Page 40 of Wicked Love

“I like...” Becca nods.

She looks at me then, uncertain. I give her a reassuring smile and hold up my hands for Angela to pass the ball. She tosses it and Becca laughs when I catch it.

“Would you like to play with the team right now, or would you rather watch this time and I’ll show you a few tips?”

Becca nods.

“Watch this time?” I check.

“Watch,” she says.

“Okay, how about we give this ball back to Angela and I’ll get one for us to practice with.” I toss the ball to Angela and she waves at us before jogging off to start the game.

I grab another ball and take Becca to the side. When the game starts, I point out the server and then show her how to hold her hands to make a serve like that. Demonstrating a few times, I eventually hand her the ball and she tries. She yelps when the ball goes flying, but it’s a good serve.

“Excellent, Becca. You’ve already learned the hardest part.”

She beams. “I like bollyball.”

I grin at her pronunciation. “Bollyball would’ve been a better name for it, wouldn’t it? I like volleyball too.”

“You are fun,” she says. “Daddy is sad.”

I falter, pausing from showing her another way to hit the ball. Maybe I didn’t hear her right. “Sad? Or fun?”

She nods. “My daddy always sad.” She reaches out and taps near my eye. “He sad right there.”

I swallow. I think she’s saying that he has sad eyes. Or is she saying he’s been crying? Either way, if I’m right, this is breaking my heart right now.

“Is he sad about his dad being sick?”

She shrugs. “He sad because I have no mommy.”

Oh. My heart pinches and I step closer to her without even realizing it until our shoes touch.

“I sad too because I have no mommy, but I have Daddy.”

“And he’s a great daddy, isn’t he?”

“He’s a great daddy,” she repeats, laughing. She leans in. “My pictures are nice. You come see my pictures.”

I tilt my head. “Maybe you could bring one of your pictures the next time you come here.”

She frowns and shakes her head. “Too big,” she says, holding her hands out to her sides as far as they’ll go. “I have this many.”

“Oh, lots of pictures!” I laugh.

She looks so pleased that it warms my heart. Her personality is pure sunshine. If Bowie is as sad as Becca says he is, and for as little as I know Bowie, I believe his daughter is completely right, then I’m so glad he has her in his life to inject some joy.

We join the next game and Becca picks it up quickly. There are a few ways I can tell that Bowie has worked with her a lot. Besides her obvious love for being active, Becca has surprising endurance to stay engaged in the game. I can also see an advanced level of sportsmanship with how well she handles it when she doesn’t make the best plays.

When the game is over, I introduce her to a few of the other kids and casually observe her interactions, the way I do with all of the kids who come through here. Angela turns on the music as we’re wrapping up the session. It’s a slow song so we can stretch, and I stand in front of the kids, going through each move as Angela walks around and makes sure no one is doing anything too strenuous. At the very end, we shake out our hands and take deep, cleansing breaths, and then smile at each other.

“Have a wonderful day,” I say. “I’ll see you next time.”

“See you next time,” some of them chant back.

When the kids start clearing out, Becca comes and stands next to me.

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