Live Love Lacrosse (13 page)

Chapter 21

Wasabi Peas

THE BUTTERFLIES IN Addie’s stomach would simply not go away no
matter what she did. Even though she was not allowed to play in the game that
evening, she had permission from her doctor to warm up with the team
beforehand. She had been dressed and ready to go by three o’clock that
afternoon, even though she and Kimi didn’t walk to the field until five.

Addie sat in the team circle, stretching. Coach Cairns had
cautioned her to take it easy during the warm up. A stern look and a wag of
Coach Cairns’ finger convinced her to go slow, even though she desperately
wanted to do everything full out.

Stretching finished, they stood up to form lines for the
scoop/roll/pass drill. The entire team formed two lines facing each other,
about ten yards apart. Kimi was at the head of Addie’s line and Taylor was at
the head of the other. Kimi flicked the ball out of her stick so it rolled
toward Taylor. Taylor scooped it up and ran toward Kimi, but dodged Kimi and
then passed the ball to Paige who was next in line. Paige rolled the ball to
Anne-Marie and the whole cycle started again. Addie caught Anne-Marie’s throw
easily, which calmed her jittery nerves somewhat. She rolled the ball smoothly
to the next girl in line.

“Nice to have you back, Addie,” Anne-Marie called as she ran by.

“Thanks, Anne-Marie,” Addie called over her shoulder. “It’s good
to be back.” Finally!

To Addie’s surprise, she remembered all the pre-game drills and
didn’t make too many glaring mistakes. The last drill they were doing was the
three on two shooting drill. She was part of the three attackers and passed the
ball to Anne-Marie, whose shot soared wide of the goal. Just like that, their
turn was done. Addie sprinted back to the end of the line and was a little out
of breath, but her legs didn’t feel heavy, and she didn’t feel wobbly at all.
For the most part, she was able to keep up with the other girls. It was nothing
like the time that Kimi dragged her out to the field for the very first time.
She remembered being so out of shape back then. And she’d had that stupid candy
bar in her pocket. She shook her head in disgust, but then sighed. According to
Dr. Wright, that was negative thinking. Life, she’d said, is about learning
from your mistakes and moving on. It was about erasing your ignorance.

“Exactly,” Addie said out loud as she remembered Dr. Wright’s
words.

“Talking to yourself, Addie?” Coach Cairns said and winked.

“Just giving myself a pep talk.”

“You’re doing fine. Now listen, when you’re attacking the goal,”
Coach Cairns pointed toward Brooke who was laser-focused on the attackers,
“stay out of the crease. I think you stepped in a few times.”

“The circle around the goal?”

Coach Cairns nodded.

“Okay, I will. Sorry. I forgot. There are a lot of rules in
lacrosse.” It sounded like an excuse, even to her own ears, but it was the
truth. There was a lot to learn. She was erasing her ignorance.

“As an attacker you want to draw the
defender to you. You know, force her to make a big commitment to you, then as
soon as she does that, pass the ball off to another attack player. Spacing is
the key. Attackers need to stay spread out so the defense can’t possibly cover
all of you at once. Another key is to make sure the defensive player doesn’t
get in between you and the player you want to throw the ball to. Kimi is
notorious for stealing passes. She’s sneaky. Watch for her.”

“Okay, Coach, thanks.” Addie moved up in the line, trying to
absorb the advice. There was so much to think about. Too bad she couldn’t play
in the game. She could try out everything she was learning.

As she watched the action, she heard Coach Marks’ booming voice
say to Coach Cairns, “I don’t know why you’re wasting time on that big-boned
gal, Haley. She doesn’t even know enough to stay out of the crease for heaven’s
sakes.”

Coach Cairn’s response was calm and sure. “You’re not seeing her,
Bob. You’re just seeing . . . Look, I don’t know what you’re seeing, but she
has skill and she’s smart and she’s picking up this game faster than anyone,
anyone
,
I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re right. I don’t see it.” He shook his head and headed to
the sideline.

Addie was fired up. Big-boned gal. Why did he have to keep calling
her that? She’d show him.

Addie, Taylor, and Paige were the three attackers. Kimi and Megan
were the defenders. Paige had the ball and Kimi took three steps toward her, so
Paige passed the ball to Taylor. Taylor was immediately swallowed up by Megan,
so she passed the ball to Addie. Addie saw Kimi heading toward her, but knew
that Kimi would try to steal her pass to Paige.

Addie stopped and Kimi bounded toward her, taking three springing
steps, but instead of passing the ball, Addie spun away and headed toward the
goal. Kimi squealed at this surprise move. Seeing her way clear, Addie took
three more steps and then leaped in the air to shoot on the run.

“Goal!” Taylor shouted and ran over to hug Addie. Paige joined the
hug two seconds later. They headed to the ends of their respective lines.

Kimi sprinted toward Addie, her mouth hanging open. “How’d you do
that?”

“Do what?” Addie couldn’t help the grin
creeping up her face.

“Get past me.” Kimi didn’t wait for Addie to answer. “I had no
idea you were going left. You faked me out, big time!”

“I heard what you were thinking.” Addie winked. “I knew what you
were going to do.”

Coach Marks blew his whistle from the sideline. “Bring it in,
Owls.”

Addie circled up with the rest of the team, and Coach Cairns put a
hand on her shoulder. “That goal was impressive, Addie.” She leaned down to
whisper, “I can’t believe you burned Kimi that way.”

Addie beamed. She was back. Sort of. Almost.

The game got underway and Addie was antsier than she’d ever been.
She wanted to get in that game. Bad. She couldn’t even make herself sit down in
the fold-up chair Kimi’s father had opened up for her.

“Wasabi peas, Addie?” Kimi’s father held the open bag toward her.

Addie froze. What were wasabi peas, and were they good for her?
Did they have proper nutrition? According to Dr. Mitchell it was all about
nutritionally sound food.

“Honey, honey,” Kimi’s mother said and reached across her husband
to put a hand on Addie’s wrist. “It’s okay, Addie. All things in moderation,
remember?”

Addie relaxed a little, realizing she had tensed up. “How did you
know?”

“That you were freaking out a little?”

Addie nodded.

“Your face. You had a panicked expression.” Kimi’s mother smiled
that soft smile Addie was coming to know as her mama bear smile. She was
protecting her cubs. Her heart swelled as she realized that Kimi’s mother
thought of her as one of her cubs. “Where’s your water, dear?”

“My water? Right there.” Addie pointed to the water bottle on the
ground.

“I suggest you pick it up and open it.” Kimi’s mother’s smile had
turned into a mischievous grin.

“Uh oh. What are Wasabi peas?” Addie held her hand out as Kimi’s
father shook three into her palm.

“Japanese decongestant,” Kimi’s father said with the same grin his
wife still sported.

Crud, what was she getting into? Not feeling that brave, she only
popped one into her mouth. The instant she crunched down, the inside of her
mouth exploded with fire. The burning, like lava, climbed up through her face
to her nose. She coughed and tried not to choke on the volcanic flavor. Her
nose began to run as if adding insult to injury. She took the tissue offered by
Kimi’s mother. Both of Kimi’s parents were laughing. That seemed a little cruel
to her ears, but she didn’t have time to be mad. She had to concentrate on
breathing. After a moment, she caught her breath and took a swig of water. And
then another and another.

“That was a dirty trick, you guys,” Addie said to Kimi’s parents.
She handed the two remaining Wasabi peas back to Kimi’s father. He didn’t seem
surprised.

“Sorry about that, Addie,” Kimi’s mother said. “He does that to
everyone. And it won’t hurt you. It’s simply horseradish.”

“I don’t know what that is, but I don’t ever want to do that
again.” Addie coughed again, but then laughed. “That was a mean trick, Dr.
Takahashi.”

His smile reached his eyes. “You’re right,
daughter
. I now
have to earn your trust back, don’t I?”

Addie shook her head. She trusted him. And she
trusted Kimi’s mother, too. They were helping her get healthy and strong.

The whistle blew on the field and their attention was drawn back
to the game.  

The official threw a yellow card at Kimi.

“What happened?” Addie said out loud.

“Dangerous check,” one of Addie’s teammate’s mom said.

“Kimi?” Kimi was usually careful about checking.

“Yes, but I think the other girl forced it. Kimi is wearing her
out, and the girl is getting frustrated. She pushed Kimi right before the
play.”

Addie stared wide eyed as play resumed and was secretly pleased to
see that, despite just having received a yellow card, Kimi wasn’t backing off
her opponent. Not even a little bit.

“Go, Kimi,” Addie yelled to her friend.

As if spurned on by Addie’s encouragement, Kimi stick checked her
opponent, knocking the ball to the ground. She scooped the ball up and passed
it to a sprinting Taylor who evaded one defender by simply outrunning her and
then passed the ball to Paige who shoveled the ball back to Kimi.

“Go for it, Kimi,” Addie yelled with the rest of the Onondaga
Owls’ fans on the sidelines. “Go, go, go!”

Kimi headed straight for the goalie and faked left. The defender
fell for it and Kimi was free. Kimi must have seen the same gaping hole between
the goalie and the net that Addie did. Kimi shot the ball toward the upper left
of the goal and it hit the back of the net with a soft thwack.

“Goal!” Addie shouted. “Goal, goal, goal. Way to go, Kimi!” She
high-fived Kimi’s mother and was about to high-five Kimi’s father but pulled
back at the last second. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips as if
deciding whether she was still mad at him. His eyes widened, but the crinkles at
the corners of his eyes told her he knew she was teasing him.

Addie nodded slowly and then broke out into a grin. She high-fived
him and turned to cheer for Kimi and the Owls as they went on to beat the
Seneca Falls Fillies by a score of 12–7.

“Addie, can I speak to you?” Coach Cairns asked after the game.

“Sure, Coach, what’s up?”

“When Anne-Marie and her family go on vacation to the Wisconsin
Dells, we’ll need another attacker. Are you game?”

Addie leaped into the air. “Game? Am I game? Do you even have to
ask? Yes, I’m game.” But she realized she wasn’t exactly in game shape, having
taken two weeks off from activity, and she was still overweight, having been a
couch potato her whole life.

“We’re going to work you back in slowly.” Coach Cairns handed her
a hastily written workout plan. “I want you to do this workout routine. Do each
drill a little longer each day and soon enough we’ll have you in the starting
lineup.”

“I’ll help.” Kimi grabbed the workout sheet from Addie’s hand. “No
problem, Coach. This’ll be cake.”

“You’re in excellent hands, Addie,” Coach Cairns said and headed
away to speak to Coach Marks.

Addie groaned. “I see a million burpees and squats in my future.
Am I right?”

Kimi nodded with way too much enthusiasm. “Don’t forget the
sprints. But, hey, boot camps don’t even come close to the torture of Wasabi
peas.”

“Your dad is not to be trusted,” Addie said but with a smile.
“And, you’re right. If I can handle that, then I can handle anything.”

Chapter 22

LAX On!

ADDIE TRIED TO focus on the baked chicken her
mother was teaching her to make, but her grandmother kept trying to sabotage
the whole thing. She poured oil into a frying pan trying to get them to make
fried chicken. She even pulled out potatoes, when green beans, not potatoes
were the vegetable on the menu that Addie and her mother had written up for her
pre-game dinner. Not quite giving up, her grandmother make a basket of bread
and butter, threw them on the table, and stomped into living room to watch
television.

“She has to be in charge of everything,” her mother whispered loud
enough for Addie to hear.

As her mother taught Addie to cook, they talked about how good
nutrition raised energy and helped body chemistry reach its proper levels and
balance. She’d learned from Dr. Mitchell that if you didn’t give your body what
it needed, then it would fail, like hers did when she collapsed.

Addie shared some of the things her doctors told her. Her
psychologist, Dr. Wright, said that seeing a nutritionist was Addie’s way of taking
responsibility for her own health. Her nutritionist, Dr. Mitchell, suggested
that a few lifestyle changes were needed by the whole family. Consequently,
Addie and her mother went food shopping together and read all the labels,
trying to figure out healthier foods to buy. And by cooking together, they were
finding healthier ways to prepare the food. Like baking, not frying, the
chicken.

“Dinner’s ready,” Addie called to Grandma and Troy.

Troy bounded down the stairs and slid into his
seat at the table.

Grandma moped her way back into the kitchen. “What do those
doctors know?” Grandma grumbled and pulled out a jug of lemonade from the
refrigerator. “They just want your money. Lydia, let me tell you something.”
Grandma sat down. “I don’t think she should play in that game tonight.”

Addie almost knocked her glass of water over. She couldn’t believe
what she was hearing. Not play? Impossible. She’d rather die than not play.
“LAX or die!” She shouted in her head.

“Mother, her doctors and her coaches say she’s fine and that she’s
more than ready to play.” Addie’s mother sat down at the table. “She seems
fine.”

Grandma shot a glance at Addie. “What if she
faints again? She comes in here every afternoon sweaty and out of breath.”

“I’m training to get in shape, Grandma.” Addie knew her
grandmother would choose not to hear her.

“You can’t afford medical bills right now,
Lydia. It’s bad enough that no good husband of yours is hanging around again.”

“Mom! Not in front of the kids. We talked about this.” There was
an edge to her mother’s voice that Addie had never heard before.

“Fine, but let me ask you this. How much is this new hobby costing
you? How much money have you shelled out for this? Money that you don’t have, I
might add.”

“Daddy paid for a lot of my stuff,” Addie blurted and regretted it
instantly. She had poked the bear. Again.

“Pah,” her grandmother spat and waved a dismissive hand in Addie’s
direction. “Your father doesn’t have a pot to piss in. Your mother’s about to
start a new job—”

“I’m not taking it,” her mother said softly.

Grandma’s fork clattered in her plate. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not taking the job at the plant with you, Mom.” Addie’s
mother lifted her head high and stared steadfast into her mother’s eyes. It was
the first time Addie had seen her mother stand up to her grandmother and really
mean it.

The silence between the two women was so thick that Addie lost her
appetite. Troy must have felt it, too, because he put his fork down and watched
the epic moment unfolding in front of them.

“Mom,” Addie’s mother said, “Tim and I have been going to Dr.
Wright, that family counselor—”

“Pah.” Grandma waved her hand again in dismissal.

“And she’s helping us see that although I am
happy being a mom—” She flashed a smile at Addie and Troy. “She helped us see
that I was unfulfilled simply having a job. She helped us understand that I
want and need some kind of meaningful career.”

“A career? You’re thirty two, Lydia. What kind of
career
can a middle-aged mother of two get?” She made air quotes when she said the
word
career
.

“I want to go to nursing school.” Her mother’s cheeks turned
bright red.

“You’re going to be a nurse, Mom?” Troy said. His gaping open
mouth mirrored Addie’s.

“Really, Mom?” Addie added.

“Yes, your father and I talked about it, and
. . .” She hesitated for a moment. “We weren’t going to say anything until we
were sure, but your father is putting in for a transfer to Syracuse and I’m
looking into a nursing program at Onondaga Community College right up the road by
the mall.”

“We’re moving to Syracuse?” Troy asked. “Like,
as in forever?”

“I think so, honey. I mean we haven’t worked out all the details
yet, but Daddy and I are going to start looking for a house near here.”

“We can live with Daddy again?” Addie blurted around the whirlwind
of thoughts swirling in her head. Did that mean she could go to middle school
with Kimi? Could she play lacrosse with Kimi, too, all the way through high
school and college?

Her mother nodded, the smile on her face growing with every
second. Addie was fiercely proud of her mother at that moment. Not only was she
obviously going for something she wanted, but she was standing up to her own
mother. Addie had never seen her do either of these things before.

Addie took a deep breath of relief. With her parents finally
ending their fight, she understood how strained their lives had been back in
Watertown. It’s funny how you can look back and see things so differently. She
also remembered something Kimi told her when Addie was getting herself worked
up about not being ready to play on Saturday. Kimi had said, “First you re-LAX
and then you LAX on.”

Addie had laughed then but realized how profound Kimi’s statement
was. What Kimi meant was that first you had to chill out about whatever was on your
mind and then you had to do something about it. And right now she had to LAX ON
and get ready for her game.

She finished her dinner, put her dishes in
the sink, and headed toward the stairs to her room. With a cry of, “LAX on!”
she bolted up the stairs to get ready for her triumphant return.