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“Well... I know this dog...”
Twelve
Diego
I feltlike garbage when I woke up. Not from drinking but from lack of sleep. After dropping off Deena, Kenzie convinced me to practice cheer stunts with her on the beach. She said it was better to practice on the sand since it would give her a soft landing. And she pointed out we only had a week left until the first game.
My siblings were playing upstairs—I could hear the thunder of their feet above and their peals of laughter. Even though Adelita and Marisol were twelve and thirteen, they played with our eight-year-old brother Mateo like they were his age instead.
“Diego!” Mom called down the stairs.
I groaned, throwing my arm over my face. I knew I couldn’t sleep with all the racket upstairs, but that wasn’t going to stop me from trying.
“DIEGO!” she yelled even louder.
“I’m up!” I called back, rolling begrudgingly out of bed.
I threw on a pair of shorts and a shirt, then used the bathroom before going upstairs. My hair was a complete mess, but I didn’t have anywhere to be. Yet.
As I trudged up into our main living area, Mom called from behind the stove. “You know the rules. You can stay out late—”
“But you have to be ready to get up early,” I finished with a yawn. “I know.”
Adelita and Marisol sprinted past, and I raised my arms overhead. “I’m not a traffic cone.”
Mateo ran straight into my midsection, falling over backward. Shaking my head, I reached out my hand, and he used it to scramble up and chase after them. A second after he ran away, my eyebrows drew together. “Was he wearing...”
“Your sister’s dance costume? Yes.” Mom rolled her eyes. “I swear, sometimes... Here, the eggs are almost ready. Can you start rolling the burritos?”
I nodded and went to the sink, washing my hands again, even though I’d just done it in the bathroom. If Mom didn’t see it, it didn’t happen.
“How many are you making?” I asked, staring at the giant pan of eggs.
“Your sister has to be on the bus with her team in an hour and a half,” she said. “I agreed to make breakfast for the girls.”
I raised my eyebrows. “An hour and a half? Mateo was just in her costume.”
“I know. We have a lot to do, so be fast.”
While Mom and I rolled burritos and wrapped them in foil, Dad got the girls and Mateo ready to leave. Mom stopped working in the kitchen long enough to do Adelita’s hair, and then they left for the bus, a red cooler full of food in tow.
The rest of us didn’t have to leave quite so early to watch her dance, so I showered and changed into nicer clothes. After a while, we entered a completely different world.
Sometimes I joked that Adelita’s dance competitions were like a cult. All these little girls flounced around in matching sweat suits, all the moms looked stressed out, and the dads seemed bored out of their skulls. Plus, everything smelled faintly of hair spray, kind of like the church smelled of incense on Christmas and Easter.
But I liked seeing Adelita dance. Even from my seat, I could tell how much she loved it—she put all of herself into the movements, and even during the serious or emotional parts of the routine, there was a small smile on her face.
Dad, Marisol, Mateo and I entered the ballroom filled with chairs and edged our way into the fourth row. SoonAbueloandAbuelitajoined us, thenTioandTiaDe Leon. They didn’t have any kids of their own, but they always supported their nieces and nephews. They’d be at my game next week, cheering me on with a GO DIEGO sign, no matter how much I told them they didn’t have to.
Dad held up his program and said in Spanish, “We still have half an hour until Adelita’s turn.”
Abuelitareached into her purse, pulling out a coin purse and carefully sorting out quarters. “Diego, will you go get us a snack from the vending machine?”
I nodded, used to being volunteered for different tasks. “What would you like.”
She smiled, her dark eyes nearly disappearing. “Surprise me.”
I promised I would and got up, dropping the quarters in my pocket. Upbeat music rang in my ear as I walked back down the aisle into the massive hotel lobby. It took a bit of searching, but eventually I found a vending machine.
