and Dad a zillion times that I’m not the one who broke the sign!”

  “LJ, that’s not the point, and until you stop saying that, it’s clear to me that you are still not getting it. You need to accept that what you did was wrong. Kicking the ball at t
hat boy was wrong. Period. Whether the sign broke or not is irrelevant. It was wrong to lash out in anger. It was really wrong not to tell your father or me what happened. Whether or when the sign actually broke doesn’t change those things. So even if I do believe you—which, by the way, I do—it doesn’t matter.”

  “Mom, soccer is everything to me. I can’t take any more dish washing. I need to play,” Lily complained. “And I miss my teammates.”

  “So I take it you haven’t made up with Vee?”

  Lily shook her head no. She wanted to cry.

  “Maybe you should call her? Swallowing your pride is definitely an important part of growing up.”

  Lily shook her head again. She wouldn’t know what to say.

  “Well, you must have just missed her in the kitchen. Tomás told your dad today that she made the cut. She got picked for the State Select Team.”

  Lily jerked her head up. “What? Really? How come no one told me?”

  “Maybe because no one thought you would be happy. Besides, she just found out. The coach is coming to the game this weekend.”

  Tears began to well in Lily’s eyes. “That was my dream, Mom. Not Vee’s. It’s not fair.”

  “I know it was your dream, love. But do you really think you deserved it?” her mom asked. “Maybe it was her dream too. Do you think you deserved it more than Vee?”

  Lily thought back to the game and her selfish play. “I guess not.”

  “LJ, you have all the talent in the world,” her mother said. “Anyone with two eyes can see that when you walk on the field, you own the place. Now, I’m not a soccer coach, but I am pretty much the coach of this family. I can tell you all the talent in the world is wasted if you think you can do it all alone. No one can. The world doesn’t work like that. Families don’t work like that, friendships don’t work like that and I’m pretty sure soccer teams don’t work like that either.”

  Lily’s mom took another look at the butterfly wing. “Now,” she said, “let’s straighten this out.”

  Lily was thinking the exact same thing, only not about butterflies.