by Rue, Nancy
Lucy wrote 4, and felt her throat get thick. This was the hardest one, the one that made her almost cry every time she thought about it.
4. Aunt Karen is going to work from here for six weeks while Dad is at that school in Albuquerque, and even though I know she can’t change me, I know she’s still going to try. It’s hard to make THAT part of “un-perfect” an okay thing.
Lucy sank against her pillows and listened to Inez padding around in the kitchen, making breakfast for Lucy and Mora. Aunt Karen was already calling Lucy every day, telling her how she was going to “help” her redecorate her room — which she liked just fine the way her mom had done it when she was five — and get involved with the other “soccer moms” — which Lucy didn’t even know they had — and have all Lucy’s friends over for a themed sleepover — which — what was that anyway?
Lucy pushed the kitties off her lap and tucked the Book of Lists under her pillow and wandered out into the kitchen. Inez looked up from the scrambled eggs she was piling into tortillas as Lucy slumped into a chair.
“You are triste?” Inez said.
“Does that mean depressed?” Lucy said.
Inez slid a plate in front of her on the table. “Sí. And you are this way because . . . Senorita Karen?”
“How do you know, like, everything I’m thinking?” Lucy said.
“I was the young woman once — like you — and Senorita Esther.”
Lucy poked at a scrambled egg, wrapped snugly in a tortilla. “I don’t think I’m exactly a ‘woman,’ Inez. If I was, I wouldn’t have to have Aunt Karen come and stay with me.”
“But you are almost,” Inez said. “You are three things a girl must be to become the woman.” She held up a brown finger. “Senorita Ruth?”
“I love somebody more than I do myself,” Lucy said.
Another finger went up. “Senorita Rachel?”
“I forgave something that seemed like it couldn’t be forgiven.”
“And what do you do now, that Senora Queen Esther has teached you?”
Lucy got up on one knee. “You mean, ‘such a time as this?’ ”
“Sí . . .”
“I did something I didn’t really want to do because it was the right thing to do and I was the only one who could do it.” Lucy took a breath. “So — that wasn’t just about soccer.”
“No.”
“That was about putting up with Aunt Karen so Dad can go to school and not get fired. But I still — ”
Inez nodded. And then she smiled and put her lips close to Lucy’s ear and whispered, “But no one says that you must like it.”
Lucy smiled. And she nodded back. And she felt better.
Maybe not about Aunt Karen. But definitely about being an almost-woman.
Definitely.
WHO HELPED?
Lucy’s Perfect Summer is fiction, which means I mostly made it up. But I wanted it to be real too, so I got a lot of help from people who know things I was clueless about — like how to play soccer and what it’s like to be a tomboy. I thought that since you are now part of Lucy’s team yourself, you’d like to know who the other players are.
Jessica Moose, Elle Rickman, Danielle Cedalles, Kelly Hainline, and Madeline U’Ren are middle schoolers in Alamagordo, New Mexico. They told me all about what it’s like to grow up in the southern part of New Mexico and even let me come to their school without being too embarrassed by me. They were awesome.
Hannah Wathne is a twelve-year-old friend of mine who helped me “find” Mora by taking me into the world of dance and girly-girlness. She even has an electronic diary. Hello! How cool is that?
Haili, Caitlin, and Brianna Shubert are ten-year-old sisters (they happen to be triplets!) who took me out on the soccer field and taught me everything they could. It was hard work since I am not athletic and played about as well as Januarie. Maybe a little worse. They were patient and kind, not to mention fun, and I rewarded them with a trip to the mall.
When I went to New Mexico to discover Lucy’s world, Robin Wolf, Doreen Owens, Heather Carter, Linda Castorina and Madeline U’Ren were my research buddies. They took me everywhere I needed to go, fed me the best Mexican food on the planet, and shared in the squeals when I found just the right details. They loved Lucy before I wrote the first word about her.
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