How Tía Lola Saved the Summer (16 page)

This particular game between the Panton Panthers and Charlie’s Boys is going to go down in local baseball history as one that kept the fans on the edge of their seats until the very end. The score inches up—first the Panton Panthers are ahead by one run, then Charlie’s Boys, neck and neck. At one point, Miguel looks up and realizes he’s got a whole cheering section, posters pumping up and down, Papi’s banner unfolded, Victoria whistling, a bunch of swords waving. It can’t help but boost his confidence and flood his heart with gratitude. All these people are rooting for him—and not just in today’s game. Tía Lola is right. They want to see him happy each and every day of his life.

What really allows Charlie’s Boys to stay right in there with the Panthers is Essie’s amazing ability to slam them out of the ballpark. The Panther pitcher can’t seem to throw her a ball she can’t hit. Each time she swings, folks in the bleachers stand up to see where it’s going to land. It’s as if Essie has taken her older sister’s poster to heart:
HIT THEM OVER THE RAINBOW!
And she does.

The crowd is hoarse from shouting. And it isn’t going to get quieter now at the top of the fifth with the game tied, 3–3. Coach Rudy gathers them in a huddle. It’s time for substitutions, if there are going to be any. Unbelievably, Rudy announces that he’s taking Essie out and putting in Patrick. This is suicide! Miguel can understand letting Patrick play, but put him out of the way in right field. Don’t make him the catcher and risk a weak player in a key position at this point in the game.

But later, at the barbecue at Miguel’s house, Rudy will explain. “I wanted to win this big game so much for the team, I forgot what playing baseball is all about. I did wrong bypassing Patrick and picking Essie to replace Dean. But God, who loves us as much as some of us love baseball, gave me a second chance to do the right thing. He hit me over the head with his wake-up bat!”

But here at the top of the fifth inning, God hasn’t hit Miguel with the same wake-up bat. He pulls his coach over. “Please, don’t take Essie out now, please.” But Rudy is sticking to what he knows is right. “This goes, Captain.”

Miguel feels like staging a mutiny. After all, he is the captain, and like Tía Lola always says,
Donde manda capitán no manda soldado.
Where the captain is in charge, the soldier can’t give orders. But Rudy isn’t any old foot soldier, he’s the coach, and in baseball that means he’s the boss. So Miguel tries another suggestion. As the two outsiders, Essie and Patrick have been practicing on the sidelines all week. They’ll make a more decent pairing than Miguel and Patrick will. “Okay, Coach, then bring Essie in for me.”

Rudy’s eyebrows lift in surprise. Miguel is not a kid who easily steps out of a baseball game. Look at the way he persisted after bruising that ankle. But Rudy must realize that he’s not the only one getting a second chance to be a bigger person today. Coach and captain lock eyes. “Ankle still a little sore?” Rudy is offering Miguel a way to explain himself to his teammates. Miguel nods. Although it will be two innings before the game is over, this is how you really win in life as well as in baseball.

“It’s the little victories in a game that count,” Rudy has always told them. But this time they get to have both. Essie’s fastball strikes out two Panthers, and the last out is recorded when Andrew snags a line drive. Meanwhile, batting at the bottom of the final inning of the game, little Patrick whams one up, up, and away: a fly ball that surprises even the Panthers’ right fielder, who stumbles and drops the ball. Essie makes it home, and Charlie’s Boys have won the game, 4–3, and are they ever happy about it!

“Thanks for letting me pitch, Captain,” Essie tells Miguel at the team barbecue after the game. “Hey, you were right. You really can work magic.”

What on earth is she talking about? She’s the one with the magic arm, fastballs that strike out batters, and home runs that travel for miles. “What magic?”

“Remember how I said if you could work magic, you’d make this week more fun than Disney World? Well, it’s been like ten times more fun!” Essie is still on a high after winning the game today. Maybe she’ll never come down again.

When they’re almost done with eating, Rudy clinks his glass. He has an announcement to make. “The time has come. Your old coach just can’t keep up with you young folks. This is going to have to be my last season coaching.”

The team’s spirit takes a collective nosedive. Good thing Rudy made this announcement after the game, not before.
They would have lost the game for sure. But Rudy shakes his head. “The magic is in you guys, not in me.” He sure sounds a lot like Tía Lola. “And hey, buddies, I’m not leaving you out there without a paddle. I’ve got a plan.” He lets them all hang in suspense a moment before nodding toward Víctor. “This last week, I’ve been watching you, Vic. You’ve got what it takes to coach these kids and bring out the best in the team. I’m sure hoping you’ll soon be moving up here so you can take over.”

Víctor has been looking wistfully at Linda during Rudy’s passing-of-the-bat speech. After an awkward silence, he gives the same reply he has been giving his girls: “It’s not just up to me, you know.”

“Well, if it’s up to the team, all in favor, say aye.” Rudy turns to the young players he has been coaching for several seasons now. They all cheer for Coach Víctor.

All but their captain, who is feeling torn. Miguel would love to have Víctor coach the team. But Papi is looking on. Before he votes, Miguel wants to be sure that his father knows that in the big game of life, as Tía Lola calls it, Papi will always be Miguel’s head coach.

“I’m glad you’ve been having such a good time,
mi’jo
,” his father says, his voice a little sad. Finally, father and son are getting a chance to walk out to the back pasture together after the barbecue. Once it’s dark, Miguel’s family and the Swords will have a farewell campfire together, Tía Lola’s idea.

Miguel has been telling Papi all about his adventures this week. How Tía Lola started a camp for the girls, but then that camp fizzled out, and the whole place turned into one big camp for everybody. The nighttime treasure hunt, the magic swords to help them with some challenge, the last-minute Fourth of July party. Even though he hurt his ankle and couldn’t play baseball for a couple of days, Miguel has to agree with Essie. It has been a fun week.

Only one thing has been missing: Papi. Miguel wants his father to know this. But unlike Mami or Juanita or Tía Lola, Miguel doesn’t find it easy putting his feelings into words. And right this moment, he doesn’t have Tía Lola’s or his sword to help him—both are up in his room.

But Tía Lola keeps saying that the magic is really inside each and every person, and the swords just remind you of that fact. So Miguel takes a deep breath and blurts it all out in one sentence: “Papi, no matter what, you’ll always be my father, even if Mami marries Víctor, right?”

“Of course,
mi’jo
!” Papi says, grabbing his son in a long, lingering hug. When he pulls away, Papi’s eyes are teary, the happy kind of tears. “I want your mother to be happy. And if she’s happy and I’m happy, I think you and Juanita will be happy, too. And sure, there might be moments that I feel a little sad that I’m not the one here living with you. But when I get to missing you too much, I’ll jump in the car with Car or ask your
mami
to send you and Juanita down with your Tía Lola. Deal?”

More than a deal! It’s exactly what Miguel wants, to see his father often and still get to live in Vermont.

All this talking about Tía Lola reminds Miguel how
much his aunt helped him today. So why not give Tía Lola his sword now that he has hers? The golden rule of giving: give unto others as they have given unto you!

Upstairs, Miguel finds his sword still propped on the chair by his bedroom door, where he put it so he’d remember to take it with him to the game today. Before taking it down to the campfire, Miguel crosses out his name and writes Tía Lola’s on the blade, followed by a big smiley face.

Ten
saturday night and sunday morning

The Departure of the Swords

“Tonight, we say
hasta luego
,” Tía Lola tells the assembled group. “Farewell for now, but not forever.”

They are sitting around a big campfire in the backyard. Night has fallen, a dark one with an overcast sky. Abuelito and Abuelita have gone to bed, tired after a packed day. But everyone else lingers, not wanting to break the magic of being together.

The three Espada girls sit in ascending age order, followed by Carmen and Papi, Miguel and Juanita, then Valentino, Mami with her arm around him, and finally Víctor, closing the circle. In the center stands Tía Lola, feeding the fire. With the flames lighting up her face and shadows
springing from her arms as she gestures, she looks like the wise woman in a fairy tale.

“Some of you have been here a week, and some of you just arrived. But tonight, we all join a circle of friendship that we can always come back to in our hearts.”

“Oh, Tía Lola,” Victoria says, her eyes shining brightly. “You’re going to make us all cry.”

“I’m not going to cry,” Essie declares, clearing her throat, just in case. Sobs have been known to sneak up on her the back way.

Cari snuggles close to her father. “I don’t want to leave Vermont, Papa,” she sniffles.

“Well, we have to!” Essie says sharply. Of course, she’d like to give herself the luxury of wishing otherwise. But despite her tough facade, tiny drops accumulate in the corners of her eyes.

Victoria is still hoping her father, or actually Linda, will make an announcement. But Linda hasn’t said anything, and by now, it’s unlikely she will. The move will have to be put on hold. Why must adults always put brakes on their feelings? No wonder Romeo and Juliet were teenagers! Of course, they had to die before they grew up and ruined everything! “I’m going to miss everybody, that’s for sure.” Although “everybody” includes all of Victoria’s new Vermont friends around this circle, one particular face pops up in her head. A tall, blue-eyed fourteen-year-old with beautiful dark brown hair. “It’s sad when things have to end.”

Across the circle, Valentino lets out one of his all-purpose sighs.

“I know goodbyes are difficult,” Tía Lola allows, “but without them, we can’t start a new adventure.”

Essie likes the sound of that. A new adventure. Before this week of summer camp, she thought of her life as just her boring life. But Tía Lola has made her realize that each day is a story that Essie can try to end happily. And happiness is no longer confined to places like Disney World. Happiness can happen anywhere, even in Queens, though Essie would prefer having her happy adventures in Vermont from now on.

She grips her samurai sword. It’s curious how, around the circle, everyone has brought their swords along, even though Tía Lola didn’t suggest they do so. It just seemed appropriate to bring them to this closing campfire. Except for the memories in their heads and one lame mood ring, the swords are their only souvenir from this week at Tía Lola’s summer camp.

“The first night you were with us”—Tía Lola nods toward the arc of Espadas forming one part of the circle—“you went on a treasure hunt, remember?” Of course they remember! Fond smiles spread across the girls’ faces. “So now, as we close, we are going to have another kind of treasure adventure.”