Live Love Lacrosse (12 page)

“Sure, those are good examples. Or my
favorite oatmeal cream pies they put at the end of the aisles in the grocery
store so I can’t miss them.” His sigh was long and sad. “But anyway, that stuff
is junk. It’s not good and is ‘stinky’ for your body.”

“Stink in, stink out as Mom always says,” Kimi said with a laugh.

“Nice one.” Kimi’s mother high-fived her daughter.

“Dad’s fire pit philosophy,” Kimi added. “I like it.”

“Anyway,” Kimi’s father continued after glaring playfully at his
daughter, “if you put in too much wood, the fire goes out because it doesn’t
have all the things it needs. Like kindling and paper and oxygen.”

Addie didn’t say it out loud, but that was how she ate before
she’d met Kimi. She’d eat so much she couldn’t move, and she’d eat all the
wrong things. It was like she was trying to start her fire with plastic or
something.

“But if you don’t put in enough wood, the fire struggles to stay
alive.”

“Just like me lately,” Addie said out loud.

Kimi’s father smiled at her. “Yes, honey, just like you. But now
you understand that you have to find the right balance. Whatever that right
balance is for you.”

“All things in moderation,” Kimi’s mother added.

“Except when it comes to banana boats,” Kimi blurted when her
father’s watch alarm went off.

Kimi pulled out one of the heated banana boats and put it on a
sturdy paper plate.

Addie leaned forward as Kimi teased open the foil. Addie’s mouth
dropped open. Inside was an entire banana, peel and all,

“Wait for the best part, Addie.” Kimi pulled back the skin of the
banana to reveal perfectly melted chocolate and marshmallows inside a scooped
out section of the banana. “Perfection, Dad. You outdid yourself!”

“I did.”

“Guests first,” Kimi said and handed the plate and a spoon to
Addie.

“Careful,” Kimi’s mother said. “It’s probably hot.”

Addie ate a small spoonful. It was so good that she sighed. If
this was healthy eating, she’d take it. “It’s so good.” She went in for another
bite. After her third bite, she sat back and sighed again. “Thank you for all the
advice, Dr. and Mrs. Takahashi. I have a lot to learn.”

“You know what Coach Cairns always says, don’t you?” Kimi asked in
between banana boat bites.

“What?”

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”

Addie hoped she was up for the challenge. If banana boats were
part of the challenge then she just might make it. She just might.

Chapter 20

Smooth Poops

ADDIE RACED DOWN the stairs, hoping her excited steps didn’t wake
up her grandmother who slept in on Saturday mornings. In a couple of hours, she
was going to walk down to Kimi’s house so they could walk to Kimi’s game
together. It felt better in her heart to think of it as Kimi’s game, since she
was still on that stupid exercise restriction until Tuesday. On Tuesday she’d
be able to warm up with the team, but still wouldn’t be allowed to play in the
actual game.

She opened the cereal cabinet and pushed the boxes of Frosty Rings
and Frooty-O’s to the side. At first she didn’t see her personal box of
Cheerios, thinking Troy had hid it or something, but then she found it behind
Grandma’s breakfast bars. Grandma thought they were healthy, but Addie read the
label, and they had a lot of sugar and processed oils. Addie thought better
about telling her grandmother. No way. She was always in a bad mood, so why add
to it. “Don’t poke the bear,” Addie said out loud, imitating what her father
had said the night before.

Daddy. A warm feeling radiated from her heart. He seemed so much
calmer the night before when he took them out to dinner and the movies. And he
even stayed to talk to Mom for a little while. Until Grandma ran him off, that
is. She grumbled and growled about how late it was, and shouldn’t he be “making
like a tree?” Addie ran to her father at that moment and wrapped her arms
around him. She cried a little, but didn’t let anyone see. Grandma was just
being mean. She wanted Daddy to “make like a tree and leave.” And he did leave,
just like that.

With a sigh, Addie snagged a banana off the counter to go with her
cereal. Troy came bounding down the stairs just as she finished peeling her
banana.

“You’re always eating, like, fruit and stuff,” Troy said. He pulled
out the box of his beloved Frosty Rings. At least he was talking to people
these days.

“Did you know,” Addie held the banana up in front of her, “that
bananas have a lot of potassium?” Without waiting for her brother to respond,
she added, “Your body needs potassium to build proteins which make muscles. It
breaks down carbohydrates which we use for energy. Potassium even helps control
the electrical activity in your heart. Bananas have vitamin C which helps the
immune system, iron absorption, and healing.”

“Stop.” Troy put his hands to his ears. “You sound like a walking
encyclopedia. I feel like I’m in school.” He poured a heaping pile of Frosty
Rings in his bowl and then filled the bowl to the rim with chocolate whole
milk.

Addie took a small bite of her banana and poured skim milk over
her Cheerios.

“How can you eat those, Addie?” Troy pointed to her Cheerios.
“They’re boring.”

“You know, ever since I’ve been eating less sugary stuff, food
tastes different. It tastes better, actually. Here, look.” She swiveled the box
of Frosty Rings so the nutrition label faced them. She did the same for her
Cheerios box. “Dr. Mitchell says kids our age really shouldn’t have more than
twenty five grams of sugar a day. See the sugar amounts? Cheerios has one gram
per cup and your stuff has thirteen. And look how much you’ve got in that bowl.
That’s at least two cups. Troy, you have twenty-six grams of sugar in the
cereal alone. That’s already more than you’re supposed to get in one day. And
look at the whole milk label.” Addie pulled the carton closer. “Eleven grams of
sugar in one cup. You’re up to thirty-six grams of sugar at breakfast. I used
to eat that stuff all the time, and with that much sugar we’re heading for
diabetes for sure. That’s what Dr. Mitchell said, anyway.”

“That sucks.” Troy sat back in the kitchen chair for a moment like
he was thinking. Without speaking, he got up and opened the refrigerator and
pulled out the skim milk. He ran his finger down the nutrition label. “Hey,
Addie, your skim milk isn’t that great either. Check this out.” He brought the
carton over to her. “Look. Yours has eleven grams of sugar in one cup, too.”

He looked as stricken as Addie felt. “It does? I didn’t realize.”
She wondered how much sugar was in the sweet banana she’d just finished. She
bolted to the counter to get the book about nutrition facts that Dr. Mitchell
had given her. “Yikes, Troy, check this. Bananas have about fourteen grams.
That’s a lot.” Addie sighed. This nutrition stuff was harder than she thought.
“Well, like Dr. Mitchell said, there really is no perfect food, but if you
continue to read the labels, you’ll figure out what foods are better than
others nutrition wise.” She was curious now. “Hey, read the orange juice
carton. How much sugar in, like, a cup?”

He got up again and opened the refrigerator. “Whoa!” Troy looked
back at Addie in disbelief. “Holy crud, Addie. One cup of OJ has—are you
sitting down?”

She nodded.

“One cup of the OJ in this carton has . . .”

“Say it, already, dork.”

“Twenty-two grams of sugar. In one cup!” His voice had gotten so
high, that Addie almost laughed. “I’m not drinking that anymore.”

“But look at the vitamin C, Troy. How much?”

“Wow. It has 120 percent of what you need in a day.”

“Do you see how hard it is to figure out what to eat that’s
healthy for you?”

“So if you need vitamin C, like bad, then OJ would be a good way
to get it, right?”

Addie nodded.

“You have to take the bad stuff along with the good stuff, I
guess.” Troy put the OJ carton back in the refrigerator and pulled out the skim
milk.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“We’re gonna be eating more fuzzy green things, aren’t we?” Troy
asked, his voice glum.

Addie nodded and to her amazement, Troy picked up his over-full
cereal bowl and dumped the entire contents down the food disposal in the sink.
He flicked the switch and the sugary mess went down the drain. “Don’t tell
Grandma I wasted food, okay?”

Addie crossed her heart and held up a hand. She didn’t need to say
the accompanying words, “Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my
eye.” The cross-my-heart oath was a serious one between them.

He brought his bowl back. “Can I have some of your Cheerios?”

“Sure.” She handed him her coveted box. “Let’s put blueberries on
them.” She raced back to the fridge and pulled out the pint carton.
“Blueberries have vitamin C and, get this, they have lots of antioxidants. I
think that’s what you call them.”

“Okay, smarty pants, what are antioxidants?”

Addie dug deep in her memory. “Antioxidants help protect cells
from free radicals. And before you ask, free radicals are bad molecules or
something. They steal electrons from good molecules. You get ’em from bad food,
and cigarette smoke, air pollution, UV rays from the sun, even stress can cause
them in your body. Your body makes some of them naturally, but when you have
too many, they get out of control. It’s, like, an imbalance in your body
chemistry or something and antioxidants help fix that. Kimi’s mom says
nutrition is all about balance, so maybe today we have the cereal and milk with
all this sugar, but tomorrow we go for something with a little more protein.”

“Scrambled eggs!” Troy announced. “And toast.
What’s toast?”

“You mean, like, is it carbs or whatever?”

Troy nodded.

“Bread is carbohydrates, but Mom bought me wheat bread which is
the good kind of carbs. It has whole grains–”

“Which do what?” Troy ate his Cheerios slowly. Addie could tell
that he really wasn’t a fan. Not yet, anyway.

“Whole grains have lots of fiber which help you digest your food.
Beans and veggies and fruit have lots of fiber, too.” She held up her empty
banana peel. “Kimi’s mom says you have to have enough fiber every day so you
don’t strain while . . . you know, while you go to the bathroom.”

Troy’s spoon clanked in his bowl. “Really? You and Mrs. Takahashi
talked about pooping? Really, Addie?”

Addie giggled. “I know! I know! She talks
about pooping all the time.” She told Troy about Kimi’s mom’s comment about
smooth poops, and they giggled even more. It wasn’t long before breakfast was
forgotten and they were clutching their stomachs trying to catch their breath
from laughing so hard.

“What is going on with my children?” Their mother stood in the
kitchen doorway. She had both hands on her hips; her bathrobe zipped to the
top. Her grin told them she wasn’t mad about them disturbing the Saturday
morning peace.

Addie giggled a few more times and caught her breath. “You don’t
want to know, Mom.”

Troy shook his head in agreement. “Really, Mom. You don’t.” He
snorted a laugh, which began the giggle fest anew.

“You two are in rare form this morning. Just don’t wake Grandma.”

They both sobered up at that moment.

“Okay, Mom,” Addie said and quietly finished her breakfast. Troy
did the same.

Once their mother was out of earshot, having taken her precious
cup of coffee into the living room to watch TV, Troy whispered, “Hey, I know
you’re not supposed to exercise or whatever until your new doctor says it’s
okay, but . . .” His cheeks turned the cutest shade of pink.

“But what?”

“Do you want to have a catch out back? You have your own stick,
but you still have Kimi’s extra stick, too. I can use that, and Grandma’s back
yard is huge. She’s still in bed, so as long as we’re pretty quiet . . .”

“Let’s do it.”

They cleaned up after breakfast, changed out of their pajamas, and
headed to the back yard. It was weird teaching Troy how to use the stick to
catch her passes and how to throw. He was a fast learner, though. Or maybe she
was a good teacher.

Addie had been a little nervous exercising
before she was officially allowed to, but she didn’t have any shaky muscles or
heavy legs. Not once. In fact, she found she wanted to run even faster, but
Troy kept telling her to slow down. Maybe he didn’t want to get in trouble if
she collapsed again. She was feeling so good that after they were done playing,
she was going to break out a rake from the shed and make Grandma’s front yard
more presentable. Raking would help keep her arm strength up. Hopefully Mom
wouldn’t make her stop. And as an added bonus, Daddy would be happy that
Grandma’s yard looked nice.

They took a water break and sat on the ground against the rusting
shed doors.

Addie took a big swig. “Mom seemed happy when she was talking to
Daddy last night.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m happy she and Dad talked to Dr. Wright on Tuesday. They had
their session right after mine. When I was in Dr. Mitchell’s office talking
about nutrition–”

“And smooth poops.” Troy giggled.

“No, that was Mrs. Takahashi.”

“Oh, yeah,” Troy said. “It’s called couples counseling, isn’t it?
Are they going again?”

Addie nodded. “Um hmm. Next Tuesday.”

“Did Mom tell you what they talked about?”

Addie shook her head.

“Daddy seemed happy last night, too.”

“Yeah, he did. Maybe . . .” Addie didn’t want to say the words out
loud.

Troy seemed to know what she meant because he answered, “Yeah,
maybe. I hope.”

They remained silent for a moment, until Troy said, “If Mom and
Dad get over their fight, do you think we’ll move back to Watertown? I mean,
I’ve made a whole lotta friends here. Maybe we can stay here.”

“I know. I never would have found lacrosse in Watertown. I mean, I
know they probably have teams there, but I wouldn’t have found lacrosse if it
hadn’t been for Kimi.”

“Yeah, Kimi’s cool.”

“You want to walk to the game with us tonight?”

Troy shrugged.

“We’re walking the long way around, so she can show me the middle
school we might go to next year. If we stay here in Syracuse that is.”

“Okay, I’ll go on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You guys don’t talk about fiber or smooth poops.”

Addie burst out laughing and smacked him on the arm. She leaped to
her feet and scooped up the ball in her stick. “I can’t make any promises on
that one, Troybot.” She turned away from him and looked over her shoulder. “See
that old tire leaning against the fence? I’m gonna score a goal in it. Unless
you can stop me.”

She took off running the length of the yard. “This is lacrosse,
Troy. Try to keep up,” she taunted.

Troy was on his feet and hot on her heels in seconds.