Mother Superior cut in. “She spent this morning saying her goodbyes to the other children and the rest of the staff here. She’ll need to gather her belongings, and then she’ll be ready. Lola, go get your things,” she instructed, dismissing the girl.
Lola turned and quickly exited the room.
“Madre, I thank you for caring for her—” began Javi.
Mother Superior interrupted him. “That’s what we do here. We care for children who do not have parents. And Lola is very fortunate to have had her mother for as long as she did, because we have many children who do not have that opportunity.”
“Madre, I would like to donate to the facility here. I know there are limits from the government as to what I can do today, but what would be the best way for me to help you and help the children here?” he asked.
Mother Superior took her seat behind the desk again and motioned for Javier and Mr. Callahan to sit as well. By the time Lola returned, carrying only a cloth drawstring backpack, he had already given all the currency he had on him to Mother Superior.
“Lola doesn’t have much to take with her,” said the woman. “Most of her clothing was uniforms that the other children could use, so I asked her to please leave hers so they could wear them.”
“Yes, of course,” agreed Javi.
As soon as he had the opportunity, he would take Lola shopping. He would buy her anything she needed. He’d known his whole life that his mother sent money back to her sister. He had known that, and yet the gravity of that had never hit home until today.
Mother Superior said goodbye to Lola and led them to the door. Within minutes, they were loaded back into their taxi and on their way to the airport. For the ride back, Mr. Callahan sat in the front passenger seat, leaving Javier and Lola to sit together in the back. Javier was at a loss for words. He didn’t know what to ask this child that he was responsible for. He was her guardian. Essentially, like an adopted father. She belonged to him. What did he know about twelve-year-old girls? He couldn’t imagine what emotions she was feeling.
Lola was looking out the window, watching as they made their way back into the city. One hand clung to the door and the other, the one closest to him, was pressed against the seat. He patted the top of Lola’s hand, drawing her attention to him.
“I don’t imagine you’ve ever had the opportunity to fly on an airplane, but that’s how we’ll be getting to Florida today,” he began, and he continued talking and describing everything that would take place. He wanted Lola to know what to expect at the airport and what to expect on the plane. And during the flight, he talked to her about everything he could think of.
She listened intently to everything he said but spoke very little.
CHAPTER 21
I don’t make speeches.
– Honus Wagner, Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, 1936
It was half past eight when the flight from Havana landed. Camdyn had been anticipating the arrival, so she’d gotten to the airport early. The airport was allowing them to host a small informal press conference since the debate for Lola’s guardianship had garnered much public interest. Cam was normally not a worrier, but a foreign government, especially one with a reputation of being difficult—like Cuba—left the possibility of unexpected problems arising. Once she was sure the airport and their security were prepared for the press conference, Camdyn grabbed a cortadito to burn some time while waiting.
Nervous energy buzzed through her and she had a momentary thought that espresso probably wasn’t the best idea, but she knew she was just excited. They’d actually been successful in Javi getting guardianship of Lola. He’d called Camdyn before five to let her know they were heading to the airport and that their flight would take off around seven. The flight to Miami was short—only an hour and a half—but she’dbeen able to hear the exhaustion in Javi’s voice. It had been a nonstop, and no doubt emotional, day for him and her pa. For the thousandth time, she wished that she’d been able to travel with them, but unfortunately it had not been possible.
Her phone vibrated with an incoming text. It was from Javi, letting her know they were disembarking. The group would still need to go through immigration and customs before exiting arrivals, but hopefully it wouldn’t take too long. She quickly replied to let him know that the camera crews would be waiting, then she went ahead and texted the ESPN and local news correspondences that she’d been working with so that they’d be ready in the space adjacent to baggage claim.
She met up with security and they waited as close to the arrivals exit as possible. Juana arrived a few minutes later with several of her friends in tow. She’d been using the trip to Miami as a chance to catch up. In fact, tomorrow they’d be having brunch with Javier’s dad’s family, and some family friends, too.
Camdyn saw her grandpa walking towards her first and she immediately greeted him with a hug. Then Javi walked in, his arm slung over the shoulder of a young, thin girl, who could be no one other than Lola. Juana ran towards them crying and embraced the girl.
After several minutes of tears and joyful greetings, Javier brought Juana and Lola over to where she stood with Pa. “Cami, meet my cousin, Lola De la Fe.”
Juana was beaming with pride, and the young girl beside her looked like she’d drunk a cortadito, too. She was holding her hands against her body as if uncertain what to do with them, or maybe it was an attempt to comfort herself. She looked nervous, but her eyes were definitely inspecting Camdyn. She was a small girl for twelve, but had a mound of dark, voluminous, curly hair.
“Bienvenido a Miami, Lola,” greeted Camdyn as she stepped forward to hug the girl. “Seremos grandes amigas.”
“Hablo Inglés,” Lola replied softly.
“That’s wonderful. However, you’ll find in Miami, and in Arizona, that a lot of people also speak Spanish. You can speak with me however you are comfortable.”
Lola nodded.
Camdyn wasn’t sure what Javi had told Lola, so she directed her next statement to him. “Javi, there’s a camera crew waiting to the side of the first baggage carousel. They were promised a statement for giving us airtime to gather public support. You just need to give them something, then early tomorrow morning you’ll do a sit-down exclusive with ESPN. It would be great if they could get a picture of you with Lola, but it isn’t required.”
He turned to Lola. “Are you up for a photograph with me? You don’t have to take it, and you don’t have to speak to the reporters if you don’t want to. You never have to do something you don’t want to do, okay?”
The girl looked like she wanted to hide, but she answered. “I will take a picture, but I do not want to talk.”
