“Yes, sir, I want that championship and I will do my best to bring it,” I assure him.
“You’re dismissed,” he says to me.
I rise and give him a nod and then stalk off.
FORTY-ONE
Liliana
I’m sitting in the family room, watching the Dragons play on my laptop with Nigel beside me. I never really watched hockey games before I came to work for the team, but now I feel invested. Not only because I’ve developed friendships with each of the players but because I’m rooting for Logan. It was messed up when Papa moved him from the first line during the first game. I came close to texting Logan and asking him what was going on, but after Papa agreed to let him play, I didn’t want to jeopardize losing his trust. So I stayed quiet, following the tournament from my laptop, while scoffing at the posts the PR person they hired clearly last minute was posting.
Now it is a semifinal game.
Mama walks into the family room. “How are they doing?”
She used to watch a lot of Papa’s games, but somewhere along the line she stopped rooting for him. Maybe because he stopped rooting for her in ways that counted too.
“Good. They’re playing strong. Logan scored a goal and made two assists and they are at the end of the second period.” Truth is, I am sitting on the edge of my seat. Both Logan and Noah are up to draft this year. They are both front line, Noah being the center and Logan the wingman. I never wanted to learn about hockey until I had to when I came to work for the team, and now I love the game.
“Good, I’m glad,” she says, and she comes to sit with me and Nigel. “I’m almost done packing. I’ll leave Saturday night, if that’s okay?”
Mama had sat Alessa and me down and told us she was leaving Papa and heading out to live in California. It wasn’t a surprise to me or Alessa. I think Mama wanted to wait for Papa to have the talk, but then she realized she’d have to wait until after the tournament was over, and at that point both Alessa and I had to be back in school.
“You don’t want to be here when he gets home,” I reply. The championship game for the tournament is Sunday night. The team will probably head home the next morning, that is if they win today’s game.
Mama shakes her head, looking guilty.
“Don’t feel bad.” I give her hand a squeeze. “You deserve this time for yourself.”
Mama smiles. “What can I say, you inspired me.”
“Me?” I rear my head back.
“You’ve been so brave. I know you were heartbroken and questioning everything there for a while, but you did what you had to do to make yourself feel better, and now you’re stronger and happier than I’ve ever seen you.”
“Thanks, Mama, I’m feeling good. I’m just worried about Logan. I want to be with him, but I also want Papa to accept him.” I worry my lip.
“Your papa is a stubborn man. I hope for your sake he’ll come around,” she says.
“I hope so too,” I reply, just as Noah scores a goal. I jump up from my seat and so does Nigel. We high-five each other while Alessa sits off to the side watching something on her phone.
Logan is listed as assisting the goal and I couldn’t be prouder. After the game, I hang out with Alessa, Nigel, and Mama and we order in some Chinese food. On Saturday, Nigel drives Mama to the airport and she makes us promise we will come out to visit her. It makes me sad Papa didn’t fight to keep her here. That he didn’t promise to do better and be there for her, but it doesn’t surprise me either.
When Nigel gets back from the airport, we all hang out and watch a movie and in the middle I blurt, “I think we should go to Boston tomorrow for the final. I know Papa wanted me to stay away, but they made it this far and I want to be there for Logan. I want to be there to celebrate this win with him, but more than anything, I just want to be with him. I don’t want Papa to push me away anymore. He let Mama walk out the door. I’ll be damned if he gets in the way of me and Logan.”
Alessa looks at Nigel and raises her brows.
“I’m in,” he replies.
I cheer and then I hug my sister.
“I’m in too,” Alessa says. “I’m team Lili and Logan. I have been from the start.”
FORTY-TWO
Liliana
My stomach twists as I enter the Boston arena with Alessa and Nigel. We head down to the locker rooms.
“Should we be bothering him before the game?” I ask my sister.
“We need to talk to him, and you don’t want him to think you’re here behind his back,” Alessa says, and I know she’s right.
“I’ll wait up here,” Nigel says.
We split up and my stomach is turning.
“I feel nauseous,” I say.
“You’ll be fine. You stood up to him about Logan playing. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.” She shrugs.
“Right,” I say, trying to take a slow breath. We head down an elevator and then we are in a tunnel and the locker rooms are close by.
“I’m going to text him that I’m here,” Alessa says. We are obviously not walking into the locker room right before a championship game.
While Alessa sends Papa a text I see Tim. He’s kind of the errand boy for the team. When he sees me, he looks relieved.
“Lili, I’m so glad you made it. I’ve been getting terrible hits on all my posts,” he says looking regretful.
“They made you the PR person for the team?” I ask wide-eyed.
“Trust me, I didn’t want to do it, but Coach couldn’t find anyone last minute and I have basic understanding of the sites,” he explains.
“I’m not here to work, Tim.”
“Seriously? Shit.” He looks completely stressed.
“Sorry,” I say. Tim pinches his lips and walks off.
“Papa is coming out to meet us in a minute,” Alessa says.
My stomach does all kinds of dips and swirls. Papa leaves the locker room with a smile on his face, clearly happy to see Alessa. When he notices me standing off to the side the curves of his lips fall, and he watches me with what I know is disappointment.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Papa scolds, looking at me.
Suddenly I don’t feel nerves eating me from the inside out. I feel a strong sense of disappointment and it’s all aimed at a man I’ve tried to please my entire life. My chest puffs out, my spine straightens, and my chin lifts. “Mama has gone to California,” I retort, as if I didn’t know he wanted to talk about my presence here.
“I know,” he says blandly.
“Does that not bother you? Do you not love her anymore?” I ask. I allow myself to be so bold because I damn well know he does love her. He just has a shit way of showing it.
His eyes narrow and something inside him softens as his tough coach bravado melts away. “You know I love your mother.”
“So how could you let her go?” I ask holding his gaze.
Something in the way he watches me changes.
“I didn’t have much choice. I couldn’t keep her prisoner.” He laughs dryly.
“No, Papa, I mean why didn’t you try to figure things out? Like meet her halfway?” I ask.