Page 27 of The Long Game

I looked up from that blue pop-up window that was sending waves of dread up and down my body, finding one of the kids. “María Camila Vasquez, right? You brought me the ice yesterday.” Ice that hadn’t stopped a section of skin from turning dark—just for a few days, Grandpa Moe had said—and had led me to cover my face in makeup this morning. Just like Cameron had predicted. Ugh.

María seemed a little confused for a second, so I pulled the roster out of the stack of files Josie had handed to me yesterday and thatI had spent all morning studying. There was information about the Six Hills Little League—named that way because the best teams of six adjacent counties took part—a game schedule, tentative dates for the teams that made it to playoffs, and the pièce de résistance: the reason why the Green Warriors had qualified. They were the only U10 soccer team in this county.

I scanned the printed list. “Yes,” I said, checking the photo of the nine-year-old and glancing up at her. “María Camila Vasquez. You look a little younger in the roster, but it has to be you.”

“Just María is okay,” she declared, her cheeks turning pink. “Nobody calls me María Camila anymore. Except for my dad maybe. And that’s only when he’s really angry at me because I sneaked out to play with Brandy instead of doing my chores. He doesn’t care that Brandy is lonely, and that’s why I sneak out to see her.” I opened my mouth but found I had nothing to say, which María took as an invitation to continue. “She kinda reminds me of Dad sometimes. I think they could be friends, but Dad is always so busy with the farm that he has no time to play with anyone. Not even me.” Something seemed to occur to her. “I could bring her over if you want to meet her.”

I blinked at her for a second. “Oh… Hmm. Is Brandy your friend?” I eyed the roster again. “I guess… I guess she could try out for the team if she wants, but I’d need to check the U10 guidelines to see how many players the team can have on the roster. How old is she?”

“About…” She stuck out her hands and counted on fingers. “Six…?”

“She might be too young to try.” I started shifting through the stack Josie had given me. “I must have the regulation somewhere. Hold on. Chelsea is seven, anyway. So maybe…”

“She’s big for her age, though. When you compare her to any of the other goats.”

My hands came to a halt. “Goats?”

“Brandy’s a goat.” María grinned. “She’s also blind. And suffers from anxiety.” A pause. “Hmm, maybe she’s five months old and not six. I’m not sure now.”

God. It took me a moment to gather myself because, how had I gotten here? To the point where I was telling a kid her anxious six- or five-month-old blind goat couldn’t apply to the soccer team?

I set down the stack of papers. “I think there’s no place for Brandy in the Green Warriors. Unfortunately.”

María nodded, nothing but understanding behind her eyes and that smile pointed at me. In silence. For a very long time.

I cleared my throat. “So… Did you want something?”

“Ah, yes.” Her expression brightened. “Everyone’s scared of you, so they sent me here as representative of the team.”

Shock and dread flashed through me.

Scared. The kids were scared of me. I pushed aside how that made me feel. “Well, that’s understandable. Not everyone likes strangers and that video wasn’t the best introduction.”

“I like you, though,” she countered. “I think you’re pretty and I love your clothes. And I don’t think you have a resting witch face, like the rest do.”

I started to scoff but covered it with a cough. “That’s very kind of you, thank you, María.”

“You’re welcome.” María nodded, her smile splitting even wider. “I also think that we don’t really need Mr. Camelback.”

That time I couldn’t muffle my reaction. I snorted.Mr. Camelback. “And why is that?”

“Because you should coach us. Just like I said yesterday. Have you thought about it?”

“Oh.” My shoulders tensed. “No, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll look for a new coach, though.” Josie had said nobody was particularly excited about soccer but there had to be someone in this town who could coach a group of children. I’d do the rest. I’d start with the parents coming to pick up the girls later today. Some had given me a few skeptical glances at drop-off, when they’d discovered Cameron wasn’t around, but Josie had been here to appease them.

“I think it’s the best idea ever,” María insisted. “It won’t be hard for you. Chelsea and I googled you and you work for, like, a real team. Our last coach was Grandpa Moe, and I’m sure you’ll be muchbetter at it than him. He’s fun, but one time he called a corner kick a touchdown when Juniper sent the ball off the field.”

I chewed on that information. No wonder Josie had been so keen on recruiting Cameron. “Is that what the team sent you to ask me?”

“Oh no, they sent me to talk to you about the plan to get Mr. Camomile back, but I think we should boycott the plan and do our own thing. We’ll be… a two-person team. Like Wednesday and Thing. Oh, can I be Wednesday?”

I… “What?”

María’s mouth opened but my phone rang.

“Hold on, this could be Miami.” I fished the device out of my purse and saw my father’s name on the screen. My father never called. Hope flickered in my chest. Maybe they’d realized I was needed in the office. Maybe I wasn’t all that disposable. “María, how about you go back to the girls and do some warm-up drills while I get this? Maybe… make a line with some cones and try to jog the ball between them? I’ll be watching from here.”

She turned around with a cheery “Okay!” and dashed back to the group that had gathered in the middle of the field.

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