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

fact, they’re hardly wearing anything at all, except caps and teensy striped Speedos that look like they can easily be yanked off. And they can be, as evidenced several times in the course of the ensuing game. Victoria doesn’t know where to look, and neither do her friends. “That’s disgusting,” Melanie mutters. “Yuck!” Emily agrees. “Double yuck,” Sophie adds. Another source of relief for Victoria. Maybe she’s not so different from her girlfriends after all.

    When the team comes back to check out from Tía Lola’s B&B, Victoria and Melanie join everyone in the hall to congratulate them on their win. The minute Cohen and his teammates spot Victoria, they turn angrily on her.
    “Thanks a lot,” Cohen spits out. “What a mean, double-crossing …” This time, the coach doesn’t tell him that he’s out of order.
    Victoria’s eyes burn. It’s her turn to mutter: “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin anything.”
    “Well, you did! If we hadn’t won the match, I would’ve wrung—”
    “Out of order, Cohen,” the coach barks. “It was a silly prank but not grounds for murder.”
    “It wasn’t a prank,” Victoria says, sniffling, and struggling to keep tears from spilling. She doesn’t want to cry in front of seven guys, one coach, her sisters, and her new friends. “I just was mad with all these bags in the way. I didn’t mean to break anything. It was just a kick. A little kick.” She demonstrates, a less vigorous version of the original whacks she gave his bag.
    “What are you talking about?” Cohen narrows his eyes, as if he can see right through Victoria. “Don’t try to cover up how you smeared Vaseline all over our equipment.”
    “Smeared Vaseline?” Victoria’s sobs immediately stop. It’s as if Cohen has uttered the magic words that control her tear ducts. This is no time to be a crybaby. She has her defense to mount. “I would
never
do such a mean thing.”
    Cohen’s upper lip curls cynically. He shakes his head. He knows better. “You’ve had this thing against us from the get-go.”
    The colonel steps forward, ready to do battle for the fair Victoria. “How dare you impugn the honor of alady!” he thunders, wagging a finger at the surprised young man. “You owe her an apology.”
    The coach intervenes. “Let me get this straight. None of you put Vaseline all over the gear in our bags?”
    “No one here would do such a thing,” the colonel declares indignantly. “And I can vouch that no one came into this house except those present and their parents, so help me God. And I have proudly worn the uniform of the United States Army for longer than any of you have been around.”
    Tía Lola has been listening keenly to the conversation. Just now when the colonel vouched that no one had come into the house except those present and Víctor and Linda, he was forgetting one other person. The cleaning girl with the same last name as someone who seems to be bent on destroying the reputation of Tía Lola’s B&B. But one thing Tía Lola loves about her new country is how everyone is innocent until proven guilty. She will not blame anyone until she has some evidence. But from now on, she will keep her eyes wide open.
    “I’ve been, like, a total jerk, and I’m sorry.” Cohen is apologizing? “And you know what bugged me most of all? I just couldn’t get my head around how an awesome girl like you would, like, do such a crappy thing.”
    “Language,” the coach barks. “You’re talking to a lady.”
    A lady, an awesome girl. Oh my goodness! Victoria feels a thrilling rush. If she were to go back to that candle stub, this moment is all she would wish for.
    By evening, the team has left with many thanks to Tía Lola and her hardworking crew. Even though the mysteryof the Vaseline prank is still unsolved, the coach assures Tía Lola that he’ll be recommending her B&B to all his colleagues and friends.
    The house is quiet again. Victoria and her sisters strip the