The Do-Over, page 6
“Maybe a profile, or a day-in-the-life story,” Raquel said, nodding. “That sounds great. You should definitely write that. And the pet one, too. Write whatever you want.”
Whatever he wanted? Lucinda was convinced now: There was something Raquel wasn’t telling her. She hadn’t even looked at the schedule.
Daisy spoke up next. “So, I know this is kind of off-topic, but I just have to know: What’s going on at your dad’s house? Have you gotten your parents back together yet?”
A flurry of messages flooded the chat box.
I was wondering the same thing.
Me too!
Yeah, what’s going on?
“Actually,” Raquel said, “that’s why I called this emergency meeting. We need your help.”
Lucinda yanked away the laptop. She switched off the microphone and the camera. “What are you doing?” she asked, glancing at the bedroom door to make sure it was shut tight.
Raquel yanked the laptop back. “We obviously can’t do this alone. You saw what happened this morning.”
She got back on-screen and told the club everything. About Sylvia, about Juliette, about that morning’s fiasco at the farm stand.
Finally, she picked up a notebook and pen. “We only have a few days until Juliette is out of quarantine. Maybe less than that. I need your best ideas for getting rid of Sylvia once and for all. Who wants to go first?”
Daisy’s hand shot up like a rocket. “I was hoping you would ask!” she squealed. “Okay, I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I have the best idea. You have to re-create your parents’ first date. It’ll remind them of why they fell in love in the first place. Totally romantic.”
Lucinda was skeptical. And slightly worried. “Our parents met in college,” she said. “It probably wasn’t that romantic. And anyway, we’re not trying to get them back together, just bring them closer, right, Kel?”
“Sure,” Raquel answered. She passed the computer back to Lucinda and started writing in her notebook. “But there’s nothing wrong with reminiscing, is there? That’s a great idea, Daisy. I’m jotting it down. Next?”
Charlie Lam, who used to be captain of the speech and debate team, raised his hand. “What if you get Sylvia up early some morning and make her spend the whole day with you, doing farm chores? Really hard ones that’ll make her so miserable she wants to leave. Like cleaning out the pig sties or something?”
Raquel tapped her pen against her teeth. “No pigs,” she said. “And anyway, she actually seems to like it here.”
Olivia Lozano hadn’t said anything during the whole meeting. Lucinda wasn’t sure she was even still connected. Her internet was always cutting in and out during class. But then she asked, “Is there anything your mom is really good at? Something she can do better than Sylvia?”
Lucinda and Raquel looked at each other. “Not cook,” Lucinda admitted. “Sylvia’s paella was pretty incredible.”
Raquel’s eyes lit up. “I have it!” she said. “It’s perfect. A haircut.”
As soon as the meeting ended, Lucinda began winding her hair into a tight bun.
“No way,” she said, snapping a scrunchie around it. “Mom just cut my hair, and after the morning we had with Dad, she’s going to want to do something creative if she gets her hands on our heads. Plus, it’s your turn.”
She climbed down from the top bunk, riffled through her bags for a sweatshirt, and zipped it to her chin, pulling up the hood for extra protection.
Raquel closed the laptop. She sometimes wished she didn’t have to stop and explain absolutely everything. Especially when there was so little time to waste.
“Just calm down. Mom’s not going to cut your hair,” she said, trying to hide her impatience. “She’s going to cut Dad’s. Let’s go.” Not only would giving a haircut help Mom slow down and collect her thoughts, it would force her and Dad to spend the quiet time together—close together—that they’d been too cranky for that morning.
She jumped off the bed and headed for the bedroom door.
“Now?” Lu asked.
“The sooner, the better,” Raquel said. She strode into the hallway. Sure, Raquel and Lu would have more time to prepare if they waited a few days. But Sylvia and Juliette might be back in the house by then. Mom might be packing up for Los Angeles. They could lose their chance.
“They’re never going to go for it,” Lu whispered, right at her heels. Crybaby trotted along after them.
Raquel paused at the doorway at the end of the hall. Mom was at the kitchen table humming to herself and tracing rectangles onto scraps of fabric. “Leave this to me,” Raquel whispered back.
She sat down across from Mom. “What are you working on?”
Mom glanced up and lifted her reading glasses to her forehead. “Face masks,” she said. “I found these vintage tea towels of your abuela’s in one of the cupboards. Don’t you just love the patterns? Your dad said he didn’t need them anymore, so I thought I’d try to do something else with them. Would you like to help?”
Raquel grimaced. “No, thanks.” Even if she’d wanted to, she couldn’t let herself get sucked into one of Mom’s projects. She needed to stay alert so that when the right moment came, she could pounce on it. The way Crybaby stalked spiders around their apartment back home.
“I’ll help!” Lu said eagerly.
“Thank you, Lucinda,” Mom said. “I’ll trace, you cut.” She handed Lu her crafting scissors and a piece of fabric with a pattern of cherries and tiny blue daisies printed on it.
At least this way Lu’s hands would be busy and she wouldn’t start chewing her thumbnail the way she always did when she got nervous. Mom would definitely know they were up to something. For someone who liked to fling herself onto a sheet of ice, balanced on what were basically knife blades, Raquel’s sister could be surprisingly cautious.
Raquel picked up the roll of elastic that Mom was using to make ear loops and stretched it. “Where’s Dad? Shouldn’t he be back by now?” He had gone to the vegetable garden after lunch, planning to pick snap peas to take to the farm stand the next day.
Mom unfolded another tea towel, this one covered in bumblebees, and smoothed it out in front of her. “You can go out and look for him,” she said without looking up. “But my guess is he’ll be back any minute … And stop stretching that elastic, you’ll wear it out.”
Raquel dropped the elastic. She got up and wandered into the living room, then sank to the carpet to work on a puzzle someone had started on the coffee table. Now that she had a plan, the waiting was unbearable. Crybaby strolled over from the kitchen table and nuzzled against her knee.
Raquel patted him lazily with one hand and, with the other, picked up a piece of what looked like a tree. Then the back door swung open.
“You’re back!” Raquel jumped from the floor, scattering the puzzle pieces. Crybaby darted away with a sulky howl.
“It’s nice to see you, too.” Dad grinned as he pulled off his boots.
Raquel followed him into the kitchen, where he opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. “How was the garden?” she asked.
Dad twisted off the cap and took a long drink. “The snap peas look good,” he said. “Cauliflower, too.” Then he leaned in. “And don’t tell your smart mom, but I went back to check on the farm stand, every single one of those bouquets of hers sold.”
“Heard that,” Mom said, still working at the kitchen table. “You’re welcome.”
Raquel snuck a glance at Lu to make sure she had heard. Lu smiled back. They were already getting along better, and it had only taken one day without Sylvia. Then, finally, Dad took off his baseball cap and ran a hand through his hair. This was it. Time to act.
“Whoa, Dad, your hair has gotten really long,” Raquel said. “When was the last time you cut it?”
He jammed his hat back on. “Hey, take it easy,” he said. “Everyone’s hair is long right now. It’s the trend. Lockdown style. You don’t think it looks good?”
Mom looked up from her sewing and smirked.
“What about you, Lucinda?” he asked. “You’ll stick up for me, right?”
Lu put down the scissors and looked up at Dad. She started to bring her thumbnail to her mouth, then snatched it back down again.
Come on, Lu, you can do this, Raquel thought, wishing twin telepathy were a real thing.
After a long pause, Lu tilted her head. “It doesn’t look that bad,” she said, keeping her eyes on the floor.
What was she doing? Raquel thought. “I bet Mom could cut it for you!” she almost shouted.
“Uf! Not that bad?” Dad pressed his hand over his chest as though they had wounded him. “I guess that settles it. But your mom is too busy to give me a haircut. I’ll just have to cut it myself.”
Raquel knew right then it had worked. Even Lu could hardly contain a smile. Dad had said the magic words.
Mom coughed as if she had swallowed a bug. “You certainly will not just do it yourself.” She stood and dusted bits of thread off her lap. “Kel, go find a comb. I’ll be right back with my shears.” Then she stomped down the hall, muttering to herself, “Everyone thinks they can just cut their own hair. Like it’s so easy. I’ll tell you what’s not easy: having to look at a terrible DIY haircut every day.”
Raquel grabbed Lu’s wrist on her way to the bathroom.
“It’s working!” she whispered, her voice raising to a squeal.
“Yeah,” Lu agreed. “I kind of … can’t believe it.”
Raquel pulled open one drawer and then another, looking for a comb. Finally, she found one and set it on the counter. “There’s just one other thing.”
“Another thing?” Lu asked. “Isn’t this enough?”
“Of course not. Now we have to text Juliette,” she said. “Give me your phone.”
“What for?” Lu asked, but instinctively, she handed it over.
Raquel started typing. “We’ve got to get her to send Sylvia over. Right now.”
Lu tried to grab the phone back, but Raquel pulled it out of reach.
“Kel, what are you doing? If Sylvia comes over now, she’ll see what’s going on.”
“Exactly.” Raquel pressed Send and tossed the phone back.
Mom draped an old towel over Dad’s shoulders and started to snip as Lucinda and Raquel watched from the kitchen table.
“Has Juliette replied yet?” Raquel whispered. “Is her mom coming?”
“Juliette said she’d try.” She paused. “But, Raquel, I’m wondering if we should call it off. What if—”
“Just trust me for once.”
Lucinda wanted to trust Raquel. But she couldn’t stop worrying about what might happen if—when?—Sylvia showed up. Would she be angry and jealous? Or sad and betrayed? Lucinda wasn’t sure which was worse.
But then she followed Raquel’s gaze to the kitchen. Mom’s face was focused but calm. Dad sat up straight, his eyes closed and his shoulders relaxed. Maybe it was worth it.
Slowly, without their parents noticing, Raquel lifted her phone and snapped a picture.
The knock on the back door window startled them all.
“Gah!” Lucinda jumped out of her chair and nearly knocked a picture frame off the wall behind her. “It’s Sylvia!” She pointed at the door. Sylvia was on the other side of the door, smiling and waving.
“Calm down,” Raquel said through clenched teeth.
Dad started to get up, but Mom was still holding a piece of his hair. “Wait, hang on!” she said. “I’ll be right there. Let me just find a mask.”
Raquel stood. “That’s okay, I’ll get it.” She grabbed one of Mom’s homemade masks off the table and put it on, then walked across the kitchen and swept open the door. “Oh, hey, Sylvia! We didn’t see you there. Dad’s a little busy right now. Mom is giving him a haircut.”
Sylvia took a step back from the doorway. Lucinda’s heart began to thump.
But if Sylvia was angry or upset—or even just slightly annoyed—she didn’t show it.
“I can see that” was all she said, her smile never wavering.
“So … did you need something?” Raquel asked. “Otherwise, we should probably close the door so Crybaby doesn’t escape.” He was sniffing curiously at Sylvia’s toes.
“Actually, Jules sent me over,” Sylvia said. She looked past Raquel at Lucinda. “She said you had something for her. Something important?”
“Oh!” Lucinda had been so nervous she’d almost forgotten. “Right! I’ll go get it.” She was grateful for a reason to leave the room. At the same time, though she didn’t want to miss anything. As she dashed down the hall, she strained to hear what was happening. Mom asked if Juliette was feeling any better, and Sylvia answered that she seemed tired but fine.
Lucinda returned, panting, a minute later, her resistance band looped over her shoulder.
“What’s this?” Sylvia asked. She reached out for the band without stepping inside the house.
“I use it for core strength and balance mainly,” Lucinda explained, stretching her arm to give it to her. “But Juliette can probably find some different exercises online. I just thought she might want to borrow it since she can’t go out running right now.”
Raquel glanced up from her phone with a questioning look.
What? Lucinda mouthed back. It had been the best excuse she could come up with to get Sylvia over to the house. She was proud of her quick thinking, to be honest.
“That is so kind of you,” Sylvia said. “I’m sure Jules will appreciate it.”
Lucinda looked at her feet. “I just know how much I hate to miss a workout.”
Sylvia didn’t reply. She was watching Mom now, studying her as she checked to make sure Dad’s sideburns were even.
“I wonder …” Sylvia started to say. Lucinda couldn’t tell at first whether she was talking to herself or to the rest of them.
“Andrea, I wonder if you’ve ever thought about making a tutorial,” Sylvia said again, a little louder. “A video, I mean. To show people how to cut their own hair. Or … maybe their family’s hair? How to do it at home, I mean, now that all the salons are closed.”
Lucinda recognized the eager glint in her eye, the same look Raquel had whenever she was excited about a new idea.
Mom threw her head back and laughed. “Me? I don’t think so.” She whipped the towel off Dad’s shoulders like a magician revealing a transformation. That had always been Lucinda’s favorite part of watching Mom work. The before and after. “No one wants to see that.”
“Are you kidding?” Sylvia said. “People would love it. I could produce it. Raquel might even have some footage we can use.”
Raquel’s phone fell with a thwack on the tabletop. They all turned toward her.
“Were you filming this, Kel?” Dad asked as he brushed bits of hair off his neck. “What for?”
Pink blotches spread over Raquel’s cheeks. “Oh … just a … project for school,” she sputtered.
Sylvia’s face brightened. “Maybe we can work on it together! I’d love to help.”
“Maybe,” Raquel mumbled.
Sylvia took another step away from the doorway, starting to leave. “I better get back to Jules,” she said. “Thanks again, Lucinda. And, Andrea, think about that video!”
“We’ll see,” Mom said. She reached into the pantry for the broom. “I’ll have the girls bring over some dinner later anyway.”
Dad stood in the doorway. He pressed his hand over his heart. Sylvia put a hand over hers before waving and setting out for the loft.
It was a lucky thing Raquel hadn’t seen that, Lucinda thought. Although a part of her wished she had. A part of her wondered if seeing Dad so quietly happy would change Raquel’s mind, or if it would only make her fight harder to drive Sylvia away.
But Raquel had already bounded to the sofa and was gesturing for Lucinda to follow her.
“Look at this,” she said.
Lucinda folded her legs underneath her and pulled Crybaby onto her lap. Then she leaned over Raquel’s glowing phone screen.
It showed Mom and Dad in the kitchen, both of them smiling as Mom lifted a section of his hair with the comb. At the very edge of the frame Sylvia peered in through the back door window. Raquel had managed to capture the moment just before Sylvia’s knock had surprised them.
They studied it, Lucinda trying once again to find any trace of jealousy on Sylvia’s face. She couldn’t, though she tried to disguise her relief. “I guess she didn’t really seem to mind, did she?”
“Who cares about her?” Raquel said. “Look at them!”
Lucinda shifted her focus. Mom and Dad seemed peaceful. They seemed at home. Lucinda suddenly wished she could climb into the photo and live in that moment a little longer.
But then Raquel took back the phone and tapped on the screen. With a swoosh, the image was delivered to the whole newspaper club.
Replies flickered on-screen.
And the last one:
Raquel let Lu run ahead of her as they crossed through the orange trees toward the loft apartment. It was early evening, but the sun still glowed soft and golden. Dad had packed two plates full of chicken tostadas into a grocery bag for Sylvia and Juliette. The apartment had a kitchen. They could have made their own dinner. But Dad had insisted on cooking for them, too.
The plastic bag knocked against Raquel’s hip as she walked, not really paying attention to where she was stepping. She didn’t have to. She and Lu could make that walk in their sleep after all the summers they had spent at the ranchette. With her free hand, she scrolled through the messages that had pinged into the Manzanita Mirror group text. #TeamAndrea. It felt good to think of the four of them as a team. It felt good to think of them winning.
She reread the last message, from Daisy. Just keep up the pressure and Sylvia will be gone for good.
“What’s taking you so long?” Lu called back to her. Raquel put the phone in her pocket and jogged to catch up.
