Merci Suárez Changes Gears

Lolo has a black eye because of his fall. He has told Abuela that he banged his head opening one of the kitchen cabinets. Abuela begrudgingly accepts this story, although she feels that it may be false. Merci nervously keeps the secret.

As Merci picks buttons out of Abuela’s sewing kit to use for her map project, she hears her father having a telephone conversation with Simón, a man in his fútbol league who also works for him occasionally. After the phone call, he tells Merci that a match has been set up that very night against the team of his business rival, Manny Cruz. Manny Cruz runs Cruz & Company Plumbing on nearby Federal Highway, and once poached a few of Enrique’s workers by offering them higher pay. Merci’s mother does not like the idea of Merci traveling an hour to play the game on a school night, and she meets Merci’s reasoning that the match will help her prepare for her school’s soccer tryouts with silence. She asks Enrique to let the rivalry go, to no avail. She also teasingly talks about Simón, whom Tía Inés clearly has a crush on. In the end, she relents and lets Merci go.

Merci feels great as she heads to the match with her father. As they arrive at the field, she sees men whom she knows work for her father assembled. She also intimates that her father always helps these men with practical things such as loaning money, accessing English classes, and getting licenses. Merci brings a dinner that Tía Inés packed to a slightly blushing Simón. Merci asks her father to let her play keeper. She tells him that they could just keep it a secret from her mother, who doesn’t want her to be playing too hard with grown men. Enrique sternly reminds her that lying to family members is not allowed.

Merci sits on the sidelines for most of the game. Then, her father puts her in the game as a fullback. Merci maneuvers to take a shot, with Manny on her tail and her father nearby to provide an assist if needed. She expertly feints and then makes a goal, but Manny and Enrique collide. Manny sustains a minor cut to the lip, and Enrique a lump on his chin. Merci and Enrique help Manny get cleaned up, and Enrique tells him that he may need a stitch.

Merci tells her father that it was nice of him to help his rival. Enrique tells her that the rivalry isn’t all the way serious: He knows that Manny is simply running his business, just like he is, and that the men he poached were simply leaving for a better-paying job. Enrique understands and doesn’t regard Manny as a true enemy. Then, Merci pauses to snap a portrait of her father, who is sweaty, but whose eyes and spirit are animated. She also quickly edits the photo and puts a filter on it before showing her father. He shows his appreciation and the two head home. 

The next morning, Merci’s mother shows no mercy awakening her. Enrique and Merci did not make it home until past midnight after the match, and no amount of retelling about Merci’s perfect score will assuage her annoyance. However, Merci is too focused assuaging Miss McDaniels by devising some activity to do with Michael Clark. Merci figures that she can do something with him to show effort so that Miss McDaniels will release her from her obligation, but she cannot figure out what to do.

During Ms. Tannenbaum’s class, Edna brags about all of the things she has done and planned for her sunshine buddy, Alexa. Merci feels annoyed by this. At lunch, Merci learns that none of the girls are trying out for soccer. Then, Edna hatches a plan to go downtown and see the new Iguanador movie. She walks over to the boy’s table where Michael Clark sits and invites them as well—to an evening showing. The girls are accustomed to seeing matinees, but Edna feels that her plan is more appropriate for their middle-school age.

It takes some convincing from both Ana and Merci, but Enrique finally allows Merci to go to the movie—under the condition that Roli comes too and acts as a distant chaperone. When Saturday arrives, Enrique begrudgingly sees Merci off, treating her as if she has chosen her friends over him. There is a fútbol rematch that night, and Manny is bringing his “superstar son” (110). Roli walks Merci to the theater but tells her that instead of watching it from a distant seat, he will be going to his friend Bilal’s house, which is two minutes away: “I know what I said, but I’m not spending Saturday night with you and your little friends, Merci,” he says (109). Then he quickly disappears into the crowd, after telling her to call him if there’s any trouble.

When Michael arrives, Merci notices that the Florida sun has given his pale skin some new pigmentation. Edna and Jamie arrive. The two girls are wearing makeup and matching messy buns. The entire group follows Edna’s lead into the theater. Merci enjoys the movie mightily. Afterwards, Edna leads the group to an ice cream shop, where she is the life of the party and buys everyone’s treats with a $50 bill. Once Edna and Jamie are picked up, the entire group disbands.

When Roli and Merci arrive at home, they find Abuela and Lolo “sitting on their porch glider in the dark […] staring up at the sky” (117). Abuela tells Merci and Roli, “El viejo was pacing all evening, I think it was all the therapy exercise your mother did with him. It got him all worked up. I was afraid he was going to wear a hole in the floor and fall through. Who can sleep with that?” (117). Merci asks Lolo if something is wrong, but Abuela dismisses the question. She tells her grandparents about her night out, and at the end of the conversation, Lolo asks her again about the movies. Abuela dismisses this question, too.

The following Tuesday, Jamie asks Merci to pass a note to Michael Clark, which she does. Merci wonders whether the note is an invitation to a party that she doesn’t know about. She recounts a fancy party that she went to last year, thrown by a girl who used to be Edna’s friend named Carlee Frackas. Carlee’s father owned Frackas Yachts and the family lived in a mansion-like home by the beach, complete with a pool, a media room, and a wait staff. Merci remembers that one of their staff members was named Inés, like her tía. However, this Inés treated her with stiff courtesy. Merci feels some anxiety as Dr. Newman addresses the school during an assembly. He’s asking them to show their school spirit by participating in a gift-wrap fundraiser. She knows that her family’s contribution to last year’s fundraiser was much smaller than the sum given by both the Frackas and Santos families.

After the assembly, Merci learns that the note she passed to Michael says that Edna likes him. David, one of Michael’s friends, approaches the girls and tells them that Michael “maybe likes” Edna back (125). This sends all of the girls except Merci aflutter: “Maybe likes? Well, that’s dumb,” she says absently, not realizing she has spoken aloud (126). Edna flies into a rage, belittling Merci for her continuing little-kid liking for the Iguanador films and “fake Rodrigo” (126). She tells Merci that she wouldn’t be surprised if Merci still plays with dolls. Merci tells Edna that when her mother says “maybe,” she actually means “no,” and is satisfied when this visibly stings Edna. The students are rushed out of the auditorium as Edna and Merci continue to glare at one another.

Much to Merci’s surprise, Roli attended prom with his year-long academic rival Ahana Patel. She therefore goes to him for romantic advice. She asks him to define what “maybe likes” means (129). He tells her that liking another person romantically is never all the way logical: “You have to know the code and be able to read what’s really there,” he says (131). This gives Merci no real answer.