Aced (Blocked #2)

by Jennifer Lane

  I shook my head. I’d been too wrapped up in my own drama to follow the fate of the Cleveland Indians’ star pitcher in the off-season.

  “He threw ninety-nine yesterday.” He smiled, and I couldn’t help but join him. “Looks like the Tommy John surgery worked.”

  My mouth returned to its firm line. I knew one pitcher who hadn’t recovered from elbow surgery. I wondered what Alex was doing in Baltimore. Probably studying—something I needed to do as well.

  “Happy birthday to you…” Nana’s vibrato echoed as she entered, and the three men joined her singing. At first I noticed the lively sparkle in her brown eyes as they reflected the candlelight, but then I got a good look at the cake she held, and my jaw dropped. The base of the cake had white fondant with polka dots in maroon and gold—my school colors—but what really grabbed my attention was the volleyball perched on top. It was made out of cake? Instead of Tachikara printed on the face of the ball, she’d carefully drawn M A D D I E, and little maroon and gold stars extended up from the cake like a halo.

  How on earth had she created this masterpiece? I felt a lump in my throat. She’d known how much I needed a pick-me-up after the “dumbass” dropped me. My nose burned, and I fought off tears as my family finished singing. I was so sick of crying.

  What if I don’t make the national team after she baked me a cake like this? The anxious thought squelched my tears in an instant.

  “How’d you make this, Nana?” I was grateful my voice didn’t tremble.

  She offered a smug smile. “Had a little help from my friends.”

  Nana’s church friend owned a bakery. Braxton and I had benefitted from that friendship over the years with an endless supply of cookies and cakes, though I’d never seen a cake this gorgeous.

  “But I did most of it myself.” She nodded with satisfaction.

  “It’s so beautiful.” I placed my hand over my heart. “I don’t want to eat it.”

  “I do,” Braxton said. “Get a move on. Make a wish and blow out your candles.”

  I scowled at him.

  “Go ahead, Maddie.” Dad nodded. “Make a wish.”

  What would I wish for? For three weeks, my biggest wish had been to get Jaylon back. But Nina had stomped on that dream, crushing it with her perfectly painted toes. Maybe I could wish for a spot on the national team? No, I would earn that through hard work—not some magical wish. My throat tightened when I realized what I really wished: I want my mom to return.

  Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her? I’d successfully suppressed Mom from my dreams for twenty years, but now she haunted me, and she didn’t deserve a place in my mind or heart. Yet the hollow feeling she’d left burned inside of me like the candles flickering before my eyes.

  A sob squeezed my throat, and before tears emerged, I blew out the candles. The cake looked even more spectacular up close, where I could see the careful black lines of icing drawn on the volleyball.

  Gramps shook his head. “Neliah, when on earth did you have time to make that?”

  “The perks of retirement,” Nana said. “You should try it sometime, old man.”

  Gramps groaned. He was an administrator at the Cleveland Clinic, a renowned hospital where Nana had also worked as a nurse, and he’d refused to retire when she had a few years ago. He claimed he loved his work, but secretly I wondered if he was socking money away for my medical school tuition. What if I don’t get into med school after his sacrifice? Nana’s delicious dinner roiled in my stomach.

  I watched Dad look longingly toward the family room. Like me, he probably wanted to avoid hearing the argument about Gramps’s retirement again. But that’s what he got for living with his parents at age fifty. He’d brought us here after Mom left, and never moved out on his own.

  Another birthday Mom’s missing. The thought popped into my head unbidden, and I clenched my teeth.

  “My boys are waiting for me,” Braxton said as he typed a text. “Are we gonna cut this cake, or what?”

  “I thought you said you have to study for your doctoral exams,” Dad said.

  Braxton scoffed. “I’ve been doing that for four years.”

  “Wait!” I sat up in my chair. “I want to Instagram this cake first.” I retrieved my phone from my backpack in the family room and noticed a text from Lucia, but I would read it later when my family wasn’t waiting on me. “Too bad I missed a shot when the candles were lit.” I crouched to snap the perfect picture.

  “We can light them again?” Nana said.

  Braxton growled.

  “Just who are these ‘boys’?” Dad asked him.

  “You know, the brotherhood. We’re organizing a protest at the police station later.”

  “You’re wasting your time, Braxton.” Gramps shook his head. “The police don’t hurt us; they help us.”

  “Cops are pigs, Babu. Just because you’re BFFs with the head of hospital security—”

  “Dan Givens is a good man!”

  Braxton ignored Gramps. “Doesn’t mean I have to sit back and watch my innocent brothers get shot simply for being black.”

  I exchanged a tense glance with Nana and Dad—an unspoken agreement to stay out of it, knowing Braxton wouldn’t shut up until he’d rammed his point into the ground. Nana took the knife and cut a big slice for me. As Braxton and Gramps continued arguing, I wondered what Alejandro would think of this discussion. He’d probably be just as heated as Brax, but I bet he’d be on Gramps’s side. Alejandro seemed to like authority.

  Feeling the weight of my phone in my hand, I opened Lucia’s text.

  Happy Birthday, amiga! Glad you got to go home. Cheesecake Factory when you get back—our treat!

  The mention of my favorite restaurant actually drew out a smile. I couldn’t wait to see how much Dane would eat.

  “Braxton.” Nana’s eyebrows lowered. “At least tell me you’re going to church with us tomorrow.”

  He didn’t look up from his phone.

  A little while later, after Braxton’s friend picked him up, I left Dad and Gramps in the family room watching a Cavaliers game. Nana loaded the dishwasher in the kitchen. I came up behind her and squeezed her shoulders. “Thanks for making my birthday special.”

  She nodded but kept her head down, her silence very unlike her.

  “Hey.” I came to her side and noticed her eyes tighten the way they did when she was angry. “What’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “Just mad about something.”

  “Am I in trouble?”

  Her frown cleared. “Not at all. You’re doing so well at Highbanks.” She closed the dishwasher. “Your grandfather and I are proud of you.” But then her eyes narrowed.

  “Okay, so what’s making you mad? Are you angry at Braxton for protesting at the police station?”

  “I’m more worried than angry. But he has to do what his conscience tells him.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Tell me what’s upsetting you, then.”

  Her voice took on an edge. “Would you bring the butter plate in from the dining room?” She washed her hands.

  “Nana.” I frowned.

  “Did you like your cake?”

  “Best cake I’ve ever had.” I steered her to the kitchen table and guided her into a chair. “Stop avoiding my questions. What’s wrong?”

  She looked down at her hands and twisted her wedding ring. “I’m just so furious…” She sighed. “I’m angry your mother’s missing all this. I wish she was here to see you.”

  I tried to inhale, but couldn’t get a breath.

  “To see how beautiful and accomplished you are,” she added. My devastation must have shown on my face, because her eyes looked sad. “Oh, Maddie…”

  She reached to touch my face, but I scrambled from the table and bolted up the stairs to my tiny childhood bedroom. The bed consumed most of the floor space, and I collapsed back into it, grabbing my stuffed koala bear and hugging him to my chest.

  Why had I badgered Nana into tellin
g me? As if I wasn’t already thinking about my mother nonstop. Even Kiwi Koala reminded me of Mom—he was the one stuffed animal she’d given me, long ago. I stroked his ratty fur as I considered burying him in the backyard for the hundredth time. I could stuff him deep in the ground and never think about him again.

  But I knew I’d never let go of my bear. Just like I couldn’t let go of Mom.

  Nana’s anger must have rubbed off on me because I was snorting fire at volleyball practice two days later. I wasn’t sure why I was mad instead of sad, but I did know it was awesome not to feel on the verge of crying. Had I ever felt this irritable before? Oh, yeah. At our last regular-season home match in October, I’d been ready to kill someone when Bridgetown blockers had stuffed every hit back into my face. No kills for me that day. After the match, Lucia had told me Nina was to blame for Bridgetown blockers being all over me. She’d refused to set Lucia in retaliation for Dane choosing Lucia over her.

  Well, that situation felt familiar. The woman Jaylon had chosen over me now came across the court to join me behind the serving line. I studied Nina’s blond hair and tanned skin but said nothing. We hadn’t spoken to each other all practice long. My hands itched to scoop up her Barbie body and slam it into the rolling ball cart, just like Jaylon did when he took down an opponent.

  “What’re you looking at?” Nina huffed.

  I spoke under my breath. “Skanky ho.”

  She did a double take. “What’d you say?”

  “Gotta keep these serves low.” I smiled at her.

  My smile must have looked as evil as I felt because she gave me a wide berth as she circled around the ball cart.

  “Ladies!” Coach said. “Might we expect a serve today?”

  “You got it, Coach.” I glanced at my assistant coach, Kara, who held up a clipboard with the number five written on it, indicating the area of the court to aim for. Easy enough, I thought. I looked across the net to find Lynette crouched in the back right corner, where I wanted my topspin jump serve to land. In front of Lynette, Lucia stood at the net, her eyes darting back and forth between Nina and me.

  Don’t worry, Rez. I’ll show that ho what a real serve looks like. I tossed the ball in the air, executed my approach, then leaped. But my hand snapped through the ball too high in its trajectory, and the serve soared. Kaitlyn bellowed, “Out!” and Lynette wisely let it go as the ball landed far out of bounds.

  Shit. My jaw clenched.

  “Way to keep it low,” Nina cooed.

  What a bitch. Acid churned my stomach.

  Nina stepped up to serve next, but Coach said, “I want another from Madison.”

  Nina pouted as she moved to the side.

  This time it was the number four on Kara’s clipboard, and my nerves jangled. Serving toward Lucia in the front row was more challenging. Picture Nina’s hideous face on the ball. This time my toss wasn’t high enough, and it didn’t surprise me when the ball zoomed into the net.

  Nina snickered. “Not that low, Maddie.”

  “You know all about getting low, don’t you, Nina? Like, on your knees?”

  Her eyes narrowed. Evidently I said that louder than I’d intended, because Coach snapped, “Hey! Do we have a problem here?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “No,” Nina countered. “Can I serve, Coach? That way the team can actually play.” She smiled at me, and I wanted to punch her. She scooped a ball from the cart but Coach interrupted.

  “Madison’s serving.”

  Nina exhaled as she smacked the ball back into the cart. But my thrill at her comeuppance lasted only seconds as the reality of my situation set in. I knew Coach was giving me one of his little tests to see what I was made of. Testing my mental toughness. Could I serve the ball in play after two errors in a row?

  I heard a noise in the stands and gripped the ball tighter when I saw who’d just walked in: Alejandro! What was he doing here? Damn, he looked hot, with dark jeans and a navy suit jacket over a white shirt. He and his agents went to sit with Frank and Allison, and the butterflies in my stomach batted their wings like hummingbirds on amphetamine.

  I looked at Lucia, who seemed equally surprised by her brother’s entrance. Then she looked back at me. “Don’t forget your pre-serve routine, Maddie. You didn’t do it before the last two.”

  Air left my lungs in a whoosh. Hot damn—she was right!

  Nina snickered again. “How could you forget something so basic?”

  I’d let her get into my head. She’d thrown me off my game. Ho-bag bitch. I glared at her. She’d stolen my boyfriend, but I wouldn’t let her steal my game, too. I took a deep breath.

  I looked at Kara’s clipboard, but instead of a number, she’d written Anywhere you want. God love my assistant coach; she was trying to help me.

  Bounce, bounce, bounce went the ball, and I told myself, Steady toss. Then I launched the ball in the air with a prayer. I followed through with a strong swing, and exhaled as I watched the serve travel in bounds. The ball made a beeline for Kaitlyn, who passed it in a perfect arch to Murphy, who set it to Lucia. With no blockers to stop her, Rez slammed the ball cross-court.

  “Good job, guys,” I called across the net.

  Nina arched a sculpted eyebrow. “Monkeys could’ve scored off that easy serve.”

  “Fuck. You.”

  “Madison!” Coach yelled, and I gulped.

  Nina shook her head. “Classy. I have no idea why they invited you to the camp.”

  She was still ticked off that USA Volleyball hadn’t invited her to the national team selection camp in April. At least I had that over her.

  Lucia ducked under the net and marched toward us. “Maddie got invited because she’s a top-three hitter in the NCAA.” She glared at Nina. “Despite having you as her setter.”

  “Lucia, get your ass back over here,” Coach commanded, but she stayed put.

  Though I adored Lucia for going to bat for me, she should’ve known it would draw Nina’s wrath.

  “Easy, big girl.” Nina spoke so quietly that I prayed Lucia hadn’t heard her, but her flinch backward told me otherwise. Rez’s face crumpled.

  My heart and mind competed to see which could race faster, and I stalked toward Nina with the intent to put her on the ground. Her fake tan paled as I neared, and her eyes widened.

  I heard Coach yell, “Madison, you’re done. Get out of my gym!” but it didn’t stop me. I just wanted to hurt Nina. But when Alejandro shouted too, I stopped.

  “What the hell kind of program are you running?”

  I spun around to see Alejandro lean over the railing, pointing at Coach, his face red. “You’re throwing Maddie out of practice? Do you have any idea what Nina did to her?”

  I whirled to find Lucia. She’d told him about Nina and Jaylon? Her eyes were glued on her brother as she stood there with her mouth agape.

  Coach frowned. “You’re Lucia’s brother, right? Who let you in here?”

  “I have every right to protect my sister from the likes of you!” Alejandro emphasized the last word by thrusting his pointed finger again. Brad hovered behind him, shifting from one foot to another. The other three agents looked equally unsure of how to handle the situation. How could they protect the protectee from himself?

  “You need to leave.” Coach shook his head. “My practices are closed.”

  “So no one can witness your intimidation, ¿sí?”

  Coach glared at his assistant. “Brian, get him out of here.”

  Brian nodded and jogged toward one end of the court, where a ramp led up to the stands. But Alejandro didn’t appear to be finished.

  “I don’t know how your teams win with you bullying them at every turn.”

  “Out of here!” Coach pointed to the door.

  “You think you’re such a big man, Holter.”

  “Ay, Dios mío,” Lucia cried softly.

  Coach yelled something back at Alejandro, but Kara’s appearance by my side distracted me from hearing it. “Hey, Mad
die.” She cradled my elbow. “Coach asked you to leave. How ’bout you go now? Let Coach cool down a bit?”

  I gasped. “Am I kicked off the team? But how will I train for camp?”

  “I’m sure you’re not kicked off forever,” she said. I started breathing again. “But for now he’s about to blow, and I don’t want you here when he does.”

  I glanced at Nina to make sure she wouldn’t gloat about my departure, but she was absorbed in the Coach-Alejandro soap opera like everyone else on the team. I looked back at Kara. “Okay, I’ll go.” As I walked on unsteady legs to the locker room, Lucia joined me.

  “Oh my God. Alex has lost it.”

  I looked up as Alejandro’s agents pushed him to the exit with Brian trailing behind. He kept yelling at Coach but had shifted to Spanish.

  “Wow, your brother’s awesome. He’s really letting Coach have it.”

  “Good thing Coach doesn’t speak Spanish. But I’m a dead woman. I bet Coach will boot me out next.”

  “Don’t you get ejected on my behalf.”

  She clutched my arm. “I can’t believe he’s making you leave instead of Nina. Why didn’t you cry? You told me Coach freaks out when we cry. It would’ve stopped him in his tracks, and he probably would’ve let you stay at practice.”

  “I think I’m all cried out, Rez.” I frowned. “By the way, don’t let Nina get to you. She wishes she could be as strong as you. And she’s still jealous about Dane.”

  Abruptly, Rez giggled. “Dane will be so mad he missed this!”

  “Lucia!” Coach barked.

  She jumped, then sprinted back to the court.

  As I headed to the locker room, I noticed Tina standing by a wall with her arms folded across her chest. Uh-oh. I knew that appraising look; she’d obviously witnessed my meltdown. Her index finger curled toward her chest. Could I ignore her? I sighed. I knew she would hunt me down if I didn’t talk to her now. I changed course to follow her into the training room.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked.

  The adrenaline from the altercation began to fade, replaced by shock. I just got kicked out of practice the first time in my life. My serves have never sucked so bad. I told a teammate to fuck off, and then I almost punched her. Fatigue weighed down my shoulders. “I’m—”