Free How Tía Lola Ended Up Starting Over by Julia Álvarez Page A

military museum across the lake at Fort Ticonderoga. “You’ll learn a lot of American historyand stuff there. Really,” she adds because the guy is looking at her like she just dropped in from outer space.
    He snorts and looks over at his friends, who snort back. They sound like a bunch of hogs. “You got to be kidding,” he says at last.
    “Victoria is absolutely right,” her father chimes in. He is surprised by his eldest’s recommendation, as Victoria has never shown a particular liking for history. But now that she’s almost thirteen, her tastes are maturing, no doubt. “It’s well worth your while.”
    Hog Cohen snorts again. “I’d rather make history than learn about it, you know?” He grins at Victoria, watching for her reaction. It’s as if he gets a real kick out of embarrassing her.
    The team takes off, leaving their duffel bags of equipment in the front hall where they dropped them off after last night’s practice. Victoria has to navigate her way through that obstacle course as she heads for the parlor to keep her promise and read to the colonel. She trips over a bulky bag sticking out from the others—probably Cohen’s. Victoria can’t help herself. She whacks it with her foot, once, twice, six, seven times. And one more for good measure. She had no idea guys could be so rude and in your face. If this is what she’d be dating, Victoria will gladly wait till middle age.

    Melanie, along with two other friends, Sophie and Emily, drop by just as the water polo team is returning to pick up their gear. Cohen invites the girls to come watch the game. “Just as long as you cheer for us, deal?”
    The girls giggle assent. Honestly. Victoria is feeling increasingly frustrated with her silly friends. All they seem to think about is boys. If this is what dating does to the human brain, who needs it?
    Victoria would just as soon pass on going to the game, but Papa is off coaching, and so she has to babysit her sisters, who’ve also been invited to the game. Essie would have a major meltdown if Victoria proposed staying at home instead. Besides, Tía Lola is coming along with Juanita and Miguel, which should make it fun. And most importantly, the colonel is eager to go. It’ll do him good to be out and about.
    “I’d have you know the last water polo game I watched was the famous Blood in the Water match,” the colonel informs the team. “Summer Olympics, 1956, Hungarians against the Soviets.” The colonel goes on to describe the historic game. Amazingly, the young teammates are hanging on his every word. Even Cohen is listening. Certain kinds of history must be okay to learn about. Victoria can’t help noticing the absorbed, almost sweet expression on the team captain’s face. Maybe when he finally grows up, Cohen will turn into a nice human being whom Victoria might consider dating.

    It’s time for the game to start. The home team has already been out swimming laps for a good fifteen minutes. Her friends are gossiping away, so they don’t seem to notice the delay, but Victoria is growing restless. Where is the visiting team?
    Finally their coach comes out and confers with thehome coach, who shakes his head and accompanies him into the locker room. He comes back out and makes an announcement. The visiting team will need another fifteen minutes. There is some problem with their equipment.
    Of course, the first thing that comes into Victoria’s mind is that series of walloping kicks she delivered to the clunky sports bag. What if she broke some critical piece of equipment? She feels awful. She’ll have to fess up. Victoria wouldn’t sink so low as to do something wrong and then be a sneak about it. But this is just the kind of ammunition she does not want to give a guy like Cohen.
    When the visiting team finally trots out of the locker room, Victoria is so relieved, she stands up and screams right along with her friends. Thank goodness, nobody’s wearing something broken and patched up. In