Little Maria

Little Maria couldn’t wait to finish gymnastics today. All Maria could think about was the smell of last July 4th, as she was sweating and practicing new techniques. Gymnastics was every Monday and Thursday at 6 (p.m.), except next week when it would be closed for the holiday. This year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday, even still, Maria’s lessons would be postponed for an entire week after, which today, didn’t seem to matter to her in the slightest.

What did matter, were the instructions the coach was given at the exact moment, still, Maria had trouble focusing. Maria always had fun at gymnastics, even today, when she was so distracted with excitement for the upcoming holiday. “Great job girls, go get some water” said Miley, the teenage gymnast and employee of the month. Maria darted toward the water station with a glimmer in her eye. Preoccupied with thought and growing tired from the days activities, Maria’s face was beet red and she was extremely parched.

“Ok girls, follow me, we are going to do something new today”, said Coach Miley confidently. Maria was intrigued, however, she was growing very fatigue and was hoping the next task would be something familiar. Attention span dwindling, Maria put her best foot forward, paying close attention to Coach Miley. Miley’s demonstration was quite elegant, so much that Maria was determined to follow suit exactly as her coach did. With a tremendous burst of energy, Maria, running at full speed, was preparing to catapult of a springboard, miscalculating her steps in the process.

“DADDY!” Maria screamed, followed by loud sobs and a dramatic display of injury that was eerily reminiscent of LeBron James. Her father who was always there watching, was already halfway across the gym floor, on his way to assess the damage. Everything checked out and Maria seemed to be ok but she insisted that she wasn’t, she just wanted to put on her Nike slides and go back home. Maria’s father Bryan, consoled his daughter and encouraged her to finish out the day’s session. Maria wasn’t very pleased with her father’s suggestion.

Sure, Maria loved gymnastics, but even though she had all next week off, she was already feeling lethargic to begin with, plus now she was dealing with the embarrassment of getting tripped up by virtually nothing in front of the whole class. Maria’s father insisting that she just finish up her lesson had her thoroughly aggravated. No, Maria did not want to stay at the gym now and she definitely didn’t want to be forced to, especially when her father was usually so lenient. Temper rising, Maria was frustration was getting the best of her.

Tired of her father’s positive reinforcement, Maria who had been up since 6 that morning was already expiring quickly and couldn’t help the tears from swelling in her eyes. Hungry, sleepy, ashamed, angry and, sore, Maria lost control of her emotions. With a violent stomp, clenching her fist, Maria ran off crying and left her dad standing in the middle of the gym floor. Feeling just as embarrassed as Maria at this point, Bryan said thank you to Coach Miley, bid her farewell for the holiday, and chased after his daughter.

Maria who was already putting her flip flops on with extreme discontentment, gasping for breath, was absolutely beside herself now and she didn’t know why, let alone how to deal with it. Bryan who was approaching with caution, considered that maybe he pushed his daughter too far but he thought he was being fair and, only trying to be supportive in the first place. Gymnastics was the least of either of their worries now.

The car ride home was sad. In the car Maria was crying to herself, trying not to continue making a scene and not talking to her Dad. There was no need for words, they only seemed like they would make things worse. Nonetheless, Bryan still wanted to help his daughter feel better so, he attempted a few dad jokes which were only met with grunts and groans. Maria looked longingly out the car window, feeling lost even though they always took the same route, back-and-forth to gymnastics.

Bryan stopped at the grocery store on their way home, instead of getting fast food for dinner, which he had a habit of doing, after gymnastics. First comparing sale prices, then selecting neither of them, Bryan selected a case of his favorite beer, safely placing the 12 pack of bottles in the cart. There were 4th of July decorations everywhere but, this year there would be no firework show, because just like the previous year, the usual 4th of July gatherings were cancelled, due to COVID. As the two walked out of the aisle, Maria, who was looking up and the red, white, and blue streamers, told her father “Dad, I’d really like a slice of chocolate cake. Last year when we didn’t go the firework show, mom baked a chocolate cake.”

-B.Rodelo