Slap Shot (D.C. Stars, #3)

by Chelsea Curto

He’s the goalie! “He is the goalie,” I say and sign so everyone can be included in the conversation. I see him on TV! Hello, Liam signs. He touches his chest with a flat palm. My. His first two fingers tap the top of his other two fingers in the shape of a cross. Name is. Then he slowly spells out L-I-A-M with the ASL alphabet. Lucy lights up. She doesn’t meet many adults who use sign language outside of her classroom and my parents, and I’m not sure he knows what he’s gotten himself into. I’m Lucy. I’m six. How old are you? Do you have any dogs? Or cats? I like cats too. Cat, he tells her. P-I-C-O-D-E-G-A-T-O, he spells, and I laugh. “Isn’t that a silly name, Lucy?” I ask, speaking and signing at the same time again. I don’t know the extent of his ASL vocabulary, and I don’t want anyone to feel overwhelmed. “Do you know what it means?” She shakes her head. No. “A type of salsa is p-i-c-o-d-e-g-a-l-l-o. The Spanish word for cat is g-a-t-o. He combined the words, and his cat is named…” I struggle with how to explain it to her. “Salsa cat.” Salsa cat. She repeats my hand movements, giggling. That is silly, Mommy.

Bro these men